Section: Video, Accessories, Gadgets / Other After teasing it at CES, Sony has finally announced a release and price for the Bloggie Duo HD. Well, it’s not so much an announced as it its putting the device up on the Sony webstore with an availability of tomorrow for $169.99. The Bloggie Duo HD is just like the Bloggie HD, except it has two screens. There’s the expected 2.7-inch screen on the back, and another 2-inch screen on the front of the camcorder. That way bloggers can make sure they’re in the shot correctly, and those who like to take self-portrait photos won’t have a problem either. The Bloggie HD takes video in full 1080p, or 5MP still shots. The camcorder can hold up to 2 hours of HD video, which should be plenty of space for the bloggers Sony hopes to attract with the Bloggie Duo HD. Worth noting is the fact that the Bloggie software now supports Mac OS X, which is another great idea to attract bloggers.  Read [Sony] via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Computers, Mobile Computers The latest findings from Consumer Reports is indicating that despite just being released last month and against several new players joining the market, Apple’s iPad tablet is still the top-ranked tablet among consumers. And we’re not talking here of the original iPad but the iPad 2 in both its Wi-Fi and 3G iterations. Consumer Reports’ Electronics Editor Paul Reynolds found it interesting that despited its premium price, the iPad 2 still managed to lead the tablet market. The study also showed that among the many new tablets that were released or announced to be released in the coming days, the Motorola XOOM is the iPad 2’s closest rival so far. This is despite the fact that the Xoom has more powerful features that the iPad 2 lacks. These, as we all know include a built-in memory card reader and support for many Flash videos and websites. Results of the tablet ranking were made after evaluating the iPad and other tablets from Archos, Dell, Motorola, Samsung and ViewSonic on 17 criteria which include the tablet’s touch-scree responsiveness, versatility, portability, screen glare, and ease of use. As mentioned, the iPad 2 tops the rankings with Excellent scores in almost all category. Even its sibling, the original iPad managed to get better scores than the other tablets. With this report, Consumer Reports is suggesting that before buying a tablet, consumers must first consider three points - the universal nature of the available tablets, price should not be the main basis of your selection and consideration of future-proofing features of the tablet. Via [PRNewswire via Yahoo News] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile 
Another survey is out that polls 250 developers created by Baird’s William Powers. Here we go again. These developers responded that Android’s fragmentation, that is different devices on different software versions, is a problem for developers. Here are the results when asked “do you view Android fragmentation as a problem?”
24% Huge problem
34% Meaningful problem
17% A problem
13% Somewhat a problem
14% Not a problem 71% of the respondents were currently writing for Android while just 62% were developing for iOS. The higher percentage developing for Android suggests developers see Android as the winner and see Apple’s closed system as a hindrance. Interestingly, the study also found some more sticking points for Android. Things like lack of a strong unified store, iOS scored higher on ease of developing for, app visibility and ease to get paid were also led by iOS. Studies like these continue to churn out but combined, they suggest more developers are heading to Android than iOS. Read: [Fortune] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks, Web, Websites Shortly after The New York Times put up their paywall it was announced that those who subscribed to the paper on the Kindle would get full access to the website. Now we know that the feature won’t just be available to those who use Amazon’s eReader. Nook users will also get full access. Nook subscribers to the New York Times will soon get full access to the website without running into any walls. There’s no exact date yet, simply “coming soon.” Don’t fret, though, Kindle subscribers still don’t have an exact date, either. The upside to the wait is that you won’t be expected to pay anything more than the current $20 a month for the subscription. It’s the same price as the tablet version of the paywall which gives you access to the website, iPad app, and Chrome web app versions of the paper. Of course, if you simply can’t wait to get through the paywall, all plans are still just 99¢ a month. It’s not a bad stop-gap measure until you find out exactly when eReader subscribers will finally get to forget about the paywall. Read [BusinessWire] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Hardware, Netbooks 
Speaking at a keynote at Storage Networking World conference, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak remarked on tablets growing popularity. Wozniak says he believes tablets will be come PCs for “normal people”. That is, tablets will be the only computer the average consumer will need. “The tablet is not necessarily for the people in this room,” Wozniak told the audience of enterprise storage engineers. “It’s for the normal people in the world,” Wozniak said. Wozniak even suggests that the iPad is what Steve Jobs wanted to build at Apple from day 1. “I think Steve Jobs had that intention from the day we started Apple, but it was just hard to get there, because we had to go through a lot of steps where you connected to things, and (eventually) computers grew up to where they could do ... normal consumer appliance things,” Wozniak said. Read: [Computer World] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile With the AT&T deal pending, T-Mobile is continuing to expand it’s HSPA+ 4G network. Today the carrier has announced that ten more markets are now covered by what it calls “America’s Largest 4G Network.” With the ten new markets, T-Mobile now gives 4G coverage to 167 markets which cover 200 million people. The new markets include Ames, Iowa; Anderson, Indiana; Battle Creek, Benton Harbor and Jackson, Michigan; Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado; Lawrence and Manhattan, Kansas; Springfield, Illinois and Wichita Falls, Texas. If you live in one of those markets, you now have a reason to get one of T-Mobile’s 4G devices. Well, you have more reason, if you were going to T-Mobile anyway, the 4G devices tend to be the best ones on the carrier. Of course T-Mobile is also in the process of rolling out it’s 42 Mbps 4G network. Those in New York City, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fl. are getting the rollouts first. Next on the list are Chicago and a broader area around NYC including Northern New Jersey and Long Island. Read [T-Mobile] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile Yesterday brought the news that the Samsung Gem had been spotted on the Verizon website and now it looks like there has been some in-the-wild style images that leaked to the web. The images arrive by way of Chris Ziegler and well, what can we say—it is a Samsung Gem with Verizon branding. All said and done, this is going to be another Android device to come available with Verizon—not much else to that. In terms of specs, those will include the mid-range offerings such as a 3.2 inch touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera and Android 2.2. But hey, on the other side—there is the home button that looks like it took inspiration from Superman. Bottom line, we would expect Verizon to make this official relatively soon. Via [Chris Ziegler] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google  The music app on Android smartphones has just received an unauthorized update. The new music player was uncovered by the blog Tech From 10 (which is offline at the time of this writing). The site then uploaded the .apk file for everyone to download. Tech From 10 got the file from the Android Market after Google accidently released a developer version in the Android Market.
We checked out the download and it’s very legit. It replaces the music player that’s currently on Android devices. It’s very similar to what the Honeycomb build offers. The new music app also strongly suggests that Google’s cloud music service is very real. In the settings menu, there are options for temporarily storing streaming music, streaming music through a Wi-Fi connection and downloading music for offline playback. None of these features are active right now. The music player runs quite smoothly. It’s easy to select which songs you want to listen to by the artist, album, songs or genre. You can also add songs to a playlist very easily. We’ll now wait and see what Google has to say about this. Read [Business Insider] Also Read [Fierce Mobile Content] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile It looks like there is now an app available for HTC Thunderbolt users wanting to easily turn their 4G LTE data on and/or off. Or more accurately, wanting to turn the 4G LTE data off as it is not available in many areas. The app is called LTE OnOFF and was released by Cunning Logic. It is free to download, free to use and currently sitting at version 1.4.1. Otherwise, in addition to being available for the Thunderbolt, it was also noted that it “should work” on other 4G handsets such as the Droid Bionic, Samsung Charge and LG Revolution. But in the meantime, the LTE OnOFF app is described as a “shortcut to the preferred network settings” and will allow you to easily switch from 4G to 3G only. Via [Android Market] and [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google  Google Maps for Android has gotten another update. This this update, much like the Facebook app’s last update, is mostly catered to people who love to check-in. If you’re into using Google Latitude, stick around for the update details.
One new feature is the location history dashboard. As long as you have Latitude enabled on your phone, you can check a history of everywhere you have been. This feature only allows you to view the history and not your friends. Location history can be deleted or disabled at any time. You can also access a graph that shows you how you spend most of your time. If you’ve ever wondered exactly how much time you spend at the gym, Latitude has you covered. The dashboard also has a neat tally that lets you know how far you’ve traveled in relation to the moon. Another feature lets you pick a destination as “Home” when you check-in. This option can also let select individuals know when you’re at home. I would think a simple call or text would suffice, but whatever. The new update also lets you add “aspects” to place you’ve visited. This means you can fill others in on the small, yet important features of a business. If you’ve ever been particularly impressed by the accents of waiters or waitresses, now you can express that within the application. Download [Google Maps] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Google  Back in March we learned that Sprint was going to begin offering integration with Google Voice in the near future. And at the time it was stated that the integration would arrive with the Nexus S 4G, but that it would be eventually be available for all Sprint phones—meaning smart and feature. That said, while not yet fully available, it looks like Sprint has begun testing. The details are coming by way of AndroidCentral who have posted an email which has come titled “Sprint Integration for Google Voice available for your account now.” Bottom line, it seems like it will soon be that much easier for Sprint users to take full advantage of Google Voice. And if nothing else, those using Google Voice with other carriers may end up being a bit jealous considering Sprint users will have the option to keep their carrier issued number. With that, we will keep an eye out for more information in terms of this becoming publicly available, but in the meantime Sprint users should keep an eye on their email. Via [AndroidCentral] Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile In regards to the Nokia Microsoft deal that will bring Windows Phone 7 running Nokia smartphones. The deal is not yet complete, but according to Nokia it is moving along according to schedule. “Negotiations have progressed very well. They will be concluded well on schedule,” Kai Oistamo, head of corporate development at Nokia, said on Monday.
Of course, being on schedule means that we are not to expect anything in terms of new phones until sometime in 2012. Via [Reuters] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Video, Content, Video Providers, Trade Shows, NAB  3D in the home is mostly used for movies and games. There aren’t a whole lot of options to get 3D content from your favorite television networks as you can with 2D content. To help alleviate that problem, TBS has partnered with Next3D with the intention of bringing live 3D events into homes by using current digital infrastructures.
Next3D is a company that specializes in technology that provides stereoscopic 3D content to everyone with a 3DTV through their satellite, cable or broadband connections. Next3D believes its technology is unique because it can significantly lower the amount of bandwidth that is needed to bring 1080p HD 3D content into homes. Next3D says its methods cut data consumption by 75%. TBS and Next3D haven’t announced which live events will be broadcast in 3D. My money is on sporting events. This technology is still in the testing phase. Next3D will be showing off the technology at NAB 2011 in Las Vegas this month. Read [Big Picture Big Sound] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile This is not the first we are hearing of an unlimited data plan coming from T-Mobile, however the news has been quite since the leaks first began back in late-February. That said, it looks like T-Mobile is going to be launching that plan sooner rather than later. According to some recent leaks, the plan will come available on April 13th and be priced at $79.99 per month. The plan is dubbed the “Truly Unlimited Data + Talk + Text for $79.99” and will be available for those with an Even More account. Oh and, before anyone gets super excited about an unlimited amount of data—the fine print comes with a catch in that “after 2GB, there will be a continued connection to the web, but data speeds will be reduced for the remainder of that billing cycle.” Yup, it may be unlimited, but it still appears to be coming with a fairly low limit. Via [TmoNews] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware AMD hasn’t had much luck getting the drop on Intel as of late. With its latest chips, that seems to be changing. AMD has announced that its 32nm Llano A-series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) have started shipping, and systems with the chips should start shipping this quarter (Q2). These Llano APUs come from the Fusion technology AMD has been working on, and deliver fast computing with discrete-level graphics. As you’ll see in the video below, that means you can run graphically-intense games, render models, watch video and work in Excel at the same time with no noticeable stuttering and low power usage. The comparisons to Intel’s Sandy Bridge chips are pretty mind-blowing from this blogger’s perspective. Unfortunately, we have essentially the full three months of Q2 to wait for OEMs to include these chips in their machines. So, if you’re looking for a small gaming laptop now’s the best time to simply wait. The current Sandy Bridge chips are great, but this looks even better for those who want powerful laptops, especially if you plan on doing anything graphically intensive. Watch the video below to come to your own conclusion, but don’t be surprised if you start to drool a bit.  Read [AMD] via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications If you have a Windows Phone 7 smartphone on T-Mobile you should already have the latest version of the OS with copy and paste. AT&T users haven’t been as lucky, with the carrier still testing both the February and march updates on all three of it’s WP7 devices. Well, if you’re tired of waiting and don’t mind using unauthorized methods of updating you can get up to date relatively quickly. Developer Chris Walsh has found a way to update any Windows Phone 7 smartphone relatively simply. Walsh found files for the updates in a support tool released by Microsoft itself. With that he created an app that will update any Windows Phone 7 phone regardless of manufacturer or carrier. The best part of the process seems to be that it only requires the user to plug in their phone, run the software (ChevronWP7.Updater) and select the proper language. The updater will then bring you up to speed with the lastest build of Windows Phone 7, running twice if you both the February and march updates. Of course, this isn’t always recommended lest you void your warranty or brick the phone. If you’re willing to take that risk, go right ahead. Walsh’s updater seems to be causing some issues with Samsung devices, but it could be a relatively easy fix, it seems. Just like Jailbreaking an iOS device or rooting an Android device, you’e taking everything into your own hands with this update, and your carrier may not be too nice if the phone ends up being bricked. Read [Chris Walsh Blog] Via [Geek Wire] and [ZDNet] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Downloads, Web Browsers Using add-ons in Firefox, or any other browser, adds a bit to start-up time. That much should be obvious. Mozilla is tracking which add-ons are the biggest offenders, and will be helping both developers and users fix the speed issues. Mozilla admits that any add-ons will increase time for start-up, adding about 10 percent more time with each add-on. So, 10 add-ons will effectively double the amount of time it takes for Firefox to boot. Along with that admittance, Mozilla has announced it will now automatically test the top 100 add-ons on it’s page. The company will then publish the results for all to see. As of now there’s only 50 add-ons in the list. The top offenders are FoxLingo and Firebug, both of which make Firefox 74 percent slower to boot. Also high on the list are Aniweather, FlashGot, and FastestFox (which ironically claims to speed up your browser). Mozilla isn’t just trying to make these add-ons better by publicly shaming the developers. No, Mozilla will be working with the developers to make their add-ons better so users don’t see such a performance hit. To help out users, in two weeks Mozilla will start to issue warnings upon installing add-ons if they are known to slow down the browser’s performance. Great idea to not make it a chore for users to make sure add-ons won’t affect their browser before installing. Adding those warnings to updates might be a good dea as well for those who already have the add-ons installed, but one step at a time. Read [Mozilla] Via [Lifehacker] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones  We’ve been seeing some fantastic phones within the past couple years. As powerful as these devices are getting, there are few that have a truly unique and daring hardware design. In my opinion, the Kyocera Echo is one of the most creative smartphone designs to debut in recent memory. The difference between that phone and the Triple Flip (pictured) is reality. The Triple Flip is a concept Windows Phone 7 smartphone. It’s like the swiss army knife of the smartphone world.
The Triple Flip concept was designed by SchultzeWORKS designstudio and was revealed in late March. The purpose of this design is to make up for what lead designer Dave Schultze believes are limitations standard smartphone designs have. SchultzeWORKS designstudio created the Triple Flip concept to address seven areas of usefulness the ideal smartphone offers. The phone flips open from both ends using a spring-loaded switch. While closed, a small portion of the screen is exposed to convey information such as phone calls, the date and current time. In the center lies a 5-row QWERTY keyboard with a triple-wide space bar and a dedicated number row. The two panels that flip out one each end on the phone also function as a gaming pad. The gaming pad has 21 customizable buttons to provide what is the ideal widescreen gaming experience. The panels also rotate so the phone sits up while viewing videos. The Triple Flip also has a solar cell that charges the battery. Again, this phone isn’t real, but boy do I wish it were. Here’s a video that showcases the phone’s features.  Via [SchultzeWORKS] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking Twitter currently has over 175 million registered users according to the site’s “about” page. Of those 175 million registered “users”, there are only 85 million accounts with one or more followers. These statistics seriously make me wonder about the number of accounts that are used for spamming/trolling versus the ones that belong to people who genuinely don’t give a crap. A further look into the site’s statistics (given by an anonymous individual with full access to Twitter’s API) show that roughly 56 million Twitter accounts follow zero people while some 90 million accounts have zero followers. Hey, not everyone of us can be as cool as Ashton. So how big is Twitter, really? Take a look for yourself… Facebook on the other hand is visited monthly by 600 million users with half of them coming back for more on a daily basis. Granted, you cannot fairly pit the two social networking sites against each other based solely on their user base. So, let’s take into consideration what Facebook deems an “active user”. According to a source from Facebook, the networking site considers someone with 10 or more friends active. Moving the magic number 10 over to Twitter land, the API data reveals that there are only 38 million following 16 users, and just 12 million following 64. Perhaps Twitter isn’t as big of a networking site as we initially thought. Twitter is still however looking a lot better than Myspace these days. Read [Technolog] Full Story » | Written by Tarun Kunwar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Apple, Communications, Smartphones, Web, Web Apps  Facebook for iOS has been updated to version 3.4. This update brings expected improvements to the News Feed and notifications, but it also adds a few more useful features. We now have the ability to see where our friends are located in relation to where we are based on their check-in habits. We can also exercise our authority to unfriend anyone for any reason right from our device.
Facebook stalking has never been easier. If there’s someone that loves to check-in to places, it’s now easier than ever to know exactly where they are in Google Maps. If you go to the Places icon, you’ll see an option labeled “Maps.” Assuming you have location-based services turned on, you’ll see pictures of your friends on the map. Touching on their pictures will bring up an option to see their location in Google Maps. From Google Maps, you can see exactly where they are in street view. I tried this with a couple of my friends who like to check-in to places. It’s scary how I now know exactly where they live and what their houses look like. Use Places with caution people. The update also lets you check-in to events that you already committed to attending. The last major feature lets you unfriend anyone at the press of a button. All you have to do is go to their profile, touch on the arrow icon on the top right corner and find the big red unfriend button. You may fire when ready. Download [Facebook on iTunes] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Add Sprint to the ever-growing list of companies that will adopt near-field communication technology to provide contactless payments for customers. Sprint looks to be the first major carrier out of the gate with this new service. The company expects to have everything up and running sometime this year. According to a Bloomberg report, Sprint is working with unspecified hardware makers and financial institutions on this initiative. We expect at least one major credit card company to be involved with Sprint’s plans. Visa is confirmed to be working with companies all over the world to accept its NFC payments. Visa has teamed up with Samsung to create special phones with a Visa SIM card in time for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Much like Samsung’s phone, Sprint will have a device created with NFC technology build right in. Though we don’t know who the manufacturer is, Sprint’s vice president of product platforms Kevin McGinnis mentioned to Bloomberg how the Nexus S 4G will be coming to Sprint soon. An exact release date isn’t confirmed, but the smartphone will cost $199.99 on a two-year contract. The Sprint website also points out the Nexus S 4G’s NFC abilities. Nexus S can read information from “smart” tags, or everyday objects that have NFC chips in them. These can be anything from stickers and movie posters to t-shirts.
Read [Bloomberg] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 More Recent Articles | |
No comments:
Post a Comment