What's new on SlashGear.com |
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm to be Released Midnight, December 6th 2010 at (all?) Hastings Entertainment Locations
- DIY Death Star Holiday Tree Ornament
- Diablo 3 Barbarian QcK Mousepad Released by SteelSeries
- ASUS and Lamborghini Present Backpack, Laptop Cases, Mouse, and HDD
- Gifts for Smartphone Owners? Try Smartphone Accessories
- Asetek Liquid Cooling for Small Gaming PCs, 3U Servers, and Workstations
- Project Magazine for iPad Gets Hands-on, Takes a Swing at The Daily
- Happy Birthday To You Who Won’t Read This
- Google Sends out Holiday Media Party Invites to Publishers
- Cowon 3D PMP Due in December
- Panasonic Jungle Being Tested in the United States
- Samsung Mobile Display Shows Off Flexible 3D OLED Concept at FPD International
- PlayStation Move Sells 4.1 Million Worldwide
- LMP Keypad Bluetooth numeric pad for Mac hits FCC
- Google under antitrust investigation over allegations it squeezed out search rivals
- SlashGear Morning Wrap-up: November 30 2010
- Samsung GT-i9200 caught testing Picasa photo uploads
- FarmVille credit & exclusive items added to American Express reward scheme
- Barnes & Noble finances released: saved by NOOK
- Halo: Reach – Noble Map Pack available now [Video]
- Verizon 4G LTE event on December 1 will detail US roll-out
- Windows Phone 7 update “took 3 months to do what Apple did in 3 years” tips developer
- Windows Phone 7 Visual Basic tools released for app devs
- Google Earth 6 adds full Street View, 3D trees & more [Video]
- LG Optimus 7 uses NAND flash for storage
- Project iPad magazine arrives in App Store
- NASA holding press conference Thursday, has it found extraterrestrial life?
- Analog Devices outs low-power HDMI receivers
- Vodafone launches money transfer service in Qatar
- Linutop 3 fanless Atom-powered PC surfaces
| Posted: 30 Nov 2010 02:31 PM PST Festivities at this chain-wide super nerd party will begin at 10PM and end after Warcraft: Cataclysm goes on sale at midnight (at which point everyone will calmly exit the building, run at full speed back to their houses and apartments, and promptly play for a week straight.) At the party before midnight, however, people just chilling out will be able to enjoy 30% off basically everything in the used category: CDs, books, video games, and movies.
And bonus! Though nothing compares to actually buying the game, running home at full speed, and playing it for a week straight, there are a couple more things. One, customers who purchas Cataclysm at midnight will get a free video game rental coupon, and two, those same customers will get a $5 off coupon for the strategy guide (uh yeah right who would buy such a thing! Me.) Check out the full press release below:
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| DIY Death Star Holiday Tree Ornament Posted: 30 Nov 2010 02:05 PM PST Aww, isn’t that cute? Lego superstar Chris McVeigh (aka powerpig) has created an ornament with which your lego obsession can command the tree galaxy. Unless of course, somewhere on your tree is an x-wing with Luke Skywalker in it. Watch out for that. You can follow all the steps as provided by powerpig through his own site, or check out the list of parts needed to make this battle station and try to figure it out yourself!
If you wish, please feel free to create this masterpiece in honor of our recently departed friend Irvin Kershner, director of the only original Star Wars movie without a Death Star, The Empire Strikes Back. Check out the list of legos you’ll need here, then check out the full instructions over at Chris’ blog Mint in Box. Furthermore, you can purchase other ornaments created by Chris over at Creations for Charity if you do so wish.
[Via Brothers Brick]
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| Diablo 3 Barbarian QcK Mousepad Released by SteelSeries Posted: 30 Nov 2010 01:49 PM PST People still use mousepads? Wait, what’s that, people still use a mouse to click things on their computer screen? Man, it’s been so long since I’ve used a desktop for anything day-to-day that it threw me for a loop seeing this SteelSeries QcK Diablo 3 Barbarian Edition mousepad. It’s the latest in what I’d call a very limited promotion of Diablo 3, the game that’s been on all Diablo 2 fanatics minds for what seems like decades. Perhaps this portends a release inside the next few years.
It does seem like a nice mousepad though when you look at it, yes? Smooth cloth surface, non-slip rubber base, medium size, terrifyingly bulky barbarian graphic. Is it worth $15? If you’re wild enough to get down to such specifics for a serious gaming experience – sure, why not? [Via SteelSeries]
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| ASUS and Lamborghini Present Backpack, Laptop Cases, Mouse, and HDD Posted: 30 Nov 2010 01:36 PM PST Remember back when that wireless Asus/Lamborghini mouse passed through the FCC? Well check it out. Reality time. Joining their 12.1-inch laptop and ZX1 smartphone are a range of accessories including a Lamborghini a backpack, a laptop case, a laptop cover, a mouse (the one you saw go through the FCC), and a HDD.
These accessories are made not just for your already branded Lamborghini wares, but for the rest of your electronics as well. There are reportedly four different models of bags coming out including the handy sleeve (cover), sports bag for 12-inch notebooks, classic bag for notebooks up to 17-inches, and a large backpack with multiple compartments – all of these made in fabulous Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Then there’s the really sharp, super suave looking Lamborghini WX-wireless mouse with laser precision. It’s got a range of 10-meters (why on earth would you be that far away?) and has a scroll wheel that looks and feels like a tire. Cute! Finally, a set of external harddrives (not pictured) that’ll be in one size: 640GB and will be available in black or white, both with a fine gloss scratch-resistant coating. Sassy!
[Via Notebook Italia]
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| Gifts for Smartphone Owners? Try Smartphone Accessories Posted: 30 Nov 2010 11:38 AM PST Those investigators over at Retrevo have done a lovely study on the holiday season in terms of people who own one of the following: iPhone, Android based phones, or BlackBerrys. Turns out they’d like accessories for their phones rather than for themselves. In their first study it was found that owners of iPhones and Android based phones both prefer gadget accessories over clothing, books, or perfume (I’m not sure why perfume was chosen instead of, say, movies, but it is what it is.) Only BlackBerry owners found it more enticing to receive a jacket for their back rather than a jacket for their device, and only by a few percentage points.
On the other hand, it was Android users who say they’d spent the least amount of money on their phones, while BlackBerry owners were in the middle and iPhone users said they were the biggest spenders.
Then it’s iPhone users blasting away the competition in all four categories when asked whether they had done the following: felt Fashion Aware, Bought Cases to Decorate their Phone, felt their Case is a Form of Self-Expression, and Would Spend More than $50 on a Case.
Finally, when asked what accessories they’d buy for their phones this holiday season, headphones seemed to always be on top or certainly a competitor, cases and camera accessories trailing slightly behind or equal for iPhone and Android people, and BlackBerry Owners can’t seem to make up their mind, but more than likely won’t be accessorizing their cameras at all.
NOTE: As always, take these stats with a cup of sugar, as it is just simple percentages and no study is 100% accurate. ALSO: Let’s cross our fingers for enough of a pool of people using Palm devices to add them as a category next year. [Via Retrovo]
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| Asetek Liquid Cooling for Small Gaming PCs, 3U Servers, and Workstations Posted: 30 Nov 2010 11:18 AM PST Such a bunch of little cuties! These are Asetek’s new liquid CPU coolers that are aimed at supporting PCs with 92mm fans. These three new liquid coolers are made for OEMs and system builders, the models including a single exhaust port, single-CPU cooler; a dual exhaust port, single-CPU cooler; and a dual exhaust port, dual-CPU cooler. Get yourself some cool, quiet speed!
In the press release you’re going to see below, they mention that all Asetek liquid CPU coolers come fully filled, sealed, and assembled so that you might use them with ease. Funny they still have to mention that – no wonder that Apple I sold for two hundred grand a couple weeks ago in London. But you don’t give a hoot about that, this is a PC post, filled with the coolness of fast computing to the max. There’s three models here: The Asetek 545LC, The Asetek 565LX, and The Asetek 585LX. The first one is a single exhaust port, while the other two are dual exhaust ports, number 2 being a single-CPU cooler and number 3 being a dual-CPU cooler. The first is made for overclocking your gaming PCs and working quietly, the second made for powerful engineering and on-screen heavy-load activities such as video and audio editing, and the third is made for essentially the same stuff as the second, but with the dual-CPU capability. Check out the full press release below:
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| Project Magazine for iPad Gets Hands-on, Takes a Swing at The Daily Posted: 30 Nov 2010 11:02 AM PST As you might well be aware, the new magazine for iPad, Project, was released this morning. Amid reports that it’s both cool and … not innovative enough, comes a punch from Chris Bell (who’s working with the magazine to “guide it along”) at Rupert Murdoch, whose “The Daily” newspaper will perhaps attempt to compete with Project in the future: “As Project went on sale, reports emerged that Rupert Murdoch will soon launch an iPad-only newspaper called The Daily, after it came to him in a dream or something. Which, like all Murdoch products, shall doubtless enrich humankind with its impartial political analysis and rolling coverage of shit exploding. Also: hi-def nudity, fingers crossed. But the point stands: the irascible Aussie despot doesn't throw his corked hat into the cyber ring until he's sure of a market.”
That quote above comes direct from a post over at Project’s online blog counterpart – whether this blog will end up working side by side with the magazine is yet to be seen. Chris Bell goes on to describe working on the mag, saying it’s not at all like Minority Report (as some publishers expected (me, for example)), but more “like making a normal paper magazine, but about 1,000 times more fiddly.” — Props to Nick Rizzo for directing us to this article. Then there’s MacStories who accessed the magazine early on the Italian App Store and posted a bunch of screenshots showing the innards of the first issue of this magazine. One of the first and most interesting aspects of the Projects app answers my previous question — included is a formatted for iPad version of Project’s blog. MacStories goes on to say that besides the lovely moving pictures and videos, they easily draw comparisons to the functionality seen in other iPad mags such as Wired’s app, Fortune, The New Yorker, and other Conde Nast publications. What’s unsettling is the idea that you can’t select text, you can’t zoom, and there’s basically no options for how you’re going to view what you want to view. MacStories describes the app as a “PDF with some interactive elements and pretty navigation” in it’s user interface. So basically this magically beautiful magazine doesn’t reinvent the iPad based publication, but does score points for being well designed graphic design wise. Feel free to add your two cents below should you happen upon a copy today. TRON for crying out loud, TRON!            [Via MacStories]
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| Happy Birthday To You Who Won’t Read This Posted: 30 Nov 2010 10:35 AM PST Today is my wife’s birthday. She isn’t sentimental about birthdays or most holidays, so I won’t get in trouble for not remembering to wish her a happy birthday before she ran out the door, rushing to get our son to pre-school on time. I’ll probably get in trouble for how much I spent on her present. She asked for a spa day. A massage and a facial. I’ll never understand why women like to get their faces poked at as a gift, but she doesn’t understand why I sit in front of the television twiddling my thumbs for hours at a time.
The Internet has made us connoisseurs even of things about which we know very little, so after some investigation I discovered a very nice hotel in our area also had one of the top-rated spas in the country. I ordered her a gift package called the “Indulgence,” which includes five hours of treatments and pampering, including lunch. I can ruin the secret and tell you this because my wife has almost no interest in following technology, so she won’t be reading this column. The spa required me to come and pick up the gift card in person. I would have liked to simply hand my credit card over to my Web browser and be done with it, but that couldn’t happen. They couldn’t even send the card overnight, and like a good procrastinator, I only discovered this spot yesterday, so there wasn’t time for me to wait for the spa to send it by mail. So, while she was dropping off our son, I was on my way downtown to speak to a living, breathing person about a gift card purchase. How quaint. But I’m getting ahead of myself. That wasn’t actually the first birthday errand I had to run this morning. First, I had to take a trip to the airport. Over the thanksgiving holiday, my wife lost her cell phone. She wasn’t sure at first when it happened, but by the time we had picked up our rental car and installed the rented car seat in Newark, New Jersey, she realized that it was missing. So, we did what everyone does when they realize their cell phone is missing. We gave it a call, then sat quietly and listened for it. My mind is trained to ignore cell phone ringing. I’m not sure when this happened, but ringtones don’t catch my attention as easily these days. It’s the same for car alarms. I wonder if any thief has ever been stopped by a car alarm. Most of the time when I hear a car alarm, I get annoyed at the car’s owner for letting the alarm wake me up in the middle of the night. I don’t ever think that the car might be getting broken into as I’m trying to fall back asleep, and I certainly never run to the window to see what’s the matter. We’re at a point where it might be better to simply leave the car unlocked with the alarm turned off than to risk a false alarm at 2AM. I used to leave my car unlocked in my driveway. The other day I opened the door to find the glove compartment and center console open and tossed. Someone had broken in, or whatever you call it when no actual breaking is involved. There is nothing of value in my car whatsoever, not even interesting or important paperwork. The mess was a hassle, but the most expensive thing in my nine-year-old Camry is the child’s car seat in the back. As long as that was still present, I was completely unperturbed. But now I keep my car locked, mostly out of spite to the would-be robbers. In any case, the phone did not ring. Like I said, I tune out ringtones, but I can somehow sense a phone vibrating across the house. It’s like a Spidey-sense. Spider-Man can sense danger, I can sense a phone on vibrate. Still, nothing. It didn’t take her long to remember what had happened to it. She had tried to cross through a security gate with the phone in her pocket. It was a forgivable mistake, even for frequent travelers like us. We were loaded for bear on that trip, with all our usual carry-ons, plus a stroller, a toddler and an armful of winter coats for when we got off the plane in the frigid northeast. We live in Texas, so a hoodie counts as a winter coat here. I was trying out one of those new-fangled x-ray-friendly laptop bags. It would have been extra convenient, except that the TSA decided to pull me aside so they could swab it, which more than eliminated the time saved using the bag. They also swabbed my son’s carry-on. He’s two. His carry-on has Lightning McQueen on the front, and a bumper shaped like a car tire. He hasn’t even seen the movie “Cars,” but he pointed at the carry-on in the store and said “car,” so we bought it for him. Needless to say, it hadn’t been involved in any bomb-making scheme, so we were free to go. But in all the commotion, she forgot her phone in the little plastic and rubber bowl that she sent through the x-ray. The TSA, so mindful of my x-ray-friendly bag and the diapers and change of clothes in my son’s tiny suitcase, were not kind enough to call after her to retrieve her phone. The lost and found offices were also closed for the holiday, so we weren’t even positive it was at the airport until Monday. I’m not sure how this could be, that it is impossible to get in touch with the TSA over the phone. Clearly there are people working, but they don’t answer the phone. We tried calling her cell phone repeatedly, but they did not answer that phone, either. Oh well, at least the phone was safe and secure when I called after the weekend. The TSA made me prove it was mine over the phone before they would put it aside to make sure nobody else claimed it. Stupidly, I gave them the only verifying information I could think of: the password to unlock the phone. Thankfully, cell phones today can’t hold a charge beyond a day or so. The phone wouldn’t power on. They decided to put the phone aside until I brought a charger to the airport and verified my claim in person. At last, a dead battery proves useful. I’m still getting ahead of myself. Before the spa trip, and before the airport, I had one first birthday errand to run. Or rather, one errand to sit, since there was no running involved. I had to logon to my wife’s Facebook account. She hates Facebook and never checks her own profile page. I created the profile for her so that she could see some of the photo albums her friends were posting to the site, since they were tagging her in photos, after all. The few status updates that have been posted in her name have been from me, and I make this clear when I post them. I noticed when I woke up this morning that some of our mutual friends had been leaving happy birthday messages on her wall. Thanks to Facebook, they had beaten me to the punch, and also reminded me that I had forgotten to say “Happy Birthday” before she left the house. I had thought about it last night before bed. I should have set an alarm on my phone. I posted a short message from her account explaining that it was not she posting the message, it was me. I left her email address and thanked everyone for wishing her a happy birthday, on her behalf. When the emails start coming in, I wonder if she’ll be mystified by the flood of well-wishers. I still haven’t been able to reach her on the phone this morning, and I refuse to send her a happy birthday message over email. That’s something you do for an old college friend, or a long-lost elementary school buddy. Not something you do for your wife. Which means that most of her friends will beat me to the punch, and she’ll think I forgot her birthday this year. But she’s not sentimental, and she’ll forget everything when I give her the gift card for the spa day, and her returned iPhone. Now I have three months to think of a plan for Valentine’s day. Like I said, she’s not sentimental, but I’m setting the alarm on my phone right now.
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| Google Sends out Holiday Media Party Invites to Publishers Posted: 30 Nov 2010 10:27 AM PST Oh hooray! Drinks and hearty appetizers will be served? I love it! But wait a second, does it say what I think it says? “You are invited to an evening of informal (and off the record) conviviality with our Communications staff and key Googlers.” Could this mean they’re giving out super secrets we’re just supposed to keep to ourselves?! Or maybe it’s just a fun night to hang out and get friendly. Either way, super exciting, and soon! December 13th, 2010.
Looks like it’ll be an evening event, three hours long, and right up over there in Mountain View California. Look at that nice chandelier! I bet it’ll be just such a nice night of warmth and hugs and super secrets. Keep your eyes peeled for more info (if we’re allowed to speak!) Maybe they’ll have some Gingerbread cookies, if you know what I mean.
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| Posted: 30 Nov 2010 09:51 AM PST Cowon knows how to make Personal Media Players. They’ve got a myriad of the devices available now, with more coming down the pipe, and now it looks like one more is set to join the fray just in time to hit Christmas wish-list. Though, their newest effort isn’t just another PMP. This new device, aptly called the Cowon 3D, features glasses-free 3D technology, and still manages to pack in all of the other features people expect in their PMPs.
Of course, the company is saying that the Cowon 3D is the first 3D PMP available on the market. Much like the Nintendo 3DS, Cowon’s PMP is able to display 3D images to the user without the need for glasses. The Cowon 3D will also let you fully enjoy 1080p HD video, as well as through the output so you can enjoy it on your HDTV. You’ll be able to use the Cowon 3D to browse the Internet, look at your photos and videos, as well as listen to music. The device features a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, with a resolution of 800 x 480, and it will come in sizes of 32GB or 64GB. For the 32GB, you’ll have to pay $430, and $510 for the 64GB version. Both of them are due to hit retail shelves some time in December. The big question, though, is whether or not the device is meant to convert standard 2D images into 3D ones, or if the device’s User Interface and 3D-based movies will be the only thing users experience in 3D. [via Wired]
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| Panasonic Jungle Being Tested in the United States Posted: 30 Nov 2010 09:13 AM PST The portable gaming market is looking like it will get a bit more interesting in 2011, as Panasonic seems intent on launching their own portable console. After being unveiled last month, there were some who believed that it would be a pipe-dream, and never make it out of the gate. But Panasonic doesn’t see it that way, and they’ve moved onto the testing stage for the device, focusing on consumers in the United States.
Recently, Panasonic began sending out emails to US-based consumers, informing them that they had been chosen to test the Jungle, the company’s portable video game console. Panasonic’s spokesman out of Tokyo, Akira Kadota, has confirmed that the emails were sent out to consumers, but would not go into detail about the console. The price, let alone the specifications for the device, are still unknown at this point. It is known, though, that Panasonic won’t be focusing on the “traditional” video game strategy. Unlike Sony and Nintendo, Panasonic’s Jungle portable gaming device will focus on multiplayer gamers, like Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG). The only title that’s been talked about so far, is a Battlestar Galactica title, which will let you play as either a human, or a Cylon. The console itself will feature a QWERTY keyboard, as well as a touchpad. [via Bloomberg]
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| Samsung Mobile Display Shows Off Flexible 3D OLED Concept at FPD International Posted: 30 Nov 2010 08:54 AM PST When it comes to AMOLED and Super AMOLED, the display technology is synonymous with Samsung. But Samsung doesn’t want to just focus on the here-and-now. They’ve already shown off what a 4.5-inch flexible AMOLED would look like, so why wouldn’t the company show off a concept design of what it would look like to see that technology on a bigger screen? That’s exactly what they did at this year’s FPD International.
Samsung is starting to show that, here in the near future, one market they will be focusing on is going to be the foldable and flexible. Especially when it comes to consumer electronics. They took some time out of their busy schedule to showcase what they believe the next stage of home entertainment will look like. Their idea, is that you should be able to enjoy your 3D entertainment wherever you are in the living room, thanks to your TV being folded in a particular way. Samsung is also going to push for their future-tech 3DTVs to range in sizes, so you don’t just have to enjoy it in your living room. We don’t see this happening in the next year or so, but we do see Samsung having a lot of cool things to show off in the next few years. We can certainly hope we’ve got some foldable, flexible TVs to look forward to in the future. [via OLED-Display; thanks, Erik!]  
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| PlayStation Move Sells 4.1 Million Worldwide Posted: 30 Nov 2010 08:33 AM PST While Microsoft may have the momentum on their side, Sony is definitely not showing any signs of stepping out of the motion-based gaming market any time soon. Especially with the number of PlayStation Move units the company sold since its release, back in September. While Microsoft’s Kinect’s numbers may be impressive, Sony’s are, too.
However, unlike those initial sales figures we saw back in the middle of October, which just focused on Europe and the United States, these new numbers from Sony are on the global side. It factors in the number of Move units sold worldwide, and it looks like Sony is satisfied with the results. According to the company, they managed to move 4.1 million units. That boils down to just under one Move unit sold for every PlayStation 3 console out there. With numbers like this, and seeing just as much strength from Kinect’s sales figues, it wouldn’t be a surprise to hear that game developers will now take the leap into motion gaming, and start cranking out titles. [via Kotaku]
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| LMP Keypad Bluetooth numeric pad for Mac hits FCC Posted: 30 Nov 2010 08:33 AM PST Apple’s wireless QWERTY keyboard is a useful way of cutting the cord on your desktop, but it’s not great for those doing frequent numerical entry. LMP appear to be addressing that shortcoming with their Keypad add-on, spotted clearing the FCC recently, a 28-key Bluetooth numeric keypad that snaps onto the side of the regular Apple ‘board.
One interesting touch is that the LMP Keypad has a mechanical push-through bar that controls the Apple keyboard’s power button. Press the big power button on the LMP, and it pushes through to trigger the full keyboard; the keypad itself is turned on and off with the smaller button at the side. Power is via two AA batteries, and there are navigation shortcuts and extra function keys as well. No word on pricing or availability at this stage, but we’re guessing it’ll show up relatively soon.     [via Geeky-Gadgets and via Wireless Goodness]
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| Google under antitrust investigation over allegations it squeezed out search rivals Posted: 30 Nov 2010 07:48 AM PST Google is being investigated by the European Commission over allegations of antitrust violations, amid suggestions that the search giant has “abused a dominant market position” by promoting results from its own services ahead of those from rival companies. Competing search engines have accused Google of suppressing unpaid results from their services in favor of its own; Google, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing and says that the results it offers are primarily about giving the user what they are looking for, as quickly as possible.
However, Google also says that it will “continue to work closely with the Commission” to answer any questions outstanding. For its part, the Commission has highlighted that “initiation of proceedings does not imply that the commission has proof of any infringements,” and pointed out that there is no set timescale for this sort of investigation, only that it will be continued “as a matter of priority.” Google maintains that it has “always distinguished advertising content from our organic search results” but recognizes that “given our success and the disruptive nature of our business, it's entirely understandable that we've caused unease among other companies and caught the attention of regulators.” Still, it’s obvious that the company blames sour grapes from rivals for much of that attention: “not every website can come out on top, or even appear on the first page of our results, so there will almost always be website owners who are unhappy about their rankings” they suggest. Press Release:
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| SlashGear Morning Wrap-up: November 30 2010 Posted: 30 Nov 2010 07:30 AM PST You sassafrass you, NOOKcolor! Last night we spoke about how NOOKcolor had been rooted and presented to you the final chapter in our “A Week With” reviews of that device, but what’s this?! I snuck another one in on ya! A Week with NOOKcolor: The Missing Link – Viewing Manually Loaded Books and What a Root Means for the Future. Then there’s news about how NOOKcolor saved B&N’s butt financially this year, and the iPad responds with a magazine – it’s got TRON on it! Maybe not a direct response, and I know it’s released by Richard Branson, but, you know, but I don’t think iPad is worried about the B&N competition. Then we’ve got some Farmville news and some NASA news about what might be aliens – this expressing the range of information we present here at the R3 Media Network. ALL THIS AND MORE on the SlashGear Morning Wrap-up!
R3 Media Network SlashPhone Android Community SlashGear To see more wrap-up posts, follow the following tags: [The Daily Slash] or [SlashGear Morning Wrap-up]
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| Samsung GT-i9200 caught testing Picasa photo uploads Posted: 30 Nov 2010 07:09 AM PST Photos seemingly snapped by Samsung’s as-yet unannounced GT-i9200 Android smartphone have been spotted on online gallery Picasa, though the handset itself is keeping on the wrong side of the lens for our liking. According to previous rumors, the GT-i9200 is Samsung’s dual-core successor to the Galaxy S, tipped for release in early 2011.
Hardware specifications are all but unknown, and it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to calculate the camera resolution from any of these leaky shots. They appear to have been uploaded as part of media transfer tests, and are 4-megapixel resolution at the most. [via Android Community and via Samsung Hub]
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| FarmVille credit & exclusive items added to American Express reward scheme Posted: 30 Nov 2010 06:41 AM PST
It’s a sign, perhaps, that online gaming is transitioning very much to the mainstream, with in-game rewards in titles like FarmVille and Cafe World considered as valuable as airline discounts, hotel savings and even straightforward payments on Amazon and other sites. American Express gives you one point per dollar you spend, so you’ll need to splash out $540 if you want that special cow. [via TechCrunch]
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| Barnes & Noble finances released: saved by NOOK Posted: 30 Nov 2010 06:30 AM PST Barnes & Noble has announced its latest quarterly financial results, and the retailer has its digital arm to thank for its 1-percent year-on-year sales growth. According to the results, online sales – including NOOK and ebooks – increased 59-percent over last year, whereas in-store sales decreased by 3-percent. B&N now reckons it has around 20-percent of the ebook market.
The popularity of digital devices and content – together with other recently expanded departments, such as Toys & Games which saw a 42-percent sales increase – has left Barnes & Noble confident about predicting $170m to $205m EBITDA for the full year. As for talk of selling the company, B&N’s special committee is still looking into the possibility and “meeting with both strategic and financial institutions.” Press Release:
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| Halo: Reach – Noble Map Pack available now [Video] Posted: 30 Nov 2010 05:57 AM PST Microsoft has released the Halo: Reach – Noble Map Pack, a new download available through Xbox Live. Priced at 800 Microsoft Points, the map pack includes three new environments – Breakpoint, Tempest and Anchor 9 – that work with the popular shooter.
Video demos after the cut
You’ll obviously need a copy of Halo: Reach if you want to do anything with the map pack. More information at Xbox.com here. Halo: Reach – Breakpoint demo: Halo: Reach – Tempest demo: Halo: Reach – Anchor 9 demo:
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| Verizon 4G LTE event on December 1 will detail US roll-out Posted: 30 Nov 2010 05:41 AM PST Verizon has announced that it will be hosting a 4G LTE news conference on December 1, during which the carrier will detail how it intends to roll out its high-speed network. The company is still promising to cover 38 major areas with LTE coverage before the end of 2010.
The carrier has already begun running LTE adverts in the US, promising the “most advanced 4G network in the world.” The service won't be available in handsets initially; instead, the carrier will initially use it for 4G data cards before LTE phones arrive early in 2011. Press Release:
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| Windows Phone 7 update “took 3 months to do what Apple did in 3 years” tips developer Posted: 30 Nov 2010 05:36 AM PST Microsoft is readying the first major software update for Windows Phone 7, a release which developers are already suggesting “is going to be MASSIVE.” According to Chris Walsh, one of the developers behind ChevronWP7, Microsoft “took 3 months to do what Apple did in 3 years,” presumably hinting at previous rumors that the WP7 update will bring multitasking and copy/paste support, among other things.
Walsh claims that Microsoft has been working on the incoming update “long before they actually shipped v1″ and that “they could have called it Windows Phone 8.” Now, it’s also worth noting that he’s an enthusiastic Windows Phone 7 developer – among other platforms – and so is likely to be rooting for the Microsoft platform in the same way that, say, an iOS developer might be pre-inclined to anticipate a new software release for the iPhone. Still, Microsoft is expected to address several key complaints regarding its fledgling smartphone platform with this update, including adding turn-by-turn directions in Bing Maps for navigation and support for custom ring tones. It’s all speculation until Microsoft make the new firmware official, but with reviewers – ourselves included – generally praising the company for its first effort, a solid update could go a long way to driving sales of WP7 devices. [via WPCentral]
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| Windows Phone 7 Visual Basic tools released for app devs Posted: 30 Nov 2010 05:14 AM PST Microsoft has pushed out a new set of Visual Basic tools for developers creating apps for Windows Phone 7. The add-on – which will only work with Visual Studio 2010 Professional, Premium or Ultimate editions – allows Silverlight apps to be created for the smartphone platform, though not those using Microsoft’s XNA framework.
Microsoft is not counting out XNA support at some point in the future, however; according to the readme, “there are no Visual Basic project templates available for XNA at this time” (emphasis ours). Meanwhile Visual Basic Windows Phone applications are not currently supported in Expression Blend for Windows Phone, either. [via InformationWeek]
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| Google Earth 6 adds full Street View, 3D trees & more [Video] Posted: 30 Nov 2010 05:05 AM PST Google has pushed out Google Earth 6, the latest version of its interactive digital atlas. Version 6 gets native Street View support for pavement-level browsing, along with digital 3D trees – more than 80 million trees in places such as Athens, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Tokyo already “planted” – and better support for historical imagery.
Video demo after the cut
Interestingly, while it would’ve been straightforward for Google to simply use a single tree type, they’ve actually created digital models of several dozen species to use. The trees – which can be hidden with a menu click – will continue to populate the maps progressively as Google’s Earth team roll them out. Street View, meanwhile, uses the mouse scroll wheel or keyboard arrow keys to navigate, unlike previous versions of the integration. As ever, Google Earth 6 is a free download for PC, Mac or Linux. What’s New in Google Earth 6: Street View: 3D Trees: Historical Imagery:
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| LG Optimus 7 uses NAND flash for storage Posted: 30 Nov 2010 04:34 AM PST If Windows Phone 7 has caught your attention, you are probably aware that several of the devices on the market use microSD cards for storage, though those cards are tucked away deep inside the devices where the user can't get to it. The downside to using the microSD card rather than traditional NAND flash is that the performance suffers.
If you are hoping to find a WinPo 7 device that uses traditional NAND flash for better performance, a device that may be perfect for you has been found. The LG Optimus 7 uses 16GB of NAND flash memory inside rather than a microSD card. The use of that NAND flash means that the memory is much higher performance than a microSD card equipped device. The NAND flash is cited as the reason why the Optimus 7 performs better than some other WinPo 7 smartphones. You can see from the image here shot by an Optimus 7 owner of the board from their device that the storage is directly connected to the board of the phone. Via Mobility Minded
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| Project iPad magazine arrives in App Store Posted: 30 Nov 2010 04:32 AM PST The new Virgin iPad magazine, Project, has arrived in the Apple App Store for download [iTunes link]. As we wrote yesterday, the new app consists of a “reader” viewer – which is a free download – and then a month’s worth of updating content, priced at $2.99 or £1.79 depending on location.
That content includes a “Jeff Bridges Reboots Tron” cover feature, a 3D video tour of Tokyo and various other entertainment, travel, business and design articles. Virgin’s schtick is that, rather than being a single issue updated monthly like other magazines, Project will gain new content every day. It remains to be seen whether this approach will find favor among iPad owners; reviews for Project are mixed, though much of the negativity appears to concern the actual app itself, rather than the content. Apple is expected to announce a recurring subscriptions API in December.
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| NASA holding press conference Thursday, has it found extraterrestrial life? Posted: 30 Nov 2010 04:25 AM PST Wow. OK so the science geek in me is so anxious to find out what discovery NASA is set to reveal on Thursday of this week. NASA has offered up a press release with some participant names that will be in the conference along with a vague notion of what the thing is about.
The part that grabs my attention is this bit in the title of the press release – “NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery.” So the obvious question that jumps to mind is this – Has NASA discovered some sort of biological life on another planet or perhaps a moon orbiting a planet in our own solar system? The geeks over at Kottke.org did some digging on the participants in the conference and found out a few details that hint at what we are looking at for Thursday. Pamela Conrad is a geobiologist and wrote a paper about life on Mars. Felisa Wolf-Simon is an oceanographer and has written on photosynthesis using arsenic. Steven Benner is a biologist that is part of the “Team Titan” program studying the largest moon of Saturn. James Elser is an ecologist that is part of a NASA-funded program dubbed Follow the Elements. Take all of those factoids and mix them up and something very interesting emerges. Could NASA be revealing the existence of some sort of life on Titan that uses arsenic for photosynthesis? It could be only the announcement that arsenic and other elements conductive to life on Titan have been found, which is still a major discovery.
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| Analog Devices outs low-power HDMI receivers Posted: 30 Nov 2010 04:11 AM PST
The receivers are very small with the 7611 measuring 10mm x 10mm x 1.6mm and the 7612 measuring 14mm x 14mm x 1.6mm. The two receivers offer at least a 50% reduction in footprint and 25% reduction in power consumption compared to other designs. Both are designed to support HDMI 1.4a. The 7611 supports 1080p/60f resolution with 24-bit color and the 7612 offers 1080p/60f resolution with 36-bit deep color. The 7612 also used ADI’s Xpressview fast switching technology for seamless switching between HDMI-enabled devices in under a second. Both receivers are available in automotive and industrial grades.
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| Vodafone launches money transfer service in Qatar Posted: 30 Nov 2010 04:01 AM PST In countries where the banking system isn't as developed as it is in the US and other long established countries it can be hard for people to get access to banks and to transfer money for paying bills and buying things. Many mobile phone companies are working hard to get an infrastructure in place that will allow users to transfer money using their mobile phone.
Vodafone has announced that it is launching a new money transfer service starting in Qatar. The service is called Vodafone Money Transfer and it allows the user to make international money remittances directly from their mobile device, in conjunction with Qatar Central Bank. The goal of the project is to provide financial services to low-income groups. The user of the new service will be able to send money using the mobile device to any GCASH enabled mobile phone in the Philippines or send money to any bank account or for collection at any GCASH Remit outlet. The transaction is secured with a PIN number and the sender and receiver are notified with text messages of the transaction.
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| Linutop 3 fanless Atom-powered PC surfaces Posted: 30 Nov 2010 03:47 AM PST If you like some open source sauce to go with your computing experience you may be familiar with the Linutop line of computers. The Linutop 2 ran and AMD Geode processor and is a crazy tiny little machine. The company has announced the latest version of the Linutop PC dubbed the Linutop 3. This time around the machine gets a bit larger, but gets Intel Atom power.
The CPU inside the Linutop 3 is an Atom N270 running 1.6GHz. The little rig measures in at 23.5 cm x 23.6 cm x 5.5cm, making it nearly twice the size of the Linutop 2 machine. The Linutop 3 has no fan making it silent. Internal memory is 1GB of RAM and the machine can be upgraded to 2GB. The computer has 2GB of internal flash storage. Other features include six USB ports, one com port, dual audio in and out ports, VGA and DVI outputs with GMA 950 graphics, and the machine has no fan. The OS is Linutop based on Ubuntu Lucid Linux. The machine has software installed that you will actually want including Firefox, Open Office, and VLC Media player. The Linutop 3 sells for 340 EUR.   
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