News Archive for 08/03/31
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Palm today announced that it has sold 1 million of its Centro smartphones, which has company representatives attributing to its lower price tag. According to The NewsMarket, the phone accounted for 11-percent of all domestic mobile phone sales during 2007, and is currently available in 10 countries – Palm also confirmed it has desires to sell the device in additional areas, but has not announced a formal timeframe for the move.
A updated version of Sony's PlayStation 3 console has been sent to the FCC, documents show. Any new device with wireless technology must be approved by the FCC; the Sony application notes, however, that the company has only made two minor changes, one of which is merely an adjustment to the construction of the Bluetooth module. The other is a switch to an 80GB hard drive, a boost from the presently-offered 40GB capacity. The storage should allow gamers to keep more games, music, videos and other material.
Google today took a step towards competing with Office and other production apps by enabling an offline version of Google Docs, its web-based work suite. The update uses Google's Gears platform to take most of the user's content offline. In addition to saving the workspace for use without an Internet connection, Docs also saves the customer's stored documents for editing later. Updates are re-synchronized with the server once the Internet connection comes back, Google says.
AMD has introduced its first professional-level videocard with a DisplayPort connection, the FireGL V7700. Intended for tasks like art and engineering design, the 7700 is a PCIe 2.0 card with 512MB of RAM, and 320 unified shaders. The DisplayPort connection is said to improve image quality, offering 10-bit output with over a billion colors; alternately, users can rely on the card's dual-link DVI-I output, which supports 30-inch screens, and as many as four displays when paired with other cards. Also present is a standard VGA port.
AT&T has been quietly been ushering out executives to drive its top-level costs down, say sources speaking with Om Malik. The telecoms firm has reportedly been offering severance packages to vice presidents in the company with threats of being demoted from their executive positions if they decline. The goal is to ultimately reduce the total number of executives and lower the company's overall payroll costs, according to the claims.
LG on Friday launched its Ice Cream Phone, or the LG-LH5000, in its home Korean market. The phone gets its name from the available body and LED light colors that are named after ice cream flavors: vanilla, strawberry and pistachio. The 3G phone also sports a 2.2-inch color screen with 320x240-pixel resolution and a 2.0-megapixel camera stuffed into a 13.6mm thick clamshell. The phone's pastel colors are lit up with built-in LEDs when messages or calls are received, and emoticons appear via an orange LED on the front panel.
Sony AV label Sony Pictures Television on Monday revealed that it would be the first to offer full-length movies on mobile TV in the US. PIX will appear on AT&T's just-announced Mobile TV service and will supply the live-broadcast service with full versions of movies from the collections of Sony and sub-studios such as Columbia. Most movies will be available for one month with a rotation of unseen titles added in every week.
Information has for a third time leaked on a WiMAX-equipped version of the Nokia N810, circulating accounts say. Following a Best Buy ad and anonymous tips, a subsite produced by Nokia (link no longer active) has briefly appeared online, prominently featuring the device as a part of its OS2008 lineup. The standard N810 is an Internet tablet that was released in November of last year.
MSI on Friday announced its newest notebook, the VR340, which features a 13.3-inch screen with 1280x800 resolution, full-sized keyboard and a weight of 4.9 pounds. The VR340's processing power comprises Intel's dual-core processor and GL960 chipset, while the two DDR2 slots can be configured for up to 3GB of memory.
Virgin Media today said it will be the first Internet provider to experiment with actively combat pirated content distributed across its network. The UK broadband firm has agreed to a test project that will scan for illegal copies of music and other media across the service. The monitoring will follow a three-strike rule that will see users receive a letter for a first violation; a second violation will result in a temporary suspension of Internet access, while a third will force the customer to cancel their service altogether.
A source within Research in Motion has divulged more data on the BlackBerry 9000, according to a new report. Said to be confirmed are some previously-suggested specifications, such as a 480x320 screen, a 624MHz processor, and receivers for functions such as Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G broadband. The source adds to this news that the BlackBerry OS has reached v4.5, and has a web browser that loads pages in as little as three to four seconds.
Sony Ericsson's Z750a is now on sale through AT&T, the latter company has announced. The phone is long delayed in arriving, as it was first revealed a year ago; it nevertheless takes advantage of some modern technologies, such as AT&T's 3G broadband network, and the ability to play 3D games. Files for media playback can be kept on Memory Stick Micro cards up to 8GB in size.
AT&T today handed an olive branch to new subscribers with a plan to ease restrictions on new customers. From May 25th, the company says it will no longer insist that these subscribers pay the full Early Termination Fee (ETF) if they back out of a one- or two-year contract. Instead, the company will prorate the fee based on the customer's existing stay. The fee will drop by $5 for every month the customer remains an active subscriber and potentially drops as much as $115 off of the cost of exiting a two-year plan ahead of schedule.
Apple will kick off 2009 with at least one new iPhone model aimed at the budget realm, according to new predictions by Piper Jaffray senior researcher Gene Munster. The analyst expects Apple to have between two to three distinct iPhone models no later than January 2009 and also expects Apple to make its first efforts to branch out past the $400 mark. At least one model will ship at between $200 and $300, Munster claims. One of the three models is likely to be the now presumed 3G iPhone, which Piper Jaffray anticipates arriving between June and September with new features.
Sony today chose to spark up its Rolly music player line with the addition of new color options. The dancing player itself now comes in black in addition to the original white and now has the option of different colored arms: blue, red, and silver replacements can attach to any of the existing designs to spruce up the original design. The 1GB Rolly will continue to sell at about $400 in Japan when the black version arrives on April 19th, while a set of arms costs $15. Sony has already said it would bring the Rolly to the US in the spring, but hasn't said whether it will add new colors.
Wrapping up its announcements for CTIA, Verizon today introduced its own version of the HTC Touch. Rebranded as the XV6900, the touchscreen device shifts to an unusual white color scheme but otherwise keeps what has definied the original phone, including HTC's custom TouchFlo front-end software, a 2-megapixel camera, and Office Mobile editing. The XV6900 shares the faster 3G Internet access that came with the black Sprint and Telus versions of the Touch.
Motorola started its CTIA efforts by launching multiple versions of its Q9 smartphone for the US. Alltel, US Cellular, and Verizon all receive the Q9c. Like the Sprint model, the version for the new carriers drops the media interface of Verizon's Q9m for a more traditional Windows Mobile 6 interface but adds real GPS navigation. Every version also has 32GB microSDHC card support and Documents to Go preloaded to make edits to Office files on the road.
Beyond its PC upgrades, HP today released two new, more universal devices for any computer. The company's webcam line now includes the Elite (pictured), a 3-megapixel unit designed as HP's new range-topping model. The device is capable of outputting HD video on a supporting app and includes both autofocus, tilt, and swivel to keep the subject in view. While centered on HP displays with a custom clip, it should also attach to many other LCDs and includes a stand that lets it sit flat on a desk.
Continuing its news ahead of the CTIA phone show, Verizon this morning unwrapped sequels to two of its more recognizable cellphones. The enV2 (shown) is considerably slimmer and sleeker than the original and supplies much larger, more professional-looking controls on the outside while also improving the enV's signature inside features with a larger screen and a more comfortable QWERTY keyboard. LG has also upgraded the phone's media features with a 2-megapixel camera and a microSDHC slot that supports up to 8GB.
HP today rolled out a slew of updates to its mainstream desktops and also touched on its Media Vault server. The PC builder's m9200t media center now has the pick of Blu-ray combo and burner drives for HD video and up to 1TB of storage; it also picks up the choice of 45 nanometer Core 2 Duos as well as 65 nanometer Core 2 Quad chips. This relative flagship system is already available and starts at $800.
Verizon early on Monday became the first North American carrier to launch the BlackBerry Curve 8330. The smartphone is the first Curve capable of 3G by using the carrier's EVDO network and adds all the improvements of the 8310 used on GSM phone networks, highlighted by the native GPS receiver: the device can either use Verizon's own VZ Navigator for driving directions or an alternate solution for mapping. Research in Motion's updated BlackBerry also brings a 2-megapixel camera, a native 3.5mm headphone jack, and an externally accessible microSDHC card slot for up to 8GB of storage.
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