News Archive for 08/06/24
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South Korea's third-largest cell phone manufacturer, Pantech, today announced the newest phone in its range, the IM-R300. The GSM slider's notable features include a DMB TV tuner, which allows its 2.6-inch, 240x400 LCD touchscreen to display over-the-air video programming. An wireless payment feature, called eWallet, is also integrated into the phone.
Seagate is rumored to be looking into buying out Intel's 49 percent stake in the IM Flash Technologies joint venture between the chip maker and Micron, a flash memory manufacturer, according to analysts. That is just one option for Seagate, but the analysts say the company would be better off buying into SanDisk, as it is not involved with any other companies and is less costly. Furthermore, they maintain that Seagate needs to purchase or team up with a NAND flash memory maker in order to be successful in its solid state drive (SSD) production.
Samsung today announced the release of its Yepp P2 DMB portable media player, adding the ability to play television programs and movies delivered via Korea's DMB mobile TV standard. The new device will add a hideaway antenna and a built-in T-DMB tuner to pick up the streaming video service. The device also includes the same features it was launched with, including Bluetooth 2.0 support for wireless headphone set-up, an FM radio and a 3-inch touchscreen.
JVC recently announced it will launch the industry's thinnest LCDs with built-in TV tuners. At 2.9 inches deep at the center, slimming down to 1.5 inches at the edges, the 42-inch LT-42SL89 and the 46-inch LT-46SL89 offer 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution. At the same time, JVC claims the new sets are lighter and consume less power than traditional LCD TVs, thanks to a new backlight panel and power supply substrate, respectively.
iLuv on Tuesday began shipping its unique i1255. The device serves as a video hub with both a DVD player with 5.1-channel surround as well as an iPod dock; any compatible iPod both outputs its video to an attached TV but also receives an on-screen interface that allows users to navigate videos from the larger display. The DVD side can also support a handful of raw data CDs such as MP3 and JPEG photo discs.
Logitech has made a low-key update to its Pure-Fi Anywhere mobile speakers, iLounge has found. Simply called the Pure-Fi Anywhere 2, the stereo speaker dock is cosmetically similar but now explicitly supports iPhones, though it's unknown whether or not this allows the phone to stay out of Airplane Mode and accept calls without interference.
Conflicting reports have surfaced today of Microsoft potentially renewing its interest in a Yahoo deal. Information sent from "multiple" sources to TechCrunch claim that the two firms have not only resumed talks after Yahoo's abrupt conclusion of negotiations but that Yahoo is willing to entertain a bid lower than the $33 Microsoft says it proposed immediately before talks first broke down in early May. The move is said to be triggered both by a steep drop in Yahoo's share price as well as pressure to secure an important agreement with Microsoft.
A purportedly leaked memo supplied today to BGR suggests that the launch of the iPhone 3G at AT&T stores on July 11th will take place in the morning rather than Apple's recent preference for evening launches. Store managers are said to be expecting an 8AM launch rather than the 6PM launch for the original launch as well as some of the company's recent retail openings and its Leopard introduction.
After months of speculation, Motorola has formally announced two new MING-series phones, the A1600 and 1800. The first has a 2.4-inch touchscreen, with a liftable plastic cover to protect against damage. Also onboard is a three-megapixel camera with the unusual feature of continuous autofocus, something allegedly unseen on cellphones to date. The camera can also be used to produced animated GIFs, or translate text through built-in software.
American Airlines will begin testing in-flight Wi-Fi technology on June 25th, a report claims. The technology is expected to debut on a round-trip flight between New York City's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX, and should it be successful, it could be quickly activated on number of other AA aircraft. Some 15 Boeing 767-200 planes are said to already have Wi-Fi installed, it just being a matter of activating the routers at will.
Lenovo late yesterday confirmed the existence of the ThinkPad SL and provided first details about the new notebook line. Effectively an equivalent to Dell's Vostro line, the portables will be aimed at individuals and small companies that want more professional notebooks than the IdeaPads but still want some of the home-friendly features: the systems are set to have HDMI output and a more stylized look than the all-black, utilitarian look of most ThinkPads today.
XM Satellite Radio is gearing up to launch a handheld radio and media player combo that would finally take over from the phased out Pioneer Inno (pictured) and Delphi's Sky-Fi radio, according to a leak floated by Orbitcast. Codenamed Phoenix, he portable would be smaller than the Inno but put in a jogwheel for navigating stations and tracks much like the iPod as well as Delphi's Sky-Fi 2.
Intel will ship three processors based on its next-generation Nehalem architecture before the end of the year, say those in the mainboard industry. While Intel has only demonstrated a test version of a 3.2GHz, quad-core processor in the past, the company is now understood to be launching a production version sometime in the last quarter of the year that will appear alongside lower-priced 2.66GHz and 2.93GHz versions. All three will have 8MB of Level 2 cache and support Hyperthreading that could have a four-core chip behave as though it were eight with optimized software.
No matter what type of browser you use, the features among all browsers tend to be the same. Every browser can save a homepage, bookmark frequently-visited sites, and display a list of previously viewed pages. Most browsers also display the same flat, 2D interface. What makes the Pogo browser unique, of course, is that it offers a more visually appealing 3D interface.
Panasonic under its current Matsushita parent name said on Tuesday that the company is in the last stages of drafting plans for a 37-inch, OLED-based HDTV. Actual designs and development are still in the future but should see a screen available within three years that should be priced below $1,400, putting the new display technology within competition of today's existing LCD screens.
Virgin Mobile today is next up in the US to offer an unlimited calling plan that it promises should beat other, larger carriers. The Totally Unlimited service removes the caps on the number of minutes but also eliminates some of the restrictions that affect rival plans. Subscribers don't need to sign a contract locking them into service or to pay roaming fees when they venture outside of Virgin's official coverage area. Virgin users also don't require a credit or debit card and can pay the bill using the carrier's own Top-Up cards.
Spain will be one of the next countries to adopt a so-called "iPod tax," Billboard writes. Formally known as the "digital canon," the tax will go in effect on July 1st, and apply to all electronic devices (and their media) capable of storing, copying or recording sound and images, even to the extent of applying to printers, scanners and ink cartridges. The fee levied against manufacturers will vary depending on the particular device; while ellphones with MP3 playback will warrant a levy of €1.10, dedicated MP3 players will cost an extra €3.15 each.
Nokia today began offering a North American version of the N78, its relatively low-cost but full-feature smartphone. The candybar design comes to the US with 3G Internet support for AT&T's HSPA data network and undercuts the price of Nokia's own N82 and N95 by scaling back the camera: the N78 uses a 3.2-megapixel sensor and a single LED flash versus the 5-megapixel, Xenon-lit shooting of other Nseries phones. Wi-Fi is also built in, as is GPS with data assist that lets the phone find its position through either Nokia Maps or a third-party app such as Google Maps for Mobile.
Ricoh on Tuesday updated its Caplio GX camera line through the GX200. The sequel to the GX100 boosts the resolution from 10 to 12 megapixels and adds a new image processing engine that allegedly cuts down on noise without affecting the sharpness or color of images. It also has a newer 2.7-inch preview LCD, better RAW shooting with up to five continuous shots and better bracketing, and more room for customized presets.
Logitech this morning made one of its rare webcam offerings for Macs with the advent of the QuickCam Vision Pro. A close cousin of the QuickCam Pro 9000, the USB camera is targeted at Mac mini and Mac Pro owners whose computers don't already have built-in iSight cameras but who want a better-than-average replacement for iChat, Skype, or other video apps. The Vision Pro not only has true glass optics from Carl Zeiss, rather than plastic, but also has a voice coil motor for autofocusing which is much faster and more fine-grained than the stepper motors on most webcams.
Nokia this morning changed the mobile industry by purchasing the remainder of Symbian that it hasn't previously owned and establishing the Symbian Foundation, an organization meant to unify and promote the Symbian OS for cellphones. The group includes phone makers that already produce Symbian phones such as LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson; it also includes carriers such as AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone as well as semiconductor firms STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. Despite Nokia's purchase, the company is putting Symbian and Series 60 in the hands of the Foundation and will give any current or future member royalty-free rights to use the platform.
Genius on Tuesday unveiled the SP-T1200 speaker set, a system that incorporates touch-based audio controls, while maintaining an affordable price. The 30-watt system offers a connection for headphones, and features treble, bass, and mute controls that use touch to function, rather than a physical button. Genius indicates that the speakers are quite compact, making them ideal for laptop users. The SP-T1200 speakers sell for $100, available from select retailers.
Apple on Monday, among nine others, was named in a lawsuit from Typhoon Touch Technologies targeted at Dell, regarding infringement on portable touch screen technology patents. In addition to Apple and Dell, the suit names Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, Panasonic, HTC, Palm, Samsung, Nokia, and LG, with Typhoon seeking compensation for lost profits, as well as an injunction against the companies barring production of the devices with the offending technologies.
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