Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Laptops Best Buy is teasing us with a product page of the upcoming Asus Eee Pad Transformer which was previously launched in both UK and Taiwan. Of course, despite the fact that the Asus tablet might be a little late coming into the US Market, many are still awaiting for its arrival though. That’s probably because the said Android tablet is rumored to have a very affordable price. Well, actually the Asus Eee Pad Transformer is after all priced relatively cheaper from the current crop of Android available in the market today or were recently announced. Best Buy is listing the Asus Eee Pad Transformer with a price tag of just $399.99. And for that price you’ll get a nice Android Honeycomb tablet with 10.1-inch IPS display and 1280x800 resolution and Gorilla Glass. The tablet is loaded with Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage, 1.2MP webcam, USB ports, Bluetooth and WiFi. Unfortunately Best Buy is still mum about the release date of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. Pre-ordering has not even started yet. The product page was just put up with a note that the said tablet is coming soon. How soon? We don’t know for sure. via [Netbook News], product [Best Buy] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile, Web, Web Browsers For Verizon Wireless customers who have no plans of using any of those smartphones available from the carrier and prefer to have a feature phone instead, here’s one good reason to push through with your plan. Verizon Wireless has just made Opera Mini web browser app available for some of its feature phones such as theLG enV2, LG enV3, LG enV Touch, Samsung Alias, Casio G’zOne Rock, and Casio G’zOne Ravine. With Opera Mini, browsing the web on these feature phones will be more like doing it on a PC but even faster since Opera Mini compresses web pages before rendering them on the phones. For current owners of a Verizon feature phone, Opera Mini can be found in the Media Center/Get it Now or from Verizon Wireless’ online media store. It will also be preloaded on selected devices as the primary web browser. While Android phone users can also have the said mobile web browser by downloading it from the Android Market. via [Opera] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile HTC, a renowned manufacturer of smartphones, sent out invitations to an upcoming event to be held on April 12, 2011. Taking place in London, HTC is expected to reveal a new mobile product, but the platform on which it will run is unknown. HTC could be launching a new WP7 smartphone, Android smartphone, or Android tablet. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait twelve days to find out what HTC has in store, but in the meantime, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any rumors regarding the event. Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Web, Google The openness of the Android platform is undergoing some serious questioning. Last week Google announced it was withholding the source code for Android 3.0 Honeycomb for an undetermined amount of time. This means only certain large manufactures have official access to Honeycomb while smaller manufactures are forced to wait. Now Google is reportedly telling manufacturers and carriers must adhere to a stricter set of rules if they want to be the among the first to sell Android’s latest offerings. According to sources speaking to Bloomberg Business Week, Google has tweaked its “non-fragmentation clauses.” If a manufacturer wants to manipulate the Android code to their liking, Google has to review their efforts before allowing the software to be released. Companies such as Samsung, Toshiba, LG and even Facebook are reported to have been affected by this. This is believed to be Google’s way of trying to get a handle on rampant Android fragmentation that has plagued the operating system for a long time. With Android 3.0, Google chose the Motorola Xoom as the OS’s flagship device. Though there are some other tablets releasing in the near future with Android 3.0, Google is only granting certain partners access to its source code. By restricting access to Honeycomb, Google hopes to protect the image of the operating system. In the past, every manufacturer that wanted to release an Android tablet prior to 3.0 Honeycomb had the capability. The quality of many devices was quite poor and tarnished the Android image to an extent. Those who oppose Google’s demands could suffer setbacks. Google is rumored to attempted to delay Verizon from releasing some Android phones that use the Microsoft Bing search engine. Delaying the release of an Android product could also cost a company a ton of money given the large amount of competition in the tablet and smartphone markets. There seems to be a catch-22 in place. On one hand, manufacturers and carriers are under the thumb of Google. On the other hand, defying Google could lock them out of the most widely used mobile operating system available. Read [Bloomberg Businessweek] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking Earlier this month Twitter brought iPhone users the QuickBar. To put it lightly, what seemed like a majority of users were not happy with the change, bringing the app’s rating down to three and a half stars for all versions. Today Twitter has decided to do a little backtracking. After weeks of struggling with angry users, Twitter has decided to take the QuickBar out of the iPhone version of the app. The blog post where the announcement was made continues to extoll the virtues of the QuickBar and what Twitter had in mind for it. There’s also a mention that Twitter saw “incredibly high usage metrics” for the QuickBar. So, the QuickBar is gone for now, but it seems lik Twitter plans on bringing it back sometime, maybe. It’s nice to see Twitter listening to its users when they ask to get rid of a feature that bothers them. Let’s just hope this doesn’t mean the Twitter apps will forever be the same thing. The easiest way to appease users would have been to just add an option to get rid of the QuickBar. This sounds strange, but I almost wish Twitter had the resolve of Facebook to just say “this is on by default, if you want to change it go ahead, but the default is this.” Imagine if Facebook had just caved to every outcry from users upset that they had to spend a few minutes learning a new interface or adjusting to a new feature. It’d still be a college-only site that you’d have to spend far too long on getting the information you might want. Read [Twitter] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile It seems that Thunderbolt users have been complaining about noise cancellation when it comes to recording a video. And well, that issue seems to have been confirmed by HTC. The details are coming by way of a reply that a Thunderbolt user received from HTC support which states that “the low sound is due to the device's noise cancellation feature.” Furthermore, HTC support made mention that an update “may” come, but in the meantime, they suggest firing up the Android Market and searching for “video or camcorder recorder” so you can download a third party application that will work better. Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers Archos already had some fairly low priced Android tablets available, and now it looks like they have taken that low price a step further with their Arnova brand. Though, the new lower prices come with a slight trade off in terms of internal storage. That said, the Arnova 10 tablet has come available for sale here in the US and it has brought a price of just $199. As for what you will get for your $199, the specs include Android 2.1 along with a 10.1 inch (1024 x 600) touchscreen display and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g as well as micro USB 2.0, USB 2.0, built-in speaker, microphone, G-sensor and a front facing VGA camera. In addition the tablet measures in at 10.7 x 6 x 0.5 inches, weighs in at 20.1 ounces and is sporting a battery life of up to 6 hours for video playback and up to 40 hours for music playback. And lastly, in terms of that internal storage—its just 4GB, though on that note, there is also a microSD card slot. Via [Arnovatech] and [Liliputing] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  While we have seen T-Mobile begin rolling out the NoDo Windows Phone 7 update for the HTC HD7 and the Dell Venue Pro, it looks like AT&T users still have at least a few weeks to wait before their update arrives. The AT&T handsets include the HTC Surround, LG Quantum and Samsung Focus and according to the fine print on the bottom of the Microsoft “where’s my phone update” page the February and the March updates are noted as being in the testing phase and that is “estimated” to be completed in “early April.” And while some will think that early April is not all that far away—keep in mind that is when the testing will be competed and from there the handsets will move into the scheduling stage. And according to Microsoft, the scheduling phase can take up to 10 business days. In other words, AT&T users are looking at mid- to late-April before their Windows Phone 7 updates arrive.
Via [Microsoft] and [GottaBeMobile] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers Those in Canada who are looking to purchase a BlackBerry Playbook are in luck, well, more accurately those looking to place a pre-order are in luck. It seems that Sears Canada has officially opened up the PlayBook pre-orders and you can now shell out your $499.99, $599.99 or $699.99 for the 16GB, 32GB or 64GB BlackBerry tablet. And with that, according to the finer print details, the PlayBook will begin shipping on April 19th. Via [Sears Canada] and [CrackBerry] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Computers, Laptops, Software / Applications  Following claims that at least two Samsung laptops came with pre-installed keylogging software, Samsung has determined its laptops aren’t recording keystrokes. Samsung said it would launch its own investigation to make sure keyloggers are not included with its laptop’s software. Today, Samsung reported that the findings of IT consultant Mohamed Hassan were not accurate.
Hassan said he ran a program on his newly purchased Samsung laptops and found StarLogger software. He later placed a call to Samsung Support and was told by a supervisor that Samsung did install StarLogger on their laptops. The reasoning behind this was to learn how the laptops were being used. The issue of privacy was the big issue in this situation. After some digging, Samsung explained why Hassan’s findings were false. Apparently Hassan used a program called VIPRE. VIPRE is an anti-virus program that claims to run without slowing down computers. Samsung said VIPRE accidently labeled “Microsoft’s Live Application multi-language support folder” as StarLogger. The folder is named SL, which refers to Slovene, the language of Slovenia. Samsung then created an empty SL folder in the same location and got the same results from VIPRE. +1 to Samsung. Via [Samsung Tomorrow] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video, Content, HDTV, Web, Online Music/Video Boxee has detailed the upcoming firmware update for the Boxee Box, though the update is not set to arrive until May. That said, while you have a bit of a wait before it arrives, the update looks like it will be worth waiting for. According to the details coming from the Boxee Blog, the next firmware update will bring; - Browser: faster loading and scrolling, favorites and history
- Video playback: improved ffwd/rwd controls, new look for on-screen-display
- Local files: sort by source, .nfo support
- New languages: French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
- Support for Boxee for iPad
Via [Boxee Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Peripherals, Displays/Projectors  Have you ever looked at your computer monitor and thought to yourself, “Boy I wish I could see right through this thing.” Yes, you probably haven’t, but you may feel differently in the not-so-distant future. Samsung has started mass production on a new 22-inch transparent LCD panel. Samsung boasts it’s the first manufacturer in the world to produce transparent monitors on a large scale.
Transparent LCD screens operate similarly to regular LCDs. The big differences are that the transparent screen is completely see-through and it doesn’t have a backlight. Instead, the transparent LCD panel uses ambient light to determine how brightly lit the screen will be. The monitor is still powered by electricity, but due to the lack of a backlight, the monitor uses 90% less electricity than a traditional display. Samsung is producing transparent LCD panels in black-and-white and in color. They both have a resolution of 1680 x 1050 with a contrast ratio of 500:1. They are also being built with HDMI and USB ports. Prices for these monitors are still up in the air. Samsung cites advertising as a practical use for transparent screens. Naturally, the better lit the area is the more effective these monitors will be. Read [Business Wire] Read [Ubergizmo] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications, Gaming, Games Are you an Android users who’s jealous of your iPhone-wielding frieds and their Angry Birds Rio? Can you not access the Amazon Appstore for some reason? Well, fret not because Angry Birds Rio Free is finally available to you in the Android Market. Angry Birds Rio Free should be familiar to you if you’ve played previous versions of the game on Android. It’s the same as the other versions of the game, except there’s ads and you don’t have to pay the $1 to play it. Angry Birds Rio sports 60 new levels with improved graphics and the same addictive gameplay. To make it even better, Rovio will be adding new episodes to the game all the way throughout 2011. For now the paid version is exclusive to the Amazon Appstore, but eventually those who get the game via the Android Market will be able to opt-out of the advertising. With the newly-introduced In-app Billing on Android Rovio will soon let you pay to get rid of the ads in the game. There also plans to bring the Mighty Eagle to the Android version of the game via In-app Billing. Read [Rovio] and [Android Market]  Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications A simplistic, yet ingenious interface was showed off at Interaction 2011 on March 11. While there, researchers and individuals from Osaka University presented a flexible touchscreen interface with Google Maps. The image on the screen reacts like elastic, allowing the user to stretch the image instead of scrolling. Many of us have used Google Maps before on a smartphone or tablet. Sometimes when we’re navigating around in satellite view as if we’re in a car, we lose our original position on the map. This causes us to start over and focus more closely on the map so we don’t lose our places again. With the flex interface, the original location you’re focusing on is never lost because the screen stretches instead of scrolling. When you take your finger off the screen, the image goes to its original position. The flex interface also lets you zoom out to see flexed parts of the map, and other parts of the map at the same time. The researchers responsible for the interface said it can be brought to many types of software with ease. The iPhone and iPod Touch were mentioned specifically. Google Maps was just used to show the breadth of the flex interface. In theory, this could also be used for mobile web browsing as well. Basically wherever scrolling is needed, the flex interface can be there. Image Credit: DigInfo TV Via [DigInfo TV] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile Just how many Samsung Galaxy smartphones can we all take? It seems like Samsung will never get tired of cooking up new variants of their successful smartphone series. Well, we couldn’t blame them - after all the phone series has brought them good things. Samsung is probably about to release the next Galaxy phone dubbed Samsung Galaxy S Plus. How different is this new Android phone from all the other Galaxy phones? Not much really. The Samsung Galaxy S Plus will have the same design as the previous Samsung Galaxy S but with a metallic back cover. It will also be running Android 2.3 OS and loaded with a faster 1.4GHz CPU. The phone’s screen will be a 4-inch Super AMOLED display. Other features include - HD video support, an 8GB internnal memory and 1650mAh battery. The Samsung Galaxy S Plus is reportedly coming out by end of April in Russia bearing around $842 price tag. via [Samsung Hub] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Computers, Laptops, Security, Software / Applications  Samsung is being accused of manufacturing laptops that come pre-installed with keylogger software. The software in question is called StarLogger. StarLogger remembers everything that is typed on the computer it’s installed on. At the same time, StarLogger takes pictures of the computer’s screen. This software was uncovered by Mohamed Hassan, an IT consultant and founder of NetSec Consulting Corp.
Hassan found the software after purchasing a Samsung laptop (model number R525) in February. After scanning the computer, Hassan found the StarLogger software. This keylogger can be a huge invasion of privacy. It records everything that is typed in emails, word documents and even password boxes. It can also transmit that data in the background without the user knowing it. Here is a description of the StarLogger software: This key logger is completely undetectable and starts up whenever your computer starts up. See everything being typed: emails, messages, documents, web pages, usernames, passwords, and more. StarLogger can email its results at specified intervals to any email address undetected so you don’t even have to be at the computer your are monitoring to get the information. The screen capture images can also be attached automatically to the emails as well as automatically deleted.
Keylogger software in and of itself isn’t illegal, but if it’s installed on a brand new computer by the manufacturer, that manufacture could be on the hook. Hassan’s findings suggested to him that Samsung did install StarLogger. Following some issues with the laptop’s video display driver, Hassan bought another Samsung laptop (model number R540) from a different store and found StarLogger software in the same place as before. Hassan then contacted Samsung on March 1 to report the software. Samsung directed Hassan to Microsoft since Samsung apparently didn’t have anything to do with the computer’s software. A talk with a support supervisor revealed that Samsung did install StarLogger on those laptops. The supervisor said Samsung did this so it could “monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used.” Samsung responded to Engadget about this matter. “Samsung takes Mr. Hassan’s claims very seriously. After learning of the original post this morning on NetworkWorld.com, we launched an internal investigation into this issue. We will provide further information as soon as it is available.”
Via [Network World] Read [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Computers, Software / Applications Apple just released it’s second public build of Mac OS X Lion. It may not be called GM1, and according to 9to5Mac it’s not too stable, but it does show some interesting app redesigns. It looks like Apple is bringing design elements from iOS apps back to their OS X counterparts. Above you see iCal from the latest build of Mac OS X Lion released to developers. Gone is the gray windows with Aqua design elements. The new iCal for Mac OS 10.7 looks more similar to Calendar on the iPad. The apps looks much more useful than the current Snow Leopard iteration, even if the faux leather look will take some getting used to. Unlike in Snow Leopard, it seems there will be a bit of variety in Apple-made apps in Lion. Changing up designs can be good, but will probably take some getting used to. 9to5Mac also has a bit of info about the new iChat, though there’s no images. The next version of iChat will finally put all contact lists (AIM, Bonjour and Jabber) into the same window. It might not be enough to force a switch from Adium, but it’s a welcome change nonetheless. Less windows is usually a good thing, the obvious exception being the new Mac version of Skype. Read [9to5Mac] Via [The Next Web] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers Asus today confirmed when two of it’s latest tablets, the Eee Pad Transformer and Eee Slate EP121 will be available, and how much they will cost. Well, they announced pricing and availability for the UK at least. We still don’t when either will be available in the US, or how much they will cost. First up is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. This is Asus’ shot at the Android tablet market, It’s a 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet with an optional keyboard dock. The Transformer will be released on April 6 in two models, 16GB and 32GB. The 16GB model will run you £379 (~$608), while the 32GB model will cost £429 (~$688). If you really need a physical keyboard, or just want an extra 16 hours of battery life it will cost you £429 for the 16GB model. Not sure how much the 32GB model would cost with the option keyboard, though it stands to reason it would be just an extra £50. Both versions are WiFi only at the moment, with a 3G model coming soon. The Eee Slate EP121 is Asus’ Windows 7 tablet. It comes complete with an active digitizer and stylus. It’s powered by an Intel Core i5, and has 64GB of SSD storage. This tablet will land on April 10, though you can pre-order it through Amazon UK right now. It sells for £999 (~$1,602), and will be exclusive to Amazon UK until May 1. Let’s hope Asus has US release dates for at least the Transformer soon. It could be an interesting Honeycomb tablet. The optional keyboard is intriguing, if a bit unnecessary. Read [Slash Gear] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Google  Google is experimenting with a new feature it’s calling +1. If you’re familiar with Facebook likes, you’ll feel right at home with +1. Google’s purpose for this feature is to help searchers find the best pages based on recommendations. Whenever you click the +1 button in a search result, Google will add it to a global list of other +1 recommendations. +1 also shows you site recommendations from your personal contacts that are connected to you through Google.
At the moment, +1 isn’t completely fleshed out. For example, you can only +1 search results at the moment. Also, +1 recommendations don’t have support for super popular social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Google is still working on that integration. In the future, we’ll start seeing +1 buttons showing up on websites and other Google products. It’ll also be nice to see comments from our contacts in regards to what they’re liking. If you’d like to try out the new +1 feature, Google is letting users try it out. You’ll have to visit the Google Experimental Search website (linked below) and opt-in manually. You’ll see the +1 option the next time you perform a Google search. In the end +1 is another step in transforming search results into a social network. Via [Google Blog] Site [Google Experimental Search] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Software / Applications Remember the Augen GenTouch78 tablet which was released last summer in the U.S.? Back then, the said tablet made a headline because it was relatively cheap. However, the price didn’t make the Augen GenTouch78 because it has several issues - one of which was its not-so-good OS. So, how do you make the tablet more useful then? Simple, fix one of its issues, specifically the OS and put in another one. For this tablet’s case - PandoraDroid. So, with PandoraDroid running as the Augen GenTouch78’s tablet you’ll have Google Android Market and other apps such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps running on the tablet. You’ll also have ADW launcher as its app launcher, the Android 2.1 3D photo gallery which looks cool on the tablet’s screen display, custom theme and buttons on the Home, Menu, and Back Buttons. But more importantly perhaps, PandoraDroid gives you root access and ClockMod Recovery - letting you to easily install custom ROMs. If you’re one of the few who got the Augen GenTouch78 tablet, you might want to give PandoraDroid a shot and see if it gives your device a breathe of new life. More details on how you can go about the installation can be found on the via link below. Via [AndroidSpin] and [Liliputing] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Gadgets / Other, Household, Web, Web Apps, Online Music/Video  Roku is seen great success with its line of Roku players. The company has sold over 1 million Roku players through the web at this point. Its wide range of services and low price points makes Roku a nice addition to a media enthusiast’s home. Starting today, you no longer have to buy the Roku XD model online. Roku XD is now available at Best Buy for $79.99.
There are currently three Roku players available - Roku HD, Roku XD and Roku XDS. The Roku XD sits right in the middle in terms of price and features. Roku XD can be used with SD or HDTVs with resolutions of up to 1080p. Roku XD also has an instant replay feature and supports “Extended-range Wireless-N.” Roku XD does not have USB ports or support for optical audio out or component video. If you want those extra features, the Roku XDS is for you. It’s also $20 more at $99.99. Roku supports a wide range of online video options. It comes with support for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Vimeo, NBA Gametime and several others. Some services require a subscription to access while others such as Crackle, are completely free. Via [Business Wire] Site [Roku] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 More Recent Articles | 
No comments:
Post a Comment