Sony today touted a pair of firsts in a new Blu-ray player. The BDP-S470 is its first player explicitly labeled as 3D capable and will show the format in 1080p with a firmware upgrade due to arrive in the summer. It's also one of the first that can be controlled through an iPhone or iPod touch: a recently launched BD Remote app (free, App Store) not only provides basic control but will show related content for a given movie.
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Sprint this morning posted a rare surprise gain in its core subscriber base after years of losses. Although its net subscriber base was down 69,000 in fall 2009 due to a large number of customers leaving the push-to-talk iDEN network, it actually gained 3,000 total subscribers to its CDMA phone service. The boost was the first in a year and a half and was helped both by some iDEN users switching to CDMA as well as added business, including the completed takeover of Virgin Mobile.
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AT&T today shined extra light on its plans to move to 4G. As part of an extended deal with Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson to upgrade its network, every 3G cell site upgrade in 2010 will also be upgradable to the much faster Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for 4G, whether it requires add-on hardware, new software or both. The move will let AT&T switch on 4G in these areas more quickly than it could if it had to completely replace the site.
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1 hour ago | Posted in: peripherals
Logitech on Wednesday claimed a first for computer input with the first three-year lifespan in a keyboard and mouse combo. Both of the peripherals in the Wireless Desktop MK710 use a particularly efficient new generation of the company's 2.4GHz RF adapter to get information across much more efficiently and to dynamically shut down the signal more often without taking long to resume. The USB receiver shares the same Unifying technology as other Logitech devices and can handle other peripherals.
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Panasonic in a late-night launch extended its 3MOS camcorders with a pair of top-tier models. Together, the HS700 and TM700 both shoot full widescreen 1080p video at 60FPS but carry very high resolution 14.2-megapixel sensors that are useful both for large still images and better motion. In full video mode, the 3MOS sensors cut down on half of the noise in the shot and simultaneously improve sensitivity to detail in low light.
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HTC's Legend smartphone has once again surfaced in the wild, now with a list of specs. The new photo, posted by Twitter user Xmoo, shows a form that appears to be slightly beefier than the HTC Hero. The device allegedly integrates a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with HVGA resolution. An optical trackpad is available for input, along with several buttons below the touchscreen.
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Google on Tuesday released a new version of its Maps utility for mobile phones, less than a week after the previous v3.4 update. Version 4.0 integrates directly with the company's new Buzz service. Users can post live updates tagged with their location, add pictures, or view and comment on Buzz posts from other users. A new layer has been added to the maps interface, allowing the Buzz overlay to be easily enabled or disabled.
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13 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Following the stir created by ex-Microsoft executive Dick Brass, who recently claimed the company had become an "uncompetitive innovator," attention has returned to internal e-mails that were made public during an antitrust lawsuit several years ago. The legal blog Groklaw has sifted through many of the documents, uncovering a message from 2003 showing Bill Gates' praise for Steve Jobs and iTunes.
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HTC may be in the earlier stages of developing an extremely high-end Android smartphone, says a code string reportedly leaked on Tuesday. Possibly to launch as the Scorpion, it would use the dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor teased at CES and would use Android 2.2, which is likely to be the final name for the update Google has so far codenamed Froyo. One line of code also makes reference to WiMAX and suggests it might head to Sprint's 4G network.
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RealNetworks in a surprise move tonight broke off Rhapsody as a separate company. The move has the blessing of Real's partner in the venture, Viacom, and will transfer all the rights to Rhapsody so that its streaming and download music services remain intact. Real will also inject $18 million in cash and promises that Rhapsody will be independent, with no one else holding a majority stake.
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Initial impressions of a prototype Adam tablet from Notion Ink, first announced late last year, show that the device has some significant advantages over competitors such as the iPad. Powered by the new NVIDIA Tegra chipset and using a low-power display from Pixel Qi, the pre-production Adam is said to last at least two to three times longer than the 10-hour battery life for the iPad when browsing the web using Wi-Fi or watching video, according to Notion Ink CEO Rohan Shravan.
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Belkin on Tuesday announced it has redesigned its Laptop Cooling Pad to now include a unique AirFlow Wing shape that is more efficient at taking heat away from the computer and a user's lap. At the same time, the design results in the notebook itself being quieter. The fan was repositioned compared to the previous pad and retains its USB power cable.
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Commercial portable electronics device maker Handheld on Tuesday announced its Algiz 7 rugged tablet PC. It runs on Windows 7 Professional and has a 7-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Despite its design, however, the tablet doesn't support touch and instead relies on physical buttons. As one would expect, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor powers it, while there is 2GB of RAM and onboard storage comes in the form of a 64GB SSD. The tablet is otherwise well-equipped, with a Bluetooth module, Wi-Fi and a GPS sensor.
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Japan's Elecom has launched two new memory card readers with support for SDXC memory cards. The MR-A001BK is a USB thumb reader that can also read nine other types of memory cards, including SD Pro High speed cards. The MR-A002 reader is larger and attaches using a USB cable. It will be available in black or white and supports 32 different types of portable media cards.
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17 hours ago | Posted in: computers
Lenovo on Tuesday said it will soon add the E20 desktop system to its line of ThinkStation entry-level workstation PCs. Aimed squarely at those working in the computer aided design and digital content creation fields, the E20 will offer Intel's Core i3, Core i5, Pentium and Xeon 3400-series processors. At the same time, newly offered in the range is NVIDIA's Quadro discrete graphics cards, with the FX 1800 as the most capable. Base systems will ship with Intel Core HD integrated graphics.
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Best known for its work on the MP3 format, Fraunhofer this afternoon said it would use Mobile World Congress next week to formally roll out two new audio formats specially designed for mobile. MPEG Surround can produce as much as 7.2-channel surround sound but has no real effect on the bitrate versus a stereo mix. A smartphone or a networked media hub using MPEG Surround can get the full audio of a movie without needing more space or a faster network connection.
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