News Archive for 09/04/29
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Palm is allegedly working on a second webOS-based handset to launch in 2009, an unnamed source told TechCrunch. The company is said to be "very far along" on the Pre-like device that shares the same operating system. Few details were provided, but the dimensions should be smaller than the Pre. It is unknown if the rumored device omits a slide-out keyboard.
Pure Digital tonight acted quickly on leaks by launching two new Flip cameras. The Flip Ultra SD and Flip Ultra HD both have a new design with a larger 2-inch LCD and (on the HD) HDMI output through an optional cable. They also record for longer with a replaceable battery, standard on the HD model and optional for SD, that lasts for 3 hours at the HD model's 720p resolution and 5 hours on SD's standard definition. Either takes AA batteries and should also have more recording time versus earlier Ultras.
Mio is preparing to launch another set of navigation devices in the North American market, the S401 and S501, as indicated by leaked images posted on Engadget. The S401 offers a 4.1-inch touchscreen and four million loaded POIs. The S501 variant features a larger 4.7-inch display paired with 12 million POIs. Both navigation devices run on the company's Spirit interface, with a side-screen feature that allows users to slide out of view by dragging off-screen to view other POIs or maps. A capture button records favorite routes, locations or voice memos.
HP tonight officially unwrapped a key update to its MediaSmart Servers in the LX195. The new version of the Windows Home Server is more compact and power-efficient than earlier models by dropping the existing AMD Sempron and Intel Celeron processors in favor of a 1.6GHz Atom and by removing interior expansion: a single 640GB drive provides storage, with 4 USB ports on the back allowing for more space through external disks. It's also the first MediaSmart Server to support Time Machine backups over the network on Mac OS X in addition to Windows Home Server backups.
NVIDIA is working on a high-end video card for the Mac Pro, the GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition, according to AppleInsider. The company has not yet disclosed complete details, but the component will be manufactured by EVGA and offer two dual-link DVI ports instead of a Mini DisplayPort. The GTX 285 allegedly will match the performance of its Windows variant, which features 240 processor cores and 1GB of GDDR3 memory with the standard configuration.
AMIMON has announced several new chips designed for the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) standard, the AMN 2120 transmitter and AMN 2220 receiver. Both components work in conjunction with the company's RF transceivers, the AMN 3110 and AMN 3210, and support uncompressed 1080p/60Hz HD video and computer graphics, equivalent to video rates up to 3Gbps. The modems transmit on the 5GHz unlicensed band, which the company claims extends range beyond 100 feet even through walls. Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) is designed to reduce interference by automatically switching to the best channel.
AT&T on Wednesday quietly updated its cellphone terms of service to again potentially ban devices like the Slingbox on its network. Having initially pulled earlier changes in what was described as "an error," the carrier has again modified the terms to specifically prevent "redirecting television signals for viewing on Personal Computers." It's not evident whether the phrasing refers to any PC-like device, which could include smartphones, or if it only involves using 3G for the outgoing connection.
Samsung will soon begin shipping its Tocco Lite touchscreen handset in the UK. With an emphasis on lowering the price of entry, the Lite utilizes the company's TouchWiz user interface and has GPRS/EDGE data network support. There are newfound social media features, including touchscreen shortcuts to Facebook, MySpace and YouTube from the 3-inch screen. Uploading photos taken by the Lite's 3.2-megapixel smile- and face-detecting camera to said social networking is also made simple, and users can tag photos of their contacts.
In addition to working on a smartphone running on the Android operating system due for a fall release, Acer is also working on a number of other Android devices, according to a Wednesday report. The executive noted that the company was trying out Android on many "different solutions" but stopped short of committing to any particular device types, including Acer's defining netbook line.
NVIDIA's Ion platform for netbooks was spotted in two systems from ASRock and Pegatron at a recent press conference in Taipei, Taiwan. Also at the conference, NVIDIA said it expects its Ion platform to be available in 40 products that include netbooks, nettops and all-in-one PCs before year's end.
Motorola is preparing an additional Android-powered smartphone of its own beyond the Calgary, so far going by the name of Ironman. While no hard specs have been released, it's believed the phone will have a unique QWERTY keyboard which may be virtual, placed on a touchscreen. It would also have a fast CPU along with many smartphone features, such as an integrated Wi-Fi radio, 3G data network access and a high-resolution camera, among others.
Samsung recently announced the upcoming release of its external hard drive in Korea, the STORY Station, which uses a 3.5-inch hard drive to back-up personal data, music or video files. The STORY Station is encased in a brushed aluminum casing and features only a USB 2.0 interface to transfer data to and from its 1.5TB, 1TB or 500GB capacities.
Microsoft through its Windows blog announced on Tuesday that the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) versions of Service Pack 2 of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 have been completed. The builds include updates found in SP1 and adds support for emerging hardware standards. Both include a single installer for both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, easing the installation, management and support processes for IT professionals.
Palm may deliberately keep supplies of the Pre artificially low to create a perceived shortage and spur demand, analysts estimate. Rather than ship as many as possible, the phone producer is believed by Bloomberg to be shipping about 375,000 devices in the first wave and to count on a relatively quick sellout. By making the phone elusive early on, Palm would both garner headlines and would help encourage better follow-up sales.
BeBook on its company blog has posted the first photo of the upcoming 5-inch BeBook Mini e-book reader. Equipped with a 1-inch smaller screen than that of the BeBook 2, the device is reported to be a rebranded Hanlin V5 rather than its own product. The photo shows the BeBook Mini in both black and white flanking the original BeBook 1.0 device.
Nokia today defended the poor reception to its Comes With Music service in the UK by claiming that the launch failed primarily due to a weak device lineup. Music VP Rob Taylor argues that Nokia is "happy" with its performance in the country but has promptly said that the two phones available with the unlimited music service, the 5310 XpressMusic and N95 8GB, were too old and not enough to draw subscribers. Of the two, the N95 8GB is the most advanced but was roughly a year old at the time of the Comes With Music launch.
Imation on Wednesday announced it is shipping its M-Class and S-Class solid-state drives (SSDs) as stand-alone parts as well as in all-in-one SSD upgrade kits. Introduced at the start of the year, the upgrade kits include all users need to change their hard disk drives over to the more power-efficient and faster flash storage. The M-series SSDs use slower but less expensive multi-level cell memory, while the S-series drives have a single-level cell flash design.
Research in Motion may have plans to expand its retail presence worldwide, reports from England indicate. Though the company's BlackBerry smartphones constitute one of the most popular brands, RIM has only so far maintained a small number of shops within its home country of Canada. The first location outside of regional borders should be in London, say staff from a flagship Selfridges department store, situated on Oxford Street.
Microsoft today tried to partly downplay talk of it helping to make an iPhone rival for Verizon by issuing a statement on the subject. The company's John Starkweather maintains that Microsoft is "not going into the phone hardware business" and that it isn't building a "Zune-specific" device. Instead, he reiterates that Microsoft is planning to work more closely with phone makers to get them making better Windows Mobile devices, particularly for Windows Mobile 6.5's release later this year.
Networking hardware maker CP Technologies on Wednesday announced the release of its LevelOne MobileSpot Portable Wireless Hotspot (WBR-3800) 3G router for bridging mobile broadband connections to Wi-Fi. With a compatible 3G adapter inserted into a notebook's CardBus slot or USB port, users can share access to a UMTS, EV-DO, or HSDPA network with any Wi-Fi enabled device through the router. When a regular Internet connection fails, the LevelOne can automatically switch to a 3G network for uninterrupted service.
Motorola's upcoming Calgary touchscreen phone will be the first phone from the company to use Google's Android interface, a historically reliable source says. The BGR tipster provides few details of what the phone would involve but appears to sync with Motorola's own statements that it plans to focus on social networking, as the Calgary will have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard in addition to its full touch input. The handset is expected to show on Verizon, but it's unknown if it would be ready in spring as rumored or else pushed back to later in the year.
Samsung on Wednesday updated its camcorder line with two new standard-definition camcorders that boost both the aesthetics and performance. The SMX-C10 and SMX-C14 both have the same Touch of Color visual trick on their bodies as Samsung's newer HDTVs to produce a unique, gradual shift between black and red. They also bring the Active Angle lens of the HD-capable HMX-R10 to let users hold the camera at a more natural angle while pointing in the right direction.
The long-rumored Sony PSP slider has gained further support with a new but detailed rumor that points to the handheld competing more closely with the iPod touch as well as Nintendo's DSi. Now given the title of the PSP Go!, the game console is still said by 1UP to move the controls from the sides to a slide-out panel but is now believed to be coming in versions with 8GB and 16GB of flash storage, letting them hold several games or more at once. Accordingly, Sony will shift to a more App Store-like model and put at least 100 old and new PSP games online as downloads.
The Palm Pre will cost substantially less to build than the iPhone 3G did when it was new, according to a pre-launch cost breakdown by iSuppli. While the company doesn't have full access to the parts Palm is using, its estimates put the pure cost of assembling the first webOS phone at $138. The multi-touch screen is expected to be the most expensive part at $39.51, while the phone's Texas Instruments OMAP processor -- touted as significantly faster than the iPhone's Samsung chip -- costs just $11.
AMD has announced the AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition 2.8GHz processor. The 65nm dual-core chip ups the speed of AMD's budget line and, as a Black Edition model, lets owners overclock past the factory settings. The Black Edition processor allows users to select memory controller, HyperTransport, and CPU core frequencies through either Windows software such as OverDrive or through the mainboard’s system BIOS.
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