What's new on SlashGear.com |
- Lenovo U260 IdeaPad Notebook Review
- iTunes and Safari Combining Into One Application, Rumor Suggests
- Xbox Isn’t a Gaming Console, Steve Ballmer Says
- White iPhone 4 Shows Off in Vodafone Germany’s Inventory System, Still No Release Date
- Biolamp Concept Cleans the Air, Fuels Eco Cars
- François Vogel Previews Device That Syncs Your Blinks to a Monitor for 3D Viewing [Video]
- Jonathan Ross Teases Metroid Coming to Nintendo 3DS
- Mattel’s Hot Wheels Video Racer Lets You See the Race from Inside the Car
- Scientist Aims to Bring a Woolly Mammoth to Life by 2016
- BlackBerry PlayBook is a Great Standalone Tablet, RIM Senior Product Manager Says
- Magazine Publishers Still Seeking Recurring Application Subscriptions for the iPad
- HP Ready to Ship a Dick Tracy Wristwatch to the US Army Later This Year
- AA USB Concept Design Combines USB Drive and AA Battery
- Capcom Adds Akuma and Taskmaster to Marvel vs Capcom 3 Lineup [Video]
- A Real Tablet has a Stylus
- SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: January 17 2011
- Sonos considering in-car and headphone systems
- Microsoft cannibalizing MSN to drive Bing growth?
- SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I card promises 45MB/sec
- HTC 7 Pro finally on sale (in Germany)
- Indonesian BlackBerry porn ban by end of week
- RIM considering adding server support for non-BlackBerry devices
- Consumer Reports cautious on Verizon iPhone 4
- Kinect robot control hack gives you an aerobics buddy [Video]
- Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence
- NEC Avio Thermo Mirror tells you you’re hot
- PlayStation Phone gets another video preview
- Project HiJack slurps power for smartphone audio port for sensors
- Apple banning publishers from bundled iPad subscriptions?
- Toyota developing new electric motor for hybrids to reduce need for Chinese rare earth
| Lenovo U260 IdeaPad Notebook Review Posted: 17 Jan 2011 01:43 PM PST The following is a review of the black and orange Lenovo U260 IdeaPad Windows 7 notebook – a super-comfortable little businessman made for ultra-stylish checkings of online business and perhaps even the playing of some games. The very first thing you’ll notice about this laptop is that it is a fantastic shade of orange – this is one of two colors it can be, (the other being Mocha,) but that’s not the reason you’ll stick around. Nor is the most comfortable experience I’ve had with a notebook since I first started using MacBooks – use this factoid in your judgement of MY judgement, because it makes me a hard customer to sell when it comes to notebooks outside of the industrial designer brilliance employed by Apple. Note first and foremost that I think Apple’s people should talk to Lenovo’s people here if they ever plan on moving away from hard plastic and flat metal surfaces.
HardwareThis tiny notebook has a 12.5 inch LCD digital display with 1366 x 768 resolution and a matte finish. It weighs approximately 3 pounds and is 0.7 inches thick. The outer casing is a lovely shade of orange (Clementine Orange, if you’d like to get specific,) one of two colors, the other being Mocha Brown. These colors instantly say a lot about what the notebook is meant for – comfortable computing in a semi-professional environment. That is, if you’re in an environment that hates color. If you’re working somewhere that appreciates a tiny splash, then yes, this is the notebook for you. This outer casing has an almost-rubbery feel to it, a very similar feel to the inside below the keyboard. The combination of these two makes the notebook seem to already be inside a case, one you would have purchased to make your whole experience nice and, again, comfortable to the touch.
The keyboard is a sort of Chicklet shaped key experience, with a little extra swoop below each key where normally it’d be squared off. It took your humble narrator just a couple minutes to get a completely natural feel for the board before he was tapping away like crazy. The one complaint I have about the keyboard portion of this computer is the far right row. Where I’m used to being able to find backspace, enter, shift, and etc, there’s an extra row of keys crammed up the side, the arrow keys down below, part of this row. This might be a big problem for those whose jobs depend on them typing a billion words a minute, but for everyone else, it’ll just take a couple days to get used to (if you’re used to a standard qwerty keyboard, that is.)
The trackpad is refreshing. Where I found the tappability of the gigantic HP ENVY 17 3D‘s trackpad to be unbelievably sensitive, this one appears to be right on. What I mean here is that you can both track around with your finger or single/double-click on items with the same pad, there’s no need to access the buttons below unless you’d like to drag items around the screen. The buttons are oddly refreshing too, both of them relying on more of a push than a click, if you know what I mean. System - LENOVO 0876
Inside the machine you’ll find a Intel Core i5 processor with 3.8 GB RAM and a 320 GB 5400 rpm hard drive. Graphics are handled by a “Intel HD graphics” graphics card powering a 12.5 inch LCD digital display at 1366 X 768 pixels. Viewing angles are basically perfect left to right, turn a bit darker at approximately 30 degrees up or down. Glare is taken care of by the lovely matte finish on the screen, but you wouldn’t have to be worrying about glare on such a small computer anyway, so it’s a bit of a moot point. On the other hand, if you live in a one bedroom apartment, maybe you WILL have to worry about glare because you’ll use this as your TV. No worries then though, because there isn’t any.
Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth v2.1, the left side containing headphone jack and USB jack as well as a lock port if you plan on bringing this to a convention or something like that.
Along the right you’ll find an ethernet jack, HDMI, VGA, and USB. There’s a lovely integrated web camera up and center above the screen with not quite as good quality as you’d want to be having a meeting in a professional setting, but just fine for a casual user. For a video of a hands-on experience with this machine, head back to the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 Hands-On and Unboxing post, also done by yours truly.
SoftwareThe Lenovo IdeaPad U260 runs Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit) and includes a surprisingly small amount of bloatware. This list includes Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer (64 bit), Microsoft Office 2010, Windows Anytime Upgrade, WIndows DVD Maker, WIndows Fax and Scan, WIndows Media Center, WIndows Media Player, (honestly do they really have to title all of these “Windows?”,) WIndows Update, McAfee virus scan, ooVoo, and a few other things that won’t jam up your day too badly. Oh, and Smile Dock! As always, we instantly installed Google Chrome and Firefox, both of which have been working just fine for internet browsing and downloading. PerformanceThis machine is made to bring with you on a short trip – definitely not coming with the computing power you’d like to have on an everyday basis, especially if you’re in a computer-centric job, this is definitely the one you’ll want to bring with when you take that trip to Mobile World Congress 2011. Unless you want to watch a DVD or insert CDs of course. Let’s take a peek at the numbers: The Lenovo U260 IdeaPad ended up grabbing a 2147 on Geekbench (a synthetic test of memory and processor performance.) This places it right around the MacBook Air (3.1) which received a 2261, and the Acer Aspire 3810T (which we reviewed in June of 2009) at 2281. Thusly, you wont find this machine winning any computing power contests, but if you’re looking for a competitor for the MacBook air, here it is, not quite as bigtime. Benchmark Score - LENOVO 0876
This machine received Cinebench (v. 11.5) rating of .94fps with 1.25pts on the CPU, so again, not exactly a gigantically majestic gaming and entertainment machine. On the other hand, it works just fine with speed for everyday activities, clicking, tapping, playing videos on online streaming sites, audio’s just fine, everything’s good enough for a part-time usage machine.
BatteryThe battery is not fantastic. It’ll last you right around 3 hours doing BASIC tasks – if you’re bringing this on a long flight, hope that you get a plugin by your seat. On the other hand, there’s basically no heat coming from the machine at any time. Intel’s advanced cooling technology really shines clearly here. Wrap-UpIf you’re a Windows sort of person, and want a tiny computer to bring with you on a trip – this is the one. This is exactly what you’re going to want. If you plan on being in the field without portable power or a wall plug for hours on end, maybe consider something else. This computer takes into account the fact that Apple is attempting to rock the ultraportable market with their MacBook Air and slams directly into it with a completely reasonably sized (small, but not tiny) notebook with a completely unique feel on the outside and the in. Starting at $899 it appears to me to be right in the correct range for cost. Uniqueness, lack of bloatware, relatively decent experience for how small a computer it is, comfortable physically. Well played, Lenovo.                
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| iTunes and Safari Combining Into One Application, Rumor Suggests Posted: 17 Jan 2011 01:38 PM PST If you’re on a Windows-based computer, and you happen to download Apple’s iTunes software, then you know that the company inherently suggests that you should download their Safari Web browser, too. Just to compliment you’re already on-going download. Whether or not you do, that’s your decision. But, many PC owners shy away from Apple’s Web browser of design. If a new rumor is to be believed, then it looks like Apple has found a way around this, and may be combining iTunes and Safari into one application.
The rumor is coming from Three Guys and a Podcast, who have received the information from a trusted, unnamed source. As far as the source suggests, implementing iTunes’ organizational side-bar into Safari wouldn’t be that hard. In turn, the usage of Safari would jump up, if not out-right skyrocket, due to the combination of the pieces of software. According to Three Guys and a Podcast: "Moving iTunes organizational side-bar into Safari isn't a monumental task" claimed a source, adding "Safari would skyrocket in use as a result of integrating the software titles together." Obviously, if Apple were to combine the two, and make it necessary for someone to use Safari to get to their iTunes catalog, then the usage of Safari would climb. That is, unless people didn’t like that plan, and refused to download the newer version of iTunes or Safari, or both. Granted, a huge exodus from iTunes isn’t likely, no matter how Apple implements the software. The rumor suggests that Apple could be ready to make this transition official as early as Fall. [via AppAdvice]
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| Xbox Isn’t a Gaming Console, Steve Ballmer Says Posted: 17 Jan 2011 01:28 PM PST If you’re a gamer, and you know other gamers, then you’ve probably had at least one conversation that focused on whether or not the Xbox 360 is better than the PlayStation 3, or vice versa. It’s a heated debate, for sure, but if you’ve been talking about whether or not each of the consoles is a better gaming console, then Steve Ballmer can clear everything up for you rather quickly. In a recent interview, Ballmer opined that the Xbox 360 isn’t, in fact, a gaming console at all. No, it’s something much more.
Steve Ballmer had an interview with USA Today’s Maria Bartiromo, and informed her that “Xbox isn’t a gaming console.” He added that, “Xbox is a family entertainment center. It’s a place to socialize. It’s a place to watch TV.” Obviously, while Ballmer can’t ignore the fact that the majority of the Xbox 360′s success has come from videogames, he is focusing on the bigger picture, and offering up a far more generalized title for Microsoft’s console, instead of shoving it down into a specific niche. Of course, Ballmer couldn’t go without talking about the recently released Kinect peripheral. He pointed out that the device is female-friendly, and hopes that women will opt-in to play more games, due to the lack of joystick-heavy controllers. The CEO wants to draw in more players, more of a demographic than just the “gamer.” He wants to bring in the whole family, which is pretty obvious from the marketing campaign that Microsoft has been trying to sell the Kinect with since its launch. The big question is, how do you feel about Microsoft’s CEO saying the company’s videogame console isn’t a gaming console? [via USA Today]
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| White iPhone 4 Shows Off in Vodafone Germany’s Inventory System, Still No Release Date Posted: 17 Jan 2011 01:14 PM PST The white iPhone 4 is still a mystery device. Despite the fact that we’ve seen the device at the initial announcement for the iPhone 4, the handset hasn’t managed to make an official debut since. But, that doesn’t stop it from popping up every once in awhile. This time around, Vodafone Germany apparently has the device sitting in their inventory, ready for some unknown date of sale.
Both the 16GB and 32GB versions are shown in the above image. Unfortunately, the screenshot just says that the devices exist, somewhere. But, it doesn’t give us any kind of timetable as to when the devices will launch. While it’s good to see that Vodafone Germany is getting ready, in some capacity, to launch the device, we would much rather see an official announcement from Apple. [via Engadget]
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| Biolamp Concept Cleans the Air, Fuels Eco Cars Posted: 17 Jan 2011 01:00 PM PST While we’ve seen concept designs recently really focus on helping the environment in one fashion or another, we haven’t seen many that actually focus on two separate causes at once, and aim to fix both of them with one device. The Biolamp concept design is meant to not only clean the air, but also fuel eco cars. The design implements solar energy, as well as the usage of a specialized liquid to make the magic happen.
The Biolamp is designed to convert carbon dioxide into fuel. This fuel is meant to power the street lamps at night, as well as eco-friendly vehicles. It features a pump that literally sucks the smog and other contaminants out of the air. Inside, there’s a liquid made from alga and mixed with water. During the day, the Biolamp pulls the smog into the spiral system where the water and CO2 are used to transform the alga into a biomass. Some of it is deposited into the lamp itself to power it during the night. The rest of the biomass is then filtered through a pipe system underground to a facility that will transform it into usable fuel for eco cars. Seems like a lot of work, especially with the underground tubes to transport the biomass, but the Biolamp’s ability to clean the air, as well as provide a seemingly limitless amount of biomass to change into biofuel makes it a unique enough design. [via TheDesignBlog]   
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| François Vogel Previews Device That Syncs Your Blinks to a Monitor for 3D Viewing [Video] Posted: 17 Jan 2011 12:42 PM PST François Vogel is a visual artist that hates 3D. And while the debate about 3D being the next step of entertainment is still a hotly-debated topic, the consensus that most people don’t want to wear 3D glasses to watch 3D entertainment seems pretty straight forward: they don’t want to wear them. Vogel doesn’t want to wear them, either, and so he’s created a gadget that gets around the glasses by actually syncing your blinks to a monitor. The device attaches to the sides of your eyes, and then makes you blink when necessary.
According to Vogel, the gadget is meant to simulate 3D active shutter glasses. He points out that the technology will only work on a monitor or display that features a 120Hz refresh rate. As for information regarding the gadget and technology behind it (other than making you blink a lot, and quickly), Vogel is holding back. He plans on showing it all off at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2012. You can watch Vogel talk about the device in the video below, and then you can discuss in the comments below whether or not this is something you’d ever consider buying. Other than the fact that it may not be the best for your eyelids, how do you think something like this would be accepted, or rejected, in the general market? [via DVICE]
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| Jonathan Ross Teases Metroid Coming to Nintendo 3DS Posted: 17 Jan 2011 12:29 PM PST Nintendo’s set to release the floodgates on information regarding their upcoming 3DS, the 3D-enabled portable gaming unit, this Wednesday. It’s expected that Nintendo will announce how much the device will cost in Europe and North America, along with an official release date. UK TV host Jonathan Ross, who’s managed to spill the beans on another huge title (Fable III) in the past, may have offered up a tasty morsel of what to expect in two days at Nintendo’s event in Amsterdam. And it involves one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises to date.
In a brief exchange on Twitter, Ross responded with “I think you’re going to be pleased then…” in a reply to Twitter user darrenkerwin’s comment, “I have my fingers crossed for Metroid..” To add to the buzz, Ross then added that there’s going to be a few other “faves” coming to the announcement as well, along with “a few unexpected revivals.” The speculation about what could be coming is high, but with the announcement just a couple of days away, Ross is keeping quiet now. Jonathan Ross is set to host the Nintendo announcement on Wednesday, where it looks like we may see plenty of surprises. If Metroid does indeed make an appearance on the 3DS, aside from the full demo of Metroid Prime Hunters we’ve seen in the past, it would mean that Nintendo has yet another franchise ready to go the 3D route that many fans will more than likely accept into their lives. [via IGN]
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| Mattel’s Hot Wheels Video Racer Lets You See the Race from Inside the Car Posted: 17 Jan 2011 12:12 PM PST Hot Wheels have been around for a long, long time, but it’s one toy that hasn’t managed to get upgraded all that much over the years. But, for kids who want to still race their favorite cars on ridiculous tracks, it’s about time that Mattel adds a little extra to the small vehicles. That’s where the Video Racer comes in. Designed so that kids (and adults) can experience what it’s like going through that huge loop, or series of loops, right from the inside of the car.
Inside the Video Racer, there’s a small video camera that will be able to capture video at either 30fps, or 60fps. People will have the ability to watch the recorded video either on their TV or PC, thanks to a USB cable. Or, there’s a small LCD screen on the bottom of the vehicle, if you don’t want to have to worry about connecting your toy car to your PC. Mattel is even including a Hot Wheels video editor, which will allow you to edit features of the videos you record, as well as string them together to make some epic Hot Wheels movies. Mattel plans on releasing the cars in the fall of 2011, and have marked them with a price tag of $60. That includes the USB cable. [via Pocket-Lint]   
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| Scientist Aims to Bring a Woolly Mammoth to Life by 2016 Posted: 17 Jan 2011 11:54 AM PST This wouldn’t be the first time that a scientist, and a relatively huge team, have tried to bring back an extinct animal. Furthermore, it isn’t the first time that a Woolly Mammoth has been the extinct animal of choice. But for one scientist, those previous attempts mean nothing, because within the next five years, Dr. Akira Iritani wholeheartedly believes that he can bring back the giant animal.
Dr. Iritani plans on travelling to a Russian-based Mammoth research facility this summer, where he will try to acquire a working tissue sample. Iritani says that as long as the sample is three square centimeters, he should be able to retrieve what he needs to create life from the sample. He will insert the cells into an egg of an African elephant, where the gestation period is said to be last up to 600 days. Iritani will be using a method, while slightly altered to fit his precise needs, that was originally used by Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama of the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology 16 years previously. This method successfully cloned a mouse that had been frozen for 16 years. Obviously 5,000 years, which the Woolly Mammoth has been extinct, is drastically different than 16 years, but Iritani believes the “technical problems” have been overcome, and therefore it is finally possible to bring back a Woolly Mammoth. Dr. Akira Iritani is a professor at Kyoto University. If he succeeds in his endeavor, Iritani plans on studying the Woolly Mammoth’s genes and ecology to figure out why the species became extinct. [via PCMag]
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| BlackBerry PlayBook is a Great Standalone Tablet, RIM Senior Product Manager Says Posted: 17 Jan 2011 11:34 AM PST As far as tablets go, not many of them have been designed to be an out-right extension of a smaller device, like a smartphone. Many manufacturers have brought them to market to stand as their own device, unhindered by the necessity of being tethered to another device to have primary functions. For the BlackBerry PlayBook, the first tablet device from Research In Motion (RIM), one of the major complaints about the device is the requirement that it be connected to a BlackBerry smartphone for some features to function.
RIM designed the PlayBook so that some PIM-related features, like the use of the Calendar, Contacts, and Memos applications can’t be done without being tethered to a BlackBerry device in one fashion or another. Whether it be wired or wireless. It’s taken further by the fact that the PlayBook won’t be able to send corporate email from the native email application on the tablet device without being connected to a BlackBerry smartphone either. Despite these things that some may call a glaring issue, RIM’s Senior Product Manager in charge of the PlayBook, Ryan Bidan, says that the tablet “is a great standalone tablet.” He goes on to add that “this is not a device that’s reliant on a BlackBerry.” However, what Bidan does not say, is anything about the specific complaints from potential customers regarding the PIM-related features, and the necessity to be connected to a BlackBerry smartphone to access them. Instead, Bidan takes a broad approach, and teases that having PIM functions without needing to be tethered to a BlackBerry smartphone “will come as the platform evolves.” No date provided, but at least it’s coming eventually. We got some hands-on time with the device at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, so check out the video below, and head through this link to read what we thought of the initial preview. [via Forbes]
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| Magazine Publishers Still Seeking Recurring Application Subscriptions for the iPad Posted: 17 Jan 2011 11:15 AM PST
Right now, the current state of magazine subscriptions, or lack there of, is a pressing matter for major publishers making their magazines and other periodicals available through Apple’s App Store for download. While sales for magazines started off well, it’s been noted that their sales are starting to drop off, and the fact that there’s no recurring subscription pricing available for these periodicals is being attributed as the main cause. But now that The Daily –the iPad-specific daily periodical from News Corp.– is being rumored to be delayed because of the recurring application subscription feature, publishers are starting to wonder when they will be able to utilize the same feature.
It’s been rumore that The Daily’s launch, along with the application subscription feature, is meant to act as a vessel for the API’s availability for other publishers to take advantage of. However, that hasn’t been confirmed, which means that publishers are still left to use the per-issue payment plan that they’ve had to implement since their launch. According to a report in The New York Times, it’s expected that other publishers will be able to take advantage of the API some time in the future, but publishers like TIME Inc., Conde Naste and Hearst haven’t heard anything about it yet, and no deals have been confirmed. The method that users must obtain their favorite periodicals now isn’t something that sits well with major publishers. The fact that customers must pay per-issue, for one, along with the fact that they must go into the App Store and find the new issue on their own is something that these publishers believe is detracting from sales. And the numbers, which have begun to slough off since most periodical’s launch earlier in 2010, would go far to confirm these suggestions. Earlier today, it was reported that Apple is banning publishers from creating bundled iPad subscriptions, based on the fact that Apple is working on their own subscription-based API, and that they have until March 31st to implement the current system or face being yanked out of the App Store altogether. [via AppleInsider]
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| HP Ready to Ship a Dick Tracy Wristwatch to the US Army Later This Year Posted: 17 Jan 2011 10:52 AM PST While we’ve seen plenty of devices that look like a small wristwatch with technology that’s certainly not limited to just a watch, it’s still not that infamous Dick Tracy watch that so many people want on their wrist. According to a new report from Mercury News, Hewlett-Packard (HP) is ready to move their prototype flexible display technology to the next level, and offer up a prototype “Dick Tracy wristwatch” to the United States Army.
HP researchers say that later this year, they will be ready to ship out a Dick Tracy-like wristwatch to the US Army. The device would obviously be an early prototype, but HP is confident that their flexible display technology is lightweight enough that soldiers wearing the device won’t have to worry about its presence. That, and the plastic won’t shatter or crack, even in the situations that many soldiers find themselves in. The wristwatch would be able to display digital maps, along with other information when necessary. While this is just a prototype, HP’s Director of Advanced Display Research Carl Taussig is already hinting at what could be coming much sooner than the Dick Tracy watch to the consumer market. In the report, he points out that “long before” those hit the market, flexible display technology will be in use in other gadgets, like laptops and smartphones, to make them much lighter, and make them much more durable. Of course, with the talk of mobile devices like smartphones and laptops, webOS can’t be too far behind. Using webOS on a flexible wristwatch would be a dream come true for a lot of people, and if HP continues to push for the usage of flexible displays in devices, it’s not hard to imagine that webOS will find its way into the picture some day. The sooner the better, right? [via PreCentral]
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| AA USB Concept Design Combines USB Drive and AA Battery Posted: 17 Jan 2011 10:24 AM PST Combining devices, gadgets, or ideas into one useful object is something that more companies should try and implement. Of course, getting the idea out of the concept stage is tough, especially if you’re a designer that hasn’t been picked up by a huge company. For Wonchul Hwang, the concept design for the AA USB is something that many people would probably find some use in.
The AA USB, which as you might have guessed from the name is a combination of a AA battery and USB drive, is meant to function as a standard USB stick, but then be installed into a battery-powered device when necessary. When the device is plugged into your computer, it will recharge itself, while able to store your necessary data. Unplugging it, you’ll be able to put it into a flashlight, radio, or other device that uses AA batteries, just like a “normal” battery. Transitioning the device from a USB drive to the AA battery is as simple as a twist. There will be LED indicators on the side of the USB AA which will show how much energy is left in the small battery, letting you know how much energy is left. Anyone think this could be something they’d use every day? [via Yanko Design]   
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| Capcom Adds Akuma and Taskmaster to Marvel vs Capcom 3 Lineup [Video] Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:57 AM PST Capcom isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to their newest fighting title, Marvel vs Capcom 3. There are a ton of characters being thrown into the game, with the biggest stars getting front-and-center recognition. But, despite the fact the game is set to launch just around the corner, Capcom isn’t done adding characters. The company has confirmed that one previously rumored-about character, Taskmaster, is indeed being added to the lineup. And, a fan favorite, Akuma is also coming along for the ride.
Akuma is a well-known character in the Street Fighter universe. The younger brother of Gouken, who taught the series’ main characters Ken and Ryu everything they know, Akuma is Ryu’s main antagonist in his own personal story. In Marvel vs Capcom 3, Akuma will be a hidden character that’s set to make your fights harder from time to time.
And then there’s Taskmaster. A Marvel-based character that’s able to copy moves from those he is fighting. It’s called “photographic reflexes.” So, as you fight Taskmaster, he’ll be able to use the moves you’re using to beat you down, mixed in with his own.
There’s no word on whether or not Capcom is done adding characters, or if they’ve still got more up their sleeve, ready to break into the mix. There’s always the possibility that Galactus gets added in as well, as the planet eater was rumored along with Taskmaster to be joining the ranks. Marvel vs Capcom 3 is set to launch on February 15th. [via Kotaku]
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| Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:30 AM PST 2011 may be the year of the tablet, but as a segment it’s still painfully immature. Our hands-on with ASUS’ Eee Slate EP121 last week triggered the usual arguments, dismissing the 12.1-inch tablet out of hand because of its perceived “old” technology. Admittedly, there are plenty of points where the EP121 could fall short: ASUS reckon users will see up to 8hrs runtime, which seems hopelessly ambitious for a relatively slimline slate with a Core i5 processor, and the display was frustratingly glossy. Still, the dual-mode hybrid touchscreen is its crowning glory for those who understand that there’s more to a stylus than most – Steve Jobs included – would have you believe.
While the EP121 will happily let you stab at Windows 7 with your finger – or two, since capacitive multitouch is supported – it’ll also let you whip out the included active stylus and get far more precise. Art apps are the obvious beneficiary, with the Eee Slate turned into a self-contained Wacom Cintiq, but there’s also digital handwriting recognition for a surprisingly accurate alternative to onscreen keyboards. Float the stylus nib above the screen and you can move the pointer without making a selection, for hover functionality; there’s also pressure recognition, so the harder you sketch, the thicker the line. Unfortunately, most users have only ever come across two types of touchscreen: the resistive panels common on pre-iPhone smartphones and the capacitive screens Apple’s handset helped popularize. Active digitisers are something most people are unfamiliar with, so they associate a stylus with a dumb plastic toothpick, something that’s most likely a compromise for undersized on-screen icons. Throw in the generally underwhelming experience of resistive touchscreens on commercial devices – in markets on self-checkout machines, for instance – and you can see how it could be boiled down to a two-player battle in which capacitive technology pulls ahead. Microsoft isn’t helping things with software, either. Devices with active digitisers – or hybrid pen/touch displays – generally run Windows, and the Microsoft OS still falls well short when it comes to tablet usability. It’s been more than eight years since Windows XP Tablet Edition launched, and while the handwriting and speech recognition engines have improved behind the scenes, visible tablet accommodation to the end-user has barely evolved. Ironically, Microsoft has had the answer – or at least a potentially significant part of it – under their nose all the time, in the shape of OneNote and the team responsible for it. Billed as a digital notetaking app (which supports searches of handwritten notes, among other things), OneNote is actually a great example of how Windows and stylus control can work together in a way far more intuitive and flexible than putting finger to screen. For a while, with the Courier project, it seemed like the company had recognized its strengths and was set to take advantage of them. Rather than the “must do everything your desktop does” attitude that infects current Windows tablets – and leaves them mixing pen, finger, keyboard and mouse paradigms and failing at them all – Courier looked set to do one core set of skills very well, something that no other current tablet offered. Rather than ASUS’ Eee Pad models, which bill themselves as ideal for content-creation as well as consumption and then deliver that by merely bolting on a physical keyboard, the active stylus would have allowed for precise digital handwriting and sketching – with pressure sensitivity, angle recognition and more. No, perhaps it wouldn’t be the best device to run World of Warcraft on, or to do your company spreadsheets, but Microsoft appeared to be finally saying that some things were best left to your desktop or notebook. Courier could have been another step on Microsoft’s path to an Apple-style ecosystem of devices and services – all held together by its beloved cloud – and offering not just a facsimile of the iOS platform but a legitimate alternative based on something Steve Jobs refuses to countenance: that a stylus can still be a legitimate input option for a mobile device. This isn’t meant to be an eulogy to Courier, but nor is the stylus ready for its obituary. The iPad has made great strides in popularising the tablet segment, but it’s also left Apple’s rivals scrabbling to create me-too alternatives that offer buzzwords like “content creation” with little more than a half-hearted nod from the spec sheet. The irony is that Microsoft is probably in the best starting place to take advantage of that, and yet seems the most reluctant to use its position. The EP121 is far from perfect, but it’s also no iPad-clone and for that ASUS deserves some credit. The stylus-savvy will recognize it for its strengths and make up their own minds whether the hybrid display and Windows 7′s naivety balance each other out. They won’t have much in the way of choice, though; look at the tablets announced at CES 2011 this month, and you’ll see the vast majority avoid the stylus like the plague, in preference to solely finger control. Unfortunately, until the tablet segment matures enough to countenance anything other than another would-be “iPad killer”, the stylus will continue to get its unfair reputation.
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| SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: January 17 2011 Posted: 17 Jan 2011 08:46 AM PST First, on the iPad 2 front, check out both a iPad 2 case pic and a Best Buy listing of three new iPad models "coming soon". Find out why Ben Bajarin’s Kinect is getting some action in a column by the name of Why My Kinect is Not Collecting Dust, and why Don Reisinger’s streaming options just aren’t happening in a column called Call Me When Streaming Matches Blu-ray. Then on Android Community, we’re so pumped up about CyanogenMod 7 Nightlies being released, we did a CyanogenMod 7 Quadrant Benchmark on Nexus S! Then we find Sync Music in Android 3.0 Honeycomb, find out about the possibility of Notion Ink Adam’ non-Matte and Scratch Resistant Surface, and a big change to the future if the claims of Samsung Update Fees are true. It’s panning out to be an EXCITING DAY here on SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up!
R3 Media Network Editor’s Choice SlashPhone Android Community SlashGear To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]
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| Sonos considering in-car and headphone systems Posted: 17 Jan 2011 08:29 AM PST Sonos is considering expanding its streaming audio system to offer products for in-car and headphone use, as part of an eventual push to cover more of the places that users listen to music. Sonos co-founder and VP of sales and marketing Tom Cullen told GigaOM that the company’s roadmap was guided by the principle that “people listen to music in other places.” However, the exec wouldn’t pin a release date on an Android controller app.
In fact, the next platform to get a mobile app – Sonos currently has software for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad – will be that which has the best mixture of music fans. “We can see a handful of other potential platforms,” Cullen says, “and we want to see which one has the biggest concentration of music lovers.” As for sales success, Cullen said that fears the free iOS apps would cannibalize sales of the dedicated Sonos remote and drive down profits have failed to pan out. In fact – as with the launch of the cheaper Sonos S5 all-in-one – sales of new systems have more than offset any initial losses.
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| Microsoft cannibalizing MSN to drive Bing growth? Posted: 17 Jan 2011 08:07 AM PST Microsoft has been accused of “artificially propping up” Bing, with allegations that its much-vaunted Bing growth has in part been achieved by cannibalizing the MSN portal. According to the NYPost‘s sources, Microsoft is redirecting an increasing amount of MSN searches to Bing results pages, while headlines that lead to Bing on the MSN homepage have increased from 20- to 50-percent in the past quarter.
While both sites are Microsoft’s to do with as the company chooses, the decision to apparently prioritize Bing has led to fierce rivalry between the MSN and Bing ad sales teams, and between them and head office. According to insiders, “it’s warfare between the ad sales folks and the people at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond” since by redirecting MSN searches to Bing results pages, it’s Bing that gets you show targeted adverts. Microsoft claims that the redirects are part of their normal tweaking, and that the company is “constantly making different bets to see how things play out. We’re doing programs that go from MSN to Bing. We’re experimenting with new landing pages.” CEO Steve Ballmer told USA Today recently that “We bet on Bing and are growing like a weed in that business,” though it seems that may have been at the expense of other specimens in Microsoft’s garden.
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| SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I card promises 45MB/sec Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:48 AM PST SanDisk has outed its latest SDHC memory card, and while the new SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I is targeted at pro-photographers and HD videographers, it thankfully comes in well underneath the $1,500 CompactFlash we played with at CES 2011. The new SDHC supportsUltra High Speed (UHS) as part of the new SD 3.0 specification, promising up to 45MB/sec read and write performance.
The company also reckons it’ll last longer, too, thanks to a proprietary Power Core Controller which distributes data across the flash memory. There’s also UHS Speed Class 1 video support, promising the 10MB/sec minimum sustained write speeds necessary for recording HD 1080p videos or 3D content. Water, temperature, shock, vibration, x-ray and magnet proof, the SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I card will come in 8GB to 32GB capacities. It’s available now, priced between $109.99 and $349.99. Press Release:
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| HTC 7 Pro finally on sale (in Germany) Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:34 AM PST The HTC 7 Pro has gone on sale in Germany, both on carrier O2 and as an unlocked, SIM-free device. According to HTC Germany, the Windows Phone 7 smartphone will be priced at €29 ($39) on a new, €22.50 ($30) per month, two-year agreement, or alternatively €599 ($796) contract-free.
Your money gets you the same 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 5-megapixel camera as on other HTC WP7 handsets, along with a 3.6-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen and a slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard for easier text entry. The HTC 7 Pro is expected to launch in the US sometime in the first half of 2011 as a CDMA device; more details on the smartphone in our hands-on. [via phoneseven]
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| Indonesian BlackBerry porn ban by end of week Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:18 AM PST RIM has apparently agreed to filter pornographic content access from Indonesian BlackBerry users, after the country’s government threatened to revoke the company’s license. According to the AP, Indonesian government officials say RIM has promised a filtering system will be in place before the end of the week; they also claim that the Canadian company has agreed to set up servers in the country, so as to make security access to user data more straightforward.
RIM had previously been given a deadline of January 21, along with other telecoms companies operating in Indonesia, to enact a porn ban, but the new deadline will see them come in ahead of schedule. The company itself is yet to publicly comment on the report; as we’ve seen in the past, it’s not unheard of for governments to seemingly misinterpret what RIM is promising them.
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| RIM considering adding server support for non-BlackBerry devices Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:01 AM PST RIM has hinted at the possibility of more flexible control over non-BlackBerry devices from the company’s servers, making it more straightforward for enterprise clients to manage phones and tablets running Android, iOS and other platforms. VP Pete Devenyi told AllThingsD that RIM had wondered whether there is “the possibility that RIM might extend capabilities to make it easier for those corporations to manage those devices” as an extension of BlackBerry Connect.
BlackBerry Connect already allows control of some non-RIM devices via the servers, but requires those devices to communicate using BlackBerry protocols. A more complex setup as Devenyi is describing, he claims, would be “done differently” since it would not use those RIM protocols.
The hint does not mean that RIM is necessarily planning to bring coveted services like BlackBerry Messenger to rival platforms, however, and such a move would seem unlikely as it would potentially rob the company of a significant differentiator. Instead, it would more likely mean that enterprise-friendly functionality such as remote-wipe and tracking could be more easily implemented across a range of devices. [via Engadget]
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| Consumer Reports cautious on Verizon iPhone 4 Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:38 AM PST Apple just can’t catch a break from Consumer Reports; the buyers advice magazine still won’t recommend the original iPhone 4 because of the antenna issue, and is now advising would-be Verizon iPhone 4 buyers to consider holding off lest they be stuck with a “short-lived” device. According to CR, the iPhone 4 is now starting to “show its age” and will soon be replaced by a new model mid-year.
The nonprofit also mentions the shortcoming of CDMA devices to hold simultaneous data and voice sessions, while casting doubt onto whether the antenna issue has, indeed, been addressed or not. On the flip side, Verizon’s network is described as “among the most satisfying” and the mobile hotspot functionality gets a nod, but “the less iPhone-addicted consumer” may want to wait until the fifth-gen device is unveiled before signing up to a new agreement. [via Information Week]
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| Kinect robot control hack gives you an aerobics buddy [Video] Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:23 AM PST With all the Kinect hacks we’re seeing, it probably doesn’t matter whether gamers are leaving their motion-control sensors to gather dust or otherwise; there are enough DIY-addicts buying it to make the peripheral a success. Latest is Asura’s V-Sido remote app for the G-Robots GR-001 ‘bot, which can follow your movements for some aerobics-style mimicry.
Video demo after the cut
Usually the GR-001 is controlled via a PlayStation-style remote, but this new Kinect hack makes it a whole lot more direct than flailing your fingers around. No word on when – or if – they’ll be releasing the software publicly, but it’s just another sign of Kinect’s flexibility. [via Robots Dreams]
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| Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence Posted: 17 Jan 2011 05:57 AM PST Steve Jobs has been given another leave of absence for medical reasons by the Apple Board, again leaving Tim Cook to man the company. According to an email sent today to all Apple employees, Jobs “will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.”
“I love Apple so much” Jobs’ email continues, “and hope to be back as soon as I can.” Exact details of the medical reasons behind Jobs’ leave of absence have not been disclosed, and the Apple CEO requests privacy moving forward. Jobs revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, which resulted in surgery in July 2004 and then a transplant in 2009. The CEO took a six month leave of absence in 2009. Apple Media Advisory
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| NEC Avio Thermo Mirror tells you you’re hot Posted: 17 Jan 2011 05:43 AM PST “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the hottest of them all?” Brothers Grimm style questions will soon be answerable by NEC Avio’s Thermo Mirror SX-01, which bundles a contact-free digital thermometer inside a mirror so as to make checking for flu symptoms more straightforward for businesses and public venues.
The SX-01 doesn’t rely on new technology – NEC Avio have been offering infrared thermography devices for a long time now, supplying kit for airports and seaports during SARS and flu epidemics – but it does promise to make it more affordable. A regular NEC Avio contact-free thermometer costs upward of $6,000; however the Thermo Mirror is expected to come in at around ($1,186) for the entry-level SX-01A. To achieve that it only measures temperature at a single point – usually the forehead – and uses basic lights to show health: green for the all-clear, red (and an alarm) if you’re burning up. A more advanced version, the SX-01B, will be able to trigger external devices and combine its own measurements with those of external sensors.
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| PlayStation Phone gets another video preview Posted: 17 Jan 2011 05:24 AM PST More video demos of the PlayStation Phone have emerged, with Sony Ericsson’s gaming smartphone seemingly determined to spill all its secrets ahead of the official launch. ePrice aren’t adding much new to the conversation, but it’s another chance to see the slider in action.
Video demo after the cut
Sony Ericsson’s Timescape app is preloaded on this particular prototype, and we’re guessing it’s a similar build to what we’ve seen on the XPERIA Arc. The company has unlinked Timescape – and its Mediascape sibling – from the underlying OS, leaving it as more a widget than a baked-in service. What remains to be seen is how Sony Ericsson has managed to differentiate the XPERIA Play – as the smartphone is believed to launch as – from other Android devices. Much of that will depend on the portfolio of games available, and whether they are exclusive to the PlayStation Phone or not. [via Android Community]
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| Project HiJack slurps power for smartphone audio port for sensors Posted: 17 Jan 2011 05:03 AM PST The market for accessories for the iPhone and iPod is huge, but those devices that plug into the sync port on the Apple gear are expensive to make mostly thanks to the high cost of getting certified and the cost of the hardware needed from Apple. Some engineering students at the University of Michigan have found a way that power can be grabbed from the headphone port to power small sensors.
The system is called Project HiJack and it's a hardware/software platform that allows communication between a low power and small peripherals and the iPhone or other Apple iOS device. The system uses a 22kHz signal that can be converted into power to the tune of 7.4mW with 47% efficiency. That is enough juice to run a TI MSP430 microcontroller and any attached electronics. The device can communicate with an iOS app. HiJack is cheap too; the components needed are only $2.34 in large enough quantities. This is pretty cool and perhaps we will see new gear take this approach. There are already gadgets on the market that use the headphone port for power. Via Ars Technica
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| Apple banning publishers from bundled iPad subscriptions? Posted: 17 Jan 2011 04:59 AM PST Apple is reportedly pushing stronger limitations on iPad newspaper and magazine access, which will prevent publishers from offering bundled paper and digital subscriptions. According to NRC, Apple’s intent is to prevent subscription deals which bypass their own App Store purchase system: newspapers would no longer be allowed to offer inclusive iPad access to content as part of a paper subscription.
Publishers supposedly have until March 31 to adapt their apps to suit the new regulations, or face them being yanked from the App Store. The company is believed to be working on its own subscriptions API, which will be used by News Corp’s upcoming The Daily digital news system, for processing recurring purchases, though development has been delayed. [via The Digital Reader]
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| Toyota developing new electric motor for hybrids to reduce need for Chinese rare earth Posted: 17 Jan 2011 04:49 AM PST Toyota has announced that it is developing a new alternative electric motor to be used in its hybrid vehicles. The new motor is being designed to reduce the need for rare earth Toyota uses in the construction of its vehicles. The move comes after a spat between Japan and China led to China withholding shipments of rare earth to Japan for a few months.
China produces 97% of the world’s supply of rare earths that are use in all sorts of items from electronics to hybrid vehicles and more. The move will make it easier for Toyota to operate without the material from China should there ever be an issue with supply again. The AP reports that the US, Canada, and Australia all have rare earth deposits as well, but stopped mining the rare earth materials since it was cheaper to get the material from China. China has about 30% of the world supply of rare earth within its country.
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