What's new on SlashGear.com |
- Digital Storm’s new xm15 Laptop Switches Between Video Cards Automagically
- Pen Stylus Computing to Return on Android, Adobe Might Ride the Wave
- World’s Biggest iPhone is 56 iPads Stacked Together, Lands in London
- ZTE Corporation’s Double Smartphone Wins Red Dot Concept Design Award
- NEC Dual-Screen Cloud Communicator Tablet & New Marketplace to be Shown off at CES 2011
- TRON Inspired Messenger Bag Features EL-Wire [Video]
- Motorola talk tablet evolution: iPad & Galaxy Tab just steps toward Moto Honeycomb slate
- Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC for Xbox 360 Landing February 1
- Verizon Showcasing LTE Android Devices at CES 2011
- Sam’s Club Selling iPhone 4 for $147 Until Christmas Day
- Samsung Bada 2.0 detailed: NFC, multitasking, SNS & more
- Leaf Aptus-II 12 80-megapixel camera back now shipping for $32k
- Microsoft firm on Kinect sex game ban
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M mobile GPU headed for CES 2011 reveal?
- Foursquare iPhone update adds photos & comments; Android version imminent
- Notion Ink Eden UI gets live video demo
- Sony upbeat on Google TV, though user fun “might take a little longer”
- Microsoft axes Office Genuine Advantage program
- Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type Review
- AT&T buy FLO TV spectrum for 4G multicast speed boost
- Kinect update could double resolution
- Bobba Fett Christmas ornament and other geeky decorations
- Amazon vows to look into problem with Kindle covers and replace defective covers
- WSJ finds many iPhone and Android apps are sharing your data without consent
- Nexus S UK price-drop confirmed as launch slips to December 22
- Wireless carriers eye charging a fee per service
- Yamaha Infosound TV test pumps high-pitched URLs into your iPhone
- Best Buy kills restocking fee on phones and other gear
- Zynga and Dr. Dre team up to stream new single “Kush” inside Mafia Wars
- Peek-powered phones, PMPs & digital photo frames in licensing future
| Digital Storm’s new xm15 Laptop Switches Between Video Cards Automagically Posted: 20 Dec 2010 01:53 PM PST Behold, a new computer from Digital Storm. This is the xm15, a sweet light notebook utilizing NVIDIA’s Optimus Hybrid Technology. Its speedy and excellent they say, not least of all because of its GT 425M 1GB video card and the hybrid technology which allows it to switch between its two graphic processors automatically and completely seamlessly so there’s no interruption in operation.
Digital Storm notes this laptop to reach scored above 7200 on 3DMark06, placing it right up there with the big boys. It’s got built-in eSATA and USB 3.0 transfer ports, HDMI and VGI outputs, and a smooth $999 price tag. Upgrades are thus:
Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm's Director of Product Development adds, “"The power demands of high performance laptops have always put a strain on battery life. With the development of NVIDIA's Optimus Hybrid Technology, we're finally able to design an affordable laptop that can handle graphic intensive applications. Our xm15 is the ideal solution for customers who want to consume graphically rich multimedia content, game or just browse the internet…it's truly a hybrid in every definition of the word." [Via Digital Storm - thanks Brian!]
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| Pen Stylus Computing to Return on Android, Adobe Might Ride the Wave Posted: 20 Dec 2010 01:05 PM PST In these days of tablets rising like a wave of oncoming ocean, it’s difficult to remember the days when the Koala pad reigned supreme and I was drawing 3D boxes with a pen stylus. N-Trig, a company known mainly for Windows based touch laptops, hopes to soon change that with a big announcement to come as soon as Tuesday that’ll include words of a new Android slate. This new tablet will make use of N-Trig’s DuoSense technology, will allow for both pen and multitouch input, and will be shipping in the first half of next year.
Vice President of N-Trig Gary Baum spoke with the Wall Street Journal’s Mobilized saying that adding a pen like they plan to do with this Android tablet will increase the cost of the pad by about $50 (no price for adding to is given.) This pen will allow pressure sensitivity and sub-pixel accuracy. A person who finds this particular concept appealing is Adobe’s vice president Michael Gough, who in another interview seems to believe this might open up doors for Adobe’s creative products which are essentially lost to owners of iPads (which Mobilized says are mainly for media consumption.) Gough notes that he still carries around a Moleskine notebook around and until there’s a thin and high-quality enough tablet to replace his old-fashioned pen and ink, he’ll never change. He added that he did feel “a shift coming.” Gough continued, "The personal computer was actually impersonal. The tablet is personal. It's connected to you. Every time I have to use my laptop I feel it is a compromise." As for how Adobe plans on involving themselves in the next generation of technology bridging the gap, Gough said "I would say that it is obvious that there are going to be an explosion of devices in the coming year. Adobe will follow that, I think, just as much as they lead it. It all depends when the devices are in people's hands." He continued by saying something I agree with very much, that Adobe’s products have been as much a detriment to core values of craftsmanship and basic illustration skills as they’ve been a value, but that this might all change very soon: "One of things that I feel like we did over past 20 years convinced a whole generation of people they couldn't draw. What I think is going to happen with these more natural interfaces we are going to have this explosion of creativity. It could be quite an exciting time.” [Via Mobilized]
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| World’s Biggest iPhone is 56 iPads Stacked Together, Lands in London Posted: 20 Dec 2010 11:13 AM PST Sure, saying that the world’s biggest iPhone is a collection of iPads might degrade the whole “biggest iPhone” part, but considering how impressive this thing is to look at, hopefully we can look over the details. In any event, the huge iDevice was built up within London’s St. Pancras International Train Station earlier today, to celebrate the launch of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
The stacks of iPads were put together, and then framed with the iconic black top and bottom of the iPhone, to make it look like a giant iPhone. There are 56 of the tablets installed, and all running the same looped video over and over again. Showing the mobile version of the latest Lara Croft adventure. The title is available in the App Store right now. The version for the iPad is priced at $9.99, while the iPhone and iPod Touch versions are $6.99. [via ElectricPig]
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| ZTE Corporation’s Double Smartphone Wins Red Dot Concept Design Award Posted: 20 Dec 2010 10:39 AM PST As far as concepts for cellphones and smartphones go, they can be pretty creative. As most concepts are, truth be told. But usually, they tend to have a few features in there that we’d love to see in our actual pocketable devices. For example, ZTE Corporation’s concept design for the Double smartphone, which has the same features that plenty of today’s favorite designs have, but also throws in plenty of interesting aspects that would probably be great additions for our smartphones of the future.
Right from the start, the Double has an eye-catching design. Especially with that lime green middle hinge. And then you notice the solar cells that stretch across the length of the device. That hinge, with its green tint, is a 360-degree hinge, which will allow the device to flip back and forth. And thanks to the solar cells on the face, there’s a good chance that you won’t actually run out of power throughout the day — as long as the sun’s up, and feeding your phone the energy that it needs. Other features include a 3.2-inch LCD display, with touch controls. There’s a transparent display that’s been thrown in too, so that when you get notifications, that’s how they’re displayed. Just like the self-sterilizing door handle that also won a Red Dot Concept Design award, the Double smartphone from ZTE Corporation is a design we’d love to see actually make it into the real world. [via Yanko Design]   
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| NEC Dual-Screen Cloud Communicator Tablet & New Marketplace to be Shown off at CES 2011 Posted: 20 Dec 2010 10:11 AM PST The CES 2011 announcements seem to be popping up quite a bit today. With Motorola going on the offensive with their tablet desires, we now have NEC announcing that not only will they be showing up at next year’s CES, but that they’ll be bringing with them quite a few toys. Besides the mention of a “new Android application marketplace,” one of the bigger mentions is the dual-LCD-screen Android tablet.
This new tablet is called the NEC Dual-Screen Cloud Communicator Tablet. It will feature the standard things, like WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity. But NEC has also confirmed that the device will be able to connect to 3G networks, too. NEC is also touting an “industry-first,” with the Communicator’s ability to run different programs on each LCD, giving the tablet a new way of multitasking. There’s also going to be support for a stylus pen, which will be good news to some out there who believe a tablet isn’t a tablet without stylus support. As for that new Android application market, NEC is calling it the BIGLOBE “andronavi.” There isn’t a lot of information on this new marketplace, but apparently it will have a big focus on Japanese content, such as manga, and photography relating to Japan. Check out the full press release, which includes details on a single-screen Android tablet as well. Press Release
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| TRON Inspired Messenger Bag Features EL-Wire [Video] Posted: 20 Dec 2010 09:46 AM PST We’ve seen the controllers. We’ve seen the real light cycles. And we’ve even seen a skatecycle that stole our hearts. We’ve even reviewed the movie. But that’s not going to stop the TRON: Legacy-inspired items from popping up here and there. We’re just happy to see that there’s just as much Do It Yourself magic happening here, as there are “official” products being launched.
This messenger bag may look normal without the wiring and electricity running through it, but that all changes when you flip the switch. The bag features EL-Wire in a very TRON-like layout, and thanks to some soldering, won’t be removed from the bag easily. There’s a battery pack inside, which provides a very low level current of electricity through the wire. The result is some very distinct lines, glowing blue. The video below acts as a tutorial, so if you look at this bag and just have to have one, then take a seat and start taking some notes. [via Lifehacker]
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| Motorola talk tablet evolution: iPad & Galaxy Tab just steps toward Moto Honeycomb slate Posted: 20 Dec 2010 09:40 AM PST CES 2011 is just around the corner, and we already know Motorola is bringing its Android tablet along to the show, but the company couldn’t resist getting a sly dig in at the competition beforehand. In a new “tablet evolution” video the company takes in a few thousand years of stone slates and then a quick nod to the iPad – “It’s like a giant iPhone, but… it’s like a giant iPhone” – and the Samsung Galaxy Tab – “Android OS, but Android OS… for a phone” – before a buzzing bee snuffles conspicuously around a cloth-clad Motorola model.
Video after the cut
Of course, we know that what’s underneath is the Android Honeycomb tablet that Google’s Andy Rubin whipped out in recent weeks, and that was then subsequently seen with Verizon branding. That as-yet unnamed slate is set for an official reveal at CES, when we’ll hopefully find out not only its full specs – beyond NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 chipset – and when we can expect it.
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| Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC for Xbox 360 Landing February 1 Posted: 20 Dec 2010 09:30 AM PST It hasn’t been a secret that Microsoft has a deal with all of the right people to carry the first downloadable content for the mega-hit that is Call of Duty: Black Ops, but perhaps it’s the timing of the announcement that seems like it might rub all of those players on other systems, like Sony’s PlayStation 3. Courtesy of Major Nelson’s latest podcast, it’s been confirmed that the first DLC for Black Ops, entitled First Strike, will indeed be coming to the Xbox 360 first, and it’s launching on February 1st.
The DLC is centered around more multiplayer maps. There will be four standard maps that are introduced in the new map pack, and one map that’s specifically meant for the Zombies mode of the title. As for locations, players will be able to play from one level of the missions in Hong Kong, and another that takes place in the Arctic Circle. There will be two new locations, too: one that’s near the Berlin Wall, and another that takes place in a hockey stadium. For those that play the game on PlayStation 3 or the PC, you are getting the DLC, too. However, you’ll just have to wait until March, 2011. As for pricing, it looks like it’s been decided that 1,200 Microsoft Points has been given the green light. That’s about $15. Anyone think that’s too much? [via Major Nelson]
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| Verizon Showcasing LTE Android Devices at CES 2011 Posted: 20 Dec 2010 09:11 AM PST With Verizon launching their own 4G coverage, everyone has been patiently waiting to see what the first LTE-based handsets would look like. And while there’s been rumors that Verizon would be showing off plenty of handsets at CES in January, 2011, it’s just been confirmed that not only will we see handsets, but that they’ll be running Google’s mobile Operating System, Android.
According to the latest tweet from Verizon’s official Twitter account, they will be showing off at least one Android-based device with LTE on board. Furthermore, it will be on January 6th that this particular unveiling happens. We had hoped, and had already assumed that this would be happening, but thanks to Verizon, it’s now been confirmed. Looks like if you’re a fan of Android, and are eager to see what LTE and Android can do together, you don’t have too long to wait. [via @VerizonWireless]
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| Sam’s Club Selling iPhone 4 for $147 Until Christmas Day Posted: 20 Dec 2010 09:05 AM PST It seems that Sam’s Club is ready to sell the iPhone 4 at a cheaper price, as long as you’re ready to sign over a new, two-year contract. Thanks to a leaked document, it’s been outed that the wholesale retailer is planning on dropping the price of the latest generation iPhone for a few days, for those lucky enough to call themselves members. The new price, which is only available for the iPhone 4 that’s locked to AT&T, will only be around until Christmas Day.
The internal screenshot was sent over to Engadget. As you can see from the image above, Sam’s Club higher-ups have informed those able to sell the iPhone 4 that, until Christmas Day, they will be selling the handset for a measly $147. The new price reflects a two-year contract that you’ll have to sign with AT&T, of course. And, as a little bonus, the wholesale retailer is also discounting the iPhone 3GS, and will be selling it for only $47, until Christmas Day. [via Engadget]
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| Samsung Bada 2.0 detailed: NFC, multitasking, SNS & more Posted: 20 Dec 2010 08:35 AM PST Samsung’s bada OS continues to be the silent runner among smartphone platforms, and the company is aiming big with bada 2.0. Announced at the bada developer day in South Korea, bada 2.0 will introduce NFC support, a boosted UI, third-party social-networking service integration and an all-new SDK with support for Linux and Mac.
There’s also better support for multitasking, with the ability for apps to launch in the background and what Samsung is calling “multi-aspplication execution”. The visual appeal should get a boost from regular TouchWiz too, with new animations and personalization options. It’s the services and revenue model aspects of bada 2.0 which will likely work most in its favor, however. The new version will add an ad gateway and operator billing support, which should make it more interesting to carriers and thus increase the availability, while functionality like speech recognition and push notifications will put it on a more level playing field with iOS and Android. No word on when we can expect bada 2.0 to launch, however, beyond sometime in 2011.
[via Samsung Hub]
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| Leaf Aptus-II 12 80-megapixel camera back now shipping for $32k Posted: 20 Dec 2010 08:15 AM PST Got strong hands, a hatred of low-resolution images and $31,995 burning a hole in your pocket? Leaf would love to help, with PhotographyBlog reporting that the company’s 80-megapixel Aptus-II 12 digital camera back is now shipping. Announced back in September [PDF link], the Aptus-II 12 has a 53.7 x 40.3 mm sensor capable of 80-800 ISO range and 1.5 fps.
The camera back will work with Phase One 645DF and AF and Mamiya 645DF and AF cameras, most Hasselblad V models and a selection of large format cameras via adaptors. On the back there’s a 3.5-inch touchscreen for control, and the end result is up to 10,320 x 7,752 images at up to 480MB.
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| Microsoft firm on Kinect sex game ban Posted: 20 Dec 2010 07:46 AM PST Microsoft has put the dampeners on the possibility of Kinect sex games, insisting that “adults only” titles that used the motion-tracking peripheral for erotic purposes would neither be certified nor condoned on the Xbox 360 platform. The somewhat puritanical stance follows Austrian developer ThriXXX’s demonstration of a 3D adult game making use of the Kinect, which allowed a gamer’s hand to be tracked and mapped onto the body of a scantily-clad on-screen avatar.
At the time, ThriXXX admitted that Microsoft hadn’t been involved in development of the unnamed smut sim. “We do not have permission from anyone on any of this stuff, and have been using stuff from the hacker community to do a working prototype” VP of business development Brad Abram said, though he suggested that, should the Kinect maker prove unimpressed, “maybe we would give it away for free as part of the open-source community efforts.”
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| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M mobile GPU headed for CES 2011 reveal? Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:59 AM PST
NVIDIA will apparently launch its GeForce GTX 5x0M mobile GPU – based on the company’s upcoming GF114 chips – at CES 2011 in January, likely as the GTX 560M. According to Fudzilla‘s sources, the new GPU will have 384 shaders, together with 64 texture address units and 512 texture filtering units, and replace the GeForce GTX 460M (which has 336 shaders).
The notebook video chip has previously been referred to as the GTX 475, though it’s expected that NVIDIA will look to brand it in line with its GeForce GTX 560 range of desktop video GPUs. According to a NVIDIA press release from last week, 200 new products using GeForce GPUs and Intel Sandy Bridge processors are expected in the first half of 2011; however it’s unclear how many of those will use the new GTX 5×0 series chips rather than the existing GTX 4×0 range. [via Expreview]
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| Foursquare iPhone update adds photos & comments; Android version imminent Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:45 AM PST Foursquare has pushed out an update to its popular iPhone app, adding photos and comments to the geo-location service. Available on iTunes today [iTunes link], the new update is apparently a response to user feedback over the past few months, and uses Apple’s push-notifications to immediately update you to the newest comments.
An update to the history pages online pulls together all the comments and photos into a single place. If you use Instagram or Foodspotting, pictures will be included with the check-ins, while picplz supports photos checked-in to both iPhone and Android. Meanwhile, an update to the Foursquare Android app is expected later this week, with Palm and BlackBerry versions due in January 2011 and other “major platforms” after that. Meanwhile the iPhone app will get updates to streamline sharing photos to Facebook and Flickr, an easier way to keep track of comments, and improved organization of old photos.
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| Notion Ink Eden UI gets live video demo Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:02 AM PST It seems the Notion Ink video demo floodgates have opened, with the start-up following Saturday’s Adam walkthrough with new footage showing the Eden UI. Notion Ink’s own handiwork, Eden is a system of side-swiped panes each filled with a single app, together with a red cross-bar launcher for easier task-switching.
Video demo after the cut
The panels can be re-ordered by dragging them around, and there are various views on offer. Best of all, even if the panel is on-screen, if you’re not actively using it, the app doesn’t make demands on your system resources; that means that, even though you can have multiple apps open at once, it won’t put too much of a strain on the Adam’s Tegra 2 processor.
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| Sony upbeat on Google TV, though user fun “might take a little longer” Posted: 20 Dec 2010 05:55 AM PST Sony remains upbeat about Google TV, despite the search giant itself asking hardware partners not to show new STBs and HDTVs featuring the system at CES 2011 next month. Hiroshi Yoshioka, head of Sony’s TV business, described Google TV sales as “in line with expectations,” the NY Times reports, despite conceding that “some reviews have been good, some have been bad” and that “it might take a little longer for users to really start having fun.”
The Japanese company launched a range of four Google TV equipped HDTVs – ranging from 24- to 46-inches – together with a combination Google TV/Blu-ray player alongside Logitech’s Revue STB as the first wave of devices using Google’s Android-based platform. Sony has declined to give sales figures for the range, but did slash prices considerably as part of its Black Friday promotion earlier this year. Sony has 15 to 16 engineers working alongside the Google TV team, something Yoshioka described as far more collaborative than the Sony Ericsson work with the Android team. Sony doesn’t expect to meet its TV sales targets this financial year, and would struggle to be profitable according to Yoshioka; he also blamed sluggish sales of 3D TVs amid consumer confusion regarding the technology.
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| Microsoft axes Office Genuine Advantage program Posted: 20 Dec 2010 05:36 AM PST Microsoft has quietly axed the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) program, no longer requiring that Office users validate their software prior to downloading add-ins or templates. According to Microsoft’s knowledge base article, the OGA “has been retired” though no reason for its demise is given. Meanwhile, the Office Notifier plus Microsoft’s two OGA browser plugins – Internet Explorer’s OGA ActiveX control and Firefox’s OGA plugin – have also been dropped.
However, while the move does make downloading extra content for Office more straightforward, it’s not a sign of Microsoft taking its eye off general Office privacy. The Office activation process is still in force, as is the more general Windows validation. [via ZDNet]
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| Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type Review Posted: 20 Dec 2010 05:27 AM PST Having looked at several models from Nokia’s Symbian^3 smartphone range over the past few months – including the range-topping Nokia N8 – today it’s the turn of more basic fare from the company. The Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type may have a touchscreen but it also keeps a numeric keypad, albeit one with an unusual layout, for those for whom T9 has yet to be eclipsed by on-screen keyboards. Is Nokia still the king of budget cellphones? Check out our full review after the cut.
HardwareThe X3-02′s hardware is unmistakably Nokia in origin, but even having come from the slender C7 its compact dimensions are a pleasant surprise. Measuring in at 106.2 x 48.4 x 9.6 mm and weighing a mere 78g, the chassis is plastic – with a brushed metal battery cover – but feels sturdy and high quality. It’s still unusual to see a candybar phone with both a touchscreen and physical keypad, but Nokia squeeze in both: the X3-02 gives you a 2.4-inch QVGA display and a well-sized, nicely-clicky keypad. Both have some compromises, to accommodate the X3-02′s size and relatively low £159 ($247) SIM-free price. The touchscreen uses a restive panel, though it’s a decent example of the technology; you don’t get multitouch gestures, but neither do you get lag or an overly squeeze feel to the display. Meanwhile the keypad has an unusual 4 x 4 layout, with the star, zero and hash keys shifted to the side of the 1-9 buttons rather than underneath them. Dedicated call-end, messaging, media and call buttons run along the top row; we’d prefer them down the side instead and a more regular layout, but our fingers did eventually get used to the change.
Inside, there are quadband GSM and quadband WCDMA modems (850/900/1900/2100) along with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an FM radio; you also get a microUSB port and a separate Nokia charging port. Disappointingly absent is GPS, which means one of Nokia’s key advantages, Ovi Maps with free turn-by-turn navigation, isn’t available. Internal storage is a mere 50MB but you can use up to 16GB microSD cards. That’s handy, considering the X3-02 has a 5-megapixel camera. SoftwareUnlike the N8, C7 and C6-01, the X3-02 uses Nokia’s ageing S40 OS. That puts it resolutely in the feature-phone category, rather than smartphone, but it’s actually a solid platform for those with less ambitious expectations from their mobile device. The combination of touchscreen and physical keypad works well, with decent-sized on-screen icons and text. The only real stumbling block is scrolling, which tends to be more jumpy as a result of the touchscreen technology, but it’s a minor issue.
The S40 homescreen supports widgets, shortcuts and themes, though the flexibility isn’t as broad as with Symbian^3. Think more customizable launcher than anything else. Preloaded apps include the usual Nokia Messaging Service 3.0, which offers POP/IMAP compatibilty along with Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live and Ovi Mail, with up to ten simultaneous accounts supported. There’s also Ovi Chat, the Ovi Store for downloads – though these are general Java applets and lack the complexity of what you’d find in, say, the Apple App Store or Android Market – and the Opera Mini browser. The internet experience on a 2.4-inch QVGA display is nothing to write home about, and heavy webpages generally brought the X3-02 to a standstill (or at least a timeout warning). Opera’s rendering system does its best to strip out most of the complexity to suit the Nokia’s capabilities, but if you’re planning on doing much in the way of mobile web browsing then you should probably look to a smartphone not a feature-phone. Camera, Phone and Battery5-megapixels is impressive stuff for a feature-phone, though we’ve been spoilt by Nokia’s optics over recent years. While the X3-02 produces decent stills with a fair amount of detail and nice color balance, video is limited to 30fps QVGA resolution or just 15fps VGA resolution; that’s likely a shortcoming of the handset’s processor rather than the camera unit itself.
Phone performance is strong, with clear audio to both parties, and we had no problems using a Bluetooth headset either. Nokia claim up to 300 minutes talktime or 430 hours standby; in practice, even with several calls and some messaging, the X3-02 lasted multiple days between charges. Wrap-UpWith the focus on mid- to high-end smartphones, it’s easy to forget that there’s a considerable market for capable, well-designed feature-phones. The X3-02 isn’t perfect in that respect – we’re not keen on Nokia’s tendency over the years to tinker with their keyboard layouts – but the numeric keypad isn’t as outlandish as some we’ve seen from the Finns, and the tactile buttons go a long way to making up for it. The touchscreen may not be capacitive but it does the job, and S40 lacks the finesse and ambition of a smartphone platform but should satisfy most mainstream users. At £159 SIM-free and unlocked, or around £89 ($138) on pre-pay, it’s also reasonably affordable. Entry-level smartphones like the Android-powered Orange San Francisco offer strong competition at around the £99 ($154) pre-pay mark, but at the expense of the camera performance and battery life. If your focus is on calls, pecking out SMS/MMS messages, snapping photos and going the distance between recharges, the X3-02 will likely fit the bill. Still, cheap Android devices provide a tempting step-up onto the smartphone ladder.               
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| AT&T buy FLO TV spectrum for 4G multicast speed boost Posted: 20 Dec 2010 05:20 AM PST AT&T has announced it will buy Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum, with the lower 700MHz band being earmarked for the carrier’s future 4G ambitions. In a deal worth $1.925bn, AT&T will eventually use carrier aggregation technology developed by Qualcomm for its new mobile chipsets that will see the 700MHz bands used to boost 4G downlink speeds.
The carrier aggregation system will allow unpaired bands to be combined with existing paired bands, and thus higher overall bandwidth be opened up to users. AT&T says it will deploy the new spectrum in that manner “once compatible handsets and network equipment are developed”, though there’s no timescale for that to happen. Qualcomm expects to shut down its FLO TV services by the end of March 2011, though the AT&T sale isn’t expected to be finalized – regulators permitting – until the second half of 2011. The 700MHz spectrum in question apparently more than covers 300 million people total nationwide. Press Release:
Press Release:
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| Kinect update could double resolution Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:48 AM PST The Kinect for the Xbox 360 has turned out to be one very hackable device and the thing has turned up for many more uses than I expected. We know that right now the resolution of the cameras inside the device is set at 320 x 240. Apparently the gear inside is capable of a resolution of 640 x 480.
Microsoft capped the resolution of the sensor to allow multiple USB devices to work at one time. However, Joystiq reports that engineers at Microsoft are working on a fix that will allow the use of multiple USB devices and allow the Kinect to take advantage of its full resolution. The catch to allowing the resolution to increase could include uncertainty offer how much more accurate the camera sensor could be at higher resolution and if processing more pixels will slow things down. The Kinect sensor is limited to 15MB/s of data now and unlocking the sensor would allow 35MB/s of data processing.
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| Bobba Fett Christmas ornament and other geeky decorations Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:38 AM PST If Jabba the Hutt celebrated Christmas the celebration would probably include a bikini-clad princess dancing around, lots of frogs in jars to eat, and a bounty hunter delivering a carbonite encased Han Solo as a gift. This really cool Christmas ornament has surfaced at Oddee and it rocks.
The Bobba Fett ornament is part of a collection of 20 geeky holiday decorations. I also really like the Star Trek centerpiece that shows Spock unboxing some Tribbles and Kirk getting a new yellow shirt. The Darth Vader nutcracker is also really funny and reminds me of Space Balls. I could also get onboard with the Star Trek Stockings; though I suspect that red stocking will burst into flames at any moment since red shirts always die. If these decorations don’t tell Santa you are a geek, nothing will.     Via Neatorama
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| Amazon vows to look into problem with Kindle covers and replace defective covers Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:24 AM PST Apparently, some Amazon Kindle users that purchased the non-lighted cover along with their reader have been having some issues with the device rebooting and freezing at times after the case was installed. It seems the issue is directly related to the cover in some way.
The lighted cover is not causing any issues with the device. Amazon has not offered an official reason or explanation of why or how the cover might be causing the issues with the Kindle reader. However, the speculation is that the metal hooks on the non-lighted cover are causing problems. Amazon says it is looking into the problem and will honor returns and exchange request for any users wanting a different cover for their device. The exchanges and refunds will be offered no matter when the cover was purchased.
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| WSJ finds many iPhone and Android apps are sharing your data without consent Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:12 AM PST The Wall Street Journal conducted an investigation recently were it took 101 apps on the iPhone and Android smartphones and looked at the information that the apps shared with third parties about the user. The WSJ found that 56 of the apps in the investigation sent the smartphones unique device ID to other companies without the user knowing or agreeing to the sharing. 47 of the apps sent the phones location to third parties, and five of the apps sent age, gender, and personal details to outsiders.
The data is mostly sent to ad companies so they can tailor ads to the user’s history for better results. The WSJ says that the app that shares the most personal info is an iPhone app called TextPlus 4. The app sent the unique ID of the device to eight ad companies and also sent the zip code, user’s age, and gender to two more firms. The iPhone and Android diversion of Pandora was a big offender sending age, gender, location, and phone identifier to ad networks. The Android and iPhone game Paper Toss also sent the phone ID to five ad firms. The WSJ also claims that most of the developers of these apps have no user privacy policy in place.
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| Nexus S UK price-drop confirmed as launch slips to December 22 Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:03 AM PST As we spotted over the weekend, Google’s Nexus S has seen a price-cut in the UK, with the SIM-free Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone now coming in at £429.99 rather than the original £549.95. However, Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy UK have also confirmed this morning that the handset has been delayed a couple of days from Google’s original launch plan: the UK Nexus S will now go on sale from December 22 2010, rather than from today.
The pre-pay price for the Nexus S has also been reduced, down to the same £429.99 as the SIM-free figure; over the weekend, it had remained at the original £549.95. On contract, the Nexus S is available from free with a new agreement priced at £30 per month or above. As for in-store availability this coming Wednesday, only “key” Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy stores will have stock; all other branches of Carphone Warehouse will be taking orders via instant ship delivery, so you won’t be able to walk away with a phone there and then. For more on the Nexus S, check out the full SlashGear review. Google Nexus S unboxing & walkthrough: Press Release:
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| Wireless carriers eye charging a fee per service Posted: 20 Dec 2010 03:41 AM PST The wireless world as we know it is a changing. We all know that the wireless carriers have spent years trying to convince us all that they need to charge us a lot more money for the data services we use on smartphones. I think that few of us have been convinced that the carrier has significantly more costs when we use YouTube than they do when we don’t.
With the FCC pussing out on much of the net neutrality stuff that it had talked about and apparently ready to cave to major wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T by not including them under propsed regulations the days of having unlimited and open wireless accounts on our devices in the US are numbered. A slide has surfaced from a marketing presentation given by Allot Communications and Openet, which are companies that sell subscriber management, tools to major providers like AT&T and Verizon. The slide shows a way that the carriers can identify what the subscriber is using and then charge the user a specific fee for using the service. The company even claims that its system can figure out what encrypted packets are using and charge even if the user tries to avoid detection. If there was ever a company deserving of a nice denial of service attack it’s Allot. Via Engadget
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| Yamaha Infosound TV test pumps high-pitched URLs into your iPhone Posted: 20 Dec 2010 03:28 AM PST Yamaha Japan has run a live broadcast demo of its Infosound technology, which takes advantage of high-pitched sound frequencies inaudible to humans to transmit data to mobile devices like the iPhone. Infosound uses frequencies above 18kHz for 80bps short-range data transfer; while Yamaha was demonstrating prototype systems at CEATEC earlier this year, a live test on Japanese digital TV network RCC took place in Tokyo in the early hours of this morning.
The test broadcast worked with a special iPhone app [iTunes link] that could convert the high-pitched audio into webpage URLs. Yamaha expect the technology to be used to distribute web information from broadcast TV or radio, as well as in museums for visitor guides around various exhibits, and in distributing coupons and other discount vouchers. While Infosound’s range and bandwidth is low – at most 10m from the speaker, Yamaha suggests – it’s nonetheless enough for short bursts of text like URLs, product codes or other links. Meanwhile, by comparing the various volume levels of multiple Infosound transmissions, a device could also work out its location.
[via AV Watch]
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| Best Buy kills restocking fee on phones and other gear Posted: 20 Dec 2010 03:28 AM PST
The restocking fee on iPhone for instance was set at 10% and the restocking fee on other electronics was 15%. Best Buy has now eliminated those restocking fees as of Saturday. The Consumerist reports that the 15% restock fee no longer applies on notebooks, tablets, and iPads for instance. Other products that can be returned with no restocking fee include camcorders, digital cameras, GPS and a lot more. The fees aren't just being eliminated for the holidays either, this will apparently be the new policy for Best Buy from here on out. I am glad to see these restocking fees eliminated and I would bet lots of other gadget hounds are too. It seems that Best Buy is even refunding the restocking fees charged to customers that returned items between November 17 and December 17 as well.
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| Zynga and Dr. Dre team up to stream new single “Kush” inside Mafia Wars Posted: 20 Dec 2010 03:11 AM PST Dr. Dre is one of the most known rap artists in the music world. The rapper and game maker Zynga has announced a new music deal what will see the new Dr. Dre single Kush streamed within the Mafia Wars online game. The new track comes from Dr. Dre’s new album Detox.
The video for Kush that will be streamed inside the game features Snoop Dog and Akon and will be free to stream and can be viewed right now. The album the single is from will land in early 2011. Mafia Wars also gets a bunch of Dre inspired goods. Limited edition virtual goods can be won by players within a separate “Hustlin’ wit Dre” portion of the Mafia Wars game. The virtual goods will include things like headphones, a vintage car, and various weapons. Players will also be able to register to win autographed goods like headphones and a signed copy of the CD.
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| Peek-powered phones, PMPs & digital photo frames in licensing future Posted: 20 Dec 2010 02:52 AM PST Simplistic messaging company Peek is looking to move away from standalone hardware and instead position itself as a software provider for budget-smartphone and consumer electronics manufacturers. CEO Amol Sarva told GigaOm that Peek’s power-frugral software – which offers support for push-email, location-based services and basic social networking integration, all on 100MHz chips – is set to arrive on five phones in the next month, and on thirty by the end of 2011.
Peek has been working to make its software compatible with Qualcomm’s ultra-low cost BREW platform – as powering the HTC Smart – as well as on MediaTek chips. The combination, Sarva says, will see very low-end smartphones produced to take on emerging markets in India, Africa and Latin America, among others, with unsubsidized pricing reaching as little as $50. The software is designed to cope with the sort of patchy, non-3G coverage that is common in such markets.
Meanwhile, Peek is apparently in talks with consumer electronics makers – including those responsible for digital photo frames, cameras, tablets, clock radios and PMPs – regarding using the same software and back-end services in upcoming devices. “If you're a camera maker, you can put in 3G and move in the direction of a phone” Sarva says. The expectation is that revenue from software applications will eventually account for up to 80-percent of Peek’s business.
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Best Buy has always been good enough at taking back electronics and mobile phones. The catch was that the company charged a restocking fee on those items that could be very expensive depending on what you were returning.
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