Shuttle J3 to b3 Unveiled at Computex 2010

Please SlashGear Shuttle J3 to b3 Unveiled at Computex 2010 April 28, 2010 at 8:34 PM Shuttle has made a name for itself for manufacturing of high-performance small form factor PCs, along with creating the XPC, and they've gone ahead and announced their Computex 2010 exhibition booth. The event is Asia's largest trade show for computers and the industry, which is held in Taipei, Taiwan. Shuttle wants to make sure they make a mark at this year's event, and therefore have a nice ace up their sleeve: the J3. Along with the J3, which we'll get to in a moment, they're going to showcase their small form factor PCs, all-in-one PCs, slim PCs, and the ever-popular Shuttle concept models, they're going to be showing off a few notebook and netbook prototypes. Each of these pieces of tech are going to be on-hand at the show, so if you're there, you'll be able to play with them. Now, for the J3. This is a highly-anticipated piece of hardware from the PC manufacturer, because it features Intel's Core i7-980X Extreme Edition "Gulftown," which happens to be the world's fastest processor. It also showcases NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480, which is the world's fastest graphics card. If that's not good enough for you, the J3 is also the world's smallest 1-liter slim PC, featuring next-generation NVIDIA ION 2 graphics. All of which make one beefy machine, that we imagine will definitely fall into a few PC gamer's hands over the course of this year. Full press release just below. Release Text: Shuttle unveils new desktops, laptops, and concept models for extreme gaming and HD entertainment at Computex 2010 City of Industry, CA — April 28, 2010 / ( http://www.myprgenie.com ) — Shuttle, the industry leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance small form factor (SFF) PC solutions and creator of the XPC, today officially announced its exhibition at the 2010 Computex, Asia's largest and most influential trade show for the computer industry held in Taipei, Taiwan from June 1-5, 2010. At Computex 2010, Shuttle's latest portfolio of innovations — from new small form factor PCs, all-in-one PCs, and slim PCs to Shuttle concept models, including notebook and netbook prototypes — will be on display for attendees to experience first-hand at the show. Shuttle will be showcasing the highly-anticipated Shuttle J3 which supports the Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-980X Extreme Edition "Gulftown" — the world's fastest processor — and the NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 480 — the world's fastest graphics card. The world's smallest 1-liter slim PC with next-generation NVIDIA(R) ION 2 graphics and a slim optical drive bay for internal DVD drives will also be unveiled. Beginning today, Shuttle will be opening up its schedule for meetings with media, resellers, and VIP guests. Interested companies and representatives from the U.S., Canada, and Latin America are welcome to email marketing@us.shuttle.com to arrange an in-person meeting, email or telephone interview, or request further information on Shuttle's new products. For the latest information about Shuttle and Shuttle's new products, visit http://us.shuttle.com or follow @ShuttleLabs on Twitter. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Shuttle debuts snazzy new XPC SG41J1 SFF barebone computer Shuttle offers up J1 4100G SFF gaming PC Shuttle D10 desktop has touchscreen built in Shutt! le unveils 3.3cm thick XS35 PC Shuttle ships J1 4100P and G2 7600P SFF PCs Intel Core i7 1.46GHz ULV Due in the Fall April 28, 2010 at 6:33 PM Of course, this is a rumor. A leak of a rumor. Or a rumor of a leak, however you want to think about it. But, according to those rumors, leaks, and whatever else, it looks like Intel is planning not only a 1.33GHz update to their Core i7 chips in the Summer, but also a bit more power later in the year. We're always a fan of more power, especially if these leaks are anywhere near true. The low-voltage chips are featured in set-ups like the new MacBook Pro line-up, but they're not quite at that 1.33GHz (which can be overclocked to 2.4GHz, if you're into that kind of thing) level. But that's not good enough for Intel, because they've apparently got an ultra low-voltage chip, the 680UM, ready to launch in the Fall. The chip would feature the same 18W thermal peak, but apparently it can be overclocked to 2.53GHz in Turbo Boost mode. Of course, this is just a rumor (if we haven't said that enough), but there's definitely something inside us that says this might turn out to be true. After all, computers keep getting better, so why would Intel take a break, right? We'll have to wait and see what happens with this, but we should see some kind of announcement, whether leaked or official, in the next few months. [via Electronista] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Intel Core i5-750, i7-860 and i7-870 coming September 6th? Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs official at CES 2010 Intel Core i5-750, Core i7-860, i7-870 get official Intel Xeon 5600 series processors are most secure ever Intel to Launch Quad-Core Chips This Year PowerV Quad Charger for Nintendo Wii Uses Inductive Charging April 28, 2010 at 6:18 PM Ah, wireless. We love it. Even the sound of it. It just makes us feel and warm and fuzzy inside. So, when we see something like this, where inductive charging is the norm, we can't help but want one. Maybe even two. Then again, if we bought two of these, we'd need a reason for having 8 Wiimotes, and we can't come up with anything right now. But, if you're normal and have only four controllers, the PowerV Quad Charger is perfect for you. You're basically looking at a stand, where four Wiimotes can be held when not in use, that allow for inductive charging through the Wiimotes cases. This means that you don't need any extra wires hanging around, and that's always a bonus. Additionally, you can put the Wiimotes down on the docks even if they have a silicone cover, or have a Wii Motion Plus add-on attached. It'll just start charging. Even if the name isn't the greatest, the PowerV Quad does look pretty neat, and it's just as shiny as the Nintendo Wii itself, that's for sure. Especially with those blue lights. It's available right now, actually, sold through Amazon, for a cold $50. It's up to you whether or not you think that's worth it. Now, it just needs to come in black. [via Technabob] Relevant Entries on SlashGear MeWe Quad Charger makes for four times the Wii fun Wireless recharging becomes a reality… for V3 RAZR owners, at least Emerge Technologies pulls the wraps off ReTrack 4-1 Combo Charger for iP! hone and other devices 5-in-1 USB Charging cable is a hub of sorts Ventev EcoCHARGE wall charger launches HP: Investing Heavily in webOS R&D, Looking Into Tablets April 28, 2010 at 5:47 PM We're still reeling from the news that Palm has just been bought by HP. It's a bold move by both companies, but one that we're sure is going to take off well. HP wanted to clarify their position on the purchase, along with shine a light on a few of the reasons why they thought buying the house that built webOS would be a good idea. To do that, they had Todd Bradley of HP take the reigns of a live webcast and go over some of the major points, along with some of the finer details. You can find a Q&A session after the break, which does a good job of bringing it all together. Q. Android has a tremendous amount of momentum in the marketplace, why pick up webOS? A. The breadth of products represents an enormous opportunity. It's an early market – we believe developer support for webOS will grow. We believe in choice, and we believe to remain a strategic partner with Microsoft. There's a unique opportunity to create products with webOS. Q. What's the timeline to evolve webOS to run on HP hardware and specifically on different form-factors with larger screens? A. We need to get the transaction closed before we talk timelines. Q. Can you talk about the competitive landscape – where do you see devices running webOS, are they consumer first or corporate? A. While Palm currently has smartphones, that's a space that's very consumer oriented. We're looking at how to broaden our distribution. Tablets and slates are such new categories, we're still looking at that. There's terrific interest in terms of vertical deployment. Q. You referenced leveraging your strategic positions, what would you characterise HP's position at the carrier level, and how will they help alleviate the challenges Palm has faced? A. Investments in building out application/developer capabilities will be very important. As we build our execution plans we focus on leveraging several larger carriers – that will provide a significant growth platform going forward. Q. Will the Palm R&D team remain separate within HP? A. We intend to operate it as a business unit, in line with the structure today. Jon Rubinstein is excited at the opportunity it represents to build out the platform. Q. Will iPaq remain on WinMo and Palm on webOS, or will they merge? A. We haven't made those decisions, and won't until after the deal is finalised. Q. We've seen Apple succeeding as a content platform in addition to hardware – they're doing a lot of content aggregation. Do you intend to get into that side of the business moving forward? A. Our focus is to provide connected devices that allow people to connect seamlessly to their information whether that be work or entertainment. We're not going to get into specifics of strategy until we finalise the transaction. Q. Palm are spending around $190m a year on R&D – do you think that's adequate? A. We'll be putting more money into all of it – investing heavily not only in R&D but in sales & marketing HP is taking this very seriously, just as we expected them to. And while the details are being kept close to the vest right now by both companies, we can expect to learn a lot more as the months lead us into the future. There's obviously a point where Palm and HP will have to decide on the current Palm handsets being worked on, and which of those will make it to the real world, but with HP's wide range of funds, R&D, and reach into almost every angle in the tech market, Palm seems to be in capable, and wealthy, hands. Analysts seem to agree that this is a great move for Palm and HP. Michael Gartenberg, a partner with Altimeter Group, commented on his personal site, saying that "Palm has found a good home." He also believes that "webOS should now be viewed as a serious contender in the mobile platform wars." With the software development started by Palm, HP has a strong, multitasking powerhouse of a mobile Operating System that they can only capitalize on, and HP obviously plans to do just that. Ross Rubin, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Consumer Technology at NPD, believes that "webOS will help diversify mobile offerings from the computing giant." And with this talk of tablets, netbooks, along with the addition of more smartphones, that's not a bad t! hing at all. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Palm 9.5% "passive stake" hedge fund investment surprises analysts Palm's webOS 1.4 surfaces with video recording [Video] webOS 1.3.2 speeds up Palm Pixi; 1.3.5 imminent Palm: Can you say "webOS acceleration"? Toshiba tablets using Tegra 2, due end of 2010? Clickfree C2N Review April 28, 2010 at 5:28 PM Backup – we've called it an ugly, boring chore before and it remains a necessary evil. We've also called Clickfree's products an ideal way to address that chore before too, and with their latest drive – the Clickfree C2N – the company reckon they've managed to make running backups on all your home or small office systems even more straightforward. At the risk of sounding like a bad X-Files plot, that's something we want to believe; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. A bit of backstory first. Clickfree's drives generally consist of what looks like a regular external USB 2.0 hard-drive, loaded with some special software that – when you plug in – automatically scans your computer, spots any important data like documents or multimedia, and copies them over to its safe clutches. Subsequently, only new or modified files are copied, and you can plug the one Clickfree drive into multiple computers and have independent backup profiles for each. The Clickfree C2N takes that concept and moves it one stage further. As before, it looks like a regular external drive – available in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB or 640GB capacities – but now it can backup not just the local computer it's physically plugged into, but multiple machines on the same home or small office network. Now, the obvious way of doing that would be to give the Clickfree an ethernet port and turn it into a NAS, but that's arguably too complex for its target audience. Instead, Clickfree have come up with BackupLink: plug the drive (using the tethered USB cable that slots neatly into a niche for transport or storage) into whichever computers you want to include in the mass backup and it automatically installs an app that allows the USB drive to easily connect to that machine again over the home network. As long as you leave the C2N hooked up to one of the networked machines, it will be able to remotely back-up any of the computers on that network you've previously plugged it into. So, say you have a laptop and a desktop, and you want to keep backups of both machines. First, you might plug the C2N drive into the laptop and install BackupLink, performing the first backup – which takes the longest, as it's saving all your data rather than what has just been incrementally changed – while it's locally connected. Then, you plug the C2N into the desktop and follow the same process, only this time you leave the drive attached. BackupLink installs an icon in the system tray of a Windows machine (it's also compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 or higher, and you can have a mixture of PCs and Macs backing up to the same Clickfree drive) from which you can not only trigger a backup of the local machine (in this case, the desktop PC) but of the remote laptop too. Thanks to BackupLink running in the background on the laptop, the Clickfree drive spots it over the network and performs an incremental backup as if the C2N was physically con! nected via USB. While you can manually trigger a backup of any computer from any machine with BackupLink installed, you can also schedule automatic backups to take place daily, weekly, etc, at a time of your choosing. The app will wake a computer from sleep mode to do so, though it can't power up a hibernating Windows PC. Similarly, while the C2N supports 256-bit hardware-based data encryption – useful if the drive is stolen – if that's active you'll need to type in the password before the scheduled backup can take place. There are some limitations in comparison to a proper NAS, of course. Only one computer can be backing up to the C2N at any one time, and – while there's support for browsing the contents of each separate backup volume – it's not really designed to act as a shared drive for frequently-accessed, communal files. You'll need Administrator access to each computer initially, too, to install the BackupLink app. You're also limited by the speed of a) your network, b) USB 2.0 and c) the speed of whatever computer the C2N is plugged into, whereas a decent gigabit NAS and a gigabit router/switch will be faster and more self-sufficient. Currently there's no RAID option either, so, should the Clickfree drive's HDD fail, all your backups are lost. Still, for Clickfree's target audience the comparison would more likely be using the C2N or nothing at all; they'd not even consider using a NAS, or be put off by the complexity of networking and setting up backup software. In contrast, the C2N makes it all incredibly easy: you can choose specific files or locations to backup, or alternatively you can let Clickfree's software dig through your drive and identify files automatically. It will even pull out email attachments, and allow you to share photos via its own UI to Flickr, Facebook and MySpace. If you start to reach the limits of the internal storage, Clickfree include an app that streamlines transferring data to a CD or DVD. You do pay a premium for all that functionality, however, at least in a dollar-per-gigabyte comparison with a regular, "dumb" USB drive. The 250GB C2N comes in at $139.99, the 320GB at $159.99 and the 500GB at $179.99; in contrast, a normal 250GB portable drive can be had for around $55, while 500GB can be had for around $80. We'd be more tempted by Clickfree's Transformer NE, a $99.99 adapter cable that offers the same BackupLink functionality but rather than coming with internal storage has a USB 2.0 port to plug in a generic external drive. You could even plug in a USB RAID array, if you want to couple Clickfree's simplicity with the reassurance of multiple-drive data redundancy. The only drawback with the Transformer NE is that it apparently lacks Mac support, and will only work with Windows machines. Simplicity comes at a price, then, which is hardly new. A cheap external drive may be easier on your wallet, but it's a false saving if you then neglect to actually copy your data across to it. In contrast, the C2N streamlines the process to the point where even the most tech-wary of users could get to grips with it. In an ideal world we'd all have redundant local and off-site backup and not even a single byte would go missing; in the real world, Clickfree's C2N manages to make the company's own easy products even easier. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Clickfree HD325 & Transformer Backup Review Photo backup drive is image-omnivore Clickfree Transformer for iPod Review – Turns your iPod into a Backup Storage ClickFree One-Click Backup Clickfree Traveler and DVD Transformer auto backup systems Palm: Can you say "webOS acceleration"? April 28, 2010 at 4:50 PM All eyes are on Palm and HP today, as a $1.2bn acquisition is announced that will see the webOS platform slot neatly into the HP fold. Of course, the big question is what will HP do, exactly, with the well-respected OS; we're likely to hear more details at the imminent HP investor call, but over at the official Palm blog they're giving what looks to be a big hint: "webOS acceleration". Palm's Jon Zilber points out that HP are the world's largest technology company, together with being "one of the most revered companies in all of tech-land". Palm, he says, are "pretty excited, and pleased we surprised the world again" with the news. We're now left wondering exactly where webOS will end up; obviously new smartphones are on the cards, with CEO Jon Rubinstein telling us Palm had a healthy roadmap already planned out, but HP are also looking to push back into the tablet sphere. We've not been shy about our hope to see an iPad rival running webOS, so our fingers are crossed that HP are considering sideways moves with the platform too. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Palm webOS 1.4 coming Feb 25th with video recording? Is a webOS-based Centro coming from Palm? Palm webOS development goes public; France's SFR getting Pre Palm Pre webOS 1.3.5.2 update hits Europe Palm's webOS 1.4 surfaces with video recording [Video] HP buy Palm for $1.2bn April 28, 2010 at 4:23 PM In a move that frankly none of us were expecting, HP have announced that they are buying Palm for $1.2bn. Announced today, the deal will see HP produce devices using Palm's webOS platform; current Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein is "expected" to remain with the company. The full details of the deal are unclear, though HP are promising a live audio webcast for financial analysts and stockholders to discuss the agreement later on today. That will take place at www.hp.com/investor/webcast and kick off at 5pm EST/2pm PT. Press Release: HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion Combination will accelerate HP's growth within the more than $100 billion connected mobile device market PALO ALTO and SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 28, 2010 HP and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors. The combination of HP's global scale and financial strength with Palm's unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP's ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets. Palm's unique webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as true multitasking and always up-to-date information sharing across applications. "Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices," said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. "And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market." "We're thrilled by HP's vote of confidence in Palm's technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP's longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS," said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm. "We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners." Under the terms of the merger agreement, Palm stockholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of Palm common stock that they hold at the closing of the merger. The merger consideration takes into account the updated guidance and other financial information being released by Palm this afternoon. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Palm's stockholders. The transaction is expected to close during HP's third fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2010. Palm's current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Palm delays upcoming OS – Is this the beginning of the end? Sprint Palm Centro launch date is Sept 27? One-million Palm Centro sold – Youngsters and Woman love it Palm's New Treo 680 Verizon Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus apparently confirmed Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 TOXIC Edition Boasts 900MHz Clock Speeds April 28, 2010 at 4:01 PM Customizing your computer can be a costly thing. Anyone who does it knows that. And, if you're a gamer, or someone who needs their computer to be the best on the planet, it can be downright ridiculous. Take, for example, the Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 TOXIC Edition, which is surely going to cost you somewhere in the ballpark of $700. But, at least it's the fastest video card on planet Earth. So, you get what you pay for. The new Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 4G TOXIC Edition just sounds fast, doesn't it? Well it should, because the clock speeds reach up to 900MHz at the core, and 4800MHz effective in the memory. That's up from 725MHz and 4000MHz respectively, so quite a nice jump there. It also features 4GB of GDDR5 memory, which bests the standard HD 5970 by twice the speeds. But, knowing that they couldn't leave well enough alone, Sapphire have also made improvements to the heatsink/fan, by making it more of a customized job brought to you lovingly by Arctic Cooling. The system features three low-noise fans, the heatpipes and fins were constructed from nickel plating. There's no word on pricing or when this will be available for mass consumption, but we're going to go ahead and assume it's going to be pricey. [via Hot Hardware] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 claims "fastest video card" title Pricing leaks for ATI Radeon HD 5970 Sapphire introduces the silent HD 2600 XT Ultimate Edition NVIDIA GTX 480 Fermi-based video card leaks Sapphire unveils HD 2600 Dual Polaroid Plans Leap Into Gaming Market With Accessories April 28, 2010 at 3:46 PM When you think gaming, you think Polaroid, right? Or, is that something else? Like cameras. Yeah, that's probably a bit more comfortable for most people. Well, get ready to get thrown right out of your comfort zone, because it looks like Polaroid is all set to turn things on their nose. With a few accessories in the works, Polaroid wants back into the gaming scene. Yes, we said "back." Why? Because a couple years ago the company actually released a controller that held 15 games on it. One of those "15-in-1″ things that was all the rage back then. Sure, it didn't necessarily push the company into the wide world of games, but at least they tried. This time around, though, they seem to have a firm plan, and they're going after all of the major consoles. They've got a microphone headset and battery packs planned for the Xbox 360, and wireless controllers for the PlayStation 3. Additionally, they've got a dock planned for the Nintendo DS. That's not all, though. For Nintendo's Wii, they've got a sensor bar in the pipe, along with some sports packs. We're not exactly sure what's going to be in those packs, but we'll hope they're good. Also, why the Wii would need an additional sensor bar is beyond us, but Polaroid obviously thinks they can make some money there. Here's us crossing our fingers that when these things launch later this year, they don't completely bomb. [via UberGizmo] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Polaroid introduces new Portable Media Player Polaroid point-and-shoot coming in 2009; no shaking required Polaroid Spectra film-conversion: trade convenience for cost Impossible Project takes on re-engineering Polaroid Integral film Polaroid offers special pink PoGo printer AT&T Officially Displays Data Plans for iPad WiFi + 3G April 28, 2010 at 3:30 PM By now, the data plans for the upcoming iPad WiFi + 3G model are pretty much common knowledge. But, we know how people can be without some kind of official verbiage, so AT&T has finally come forward and released their side of the story. Oh, it's the same story that Apple was telling, so don't get worried. It's still every bit as good as you thought it would be, even there are some little extras in store. As we said, there's nothing all that new here. You're still going to get two options: $14.99 for 250MB of data per month, or $29.99 for truly unlimited data. No, there isn't a 5GB cap, so it's not a "relative unlimited data plan." It's the real deal, so feel free to actually use it. On top of that, AT&T wants you to go ahead and utilize their exhaustive list of wireless hotspots all around the country. Pretty good deal, considering this isn't a long-term contract, and you're not selling your soul to anyone to access any of this. That's right, it's all done from the device, at your leisure. For example, if you decide to go the whole 250MB route, then you can activate the plan right from your tablet, and it switches on right then. Your 30 days are a consecutive 30 days, meaning from the moment you start, it's 30 days later that it will wrap up. And, if you're using quite a bit of data, the system will alert you when you've reached 20% of your total data allowed, and then again at 10 percent, and then ultimately you'll be warned when you've run out of data to use. In each of those messages, you'll be given the opportunity to re-up your plan to add an additional 250MB to your plan. Both the unlimited and limited plan will renew themselves automatically every 30 days, and you can cancel them whenever you want. You can also manage your data consumption visually from your iPad, just to keep track of it. So, come this Friday, you're buying one, right? [via AT&T] Relevant Entries on SlashGear iPad "WiFi driven" suggests AT&T CEO, not expecting heavy 3G use Boingo WiFi will support iPad from day one iPhone has officially been added to AT&T's business plan Hutchison Austria to give iPad discount with 2-year 3G modem contract WiFi + 3G iPad ships May 7th Apple Buys Siri to Increase Competition with Google April 28, 2010 at 3:11 PM There are a lot of applications available in the Apple iTunes App Store, so if you miss one or two there's probably no reason to feel bad. Whether the personal assistant application Siri falls into that category is better suited as a personal question, but if you were to ask Apple, it seems that missing that particular application may have been the wrong move Why? They liked it enough to buy the company behind it. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Apple has gone through the process of acquiring the personal assistant application called Siri, which was made by the company of the same name. Siri itself is a personal assistant application at heart, but the contents of this particular application are quite robust. By utilizing a threaded message-like User Interface, you simply ask Siri something, like "Where Avatar is playing," and the application will pull up relevant movie theaters, along with information how to purchase tickets from your phone. According to Robert Scoble, who initially broke the news, the whole thing could have gone down for somewhere in the ballpark of $200 million. Small numbers to Apple, but we imagine that the purchase has set some high expectations for the Cupertino-based company, and they plan on making all of that back plus some. If they can find a way to integrate the intuitive application in any way shape or form, Apple would probably have a hit on their hands. Check out the video below for a quick run-down of what Siri is. [via Scobleizer] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Google worth slightly less than Apple Best Buy iPad April 3rd Launch Day Playbook Unveiled Google and Universal Partner for gBox DANGER bought by Microsoft Google's Acquisition of AdMob On the Rocks DIY automatic ball balancing machine [Video] April 28, 2010 at 12:12 PM Forget your Newton's Cradle or that squeezy stress toy; this might just be the best executive desk toy so far. The handiwork of 0zimbra0, this simple square of wood is – thanks to a couple of servos, a webcam and our old friend the Arduino – capable of keeping a ball bearing either balanced or following continually moving patterns. Video demo after the cut The software can – by jiggling the servos about and thus controlling the angle of the board – get the ball to move to any point. That point could be stationary, it could be moving (so, say, the ball moves in a circular pattern) or it can even track your mouse pointer. Unfortunately there's no sign of the Arduino code, so if you want to build something like this yourself then you'll need to figure it out on your own. Slap in a few slightly quieter servos, however, and it would make the perfect desktop distraction. [via MAKE] Relevant Entries on SlashGear The Waboba Ball – bounces on water The 8 Ball USB Hub The SoundBall – for a bit of noisy fun The Monkey Groan Ball to get rid of your daily stress ChefStack automatic pancake machine: kitchen heaven Why I like Kin April 28, 2010 at 10:55 AM Recently, Microsoft unveiled a new mobile platform and two new devices built for it. It's called Kin and it's targeted at a younger demographic with a focus on social communication. It's also been one of the most controversial releases I've ever seen. Many folks who've weighed in on the topic weren't too impressed. They cite a lack of features ranging from a calendar to no support for third party applications, most notably games. I don't share those views (although I do think it's not a good idea for middle aged Microsoft executives to go with a shirt untucked and unshaven look while presenting) and I think Kin has a good chance of being successful in the marketplace. Here's why. 1. The market is real. One of the classic mistakes people make when evaluating technology is to apply their own biases toward it. When products were designed and targeted to a mass, horizontal market, it was less likely to happen. As the mobile market continues to grow, we'll see more and more specialized products designed for either vertical or mass markets, neither of which represent the traditional tech enthusiast. In this case Kin isn't targeted toward an enthusiast marketplace that's already using a smartphone and is seeking the next greatest thing. It's aiming to replace the feature phone audience that's using those phones by choice (or in some cases cost necessity). Not everyone needs or wants the complexity of today's smartphone devices and platforms. That's a hard concept for us geeks to fathom but it's true. Kin is much more the heir to the feature phone than it is to the next generation smartphone. The truth is, it's neither feature phone nor smartphone, it's something in between. 2. Segmentation makes sense. Mobile tasks segment greatly by audience. Older demographics are far more likely to cite voice communication as their critical function, by a wide margin over every other mobile activity. By contrast, a younger demographic will likely be using fewer voice services and be much more focused on other forms of communication, such as text messaging and looking to tap into their social networks from an integrative perspective. I can understand why some folks think Kin isn't the phone for them. Frankly, it's not the phone for me (although there are aspects of it that I love). That doesn't mean, however, that it's not the phone for anyone. Microsoft Kin One & Kin Two demo: Neither, though, does it mean that Kin is a slam dunk. To be successful in the market, Kin needs two things going for it: effective pricing and marketing, two critical details that Microsoft did not discuss at last week's launch. 1. Marketing must be dead on. Kin's got a great story but even the greatest of stories needs to be told or it might as well not exist. Microsoft had a great story with Zune HD last fall; sadly, it neglected to tell it and that product nowhere near lived up to the potential that it had. Microsoft and Verizon need to tell a joint story that's clear, concise and takes the effort to reassure an image sensitive market that it's ok to use something that's perceived as different. Microsoft needs to show and demonstrate clearly how Kin differentiates from what potential buyers are using and take the time to teach and educate the market how critical features like Spot and Loop work. Without the proper marketing campaign, Microsoft will have an uphill battle. 2. Pricing needs to map with expectations. Pricing may be the most critical aspect of all. For Kin to work, Microsoft and Verizon will need pricing for both the devices and the service that can map favorably to current feature phone offerings, not comparable smartphone devices. Given that there's the potential for significant bandwidth use to flow content such as multi-megapixel images to the cloud and streaming music services, it's a challenge to achieve low enough price points, especially when targeting a younger demographic with less disposable income that older users could afford. Coupled with a proper marketing and pricing message, I think Kin can be a success for Microsoft and achieve their goal of creating an optimized experience aimed at a very targeted demographic. Kin shows we're past the phase of one size fits all for mobile technology, and it needs to be looked at and evaluated through that lens, not how well it maps to horizontal audiences. iPhone HD expected at WWDC 2010: SlashGear will be liveblogging April 28, 2010 at 10:36 AM So WWDC 2010 is fast approaching – June 7th we now know – and while developers may be concentrating on getting their apps up to speed with iPhone OS 4.0, the rest of us will be anticipating the debut of the iPhone HD. The fourth-generation iPhone may have been unofficially previewed over the past few weeks, but we're confident that Steve Jobs & Co. will still have a few surprises in store. While we'd love to stuff you all in our bags and take you in with us, we'll have to do the next best thing and run the traditional SlashGear liveblog at http://live.slashgear.com/. So, what do we expect? Well, a hardware redesign seems inevitable, and judging by the leaked prototype it's likely to be a little smaller than the current iPhone 3GS and adopt blunter edges. A higher-resolution camera with a flash is also on the cards, together with a front-facing video camera. We've seen Apple patents recently for various NFC implementations, though there's no guarantee that such technology would actually make it into this generation of hardware. Finally, a speedier processor – tipped to be the same 1GHz Apple A4 as in the iPad – and a higher resolution, 960 x 640 display are probable. There'll also be iPhone OS 4.0, of course. For all the details on June 7th 2010, join us at http://live.slashgear.com/ for the liveblog! Relevant Entries on SlashGear 3G iPhone this month and Mac Tablet at WWDC 08? WWDC 2008 – iPhone 3G advert! Apple WWDC 2008 confirmed – mark your calendar for June 9th-13th Live coverage of WWDC 2007 keynote on June 11 at SlashGear Apple WWDC 2009 Dates announced: June 8-12 Chopper 2 for iPad uses iPhone as controller, HDTV for display [Video] April 28, 2010 at 10:23 AM We've all seen Scrabble played on the iPad with iPhones used as tile racks, but Dave at Magic Jungle Software had more ambitious plans for his Apple tablet. He hooked up an iPhone to act as a Bluetooth controller with his new – currently unreleased – game Chopper 2, then going on to connect the iPad itself up to a 42-inch HDTV via the composite adapter. Video demos after the cut Best of all, none of what Dave has done uses any of the private APIs that Apple is so protective about. That means there's hopefully a pretty strong chance that, when he submits it for App Store approval, it won't encounter any hiccups. To be honest, Apple would be crazy not to allow titles like these. After all, if you're using an iPhone or iPod touch to control your iPad game, that's at least two pieces of Cupertino hardware you've gone out and bought. Factor in the composite adapter for big-screen playback and that's even more cash for Steve's pocket. Chopper 2 iPad/iPhone demo: Chopper 2 on HDTV: [via Distorted-Loop and via The iPhone Spot] Relevant Entries on SlashGear RipCode allows iPad to play Flash video Apple iPhone/iPad video calling tipped in 3.2 SDK Chopper gets Intel mobile computing treatment Adobe talk iPad Flash alternatives iPad more likely to be purchased by current Apple owners iPhone HD saga continues: lawyers retained & shield laws doubted April 28, 2010 at 10:07 AM The stolen/lost/misplaced iPhone HD saga continues, with news that – in the aftermath of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen coming home and discovering police had raided his house in the hunt for incriminating evidence of the $5k deal – Chen has hired a criminal lawyer to represent him while Gawker retained a First Amendment specialist to advise them on their case. The company maintains that Chen – and the other staff involved – are protected by California's journalism shield laws; however at least one legal expert has suggested that such a defence has been incompletely tested by the courts. According to law professor Orin Kerr, "the claim here is that the law doesn't allow state officials to get warrants even if the claim is that the reporters themselves have engaged in crimes. But the California law doesn't clearly make that distinction, as best I can tell." Meanwhile Eugene Volokh has suggested that Gizmodo's claims of not knowing the providence of the iPhone HD prototype – whether it was stolen or otherwise – may be difficult to prove one way or the other. He points to a previous case which deemed that "It is not necessary that the defendant be told directly that the property was stolen. Knowledge may be circumstantial and deductive." Chen's new lawyer, Thomas Nolan Jr., has said "I don't know whether he's the target of the criminal probe or whether they're trying to get information about sources from him," while Gawker's expert, Thomas Burke, says he will file an injunction should prosecutors decide the shield laws don't apply and move to search the editor's computers. However, the police have already discovered and interviewed the man believed to have taken the iPhone HD prototype from the bar. [via 9to5Mac] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Toshiba recalls batteries – the explosive battery saga continues QB-EM Shield cuts out the iPhone interference Sword and shield accessory available for the Wii Steve Jobs informs MY iPhone they they are in need of a name change Protect your TV from unfortunate Wiimote accidents M55 EVO-001 electric bike is hand built and too expensive for you April 28, 2010 at 9:14 AM There are some things that I would spend big money on, assuming I actually had big money. I would spend lots of loot on a cool car and a big house packed with tech for everything. I wouldn't spend big money on a bicycle though. If you are well heeled and like electric bikes, we have one for your collection. The bike is from a company called M55 and it's called the EVO-001. The bike features a single piece aluminum frame with an integrated battery pack and a motor. The electric motor is placed for stability while riding. Two versions will be offered with a street legal version packing in a 250W motor and an off-road version boasting a 1300W motor. The bike can hit 43mph, though which version hits that speed is unknown. My money says the 1300W sport version though. To slow down the thing has Brembo disc brakes. The handmade bikes will be limited to 250 units and if you need to know how much it is, you can't afford it. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Carbon fiber electric bike uses frame instead of wires to conduct power Folding Electric Bike Bike concept for 10 to 15-year-olds is coolest bike ever The ! Electric Bike Train BMW C1-E electric scooter reinvents the motorcycle Scientists take images of atomic spin for the first time April 28, 2010 at 9:05 AM Computer processors today are so much faster than the processors of only a few years ago that it is amazing when you stop and think about it. In the future computers will need to use different technology to be able to continue to advance at the rate we see today. Researchers around the globe are hard at work on technology that will one day be used in all manner of electronics like computers and other gadgets. One of the technologies that is being investigated is quantum computing that uses the spin on an atom to serve as the binary digits needed for computers to operate. Physicists at Ohio University have captured images of atomic spin for the first time. The image was captured with a custom-built microscope using an iron-coated tip to manipulate cobalt atoms on a plate of manganese. The team repositioned the atoms on the surface and then changed their spin. The atoms appear as single protrusions on the image above. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Do-it-all Bedside Radio leaves no space for your false teeth Taking the Camaro Concept Out For A Spin (Video) Electric Spin the Bottle – For those too good to spin a real bottle Atomic Floyd AirJax headphones made from Titanium2; acoustic steel Scientists break Internet speed record FREETALK Everyman HD webcam for Skype users launches April 28, 2010 at 8:55 AM Skype users can make voice and video calls if they want to and have the hardware needed. Those who like video calling with Skype, but want better image quality can now get a new Skype compatible webcam directly from the Skype Shop called the FREETALK Everyman HD webcam. The camera is cheap at $49.99 and supports 720p video resolution at 22 fps. The camera has a high performance lens, 24-bit color, and automatic exposure and white balance. The camera also features auto focus. The camera attaches to notebooks and displays using a universal clip. If you want to grab one of these cameras up, but sure you have an internet connection that is fast enough for HD video. You will need at least 1Mbps symmetrical bandwidth to use the HD resolution. Relevant Entries on SlashGear ASUS AiGuru SV1 standalone Skype videophone Skype to release branded mobile phone Samsung LED 7000 and 8000 series TVs get Skype Japan finally getting Skype for the PSP FaceVsion announces first HD Webcam with Skype 8-bit Guitar is the love child of a six string and arcade game April 28, 2010 at 8:46 AM Geeks tend to make all sorts of gear for no other reason than because they can. Such is the case with this cool 8-bit guitar that is made from hacked up parts from an arcade game and some ingenuity. The thing was built by Mike Davenport as a senior project. It uses touch strips for strings and has a FPGA for logic control and function. A joystick modifies the pitch and the gadget has selectable waves and other parameters to change the sound. Mike even built in save banks. The requisite YouTube video shows the builder rocking out to what could be the soundtrack to a video game from the 80's. If you are inspired to build your own you will have to pretty much go it alone, there are no instructions or notes offered on how exactly the guitar was made. Check out the video below. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Gibson Powertune – The Guitar that tunes itself Metallica to star in their own Guitar Hero title PC, Mac and Linux will also be getting Penny Arcade Adventures Hands-on – Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s Disney's Star Guitarist teaches you to play Apple WWDC 2010 confirmed for June 7th April 28, 2010 at 8:44 AM Apple have announced the dates for their Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2010), which will kick off on June 7th 2010 and offer coders the first ever iPad development sessions together with working labs for iPhone OS 4. Registration for the five day event is now open, with sessions including "Using HTML5 Local Data Storage" and "Integrating Ads with iAd". Game Center will also be heavily covered, with developers shown how to integrate Apple's online multitplayer system with their titles. We're also guessing that "Adopting Multitasking on iPhone OS" will be a popular session, as devs get to grips with iPhone OS 4.0's ability to run some APIs in the background. Meanwhile Apple will also be awarding prizes to ten software developers as part of their Apple Design Award, with an equal split between iPhone and iPad apps. Attendance doesn't come cheap, however; a single ticket to the five day event is $1,599, though we're still expecting them to sell out relatively quickly. Press Release: Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Kicks Off June 7 in San Francisco CUPERTINO, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 7 through June 11 at San Francisco's Moscone West. The five-day conference includes the first ever iPad(TM) development sessions and hands-on working labs for iPhone® OS 4, as well as Mac OS® X core technology labs. "This year's WWDC offers developers in-depth sessions and hands-on working labs to learn more about iPhone OS 4, the world's most advanced mobile operating system," said Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president of iPhone Software. "WWDC provides a unique opportunity for developers to work side-by-side with Apple engineers and interface designers to make their iPhone and iPad apps even better." WWDC 2010 is focused on providing advanced content for skilled developers across five key technology tracks: Application Frameworks; Internet & Web; Graphics & Media; Developer Tools; and Core OS. Apple engineers will deliver over 100 solutions-oriented technical sessions and labs. WWDC 2010 gives an incredibly diverse community the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPhone, iPad and Mac® developers from around the world. Sessions offered in support of the five technology tracks include: – Application Frameworks: Implementing Local and Push Notifications; Future Proofing Your App; Understanding Foundation; What's New in Foundation for iPhone OS 4; Advanced Cocoa® Text Tips and Tricks; API Design for Cocoa and Cocoa Touch®; Advanced Gesture Recognition; Integrating Ads with iAd; Building a Server-driven Personalized User Experience; Using Core Location in iPhone OS 4; and Calendar Integration with Event Kit. – Internet & Web: Delivering Audio and Video Using Web Standards; Getting the Most Out of Safari® Integrated Developer Tools; Using HTML5 Local Data Storage; Adding Touch and Gesture Detection to Webpages on iPhone OS; and Creating Info Graphics with Standard Web Technologies. – Graphics & Media: OpenGL ES Tuning & Optimization; OpenGL ES Shading & Advanced Rendering; OpenGL ES Overview for iPhone OS; OpenGL for Mac OS X; Game Design and Development for iPhone OS; Introduction to Game Center; Setting Up Games on Game Center; Game Center Techniques; Core Animation in Practice; Discovering AV Foundation; Editing Media with AV Foundation; and Advances in HTTP Live Streaming. – Developer Tools: Developer Tools Overview; Designing Apps with Interface Builder; Working Effectively with Objective-C® on iPhone OS; Mastering Core Data; Advanced Objective-C and Garbage Collection Techniques; Advanced Performance Analysis with Instruments; Mastering Xcode for iPhone Development; and Adopting Multitasking on iPhone OS. – Core OS: Network Apps for iPhone OS; Core OS Networking; Creating Secure Apps; Developing Apps that Work with iPhone OS Accessories; I/O Kit Device Drivers for Mac OS X; and Simplifying Networking Using Bonjour®. Additionally, there will be five iPad and five iPhone Apple Design Award winners announced at WWDC 2010. There is no requirement to enter and winners will be selected from the App Store based on criteria that includes design, technical excellence, innovation, quality, technology adoption and performance. Visit the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 website for registration and more details at developer.apple.com/wwdc. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Apple WWDC 2008 confirmed – mark your calendar for June 9th-13th Live coverage of WWDC 2007 keynote on June 11 at SlashGear Apple WWDC 2009 Dates announced: June 8-12 Jobs keynote confirmed for WWDC '08 but no hint of 3G iPhone Live Coverage of WWDC 2008 Keynote: Monday 9th at 10am! NVIDIA denies low Fermi yields April 28, 2010 at 8:19 AM Rumors and reports have been running rampant that the yields on Fermi GPUs from NVIDIA are bad. Some analysts have gone so far as to claim that the poor yields will cost NVIDIA market share. So far NVIDIA has been mum on the reports. NVIDIA has now come out and officially denied that yields are in the 20% and under range for the Fermi GPUs. The denial comes from the lips of NVIDIA's Drew Henry, general manager for MCP business at NVIDIA. Henry also states in the interview with Digitimes that NVIDIA will offer GPUs with 512 cores in the future. There have been questions and speculation surrounding why big green has no 512 shader cards. Henry also states that more GeForce 400 cards will be added to the line over the next few months. [via Semiaccurate] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Dire Fermi GPU yields will cost NVIDIA market share predict analysts NVIDIA Fermi coming March 2010 tips insider NVIDIA drops names of first Fermi video cards — GTX 470 and GTX 480 Maingear SHIFT gets Fermi video card option NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480/470 to lose cores over poor GPU yield? Sprint report $865m loss in Q1 2010: peg hopes on HTC EVO 4G April 28, 2010 at 8:11 AM Sprint's first quarter 2010 financial results are out, and they don't make for happy reading if you're a shareholder of the carrier. The company has reported net operating revenues of $8.1 billion, working out to a net loss of $865 million, while it's still haemorrhaging subscribers too: 75,000 net jumped ship in the three month period. Still, Sprint are managing to make lemonade out of the numbers: that 75k loss, for instance, is a whopping 670,000 fewer than their disastrous Q1 2009 results, net revenues were up and they've still got $4.4bn in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investmen! ts. "We continue to make progress in improving the business" says Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, pointing to the fact that "customer satisfaction has improved for the ninth consecutive quarter" as a reason for the dramatic reduction in subscriber churn. Still, Sprint's push to offer the cheapest service means that retail wireless service revenues increased by less than 1-percent from the same period a year ago, to $6.4bn, though that was around 3-percent higher than the previous quarter. In fact, post-pay subscribers are paying on average a dollar less, while pre-pay user ARPU worked out to $4 less, in comparison to Q1 2009. Sprint are hoping that the incoming HTC EVO 4G, the first WiMAX smartphone, will help turn around their fortunes. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Sprint losses continue to grow, says Q1 reports Sprint Q2 2009 finances revealed: $348m net loss, 257k customers down TiVo posts Q4 loss thanks to high cancellation rate and less sign ups Sprint Q3 2008 Financial Report: revenue & subscribers both down MOTORAZR 2 coming to Sprint next month? CoolIT ECO ALC liquid cooling system supports AMD Phenom II X6 April 28, 2010 at 8:08 AM When it comes to cooling the CPU inside your computer, most machines use an old-fashioned fan and a heat sink. There are some enthusiasts that use large liquid cooling systems with huge copper water blocks and massive radiators with several fans but those systems are expensive and bulky. For the user who has a normal desktop and wants a compact liquid cooling system that is cheap and doesn't take up lots of room inside our outside the case, CoolIT has a cool system called the ECO ALC. The ECO ALC is a self-contained liquid cooling system that has a small radiator and a fan. CoolIT has announced that the ECO ALC supports the new AMD Phenom II X6 6-core processor that launched this week. The cooling system can be purchased for $74.99 online at Newegg.com. Relevant Entries on SlashGear CoolIT liquid-cooling for HD 4870 X2: overclock GPU to 880MHz CoolIT demo overclocked liquid-cooled HD 4870 X2 on video CoolIT releases liquid cooling for GTX280 cards CoolIT unveils slick OMNI Universal Liquid Cooling kit for AMD video cards CoolIT Releases a new liquid cooling unit for GeForce 8800 cards IRIS lets you make eye contact online April 28, 2010 at 7:49 AM It's very rare to find a webcam today that is on eye level with the person using it. That means when you make video calls or have video chat session you end up looking up to the person or down on them depending on where the webcam is located. A new system called IRIS has been unveiled that is a monitor with a camera reflection system that lets users make eye contact. The system makes the image of the person look right at you rather than looking up or down at them. The IRIS system works with any web conference of video chat program. It will specifically work with Skype, Webex and others. The system is ideal for use in remote sales, healthcare, and education environment. The system is compatible with Windows and Apple computers. The IRIS system for Windows and prices for systems range from €1565,00 to €2325,00. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Oki develops iris scanner for your mobile phone Matrox Iris GT smart camera announced DIY instant messenger online contact signalizer picture frame thingy – says the creator Open your eyes to iris-recognition security Ford offers free SYNCMyPhone app for SYNC users Sagem Puma phone clears FCC April 28, 2010 at 7:39 AM Sagem's Puma phone has cleared the FCC this week, but don't get too excited; an official debut in the US is still some ways off. The 2.8-inch touchscreen handset – which is heavily skinned with Puma-themed content and apps – currently lacks US 3G support, unsurprising given Sagem themselves told us earlier this month that an official US launch wasn't expected until the first half of 2011. What this does likely mean is that imports into the US of the quadband GSM European model will be allowed, and there's also talk of web sales which – for the seriously Puma obsessed – might be too tempting to resist. As for that European launch, that's expected in the second week of May on Vodafone and Orange. As for specs, the Puma phone has a 3.2-megapixel camera, capacitive touchscreen, GPS and a rear-mounted solar panel (though it's only sufficient for topping up the battery, not running the handset without ever plugging it into the mains). You also get an entertaining Tamagotchi-style puma, called Dylan, which responds to taps on the screen, and various interlinked stores from which you can buy Puma-related merchandise. For more details check out our hands-on report. [via Wireless Goodness] Relevant Entries on SlashGear PUMA Phone leaps out of the shadows at MWC Sagem Puma phone hands-on; 2nd-gen Android model tipped for 2011 Puma offers an affordable Laptop Bag Sagem Porsche P9521 clamshell with rotating screen Porsche-designed Sagem P'9521 cellphone – hefty in build and price iSkin offers a new line of laptop carriers for the fashionable girly geek April 28, 2010 at 7:38 AM My wife can't be away from Farmville more than half an hour at most without going into fits to harvest her crops. She actually didn't want to go buy a new car because it would mean we would be gone when harvest time came around. She has a small netbook that she carries to friends houses so they can harvest together. The last time she went somewhere I handed her one of my normal laptop bags to carry the netbook in and she handed it back and said it wasn't cute enough. iSkin has unveiled a new line of laptop bags specifically for women like my wife who would rather do without a notebook bag than carry one that isn't cute. The line includes five designs and three bag styles. The designs include Digital Camo, Happy Friends, Royal, Ami, and Karl the Ninja. The largest of the bags is the16″ x 12″ x 7″ silo Tote with a laptop area and other pockets for stuff. The silo Slim is for the notebook only, and the silo messenger offers notebook space and room for other gear. All do the bags will support notebooks and netbooks up to 15-inches. Prices range from $140 to $150 and all the bags are available now. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Think Geek's new line of girly laptop bags The Atari Candleholder Geek Tattoos for the proud geek Protect your new iPhone with an iSkin revo case Nike + iSkin Running TShirt – look stylish while you're running Samsung unveils industry's first multi-chip package using PRAM for handsets April 28, 2010 at 7:26 AM Samsung is big in the electronics and handset industries and makes lot of the hardware and components inside many of the devices on the market. Samsung has unveiled what it claims to be the industry's first multi-chip package using PRAM chips for mobile phones. Samsung reports that it is set to start using the new chip in handsets later this quarter. The PRAM Samsung is using has 512 megabit Samsung PRAM in the MCP that is backwards compatible with 40nm-class NOR flash memory in hardware and software functionality. Samsung expects PRAM to gain significantly in share next year thanks to its improved performance compared to NOR memory. The reason is that PRAM stores memory using phase change characteristics of an alloy made of germanium, antimony, and titanium. This technology allows the PRAM memory three times faster data storage per word than NOR chips. PRAM memory is also non-volatile and its simple structure makes designing MCP chips for handsets faster and easier. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Samsung unveils Diva S7070 and S5150 for 2010 Broadcom BCM21551 Samsung's 3D Memory Package Samsung Bada mobile devices surface for mid-range market Samsung Begins Mass-Production of 8GB NAND Memory Patriot offers range of USB 3.0 gear for PCs and notebooks April 28, 2010 at 7:13 AM Yesterday I mentioned that Patriot had unveiled a new RAM kit it claimed to be the world's fastest DDR3. Patriot has also announced a new line of USB 3.0 gear for computer users recently. The line includes the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCI-E adapter for desktop PCs that adds a pair of USB 3.0 ports to the computer with 5Gbps of data speed. Notebook users can also get a pair of USB 3.0 ports using the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Express Card Adapter. If you have old 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs lying around as I do, you may be looking for something to do with them. Patriot will soon have a new external enclosure called the Gauntlet SuperSpeed USB 3.0 enclosure that will turn those drives into external storage. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Patriot offers world's fastest DDR 3 RAM with Viper II Sector 5 2500MHz kit Patriot reveals new enthusiast Viper II Sector 5 RAM Toshiba shows off product line for 2010 with TVs, DVD players, note! books, and more Scosche shows off new line of gear at CTIA including netBOOK Power and lots more Patriot unveils encrypted Bolt flash drive Qbo open-source robot wants to be Ford Model T of 'bots April 28, 2010 at 7:07 AM Open-source and DIY robotics should be the ideal match, but the expense of robot hardware often puts it out of reach for all but the most deep-pocketed enthusiast. Five years ago Francisco Paz decided to produce not only his own robot, Qbo, but to open-source the project so that hopefully the cost of entry would be lower for anyone else wanting to follow in his footsteps. Full specifications of Qbo are unclear – in fact we don't even have a full photo of the 'bot – but Paz has fleshed out some of his intentions. He wants to create the Ford Model T of hobby robots, an affordable platform with controller, memory, ultrasound sensors, webcams, compass, batteries and a physical framework, the Linux-based OS and an attractive casing to clad it in. The guess is that Qbo will be able to do image processing, speech recognition, speech synthesis and object avoidance, things that would typically require a pretty expensive off-the-shelf robot or an expensive DIY project. Paz is promising to flesh things out with the full details soon. [via PlasticPals] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Ford Sync to add convergence between your car and music player Ford GT Nitro Gas RC Car – Tops out at 60MPH! It's Always a Fembot: Why I Can't Take Robot Tech Seriously Japanese rescue robot saves people by eating them [Video] Apple's High Tech SIM Card Replacement Tools Microsoft Kin ROMs tip AT&T, T-Mobile & other carrier support April 28, 2010 at 6:48 AM Microsoft were upfront about their plans to launch their new Kin One and Kin Two featurephones not only on Verizon in the US but on Vodafone in Europe, but it looks like multiple other carriers are also in line for the QWERTY handsets. According to ROM-tinkerer Conflipper, and his excavations through system provisioning files pulled from an early Kin OS build, AT&T, T-Mobile, Fido and various European carriers are all listed. Provisioning files basically provide a shortcut to getting phones set up on new networks; they contain configurations for things like 3G APNs, service center numbers and similar. That way, when you slot your SIM into a Kin handset, it should be able to get online and let you take part in Microsoft's "generation upload" as soon as possible. Of course, just because there are named carriers, it doesn't mean there'll be official launches on each and every one; Microsoft could just be doing the sensible thing and recognising that people may want to use non-Vodafone SIM cards in their phones, and paving the way accordingly. If you want a dig through the provisioning file you can download it here. Meanwhile there's the full list of named carriers below. ATT (US) T-Mobile (US) Verizon (US) Fido (Canada) China Mobile China Unicom O2 (Germany) T-Mobile (Germany) Vodafone (Germany) Vodafone (Spain) Vodafone (France) Vodafone (Portugal) Vodafone (Italy) DoCoMo (Japan) Softbank (Japan) Telia (Sweden) Three (Sweden) Orange (UK) O2 (UK) Vodafone (UK) Microsoft Kin demo: [via MobileCrunch] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Microsoft says "Hell no" to Blu-ray HTC Hero English ROMs now available HTC HD2 arrives on T-Mobile UK from free HTC Hero firmware upgrade goes live on UK site Microsoft Pink dying & taking Windows Mobile with it? iPad WiFi + 3G preorders now shipping April 28, 2010 at 6:27 AM With Apple's iPad WiFi + 3G models going on sale in-store this Friday, April 30th, it's little surprise that online preorder customers are now being alerted that their tablets have been shipped. 9to5Mac are among those to receive the shipping update, and while Fedex themselves are only quoting a "late April" delivery, Apple has previously said that buyers should expect it to arrive at some point on Friday. Of course, if you're undecided you can still head down to your local Apple Store – or, Steve Jobs tells us, your nearest Best Buy – to check out the 3G-enabled iPad in person. Stocks won't be available until 5pm on the 30th, however. The Apple iPad WiFi + 3G is priced at $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB and $829 for the 64GB; 3G service can be activated on the tablet itself, is contract-free, and costs $14.99 for 250MB of data or $29.99 for unlimited data. Still undecided about the Apple iPad? Check out our launch day review, analyst Michael Gartenberg's review, and our skeptic's review. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Apple iPad preorders now shipping WiFi + 3G iPad ships May 7th Apple iPad pre-orders from February 25th? Boingo WiFi will support iPad from day one ColorWare offer madly priced iPad customization Nokia C2 split-keyboard phone leaks April 28, 2010 at 6:10 AM Nokia are no strangers to split-QWERTY keyboards, but while the old E70 went with a flip design, this mockup of what's tipped to be the Nokia C2 has a more unusual rotating display. According to information obtained by Ciao Mondo, the C2's screen section flips to the side to reveal the second half of the keyboard; still, this would be an entry-level device so we probably shouldn't expect anything too dramatic when it comes to functionality. The only other specifications tipped are a 2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a 240 x 320 display. No word on whether that display is a touchscreen, but given the "C" series of handsets is positioned as a lower-end range, we doubt it. Of course this could all be fake, but with the recent proliferation of QWERTY phones from Nokia the company do seem to be putting some emphasis on mobile messaging. No word on when the C2 might launch. [via gsmhelpdesk.nl] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Nokia announces E61i and E65 in U.S Nokia 6555 is now available at AT&T Nokia making Sidekick-type swivel phone? Freestyle Solo Keyboard for Mac users Unboxing the Nokia E70 Smartphone Pixel Qi 3qi display mass production soon; wide-angle version in fall April 28, 2010 at 5:54 AM Pixel Qi has given an update on the status of their low-power displays, and the biggest news is that they're finally ramping up to mass production. According to project lead Mary Lou Jepsen, several manufacturers are involved in producing the panels, and there is "strong demand" from multiple unnamed "higher volume customers". Meanwhile new versions of the multi-mode screens are also in the pipeline. One of these changes is a new, wider viewing angle which Pixel Qi say they now have working and will put into high volume production as soon as the coming fall. Meanwhile touchscreen integration is also being explored, with various solutions being tested; one such system, projected capacitance, is already on sale. Finally the DIY Pixel Qi project – which will see smaller screen orders being made available for individuals and low-volume projects – will apparently see a partner announcement soon. We're still waiting to hear who, exactly, will be using the displays beyond Notion Ink's Adam and future OLPC devices. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Pixel Qi ramp up sales pitch as mass production approaches LG monitor has privacy control to change viewing angles Pixel Qi developing sub-10W $100 HDTV Pixel Qi developing new panel sizes; "several" new customers onboard Pixel Qi 3Qi vs Amazon Kindle; Mary Lou Jepson Q&A [Video] JooJoo gets European launch; new software imminent to address early critique April 28, 2010 at 5:19 AM Would-be JooJoo buyers in Europe can now order Fusion Garage's web-slate, with the company's online store being updated to offer international shipping. The tablet – which is priced at $499 in the US – comes in at £319 ($486) in the UK and €359 ($474) in mainland Europe. Meanwhile, according to the new Fusion Garage blog, sales have increased as the JooJoo proves it's not vaporware, while the company accepts that they've handled some things poorly and promises a fast-approaching software update. "We are in the midst of bad joojoo for a very simple reason: We were aggressive in our product delivery commitments, decided to completely revise our UI as we were readying the product for release and our initial units shipped with software that proved to be problematic when put to the test in the real world." Chandra Rathakrishnan, Fusion Garage The new software – which, it's promised, will be released "shortly" – will apparently address most of the issues initial reviews picked up on. That will include the ability to play full-screen HD video. As for comparisons with the iPad, according to Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan"we may be ambitious but we are not delusional" and they have no plans to position themselves as an "iPad killer". Frankly we're just surprised to see a gadget that works out cheaper in the UK and Europe than its US price. [via Blogeee] Relevant Entries on SlashGear Fusion Garage on Arrington suit: "sad rants of a person championing a losing cause" Fusion Garage's JooJoo Still Out of Customer's Hands Fusion Garage announce JooJoo (aka CrunchPad): $499 on s! ale Friday Only 64 JooJoo tablets sold? Joojoo shipping date to be delayed until March 25th Garmin-Asus A10 Android smartphone targets pedestrians April 28, 2010 at 4:48 AM Garmin-Asus have announced their latest smartphone, the Garmin-Asus nuvifone A10, a new Android-based handset which is apparently optimized for pedestrian navigation. The A10 has a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen supporting multitouch, 5-megapixel camera, GPS and comes preloaded with mapping data and – optionally – cityXplorer guides to public transit systems. While the marketing for the A10 is being targeted at those traveling on foot, automobile users aren't left behind either. In the box there's a powered audio mount for the A10, with a loudspeaker for more audible voice navigation prompts. Meanwhile there's also the usual bevy of Android apps together with Microsoft Exchange support and access to the Android Market. An accelerometer and 1500mAh battery round out the specs that Garmin-Asus are making public today; we still don't know how much the phone will actually cost. Expect it to navigate onto the market in Europe and Asia-Pacific in mid-2010. [via Android Community] Press Release: Garmin-Asus announces newest Android smartphone with Garmin navigation A10 focuses on pedestrian-friendly features and navigation for Europe and Asia-Pacific Cayman Islands/April 28, 2010/Business Wire — Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin® Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), and ASUSTeK® Computer Inc. (TAIEX: 2357), today announced the Garmin-Asus A10, a touchscreen smartphone running on the Android™ platform that is optimized for pedestrian navigation. The A10 is expected to be available in mid-2010 in Europe and Asia-Pacific. For those times when walking is the best way to go, the A10 is ideal for city navigation because of its bright, 3.2-inch HVGA touch screen, electronic compass and long-lasting 1500mAh battery. As with other Garmin-Asus Android-powered devices, the A10's GPS capabilities are optimized to ensure that customers have the best location and navigation experience a smartphone can offer. Detailed maps are preloaded on the A10 so that users do not have to pay and wait for third party maps to download from a server, nor will they lose their turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation if they are out of cell phone coverage. In addition to pedestrian navigation, the A10 is ready for use in an automobile out-of-the-box, and it comes with a powered audio mount that magnifies the volume of the device's voice commands. The A10 is a full-featured smartphone on the Android platform that integrates Google™ Mobile Services with one-click access to Google Maps™, Gmail™, YouTube™, calendar, contacts and Android Market™, where users can find more than 30,000 applications to expand and personalize their phone to fit their lifestyle. Android applications that include location-centric content are also able to utilize the A10's enhanced GPS capability. To optimize a user's ability to stay in touch with family, friends and business contacts, the A10 is compatible with Microsoft Exchange server and will wirelessly synchronize contacts, calendar and enterprise email. Account setup is quick and easy, and in a few simple steps users will have their contacts, calendar and email ready to go. Additional A10 smartphone features include a powerful WebKit browser with multi-touch, five mega-pixel camera including auto-focus capability that automatically geotags images with an exact location reference. The built-in accelerometer will quickly change the display so that screens may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode. The A10 also supports optional cityXplorer™ maps, which makes it possible to plan and use routes that include public transit options such as bus, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems. The Garmin-Asus A10 is expected to be available in mid-2010 in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Additional information about Garmin-Asus products is available at www.GarminAsus.com. About Garmin-Asus Garmin-Asus is a co-branded strategic alliance that enables Garmin Ltd. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. to combine their complementary resources to develop world class LBS-centric mobile phones. About Garmin Ltd. The global leader in satellite navigation, Garmin Ltd. and its subsidiaries have designed, manufactured, marketed and sold navigation, communication and information devices and applications since 1989 – most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin's products serve automotive, mobile, wireless, outdoor recreation, marine, aviation, and OEM applications. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at www.garmin.com/pressroomor contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200. About ASUS ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era, with a broad product portfolio that includes notebooks, netbooks, motherboards, graphics cards, displays, desktop PCs, servers, wireless solutions, mobile phones and networking devices. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today's home and office users. ASUS won 3,268 awards in 2009, and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with the Eee PC™. With a global staff of more than 10,000 and a world-class R&D design team, the company's revenue for 2009 was US$7.5 billion. ASUS ranks among BusinessWeek's InfoTech 100, and has been on the listing for 12 consecutive years. ASUS is a registered trademark of ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Garmin is a registered trademark, and cityXplorer is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Google, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Android and Android Market are trademarks of Google, Inc. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Garmin-ASUS planning Android smartphone for Q1 2010 Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 launch from August; dropping own OS for Android Garmin-ASUS M10 WinMo 6.5.3 PND phone hits preorder Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 set for H1 2010 launch Garmin-ASUS nuvifone M20 landing Taiwan on August 19th Nokia N8 720p HD video sample April 28, 2010 at 4:30 AM After Nokia demonstrated the sort of photos its new 12-megapixel N8 smartphone could produce yesterday, they've followed up with a new demo that puts the 720p HD camcorder functionality to the test. The results are certainly better quality than you'd expect from most cellphones. Video sample after the cut As with the stills, the video was shot using an N8 running non-final firmware, and as such there are likely to be tweaks and changes before the handset goes on sale. Nokia also say they've done no enhancing or tweaking, though obviously they've edited the footage a little with titles and cuts. Photography certainly seems to be the N8's strong point, with the 12-megapixel sensor paired with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash. The autofocus camera has an F.28 aperture and 5.4 focal length. It's expected to go on sale in Q3 2010. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Nokia N8 sample photos revealed, plus full hardware specs Sample Lab – the place for sample freebies Nokia iPhone-rival concept Nokia N93 Nokia stokes N95 lusts Wi-Fi Sync gets speed demo, optionally disables iTunes backup [Video] April 28, 2010 at 4:22 AM After the positive reaction to the first demo video of Wi-Fi Sync – which promises to cut the cable between your iPhone, iPod or iPad and iTunes – app author Greg Hughes is back with a new video that demonstrates what sort of speed you can expect. Obviously synchronizing over WiFi is going to be slower than via USB, but as the video shows, transferring a few new music tracks isn't an especially arduous task. Video demo after the cut Greg has also added in an option to disable the initial device backup when synchronising over WiFi, so as to further reduce the time it takes. Although WiFi is slower, we're guessing that people will sync their devices more frequently if they don't need to be physically connected to their computers; that will cut down on huge sync chores, with things being done piecemeal instead. Of course, all this depends on whether Apple approve Wi-Fi Sync for the App Store, and so far opinion is mixed as to whether that will happen. Greg has submitted it and is waiting to hear back, but previously Apple have shown themselves reluctant to green-light apps that hook into iTunes in this manner. Relevant Entries on SlashGear Wi-Fi Sync cuts the iTunes cord [Video] Apple block Palm Pre sync in iTunes 8.2.1 Palm restore iTunes sync for Pre with webOS 1.1.0 Pal! m webOS 1.2.1 restores iTunes sync, adds photo support Viliv S5 gets iTunes Cover Flow video demo Sony VAIO Ultra Mobile device "coming soon" April 28, 2010 at 4:12 AM Sony Japan have kicked off a teaser campaign for a "VAIO New Ultra Mobile" that's apparently imminently ready for announcement. No details on the device itself are given, though there's a cryptic paperclip included on the teaser banner that some are suggesting might be a reference to clipping papers in a tablet-style manner, or alternatively might represent some sort of multi-folding device. Back in March, Sony execs confirmed that they were looking into the development of segment-spanning devices similar to how the iPad has crossed device boundaries. The WSJ suggested that a hybrid netbook/ereader/PSP style device was in the works, along with a new gaming handheld collaboration with Sony Ericsson in which Sony themselves would have a greater hand. Of course, it could also be an updated VAIO P or similar netbook-sized notebook, using newer Intel chips. There's even speculation that the venerable VAIO UX UMPC might be making a comeback. [via Pocketables] Relevant Entries on SlashGear 'VAIO New Mobile' teaser from Sony Japan pictures netbook form-factor Sony Vaio P catches some flack Sony VAIO P "mark 2″ coming October: faster boot promised More Sony P details leak including pricing? Sony VAIO VA1 All-In-One PC HTC license Microsoft patents for Android devices April 28, 2010 at 4:03 AM Microsoft have announced that they've signed a patent agreement that will see Microsoft IP in use on HTC Android devices. The specific patents themselves are unnamed – Microsoft only confirm that the agreement "provides broad coverage" across their portfolio – but one assumption is that HTC are hoping to prevent further legal battles such as that currently ongoing with Apple. For instance, Altimeter Group analyst (and SlashGear columnist) Michael Gartenberg reckons that the agreement will redefine the notion of Android being! a "free" platform, since device manufacturers will have to take care to protect themselves from litigation. "The net is a changed dynamic in the cost of what implementing and OS really is and handset vendors willingness to settle patent claims or go through the hassle of the courts" Michael Gartenberg, analyst, Altimeter Group Handset manufacturers, that is, or Google themselves; while the search giant and founder of the OHA has said it "stands behind" HTC in the Apple case, it hasn't yet defined exactly what that support translates to in the real world. Meanwhile, smaller OEMs without HTC's negotiating clout are likely watching closely so as to gauge exactly what sort of backup they can expect should they put out a pure Android device and then find themselves the target of an IP case. Press Release: Microsoft Announces Patent Agreement With HTC Agreement will cover HTC's Android phones. REDMOND, Wash. — April 27, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. and HTC Corp. have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for HTC's mobile phones running the Android mobile platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will receive royalties from HTC. The agreement expands HTC's long-standing business relationship with Microsoft. "HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today's agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. "We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC." Microsoft's Commitment to Licensing Intellectual Property The licensing agreement is another example of the important role intellectual property (IP) plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant IT ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 600 licensing agreements and continues to develop programs that make it possible for customers, partners and competitors to access its IP portfolio. The program was developed to open access to Microsoft's significant research and development investments and its growing, broad patent and IP portfolio. More information about Microsoft's licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Relevant Entries on SlashGear HP and Dell testing Android for netbooks Apple's target really Google in HTC patent punch-up? Microsoft Annouces Vista Release Dates, Changes Licensing Terms Microsoft patents look unchangingly like the iPhone interface Samsung may drop Windows Mobile for Android This email Franklin, TN 37064