Monday, July 20, 2009
SpecsT-Mobile's myTouch has a 600Mhz TI processor, and 288MB RAM.
Keyboard
myTouch 3G's software keyboard is easy to get used to. The downside to it is that the "keys" are set too close together, making you more prone to typing errors, and generally make typing quite difficult.
Home Screen
This T-Mobile 3G smartphone, which features the Android OS 1.5 update, also has widgets on its homescreen. However, myTouch 3G has media-player, calendar, analog-clock, search and picture-frame widgets. You can even pull up the full menu from the home screen.
Multitasking
myTouch 3G, uses pop up notifications to alert you to app updates, IM, etc. All you have to do is simply tap and pull down these notifications menu.
Calendar
T-Mobile's 3G smartphone naturally supports Google Calendare and allows you to set up reminders that pop up on your status bar through the notification system.
Specs
From the company that started the "the mobile-computing revolution" comes its latest innovation. Palm Pre is equipped with a 900/2100MHz processor with 288MB of RAM.
Keyboard
It's fitted with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, its keys are too gummy, like you're using a simple old mobile phone instead of a smart phone. The top row is also just a tad too close to the slider screen; you'd have to slant your fingers when you type.
Homescreen
The Pre's homescreen has a Quick Launch bar along the bottom of the screen which allows for quick access to oft-used functions such as contacts, calendar, or any shortcut of your choice. Plus, you can also see your wall paper on your home screen as well.
Multitasking
Palm Pre makes multitasking easier with its deck-of-cards visualization. You can view each open app at once; shuffle them any way you want. The visualization drains the battery life, but not much more than on other smartphones like the iPhone.
SpecsForm the Nokia NSeries comes the Nokia N97. It is equipped with a 434MHz processor, and a 128MB RAM
Keyboard
The N97 is fitted with a horizontal hardware keyboard that is quite easy to use. However, the top row of buttons is a bit too close to screen which, unfortunately, cannot be adjusted.
Its keys are too flat to type comfortably, and the layout can be a bit disorienting, with the spacebar shoved down to the lower-right corner. Overall though, the N97's keyboard is better than other Smartphones with hardware keyboards.
Home screen
The N97's home screen features widgets that update you (in real time) right on your home screen so you won't have to open another app to retrieve them. The N97 features Facebook, MySpace, your personal e-mail, music player, favorite contacts, and date and time widgets. However, most aficionados agree that the Accuweather widget is the best. It utilizes the N97's built-in Assisted GPS and automatically updates the temperature on your home screen when you travel.
Multitasking
The N97 allows you to manage your open apps by pressing Options in the lower-left corner and selecting Show Open Apps, but doesn't have a notification system. Although some info such as your Facebook account, does get updated in real time via the widgets.
Specs
The new Apple iPhone 3G S has the Apple logo at the back, same with the iPhone 3G, though the label is more displayed.
When it comes to smartphones, naturally, the better processor and the bigger memory, the faster experience
Apple hasn't released the exact specs yet, but Aaron Vronko, CEO of Rapid Repair, reported that a rip down of the Apple Smartphone revealed an ARM Cortex A8 microprocessor running at 600Mhz, and an amped up 256MB RAM, putting it ahead of other sought-after Smartphones.
Keyboard
The iPhone 3G S's portrait-oriented is a little bigger than other touch keyboards. Although typing on it stills a bit difficult, it does have one important feature: it shows you the key you pressed which makes typing easier and more accurate. Another related plus is that the landscape keyboard can now be used in all text-heavy apps such as Mail, Notes and Messages.
Home screen
The 3G S has the standard home screen, with all the apps in a grid.
Multitasking
Multitasking has been the iPhone's weakness. When apple announced that multitasking is a drain on battery life (during the announcement of the iPhone OS 3.0), they responded by allowing third-party apps to use a push-notification system. This means that an app can alert you to an instant update without your having to close your current open app.
Calendar
The iPhone 3G S‘s calendar is pretty much the same as the OS 3.0. But, you now have more control over which calendars you can use. For instance, you can now add subscription calendars and those that support CalDAV servers like the Google Calendar.
While we deemed the HTC Touch Pro2’s hardware keyboard perhaps the best to be had on a Windows Mobile smartphone right now, we saved the usual ire for the handset’s lack of a 3.5mm headphones socket. That’s all changed, however, for the Canadian Telus version; going by MobileSyrup’s video, HTC have shuffled over the ExtUSB port and squeezed in a 3.5mm jack.Video after the cut
The CDMA version of the smartphone will therefore work with both HTC’s standard ExtUSB headset as well as any other 3.5mm hands-free headset or plain headphones. It’s seemingly part of HTC’s plan to put a 3.5mm audio socket on all of its upcoming devices, though we didn’t expect them to start with a phone already available in other markets.
Otherwise, aside from the CDMA radio, the smartphone is the same as the Touch Pro2 we reviewed earlier in the month. No word on specific release date in Canada as yet, nor when it might make it south to Verizon in the US.
After already committing to releasing a 15-inch OLED TV potentially as early as December 2009 in Korea, LG have now revealed their plans to have a 32-inch OLED display on the market in 2012. Suggesting that OLED would provide a new source of revenue, LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo told press that the company’s focus is on larger panels rather than cellphone-sized versions.This, the executive claimed, is because “the larger the display, the more efficient the OLED technology.” It’s certainly given the company’s HR department a boost: LG Display have apparently taken on 1,700 new staff in research and development this year.
“The commercial success of OLEDs hinges on how it shows its superiority compared to existing liquid crystal display (LCD) technologies. We will focus on TV panels rather than cell phone panels because the larger the display, the more efficient the OLED technology” Kwon Young-soo, CEO, LG Display
LG Display are still investing into LCD, however. After reporting a profit in Q2 2009 after panel prices rose and demand outstripped supply, the company is investing the equivalent of $2.59bn into an eighth-generation production line, which will be operational by the second half of 2010.
Friday, July 17, 2009
A regular complaint over at Instructables is that not everybody can afford their own laser cutting rig. If DK Ahn has his way, however, precision cutting – of at least paper, wood and polypropylene under 2mm thick – would be available to the mainstream, thanks to his MOW microfactory.
The MOW is a tabletop cutting machine, that sits on a desktop and moves itself via four tethered anchors. Patterns would be downloaded and beamed over to the MOW via Bluetooth, which would then shuttle around slicing through the plastic or whatever material it was dealing with.
While the glossy device in the image above is merely a concept render, DK did put together a working prototype. Made from bits of remote-controlled cars, plotters and other recovered gadgets, you can see the prototype in action in the video below; if you want to skip to the action, start watching from around 8:35.
The MOW is a tabletop cutting machine, that sits on a desktop and moves itself via four tethered anchors. Patterns would be downloaded and beamed over to the MOW via Bluetooth, which would then shuttle around slicing through the plastic or whatever material it was dealing with.While the glossy device in the image above is merely a concept render, DK did put together a working prototype. Made from bits of remote-controlled cars, plotters and other recovered gadgets, you can see the prototype in action in the video below; if you want to skip to the action, start watching from around 8:35.
If the design of Samsung’s HMX-U10 camcorder is a little too outré for your tastes, the company has two more traditionally-shaped offerings today. The Samsung SMX-K40 and SMX-K45 both conform to the standard palmcorder format, but actually they’re not quite as technically capable as the U10; each can record up to 720 x 480 resolution, rather than their upright sibling’s 1080p.
Still, you get a 65x “Intelli-Zoom” (52x optical zoom) and optical image stabilization, together with an HDMI output for direct connection to a TV or display. There’s also Schneider Optics and the same Intelli-Studio onboard editing suite as the U10, that boots up whenever you connect to a PC via USB. From there you can make basic tweaks and upload to YouTube.
The K40 has an SDHC card slot while the K45 has a 32GB SSD, good for up to 20hrs and 40 minutes of recording. Both can shoot 800 x 600 stills and do time-lapse recording, and will hit the market in August 2009. The Samsung SMX-K40 will be priced at $329.99 while the SMX-K45 will be $499.99.
Still, you get a 65x “Intelli-Zoom” (52x optical zoom) and optical image stabilization, together with an HDMI output for direct connection to a TV or display. There’s also Schneider Optics and the same Intelli-Studio onboard editing suite as the U10, that boots up whenever you connect to a PC via USB. From there you can make basic tweaks and upload to YouTube.
The K40 has an SDHC card slot while the K45 has a 32GB SSD, good for up to 20hrs and 40 minutes of recording. Both can shoot 800 x 600 stills and do time-lapse recording, and will hit the market in August 2009. The Samsung SMX-K40 will be priced at $329.99 while the SMX-K45 will be $499.99.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
If you’ve been on the lookout for another solid-state drive option to satisfy your storage needs, you might just be in luck with the Vertex Turbo SSD announced by OCZ today, which is a 2.5-inch drive and meant to offer super high speeds.The new SSD features an increased clock speed for the host controller. It also has a 64MB of cache as well as a 270MB/s read speed and a 210MB/s write speed. It can be used in notebooks but with a bay adapter, desktops are compatible as well.
Other features include a SATA II interface, skip-proofing and low power consumption. The new Vertex Turbo models will be available in 30GB, 60GB, 120GB and 250GB variations. We don’t know pricing or a release date just yet, but we’ll keep you up to date.
Razer revealed a brand new headset yesterday called the Moray+. This headset is an in-ear model with noise isolating and canceling capabilities. It also features an inline microphone for added functionality.This device is intended to be the replacement for the Moray, which was designed to be used with a multitude of portable devices for gaming in particular. This gadget featres a 3.5mm audio jack and three adapters that allow you to use the mic with the Nintendo DS Lite, DSi and the Sony PSP 2000 and 3000.
Netbooks and notebooks can also be used with this device. The speakers themselves feature a 20Hz to 11kHz frequency response, 110dB sound pressure and uses only 1mW power. The microphone has a 300Hz to 3kHz frequency response. You can get the Razer Moray+ now for $59.99.
MSI is gearing up to add another notebook to their Entertainment series with the EX460. This notebook measures in at 14-inches and features an LED-backlit display along with the 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics card.
Other features include an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard drive, VGA, three USB ports, Ethernet, a 4-in-1 memory card and a DVD burner. You can add on a Blu-ray player and Bluetooth.
The keyboard is an MSI EDS ergonomic model. You can expect Wi-Fi, a mic and a 1.3-megapixel webcam to be included as well. Pricing and a release date are not yet known for the MSI EX360, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Sharp have announced a new range of AQUOS LED-backlit LCD TVs, the LE700 series, ranging in size from 32- to 52-inches. Each offering Full HD 1080p, they use Sharp’s X-Gen LCD panel with 10-bit processing and a dynamic contrast ratio in excess of 2,000,000:1.The 52-inch and 46-inch sets also have a dejudder function, while all four include 120Hz refresh and 4ms pixel response time. Viewing angles are supposedly 176-degrees, while LED lifespan is expected to be 100,000 hours.
Connectivity includes four HDMI v1.3 ports, two component inputs, integrated ATSC, QAM and NTSC tuners, PC input and RS-232C for custom installations. A USB port allows for photos and MP3s to be played, and there’s also AQUOS Net – aside from on the 32-incher – which brings weather, stock, gaming and news reports to the HDTVs.
All four new HDTVs will be available this month in the US. The 52-inch LC-52LE700UN is priced at $2,799.99; the 46-inch LC-46LE700UN is priced at $2,199.99; the 40-inch LC-40LE700UN is priced at $1,699.99; and the 32-inch LC-32LE700UN is priced at $1,099.99.
T-Mobile have thrown open the doors to pre-orders for their second Android device, the upcoming myTouch 3G. Priced at $199.99 with a new two-year contract, and set to hit shelves on August 5th, existing T-Mobile USA customers are able to preorder the device – also known as the HTC Magic - from today, with deliveries expected to arrive prior to the official launch.T-Mobile are concentrating heavily on customization of the myTouch 3G, and will be offering a variety of pre-designed shell patterns. Buyers will also be able to create their own shell from a photo, graphic or text, send off the design and have it made into a unique custom-printed shell.
Otherwise, the myTouch 3G has the same 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, virtual keyboard, Google Maps and Street View, and all the other usual Google Android software as the HTC Magic available through Vodafone Europe. Pre-orders will be accepted between today and July 28th; however not everybody will be eligible for the $199.99 price.
Panasonic have announced their latest HDD camcorder, the HCD-HS350. Packed with a 240GB hard-drive and using a 10.6-megapixel 3MOS sensor, the HCD-HS350 also sports an SDHC slot (content with up to 32GB cards) and 12x optical zoom; according to Panasonic, the HS350 can record more than 30 hours of Full HD video.
There’s also optical stabilization, which Panasonic claim is good enough to cut out shakes even at maximum zoom, and the HS350 can record at rates of up to 17Mbps in its highest quality mode. Alternatively, it can record over 40hrs or over 60hrs of 1920 x 1080 footage in 13Mbps or 9Mbps modes respectively.
Focusing uses the touchscreen preview display, tapping to select an object or person to be tracked, and there’s face and scene recognition, automatic low-light accommodation and 5.1 surround-sound recording. According to Panasonic, the HS350 will boot up in 1.9 seconds from powered-off, or 0.6 seconds from standby.
The Panasonic HDC-HS350 will arrive in Japan on July 25th; no word on pricing, nor when we might see it reach the US or Europe.
There’s also optical stabilization, which Panasonic claim is good enough to cut out shakes even at maximum zoom, and the HS350 can record at rates of up to 17Mbps in its highest quality mode. Alternatively, it can record over 40hrs or over 60hrs of 1920 x 1080 footage in 13Mbps or 9Mbps modes respectively.
Focusing uses the touchscreen preview display, tapping to select an object or person to be tracked, and there’s face and scene recognition, automatic low-light accommodation and 5.1 surround-sound recording. According to Panasonic, the HS350 will boot up in 1.9 seconds from powered-off, or 0.6 seconds from standby.
The Panasonic HDC-HS350 will arrive in Japan on July 25th; no word on pricing, nor when we might see it reach the US or Europe.
Stop the presses! Motorola in “frankly quite reasonable phone, actually” shocker! Fresh to the Korean market comes this, the Motorola ROKR ZN50, a full-touchscreen slider with 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS and a T-DMB2 digital TV tuner. The 3.2-inch 240 x 427 touchscreen cellphone has a new Panorama UI, which looks surprisingly Android-like in its general layout and feel.
Even the three-panels design Motorola are touting – which gives three homescreens that can be flicked between and filled up with different icons and shortcuts – sounds like Android’s homescreen. Elsewhere there’s triband 900/1800/1900 GSM and 2100MHz WCDMA for up to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, together with Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and a 3.5mm headphones jack.
Motorola have also thrown in the SRS WOW HD sound system and tweakable EQ settings, and a microSD slot good for up to 16GB cards. The ROKR ZN50 measures 108.9 x 54.0 x 14.34 mm, weighs 143g, and comes with a 950mAh battery. No word on whether it’ll see a release anywhere outside of Korea, however.
Even the three-panels design Motorola are touting – which gives three homescreens that can be flicked between and filled up with different icons and shortcuts – sounds like Android’s homescreen. Elsewhere there’s triband 900/1800/1900 GSM and 2100MHz WCDMA for up to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, together with Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and a 3.5mm headphones jack.Motorola have also thrown in the SRS WOW HD sound system and tweakable EQ settings, and a microSD slot good for up to 16GB cards. The ROKR ZN50 measures 108.9 x 54.0 x 14.34 mm, weighs 143g, and comes with a 950mAh battery. No word on whether it’ll see a release anywhere outside of Korea, however.
We’re still waiting for an official release for ASUS’ Eee Keyboard – the latest we hear is that it should drop sometime in August – but that hasn’t stopped French site Blogeee from getting their hands on one. Rather than cherish it for the rarity it is, they’ve decided to open the Keyboard up and find out what’s making it tick inside.
As you might expect, it’s basically a long, flat netbook, with a custom circuit-board to which ASUS have frustratingly soldered the 1GB of RAM. Cooling is via heat-pipes to the Atom N280 1.66GHz processor and accompanying chipset, leading back to a 40mm exhaust fan which, Blogeee report, makes little noise. Other components are more modular, such as the Bluetooth and WiFi adapters and the 16GB SSD.
The battery is a 1,880mAh pack that Blogeee estimate will be good for up to 1hr 40 minutes wireless runtime. The unit they’ve acquired also has a Silicon Image wireless HDMI transmitter which also takes care of up to 1080p graphics and HDCP certification, though we’ve previously heard that not all models will include it.
Blogeee end up a little confused about the point of the ASUS Eee Keyboard, suggesting that the storage is too little for a true HTPC while a regular netbook or nettop will provide just as good an internet machine. We’re still keen to try it out ourselves, but for now we’ll have to wait for the official release.
As you might expect, it’s basically a long, flat netbook, with a custom circuit-board to which ASUS have frustratingly soldered the 1GB of RAM. Cooling is via heat-pipes to the Atom N280 1.66GHz processor and accompanying chipset, leading back to a 40mm exhaust fan which, Blogeee report, makes little noise. Other components are more modular, such as the Bluetooth and WiFi adapters and the 16GB SSD.The battery is a 1,880mAh pack that Blogeee estimate will be good for up to 1hr 40 minutes wireless runtime. The unit they’ve acquired also has a Silicon Image wireless HDMI transmitter which also takes care of up to 1080p graphics and HDCP certification, though we’ve previously heard that not all models will include it.
Blogeee end up a little confused about the point of the ASUS Eee Keyboard, suggesting that the storage is too little for a true HTPC while a regular netbook or nettop will provide just as good an internet machine. We’re still keen to try it out ourselves, but for now we’ll have to wait for the official release.
ASUS Eee Keyboard feature demo:
Not, perhaps, the sort of thing most SlashGear readers will be able to try at home, but if you’ve ever wanted to see a 15 tonne hydraulic grapple controlled by a humble Wiimote then here’s the video for you. Simon Wittber of Australian firm Transmin is lucky enough to have not one but two remote-controlled grapple arms, each toting a vicious looking six-claw pincer, and so he and his team decided to link up Nintendo’s controller for some afternoon entertainment.
Each grapple can make roughly twelve revolutions per minute – that’s about 72kph or 45mph – and has a sixteen meter reach. The team used Python to link the Wiimote (via Bluetooth) into their normal grapple control system.
As an aside, Simon’s voice-over and the choice of music is perfect. He sounds like just the sort of calm, level-headed person you’d want wielding a 15 tonne grapple with the casual flick of a Wiimote.
Each grapple can make roughly twelve revolutions per minute – that’s about 72kph or 45mph – and has a sixteen meter reach. The team used Python to link the Wiimote (via Bluetooth) into their normal grapple control system.
As an aside, Simon’s voice-over and the choice of music is perfect. He sounds like just the sort of calm, level-headed person you’d want wielding a 15 tonne grapple with the casual flick of a Wiimote.
It seldom fails to impress me how quickly accessory manufacturers can knock together third-party gadgets for new devices, and Brando is certainly at the top of their game for flooding the market with “do I really need this?” trinkets. Their latest addition is a so-called “Flexible Mini Capsule Microphone” for the iPhone 3GS, intended to take advantage of the thousands of people now recording dreary YouTube videos on their new smartphone.
Unlike the handset’s integrated microphone, which is at the bottom of the handset, the Brando mic can be tilted, rotated and generally angled to point at whatever it is you’re filming. Alternatively you can twist it back to face yourself, ideal for catching every vocal nuance of your voice-over.
Both white and black versions will be on offer, and no battery is required. Gain is listed at 25+dB, but if you’re really looking for polished audio you’d still be better off sourcing a separate, powered microphone. It’ll also play nicely with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G and iPod nano 4G, and be priced at $14 when it lands at the end of July.
Unlike the handset’s integrated microphone, which is at the bottom of the handset, the Brando mic can be tilted, rotated and generally angled to point at whatever it is you’re filming. Alternatively you can twist it back to face yourself, ideal for catching every vocal nuance of your voice-over.Both white and black versions will be on offer, and no battery is required. Gain is listed at 25+dB, but if you’re really looking for polished audio you’d still be better off sourcing a separate, powered microphone. It’ll also play nicely with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G and iPod nano 4G, and be priced at $14 when it lands at the end of July.
If you’ve been holding off on picking up one of HP’s Mini 110 series netbooks because you’ve wanted it in pink or white (what, really?) then today is the day to flex your credit-card. HP have unleashed the two new color versions of their 110 XP Edition, meaning you can have the 10.1-inch Atom N270/N280 netbook in sober black, coquettish pink or lost-in-a-snowstorm white.
Update: HP have also added the Broadcom HD Video Accelerator option to the Mini 110, priced at $30 (Thanks Peter!)
They’re our names, I should point out, not HP’s official nomenclature, so expect to be laughed at if you ring up to place your order and use them. Picking the non-standard color schemes pushes the price of the 110-series machines up by $20 each; they’re only available for the XP Edition variants, too, not the Mi Edition.
Otherwise your money gets you a choice of 16GB or 32GB SSD, or 160GB 5,400rpm HDD, together with WiFi b/g, 1GB of RAM and a color-matched keyboard. Prices start at $349.99 for the black model.
Update: HP have also added the Broadcom HD Video Accelerator option to the Mini 110, priced at $30 (Thanks Peter!)
They’re our names, I should point out, not HP’s official nomenclature, so expect to be laughed at if you ring up to place your order and use them. Picking the non-standard color schemes pushes the price of the 110-series machines up by $20 each; they’re only available for the XP Edition variants, too, not the Mi Edition.
Otherwise your money gets you a choice of 16GB or 32GB SSD, or 160GB 5,400rpm HDD, together with WiFi b/g, 1GB of RAM and a color-matched keyboard. Prices start at $349.99 for the black model.
LG’s latest super-snapper cellphone has broken cover, and from the spec-sheet at least you’d think this was the handset to quash all point-and-shoot digicams. The LG GC990 Louvre is tipped (despite LG’s own denials; see after the cut) to launch later on in 2009, taking the place of the existing LG GC900 (aka the Viewty II), and brings with it a 12.1-megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics, Xenon flash and what the company suggests is ISO 3200 sensitivity.
Call us terrible skeptics, but we’re wondering exactly how much noise will be in images at those sort of ISO levels; this may be a case of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Elsewhere the camera can be re-purposed as a camcorder, grabbing 720p HD video at 30fps. Like the iPhone 3GS it supports touchscreen-controlled focus and GPS geotagging, and LG are claiming zero shutter lag too.
Elsewhere there’s a 3.2-inch 16:9 aspect touchscreen with the company’s S-Class UI, WiFi and Bluetooth, together with DivX and Xvid playback plus TV output. It can also stream media to and from other DLNA compatible devices.
Call us terrible skeptics, but we’re wondering exactly how much noise will be in images at those sort of ISO levels; this may be a case of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Elsewhere the camera can be re-purposed as a camcorder, grabbing 720p HD video at 30fps. Like the iPhone 3GS it supports touchscreen-controlled focus and GPS geotagging, and LG are claiming zero shutter lag too.
Elsewhere there’s a 3.2-inch 16:9 aspect touchscreen with the company’s S-Class UI, WiFi and Bluetooth, together with DivX and Xvid playback plus TV output. It can also stream media to and from other DLNA compatible devices.
It looks like the torrent of Atom N270 netbooks won’t be followed by a similar rush of Atom N450-based budget ultraportables, as several manufacturers have apparently revealed plans to delay mass production until netbook heavyweights Acer and ASUS show their hand. That could push bulk availability back until the first half of 2010, despite engineering samples of the new Intel N450 chip already being available.
According to DigiTimes, lower than expected demand for netbooks – in part through segment saturation – in the first half of 2009 has left many vendors with legacy stock and reduced profit. That has encouraged them to take a more wait-and-see attitude, slashing R&D budgets and instead monitoring the big names to better gage the market.
Acer and ASUS are expected to reveal their N450-based ranges in Q4 2009, with white-box manufacturers planning to begin their own mass production in Q1 2010. The end result for the consumer may be reduced choice in netbook models, though given that the combination of building-to-budget, fitting in with Intel and Microsoft’s licensing limitations, and segment naivety has left most current netbooks pretty much identical to each other, that may not be such a bad thing.
According to DigiTimes, lower than expected demand for netbooks – in part through segment saturation – in the first half of 2009 has left many vendors with legacy stock and reduced profit. That has encouraged them to take a more wait-and-see attitude, slashing R&D budgets and instead monitoring the big names to better gage the market.
Acer and ASUS are expected to reveal their N450-based ranges in Q4 2009, with white-box manufacturers planning to begin their own mass production in Q1 2010. The end result for the consumer may be reduced choice in netbook models, though given that the combination of building-to-budget, fitting in with Intel and Microsoft’s licensing limitations, and segment naivety has left most current netbooks pretty much identical to each other, that may not be such a bad thing.
The iPhone Dev Team have updated their redsn0w jailbreak and ultrasn0w carrier unlock tools to work with the iPhone 3GS, citing the release of rival app purplera1n as forcing their hand. The Team had originally intended to wait until iPhone 3GS adoption was more widespread before distributing their tools, in the hope that it would give Apple less time to close the security hole on which the unlock depends.
“We realize we upset some folks (e.g. existing 3GS owners) with our earlier announcement that we wanted to hold onto the 3GS iBoot-family hole until 3.1 was out. Our aim there was to get as many people as possible onboard (within reason of course) before revealing the hole, since Apple will fix it immediately. But all of that became moot when the purplera1n release was made, since it uses the same hole” iPhone Dev Team
Those wishing to unlock their iPhone – and keep it unlocked – are still being warned to avoid Apple’s official baseband updates. The Cupertino company has apparently stepped up its efforts to remove loopholes such as the one which enables this latest version of ultrasn0w.
Going by the comments over at the Dev Team blog, however, Apple retaliation is not the only problem some users are facing. Some iPhone 3GS owners are experiencing poor signal reception after unlocking, or an inability to connect to WiFi networks, while others claim their handsets have been left bricked or show significant battery drain. Now seems as good a time as any to warn that Apple are unlikely to perform warranty repairs on any iPhone they believe has been tampered with, so you attempt a jailbreak or carrier unlock at your own risk.
“We realize we upset some folks (e.g. existing 3GS owners) with our earlier announcement that we wanted to hold onto the 3GS iBoot-family hole until 3.1 was out. Our aim there was to get as many people as possible onboard (within reason of course) before revealing the hole, since Apple will fix it immediately. But all of that became moot when the purplera1n release was made, since it uses the same hole” iPhone Dev Team
Those wishing to unlock their iPhone – and keep it unlocked – are still being warned to avoid Apple’s official baseband updates. The Cupertino company has apparently stepped up its efforts to remove loopholes such as the one which enables this latest version of ultrasn0w.
Going by the comments over at the Dev Team blog, however, Apple retaliation is not the only problem some users are facing. Some iPhone 3GS owners are experiencing poor signal reception after unlocking, or an inability to connect to WiFi networks, while others claim their handsets have been left bricked or show significant battery drain. Now seems as good a time as any to warn that Apple are unlikely to perform warranty repairs on any iPhone they believe has been tampered with, so you attempt a jailbreak or carrier unlock at your own risk.
Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer has struck back at Activision chief Bobby Kotick, claiming his calls to cut PS3 prices are “a lot of noise” and that there’s no “logic” in discounting the console. Speaking to Reuters, Stringer suggested that “I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make – how’s that for logic.”
The rebuff comes in response to Kotick’s well-publicized threats back in June that Activision might consider dropping PS3 and PSP game development if Sony failed to reduce the entry-price to their flagship console. Kotick, who is in charge of the biggest independent games developer in the world, suggested that Sony’s reluctance to cut the PS3’s cost meant that studios saw fewer games being bought for the console versus its Xbox 360 and Wii rivals.
Sony, meanwhile, are tipped to announce a new version of the PS3, with a slimmed-down casing, that would use cheaper components and, it’s suggested, allow the company to reduce prices without losing money. Rumors suggest the new console will be announced in August or September, allowing retailers to clear stocks of the existing model.
The rebuff comes in response to Kotick’s well-publicized threats back in June that Activision might consider dropping PS3 and PSP game development if Sony failed to reduce the entry-price to their flagship console. Kotick, who is in charge of the biggest independent games developer in the world, suggested that Sony’s reluctance to cut the PS3’s cost meant that studios saw fewer games being bought for the console versus its Xbox 360 and Wii rivals.Sony, meanwhile, are tipped to announce a new version of the PS3, with a slimmed-down casing, that would use cheaper components and, it’s suggested, allow the company to reduce prices without losing money. Rumors suggest the new console will be announced in August or September, allowing retailers to clear stocks of the existing model.
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