New Modder crafts handheld wireless visual interface for PS3

One techknott has just finished up his latest creation, a WVI (wireless visual interface) for Sony's PlayStation 3 console. The purpose? To transmit signals to and from the PS3 by way of this handy handheld.

A 1.2GHz wireless transmitter is used to get the controller commands to the PS3, and the same is used in reverse to get the video signals from the console to the homegrown device. The device itself utilizes a 5-inch LCD, 4,500mAh Li-ion battery (complete with a LED capacity meter), an AV input, headphone jack, USB port and a button for every last DualShock command. Hop on past the break for a video, and head to the source if you're interested in making an offer for it. Yeah, we said it -- dude's going to be selling this!

»»  Read More

Debuts of New Dell Inspiron Mini 10

Looks like Dell's trying to jump out ahead of the CES Atom N450 netbook rush by announcing a new version of the Inspiron Mini 10 a couple weeks before we all head to Vegas -- and we can't say we blame them, since there's a lot here to like. The newly streamlined case can accommodate a six-cell battery good for nine and half hours of use without the usual netbook bulge, and inside that next-gen Atom can be paired with an optional Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for HD video playback. Also on the options list: four case colors, Bluetooth, WWAN, GPS, a TV tuner, and a 1366 x 768 display, in case you actually want to see some of those accelerated video pixels. Prices will start at $299 when this guy hits in early January, but we'll see how much all these options add to the final pricetag. Press release after the break.

»»  Read More

Nokia's Store At London

We're not sure exactly what this means for the rest of the world's nine Nokia flagship stores, but it's been announced that Nokia will be pulling out of its prominent Regent Street location in London as it apparently prepares for a retail revamp going into early 2010.

Weak foot traffic is cited as the main reason for the closure, and if Nokia can't generate sales in the heart of one of its strongholds -- Western Europe -- we can't imagine that this bodes well for the other flagships either, all of which were designed and built around a high-tech, pricey theme (the Regent Street store alone was rumored to run Nokia a cool £4 million, about $6.5 million, to open) that likely drags on the company's bottom line quarter after quarter. Then again, we'd assumed that these stores were built to foster mindshare, not necessarily to contribute euro day in and day out -- but this is probably why we're not executives at a major phone manufacturer. Other Nokia stores in the UK will remain open, but for Espoo, the days of the over-the-top retail marvel of design and architecture may be over.

»»  Read More

New Themes strike BlackBerry App World

The company had started taking submissions about a month ago, giving them a nice little head start for beefing up the catalog.

Then again, if you'd rather roll your own, this all dovetails nicely with another of RIM's recent introductions: the introduction of BlackBerry Theme Studio, a simplified and unified way for slapping together everything you need to turn your Bold into a Pip-Boy. Technically, shouldn't this go into... oh, we don't know, something called Theme World?

»»  Read More

Holiday season from MICROSOFT

In an effort to drum up yet more hype for its latest OS, and perhaps to try and gauge customer interest in an East coast Store, Microsoft has decided to open up a cozy "PC lounge" inside Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship New York store -- you know, the one that actually is on Fifth Avenue.

As part of the agreement, Windows 7 will be used to drive Saks' window displays, and opportunities will be provided for customers to interact with the new software throughout the building. The lounge itself will be populated by Windows 7 laptops and Microsoft experts, who'll probably answer your questions in the sort of overly peppy, commercial way that makes us wonder why anyone goes to offline shops in the first place.

»»  Read More

New Lenovo Ideapad 2009

Pine Trail fast-tracking we were talking about? Yeah, it's for real. Intel's latest submission to the FCC reveals details of a new member of Lenovo's IdeaPad netbook range, and is the first confirmed sighting of the Pineview processor every netbook diehard has been waiting for.

The documentation suggests an S10-3 moniker for the new 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 machine, which is likely to pair up that Atom N450 with 2GB of RAM and 250GB of storage. Click past the break to see the sticker with all the specs on it, and do make your voices heard in the comments below regarding that buttonless touchpad -- a Synaptics ClickPad, perchance?

»»  Read More

News : Verizon confirms DROID tethering cost

Just a few days ago Verizon made the less-than-shocking confirmation that DROID tethering was coming, but wouldn't say how much it would cost. Now that the hardest of hardcore fans are already waiting in line, disconnected from the world at large, the company is unleashing the bad news: it'll be $30.

That doubles the cost of the required data plan that sits atop a subscriber's voice plan, meaning a total of $60 per month for "unlimited" data access on handset or laptop. Mind you, "unlimited" really means 5GB of data per, a total of 10 split between the two $30 plans. Glass ceilings: we hate them.

»»  Read More

Android and keeps it cheap that is Verizon's DROID ERIS by HTC

Codenamed Desire ahead of launch, the phone is essentially Verizon's custom remix of the venerable Hero as found on Sprint and various GSM carriers around the world, featuring a 5 megapixel camera, 3.2-inch capacitive display, WiFi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and microSD expansion up to 16GB.

Check it out in your local store hiding somewhere in the shadow of the DROID starting Friday for $99.99 on contract after a $100 mail-in rebate, which -- if you can forgo a physical keyboard, faster processor, and high-res display -- works out to a cool hundred less than Moto's entry.

»»  Read More

New Acer wants the Aspire 8940

You'd think you've seen all the Windows 7 holiday laptops to last you through this yuletide season, but in comes Acer with another offering, the Core i7-packing Aspire 8940. The 18.4-inch 1080p widescreen monitor brings with it a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M, Blu-ray drive, 600GB HDD, and 4GB RAM.

Let's also throw in a webcam, 802.11 a/b/g Draft-N, webcam, multi-card reader, HDMI and eSATA ports and a 8-cell Li-Ion battery for good measure. Quite a hefty number, so expect a little bit of workout if you're wanting to haul this around. Suggested price is $1,349 and all we know of the release date is "holiday season" so it should be safe to add this to your wishlist.

»»  Read More

New Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

We've already seen some sample footage from Canon's new professional EOS-1D Mark IV DSLR (and should be seeing plenty more come December), but a pre-production version of the camera has now turned up at the Canon Pro Photo Solutions 09 show in London, and TrustedReviews managed to get an early hands-on with it.

As you might expect, the camera definitely seems to impress in person, with the 1.2 kilogram body providing a feeling of "solid reliability and competence," while its ergonomics also apparently represent a more subtle but welcome improvement over previous Canon offerings. Unfortunately, the folks at TrustedReviews weren't able to share any sample shots, but they did get a chance to try out the camera's 45-point autofocus system, which is said to be "extremely fast," and its tracking function reportedly had no trouble focusing even in dark, low contrast situations with a 400mm telephoto lens. Hit up the link below for a few more hands-on shots and impressions.

»»  Read More

2009 Nintendo DSi LL

The above comparison is straight from the Big N showing the DSi LL vs. the white DSi. Besides the obvious increase in height and width, the 21.2-mm handheld is chubbier than the 18.9-mm DSi but slimmer than the 21.5-mm DS Lite when it ships in your choice of dark brown, burgundy and natural white.

The battery seems to be roughly on par with the DS Lite going for about 4 to 5 hours on maximum brightness and intensity or 13 to 17 hours when dialing back the display to its lowest settings. No word on US or international shipping yet but obviously they'd be smart to get this out in time for the holidays. A few more pics and a full spec-by-spec comparison with the DSi and DS Lite after the break.

»»  Read More

New Apple's Magic Mouse

Unfortunately, over time, even after hours and hours of vigorous rubbing, the top-mounted trackball would become so ensnared in hand-jam that owners were left with two options: delicately splay the mouse for a bit of X-acto home surgery... or smash it with a vengeance hammer until justice was served.

So maybe now you can understand all the hopeful fuss made over its successor: the Magic Mouse. It's now shipping to those of you who ordered it separately from its iMac bundle. Snow Leopard (and Leopard) users can even download the software update now so that all those multi-touch and gestural features will be enabled once the bluetooth mouse arrives. Then we'll see if this is the mouse that rights all those wrongs.

»»  Read More

New Nokia Booklet 3G running Windows 7

If your pulse is racing like Windows 7 on an Atom processor then this Nokia Booklet 3G is surely the cause. The premium netbook running Microsoft's not so premium 32-bit, Aero-less Starter Edition OS (see the sticker?) is the first demo unit to arrive at Best Buy. Buyers better enjoy looking at that Windows flag 'cause with Starter, it's the only wallpaper you're ever going to get.

»»  Read More

Not working for many , Windows 7 student upgrade installer

The Windows 7 launch seems to have gone off mostly roses and sunbeams, but we're hearing today that quite a few people have had issues installing the downloadable $29 student upgrade edition on 32-bit Vista -- apparently the file doesn't unpack to an ISO, but instead to an executable and two bundles that don't function properly,

and eventually the process errors out with a 64-bit app trying to launch on 32-bit systems. It's possible to create an ISO using some hackery, but the install process seems to be 50/50 after that -- we've heard of both success and further crashes. For it's part, Microsoft says it's looking into things, so hopefully a newly repackaged download will be forthcoming -- every party has its ups and downs, right?

»»  Read More

New Plastic Logic teases QUE proReader with 8.5 x 11-inch touchscreen

since the official launch won't happen until January 7 at CES next year, but Plastic Logic is looking to crash into the "pro" segment of the e-reader market (currently mostly occupied by the Kindle DX) with its upcoming QUE proReader.

The unit uses E Ink Vizplex tech in a shatterproof display the size of a regular piece of paper at 8.5 x 11-inches, and has 3G wireless capabilities courtesy of AT&T and a business-centric ebook store at QUEreader.com which will be powered by Barnes & Noble. There's also a touchscreen interface, but it's unclear if that covers the entire display, or is something more akin to the leaked photos we've seen of the Barnes & Noble reader. The device is "less than 1/3-inch thick," and can handle PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, including tools for "interacting with and managing the content," which sounds beyond the scope of most e-readers on the market currently. We'll have to wait and see how useful the interface really is, and how much damage (if any) that touchscreen sensor does to readability, but a bit of diversification in the ebook space sounds like a good thing on paper. Full PR is after the break.

»»  Read More

New 2009 Acer debuts stylish

We had heard that Acer had some touch-enabled Windows 7 devices in the works, and it looks like the company is now finally starting to deliver on that promise, and then some, with its new Aspire Z5610 all-in-one PC.

Boasting a 24-inch HD touchscreen with full multitouch support, this one rounds things out with some decent if unremarkable specs, including a Pentium Dual Core E5300 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive, among other standard fare. It's the design of the desktop that's sure to turn the most heads, however, and while Acer's claim of it being a "timeless piece" might be a bit of a stretch, there are certainly plenty of touches that are a cut above the rest -- we're especially curious to see how the illuminated strip between the LCD and soundbar works (it's designed to light up the keyboard in the dark). Best of all, this one packs an MSRP of just $899, and should be available sometime this holiday season.

»»  Read More

YAMAHA HRP-4C singing at CEATEC

Like the other robots, Yamaha did a demonstration at the CEATEC show also a very impressive performance. how not impressive, Yamaha modify HRP-4C that can retrieve data from the iPhone. Very Amazing words were spoken from the demonstrations Yamaha HRP-4C.

»»  Read More

very fast : HP mini 311

Latest products from HP mini NVIDIA has its own uniqueness.

The 311 scored a 1,917 on the PCMark 05 test, almost 500 points above the average netbook, and put up a scorching 1,386 in the 3DMark06 test -- 1,200 points over the netbook average, and basically the same score as a MacBook Air. That's not too surprising, seeing as ION is just a netbook-oriented variant of the GeForce 9400M, but it's still rather impressive -- and combined with 1080p video playback, the potential for some light gaming, and (eventually) ION-accelerated Flash, we'd say the Mini 311 is looking like a real contender. We've already seen the NVIDIA ION-based HP Mini 311 perform impressively during demos, but now that the netbook is hitting reviewers it's time for some real benchmarks -- and according to the crew at Laptop, they're more than solid.

»»  Read More

Panasonic adds Windows 7

Today must be some industry-wide Windows 7 announcement day, as Panasonic is hot on the heels of Dell and Toshiba with no less than six lappies set to sport Vista's agile younger sibling. The Let's Note (ToughBook, to you and us) F8, R8, T8 and W8 models are likely to take on the new OS without alterations to their hardware, but the hot news comes in the form of the brand new N8 and S8.

Powered by Core 2 Duo P8700 chips, both machines will come with 12.1-inch WXGA LCD screens, 250GB HDDs, up to 4GB of RAM, WiMAX, WiFi, HDMI and SDHC connectivity. They also share a stonking claim of 16 hours of battery life, and the one feature that distinguishes between them is the internal DVD burner on the S8. All that goodness will be out come October 22, with expected pricing around ¥200,000 (about $2,230) for the N series.

»»  Read More

Pentax K-x DSLR coming October

Pentax has made its not quite entry-level DSLR, the K-x. All the earlier specs have panned out, so we're looking at a 12.4 megapixel CMOS censor, a 200 to 6400 ISO sensitivity expandable to 100 to 12,800, 4.7 frames per second continuous shooting, and 720p HD video at 24 frames per second.



Sized up to the K-7, its wider ISO range is the only improvement, otherwise on par in features or lacking, as is in the case of AF / AE, video, and continuous shooting speed. It's due out in October available in black, white, red, or navy blue, with an attractive base price of $650 that nets you a 18-55mm lens.

»»  Read More

WIDEBOOK laptop from LG

we bring you the WIDEBOOK from LG. It's wide see, 16:9 wide for what LG call's a cinematic experience. Oh, just you never mind that cinematic typically refers to 21:9 -- this is marketing-speak, not science.



Anywho, the five new models are LED backlit with Intel Core 2 Duo procs and include the 15.6-inch R580/R560, 14-inch R480/R460, and affordable 13-inch R380 that boasts a "Smart On" feature for five-second boots. The R580 (with Blu-ray) and R480 are premium models while the R560 and R460 lay claim to the "workhorse" moniker. The laptops come in either 1600x900 or 1368x768 pixel resolutions with up to 4GB of DDR2 memory and 500GB disk, 802.11n and HSDPA data, e-SATA and HDMI interfaces, 1.3 megapixel cams, and 1GB of NVIDIA GeForce graphics. Expect to see 'em make the jump to the global stage throughout September. Until then we've got pics, lots of pics, and the full specs from the press release below.

»»  Read More

Mouse from phillips

Philips out the latest products in the form of the mouse. This latest product is a bluetooth mouse, USB and touchpad.

What can we say about aptly named "Bluetooth notebook mouse SPM9800/10?" Well, if you need a Bluetooth mouse, you can use it like a Bluetooth mouse. If the juice runs out, plug it in via USB and you have a USB mouse. But the feature that most differentiates this from other, how we say, 'mash-ups,' is that the click wheel has been replaced with a 360°TouchControl sensor, which is essentially a touchpad on the top of the thing. That's right: lift this thing off the table and use the touchpad to move around on the screen. PowerPoint has never been this sexy! Hits the scene in select European markets soon for about $80.

»»  Read More

Headed for Europe, T-Mobile Pulse runs Android

T-Mobile pulled out the latest products of Huawei U8220. Products launched in the United States choose a taste that is more than the previous product. Huawei U8220 can be used to record video that you like so you do not lose such an amazing event.

Not that our Stateside T-Mobile needs much help scoring Android handsets, but this phone looks strictly reserved for our European brethren. The T-Mobile Pulse is actually Huawei's U8220, which looks a little drab compared to its sibling U8230, and works in what seems to be standard these days smartphone specs: 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5-inch 320 x 480 screen, HSDPA, Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS. The 2GB SD cards and their 3.5 hours of talk time leave a bit to be desired, and the 13.5mm thickness is almost as beastly as Motorola's latest, but we're sure the Pulse means well. No word on a straight price, but in Germany with a two year agreement prices start at 5 euros a month.

»»  Read More

N97 is New Product From NOKIA

Nokia has released the latest product in the form of booklets 3G. And a small unique shape that allows its users. This Nokia product launched in Stuttgart, Germany.

You should probably be informed that Nokia had quite the morning yesterday as Nokia World 2009 kicked off in Stuttgart. Not only was the N97 mini made official, but the company's Booklet 3G was fully detailed and the first two handsets in the newfangled X series were also unveiled. Naturally, a slew of cameras descended upon the new gear just as soon as the suits left the stage, and we've rounded up the best of the best below for your perusal and enjoyment. If you're looking for the actual news on these very devices, have a look right here, and feel free to hop on past the break for a few videos from the show floor.

»»  Read More

New Samsung's SCH-W830 is like a window to your soul

If you spell happiness T-W-E-L-V-E M-E-G-A-P-I-X-E-L-S, you're looking in the wrong place. Samsung's SCH-W830 -- along with its SPH-W8300 and SPH-W8350 cousins for other networks -- finds inner peace through the simplicity and beauty of a scintillating light show set around an ultra-low res display. You've only got two megapixels to work with around back, but seriously, who has time to snap pictures when you're being dazzled by a seemingly endless array of colored lights? Between that and the spring-loaded opening mechanism, this is a flip fit for the fiddler / fidgeter in all of us, and it's available now on South Korea's LGT, SKT, and KTF.

»»  Read More

2010 Brando's Ultimate 3-Point Hand Strap will help you get attached to your DSLR

a regular wrist strap will probably stay attached to both your wrist and your camera most of the time, but why take chances when you can have something like this? Always on the cutting edge of inexpensive, occasionally useful contraptions, Brando is now offering this so-called Ultimate 3-Point Hand Strap, which attaches to your camera's tripod socket, its wrist strap attach point and, of course, your wrist -- all in the name of comfort and stability. Will it hold up to lugging your hefty DSLR around all day? Will your wrist hold up? It only costs $16 to find out.

»»  Read More

WD TV-2 spruces up Western Digital's already attractive media player offering

Western Digital really hit a sweet spot last year with its $130 WD TV HD Media Player. The thing pumped out 1080p over HDMI at an attractive price, and that's all most people really needed. The newly leaked WD TV-2 revisits the formula, but adds in network playback over the new Ethernet jack, DTS audio decoding, and a component video plug for folks caught in the technological no man's land between composite and HDMI. Outside of that there's a just plain silly amount of codec support, which is hard not to love. No word on price or a release date, but the leaked photos and detailed specs seem to imply this thing is ready for prime time.

»»  Read More

New Sony Alpha 850 leaked, looks exactly like the Alpha 900?

This photo of what is presumably the upcoming Sony α850 DSLR was spotted by Photo Rumors on an unnamed retail site. It looks exactly the same as the α900, but doesn't really seem off on layout compared to the leaked α850 manual. The scary part is that the camera is listed for 1,999 Euro (about $2,833 US), so hopefully Sony is doing something a bit more wonderful under the hood than just those α900 downgrades that have been hinted at so far.

»»  Read More

2010 iPhone devs offered cash to code for the Zune HD?

We've all been a bit up in arms about the apparent lack of a push for apps on the Zune HD given the platform's obvious strengths, but news from Daring Fireball seems to suggest that may not be the whole story. According to John Gruber, after publishing a short story on the ZHD and Microsoft's seeming lack of developer interest, he was contacted by an iPhone dev who claimed to have been pinged by Redmond to code for the new device.

According to the source -- a Twitter client-maker -- he was asked to port his software to the Zune platform for "a bucket of money," though he ultimately declined the offer. Details beyond that fact are scarce, though apparently this dev is "certain" the offer was for the Zune. We won't argue for the benefits of having your application on two high-profile devices (clearly a personal decision), but it is extremely encouraging to hear that Microsoft sees the need to bring more than just basic functionality to a device like the Zune HD. Now, it's just a question of how smartly they go about it.

»»  Read More

2009 LG GD900 Crystal submerged in a fish tank

It's really a shame this isn't an out of box feature, but some ingenious modder has graced LG's GD900 Crystal phone -- you know, the one with the gesture-based transparent keypad -- with a custom water-resistant case that renders it perfect for swimming with the fishes. And so did they just that, dipping it into a fish tank. It'd make for one insanely hip charging dock, but we digress. Meanwhile in Russia, mobile@mail.ru has delivered some impressions on the device, with good words to say for the keypad's gestures but lamenting it's $899 suggested price tag, a figure higher than even the super sexy BL40 Chocolate. Aquatic footage is six feet under after the break, and hit up the read link below for the machine-translated impressions.

»»  Read More

New Nokia RX-51 tablet captured in the wild

Not long at all after that mysterious Nokia RX-51 passed through the FCC comes shots from Indonesian message board Kaskus of the tablet-like device in the wild. The blurred box shot and the label behind the battery clearly says RX-51 prototype, and the design is unmistakably similar to the rumored press photo for the Maemo 5-powered Rover from back in May. We can't help but notice the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens and, more importantly, SIM card slot and an ear piece, which would be perfect for placing calls on, say, T-Mobile's network. Few more shots after the break, and hit up the read link for the gallery of photos.

»»  Read More

New Study says LEDs are about as efficient as compact fluorescents

As we've seen with the slight resurgence of new and improved incandescent light bulbs, the amount of energy used to actually light up the bulb isn't necessarily the whole measure of energy efficiency. There's also the small matter of producing the bulb, shipping it around the world, and eventually disposing of it. With that in mind, the Siemens Corporate Technology Centre for Eco Innovations conducted a study that compared regular compact fluorescents to LED lamps -- using one 25,000-hour LED lamp as a constant, compared to 2.5 10,000-hour compact fluorescents (and 25 1,000-hour incandescents). While it's still holding back on some of the finer details, the group did apparently find that LEDs are no more or no less energy efficient than compact flourescents when the entire lifecycle of the bulb is taken into account, although it is quick to point out that LEDs should eventually win out as they become more efficient to produce.

»»  Read More

New NVIDIA clings desperately to XP

Anything that makes our netbooks, nettops, and smartphones into slightly less mediocre video performers is okay in our book, so we're fond of NVIDIA's ION platform and are looking forward to finding out exactly what the company has up its sleeve for ION 2. We weren't, however, expecting an even cheaper revision of the chipset, but that's exactly what's been announced this morning. NVIDIA is creating ION LE, a sibling of the existing ION that does everything its big sister can do except support DirectX 10. The idea, of course, is to lower costs while providing all the functionality XP-packing netbooks and nettops need, but as Windows 7 sits at home getting made up for its débutante party we have to wonder just how much longer Microsoft's old faithful will be on the market -- and how much longer DX9 will be relevant.

»»  Read More

News : Palm's ad agency "loves that you're creeped out" by new TV spots

Advertising Age has taken a deep dive into Palm's latest string of unsettling, polarizing ads -- you know, the ones with the girl -- in an attempt to explain the company's intention with the creepy spots. The industry paper spoke with Gary Koepke, the co-founder and executive creative director at Modernista, the company which developed and produced the short clips.

According to Gary, he's happy that viewers find the commercials upsetting, stating that "The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that's a good thing. Could the ads work harder to show exactly how the phone works? Yes, but we knew it would be polarizing people to have a woman not shout at them and tell an interesting story." Apparently the agency is taking its own stab at Microsoft's Seinfeld / Bill Gates strategy, which means viewers don't necessarily have to like (or even understand) the ads... as long as they keep talking about them. Of course, that game plan may work for a company like Microsoft, which arguably has nothing to lose if they run a few ill-received spots. Palm, on the other hand, won't get a second chance to make a first impression with a lot of people, and since its fortune is currently riding on the device these ads attempt to sell to consumers, it's a pretty risky proposition. C'mon, how could the folks that brought you the Foleo be wrong?

»»  Read More

PlayStation 3 Slim to debut August 18th

Whoa, Nelly! No sooner than we hear that Sony is informing Japanese retailers that the 80GB PS3 model won't be shipping any longer after August 8th, along comes this to stoke the raging rumor fires once more. In a one-two punch that just can't be coincidental, Sony has also hacked $50 off of its 160GB PlayStation 3 bundle from Amazon. But really, it's the report from RTLinfo that has us most excited. According to it, the Sony elite are informing European retailers of an impending €100 price slashing on the 80GB console, which will dovetail nicely into the sudden and not-at-all unexpected debut of the PS3 Slim at the gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany. Reportedly, the willowy unit -- which shouldn't differ much in terms of specifications and features -- will be properly introduced to the world during Sony's pre-event press conference on August 18th. Obviously we've no way to confirm or deny just yet, but given everything else that has transpired over the past few months, we'd say an official reveal is definitely due. What say you, rumormongers?

»»  Read More

2010 T-Mobile UK sneakily offering iPhone 3G to moneyed customers

We really couldn't make this stuff up -- it would seem that T-Mobile has been sneaking some hi-tech contraband into the UK in the form of unlocked iPhone 3G handsets, which it is now peddling to its most valued clientele. And by that, of course, we mean the piggies that pay up the most every month. Limited to an extremely select 150 units a week, the Apple devices are being used as incentives for high-rolling customers to renew their eye-gouging contracts of £75 per month and above, though we suspect only a few chums in corner offices know exactly how much T-Mob is charging for the handset itself.

We've done some digging, and while O2 has exclusivity on the iPhone 3G until September, that does not prevent T-Mobile from essentially functioning as a reseller of unlocked SIM-free units. Further distancing itself from legal action, the carrier is only offering the handsets to upgrading customers (as opposed to newcomers), thus the phones technically come sans a SIM. So, the suits at Magenta Towers must be feeling pretty smug right about now, having danced through a loophole and secured a wildly popular (albeit older generation) phone, all in the name of keeping high-brow customers from jumping ship. While you won't hear any PR from T-Mobile on the matter, we have a full statement from O2 on the subject of losing 3G exclusivity come September. You ready?

»»  Read More

New DEFCON clearly the work of ironic criminals

The hooligans in this case have a dry sense of humor or are extremely unlucky: Either way, we can't help but get a chuckle out of the fact that someone placed their smart card skimmin' faux ATM at the Riviera Hotel Casino in Las Vegas -- during DEFCON, the world's largest hacker convention. No one can say exactly how long the kiosk was there -- at least the kids were smart enough to place it right outside the security office, one of the few places in the conference center not under surveillance. It was picking up on this last fact that aroused the suspicion of Brian Markus, CEO of Aries Security. When shining a light through the glass panel that should house a camera, he instead found the PC that was set up to skim people's data. He then notified security, who removed the device and once again made the world safe for hackers and their bank accounts.

»»  Read More

Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board

Should have seen this one coming, right? Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple's board today citing a conflict of interest. Apple (Steve Jobs, in fact) says that "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest." Android and Chrome OS -- something had to give, but the timing sure does make it seem like that Google Voice app rejection might have really hurt someone's feelings.

The truth is, it's been a tangled web for some time as far as the relationship between Apple and Google goes. Sure, Schmidt sat on the board, the companies claim to be working on new projects, and Google Maps comes preloaded onto the iPhone, but over the past year, Google's increasing move into Apple's space, and Apple's increasing desire to control every inch of that space have not been good bedfellows. It's hard to imagine that Apple could maintain a completely healthy relationship with a direct competitor in both the phone and OS space for very long, and that's to say nothing of Cupertino's latest push into online document editing and management, which couldn't have seemed very awesome to Schmidt and company. Oh, and there's that matter of the antitrust case which is currently ongoing. Still, it's a bit sad to see this power couple going their separate ways, though it does give us some hope that Google will begin a full assault with Android in earnest, because only sweet stuff could come from those efforts. If you're interested, the full PR is after the break.


Dr. Eric Schmidt Resigns from Apple's Board of Directors

CUPERTINO, California-August 3, 2009-Apple today announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, is resigning from Apple's Board of Directors, a position he has held since August 2006.

"Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple's Board."

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

»»  Read More

News : Sony looking to purchase LED HDTVs from Samsung?

Just becuase it's prepared to source millions of flat panels from a joint venture with Sharp, don't think Sony is even close to satisfying its hunger for LCDs. Word from the Seoul Economic Daily is that it may also deal with Samsung on LED backlit televisions (beyond the existing S-LCD partnership,) a decision probably somewhat related to its move towards cheaper white LEDs (already used by Samsung) in upcoming BRAVIA sets as opposed to its more expensive Triluminos backlighting scheme. This shouldn't affect the marketplace immediately, but tuck that knowledge away for TV shopping 2010, the price difference between one brand and another probably doesn't buy as much difference as you think.

»»  Read More

Info : Windows Mobile 6.5, HTC Touch Diamond2, and Flash collide on video

Remember that pretty Windows Mobile 6.5-ish skin for AT&T's Warhawk (a.k.a. HTC Touch Diamond2) we saw last week? Looks like it (or another very similar skin) is ready to make another appearance. The Inquirer managed to get a walkthrough of what's being called the final build of WinMo 6.5, and while there isn't a lot of new functionality shown -- large portions of the video are devoted to My Phone syncing and QR codes -- we do get to seem a few Zune inspired ideas and a brief glimpse of how it handles flash. It's still on track for release by Christmas, and if you want your glimpse now, check out the video after the break.

»»  Read More

2009 BlackBerry App World 1.1 unleashed

If you've been using your BlackBerry in the last 24 hours or so, you've probably noticed that red star plastered on the App World icon, signaling it's time for an upgrade. Yes, RIM's version of the app store has hit version 1.1, and the bulk of the update concerns better navigation options -- new categories, top downloads for free and premium apps, and the ability to sort search results by name, release date, rating, price, and developer. Outside of that, we've also got the option to now archive apps on SD card or other memory, but unfortunately there's no option to run those programs without reinstalling to internal memory. The update is available for all countries, including the recently-introduced group of ten. Full details after the break.

This mobile client update includes:

Enhanced discovery

* View the catalog by free vs. paid top downloads
* Additional categories and sub-categories

Customers can sort their search results by:

* Newest
* Highest Rated
* Price (lowest/highest)
* Developer (alphabetical)
* Application Name (alphabetical)

Archive apps: Customers can now archive their apps to SD Card or on-device storage memory and reinstall when they want to use them.

New customers can go to Mobile.BlackBerry.com or BlackBerry.com/AppWorld to download BlackBerry App World 1.1. Current users will be notified of the new version a red star (splat!) on the BlackBerry App World icon.

Available to download in five languages (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish), BlackBerry App World 1.1 is also now available to customers in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and the Channel Islands, as well as those in the U.S., UK and Canada.

»»  Read More