News Archive for 09/06/05
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The Ultra HD is Pure Digital's flagship camcorder and carries 8GB of memory in addition to its high definition (720p) recording. Flip also offers the small form factor Flip Mino HD. It commands a thirty dollar price premium for the smaller size, but it offers only half the amount of memory that its full size brother can manage; in theory, the Ultra HD is likely to be much better. But are the savings and extra capacity worth a handful of sacrifices? We investigate in our full Flip Ultra HD review.
T-Mobile's US branch is now known to be bringing Sony Ericsson's T707 Elle to its network courtesy of an FCC filing that shows its update. The TM717 is effectively a sequel to the TM506 and would bring 1,700MHz native 3G to the T707. While close in design and most other features, it would upgrade the camera from 2 to 3.2 megapixels at the same time.
Aiptek at Computex provided looks at a pair of pico projectors both tailored to portable hardware. The T30 is the smallest and is intended for iPhones and iPods that need a larger view for video. While limited, it has the rare addition of an RGB LED that produces more accurate pictures than a typical white-light LED. Pictures scale up to as large as 50 inches depending on the throw distance, and it also assists in recording with an AV input.
Palm could ship as many as 1.3 million Pre phones before the end of the year, according to estimates from iSuppli. The researchers believe that a Sprint-only launch could result in about 1.1 million of the webOS smartphone trading hands in 2009 and could climb slightly to 1.3 million if a version with GSM and HSPA-based 3G arrives this year. It's not known if the sales factor in sales of the Pre through Bell Canada, though it's rumored that O2 UK will have a GSM Pre for the holidays and give Palm at least one more major carrier.
In spite of warnings of delays, Garmin president Cliff Pemble today at a shareholders' meeting said the company was "getting very close" to launching its nüvifone line on sale in the US through a carrier. The touchscreen GPS phones are now through the second stage of carrier testing and thus not far away from being used. Surprise demand from providers meant the company had little reason to follow original plans and release the phone at full price but unlocked.
BenQ late Thursday confirmed that it was developing its first devices to use Google's Android as an operating system. Both a smartphone and a netbook are due to use the mobile OS and should be available sometime next year. What features they would have isn't definitive at this stage, though Android is designed around touchscreen interfaces for phones and requires relatively little hardware to run smoothly either on phones or on full computers.
Scosche has quietly addressed the complaints of third-generation iPod shuffle owners today by introducing the tapSTICK. The device serves both as a case for the Apple player but also plugs into the headphone jack to place volume and selection buttons on top of the iPod itself, granting control over the player without needing specially authenticated earbuds. A pass-through jack lets owners either use their own earphones or else plug into aux-in jacks and other devices that normally wouldn't work with the shuffle.
OCZ has without fanfare added a new solid-state drive line to its mix that negotiates a balance between its fastest and cheapest options. The Agility series is based on multi-level cell (MLC) storage but is faster than the basic Solid series. Peak reading speeds top 235MB per second while writes finish at 135MB per second; sustained writing holds at 80MB per second.
In advance of Windows 7's October 22nd release date, Best Buy has begun circulating an internal memo on upgrade options. At the core of the retailer's plans is the Technology Guarantee, which will provide buyers of Vista PCs and software packages with a free copy of Windows 7. The option will only apply for the Home Premium, Business or Ultimate editions of Vista however, and only between June 26th and October 22nd.
Sprint chief Dan Hesse on Friday flatly rejected claims by Verizon that it would have the Palm Pre in six months. He warns that neither Palm nor Sprint will say how long the exclusive will last but is adamant to CNET that it's "not six months" as claimed by Verizon's wireless head Lowell McAdam. The statement echoes a previous denial by a Sprint spokesman that hadn't yet been backed by executives at the carrier.
Samsung is developing a mid-range smartphone which would take on high-end candybar designs like the Nokia E52. A leak of the B5100 shows a typical numberpad design but one that will have a 3-megapixel camera, 3G, GPS and Wi-Fi; it's set to run Symbian S60 like its Nokia counterpart. It would also have native DivX video playback on a relatively large screen.
A T-Mobile roadmap has leaked on Friday that shows a number of key devices, including the company's first venture into subsidized netbooks. Leading the list is the BlackBerry Gemini, also known as the Curve 8520; the optical trackpad replacement for the Curve 8300 is seen by Engadget as manufacturing approval on June 22nd and should ship sometime afterwards, though when that takes place isn't mentioned. It would come in black and "frost" (likely silver or white) colors.
Maingear has introduced the Pulse, a small form-factor PC featuring the NVIDIA Ion chipset. The basic configuration ships with a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an integrated GeForce 9300 GPU, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The Ion components and an 80-percent efficient power supply are claimed to reduce power consumption, while customers can also add a GeForce 9800 GT ECO GPU or 65-watt Intel Core 2 Quad processors. The company claims a fully-loaded Pulse draws less than 145 watts under load while gaming.
Rogers' 15GB data plan gained evidence today through the posting of a sales guide for the company. As anticipated, the plan is due to become available on June 16th for $150. According to iPhoneInCanada, the telecoms firm intends to pitch the plan mostly to those using its Rocket Stick (3G USB modem) very often but also to smartphone owners who tend to use very data-intensive apps.
Microsoft VP John Schappert today said that the company's frequently delayed Xbox Live Anywhere service still exists but is rolling out much more gradually than was originally planned. Shown as early as 2006, the means of directly checking and messaging Xbox Live friends is still alive but is being treated as an evolution "unrolled piece by piece" over time. The Games for Windows initiative, which gives users an app that shows both Xbox 360 and Windows players, is considered part of that effort. Only the mobile client is missing, Schappert tells Gizmodo.
T-Mobile's name change for its version of the HTC Magic has been supported through a leak of the apparently final box art for the smartphone. The images slipped out to Engadget support the notion that the carrier's second Android phone will be called the myTouch 3G and also bring the surprise of a third color. Although Canada and other countries get the Magic only in white or black, the US release will give T-Mobile a dark "merlot" red.
Acer's just-revealed plans to build Android netbooks won't actually replace Windows, company chief JT Wang revealed on Friday. The executive said that these systems will instead dual-boot both Android and Windows. While disappointing to those who had expected the move to be a return to Linux-only systems, Wang maintained that the market for Android is too uncertain to rely only on that platform.
Sales of mobile Internet devices (MIDs) have fallen well short of Intel's expectations for the category it invented, those at companies making the devices claimed on Friday. The American company reportedly estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 of the handheld devices would sell since the Atom Z500 was launched in March but, according to DigiTimes' sources, has only managed 30,000 actual sales. Economic conditions have rendered the devices too expensive for many, while others have been reluctant to use the 3G data features inherent to MIDs.
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