Let’s circle back and take a look at a couple of big handset launches in the Great White North this month, shall we? Rogers nabbed the LG Pop — sans solar back — for a mere CAD $19.99 (about $19) on three-year contract or CAD $174.99 ($166) commitment-free, living up to the phone’s philosophy of taking full-touch awesomeness downmarket with a 3 megapixel cam and 3-inch WQVGA display. Next up, Rogers’ value brand Fido added the Naite from Sony Ericsson — the first GreenHeart-branded handset to land anywhere in North America — for $25 on a two-year deal. The eco-focused candybar (which might tug on the heartstrings of ex-T610 owners) keeps it simple with a 2 megapixel camera, but still manages triband 3G and an integrated FM radio. Both are available now.
What better way to start your Saturday afternoon than with another Nexus One release rumor. Without further ado, today we’ve got whispers care of Neowin that the recently-FCC’d CDMA device is launching on Verizon’s network March 23rd, perfect timing for the beginning of CTIA. And while that fits pretty neatly into that initial “Spring 2010″ launch window, there’s really no way for us to corroborate at this point other than just taking their word for it. You can wait diligently, can’t ya?
Having been spotted passing through the FCC, we now have a tipped release date for Verizon’s CDMA version of the Google Nexus One, and it’s a little earlier than we guesstimated last. According to an anonymous Google employee speaking to Neowin, Verizon intend to announce the CDMA Nexus One on the first day of CTIA Wireless, namely March 23rd.
The Google employee didn’t have any information – or couldn’t share it, at least – on pricing for the EVDO Rev.A toting Android 2.1 smartphone, but they did say it would be “competitive” with what T-Mobile USA are charging for the existing Nexus One. Interestingly, a March 23rd announcement would be well in advance of HTC’s agreed confidentiality date with the FCC; according to the filing, the full details are to be kept hidden until April 30th.
Even before you leave an event like Mobile World Congress 2010 you get used to people asking you what the most interesting or exciting thing you’ve seen at the show has been. This year, while there was no shortage of impressive hardware imminent to the market, the real promise for me was in next-gen chipsets. Texas Instruments, NVIDIA, Freescale, Marvell, Qualcomm and others had all brought their wares along to demo, and the promises – not to mention the step up from existing platforms – were flowing thick and fast. So, what sort of devices can we expect using these new chipsets?
Tablets are an obvious choice – and I’ve made no bones about my love of the platform – with NVIDIA’s second-gen Tegra already picked for Notion Ink’s slate and various other companies showing off prototypes or shipping tablets built on their offerings. Their frugality also makes them equally at home in smartphones, and of course chipsets like Snapdragon have already found their place in smartbooks such as HP Compaq’s Airlife 100.
Drilling down, though, what’s possible now that we couldn’t necessarily do before? Dual-display devices are shipping in a limited way already – Barnes & Noble’s nook is on shelves, and Entourage’s eDGe should arrive with preorder customers imminently – but the breadth of their flexibility is pared down. Most if not all of the new chipsets discussed at MWC can support high-resolution output to at least two panels simultaneously; something like TI’s OMAP4 can drive dual on-device screens while pumping out 1080p HD via an HDMI in fact.
Texas Instruments OMAP4 demo:
So, how about two displays – let’s make them low-power, using a 10-inch Pixel Qi panel or a 5.6-inch mirasol one – in a clamshell, book-style form factor, similar to what MSI and others have mocked up in recent months. Those touchscreen netbook concepts have generally run Intel’s Atom platform, but with the latest ARM chipsets they could have better multimedia prowess, longer battery life and the same sort of internet flexibility as the x86 chip. They can also be smaller; I’m picturing something similar to a paperback novel, maybe with a hinge that opens wide enough to stand the device up in landscape orientation for hands-free video watching. Given the chipsets can crunch more megapixels than mobile-sized CMOS sensors have to offer, we’ll throw a high-resolution camera with 1080p HD recording in there too; something like the OMAP4 can simultaneously encode Full HD and a lower-resolution, 3G-friendly stream for livecasting.
Since ubiquitous connectivity – kicking off from WiFi and Bluetooth, and of course migrating up through 3G and 4G technologies like WiMAX and LTE – is a given, there’d be no question about making voice-calls (either traditionally or VoIP, and perhaps using a Bluetooth headset or speakerphone) or supporting push-email and real-time social networking updates from Facebook, Twitter and others. Where the true game changer would occur is in removing the battery worry; imagine not having to ration out your usage during the day, safe in the knowledge that you have hour after hour ahead of you. I’d take some sort of inductive charging cradle, perhaps with an HDMI output, for opportune top-ups, but every chipset firm is promising more HD video playback (from a standard smartphone battery) than you could feasibly watch during a single day.
An always-on device should play nicely with the other gadgets you have around you, and that means streamlining ad-hoc pairing and cleverly managing what information gets presented at what time. We’ve seen some companies – such as Motorola with MOTOBLUR – try to do the latter already, but smartphones lack the processing grunt to bring true intelligence to the issue. In my opinion a successful mobile device doesn’t just replicate the desktop experience, mainly because it’s intended to span different contexts; instead, it translates information to suit the user’s situation. Next-gen chipsets are powerful enough to take sensor input from the real world – look, say, at TI’s gesture recognition research, which uses a basic webcam to track hand-movements – and understand the context a user is in, filtering information accordingly. If I’m driving (something that could be worked out from GPS speed, tracking my hands on the wheel, or various other sensor inputs) then the device would know to prioritise only calls and messages from the core group of contacts its seen me communicate regularly with, perhaps making an exception for those people geographically nearby just in case I’m planning on visiting them.
Texas Instruments gesture recognition:
How about gaming? The iPhone 3GS has gained quite a reputation for itself as a decent mobile gaming platform, thanks in no small part to its PowerVR SGX graphics chipset, but our imaginary dual-display device could blow it out the water. Like the Nintendo DSi – only with bigger screens than even the new DSi XL – you could have dual displays for more complex gaming setups; or, since the next-gen chipsets are happy driving different content and running various high-performance apps simultaneously, play games on one screen while monitoring email, browser and other more typical smartphone tasks on the other. Alternatively, how does plugging in an HDTV via HDMI sound, putting your gaming on a big screen? We’re talking graphics capabilities potential on a par with an Xbox 360 or PS3.
We’re approaching a tipping-point where power management, connectivity, software and – most importantly – user imagination and expectations are promising to coalesce and kick the next generation of mobile devices up another level of functionality. Of course, not everybody wants the same degree of convergence I’ve described, but the key factor is that it’s possible and with less compromise than is necessary right now. You don’t have to be an avid gamer to recognise the potential of a chipset that can crunch polygons without breaking its stride, just like you don’t have to be a heavy-duty social network addict to appreciate a device that’s intelligent enough to tailor its alerts to what’s going on around it. The sort of smarts in that sort of device will be enough to make today’s so-called smartphones look dumb indeed.
The existence of Intel’s Atom N470 processor – a step up from the N450 powering the Toshiba NB305 we reviewed yesterday – hasn’t exactly been a secret, but the company have seen fit to officially announce it today. In a chipshot press release dated March 1st (looks like someone pulled the trigger a little early) the company describes the N470 as running at 1.83GHz with 512kb of L2 cache and support for DDR2-667 memory.
The N470 is yet to show up on Intel’s official Atom specification matrix, but we’d expect that to be updated on Monday at some point. According to earlier rumors, the Pine Trail chip – which brings the integrated GPU onboard the CPU – will be accompanied by looser specification guidelines for netbooks and other devices taking advantage of the chip.
No word on which OEMs have signed up to the N470 – Intel only say “major” firms are involved – though we’re guessing the usual ASUS, Acer, Toshiba, LG and other netbook stalwarts will do so. Expect to see new Atom N470 based machines announced over the next week at CeBIT 2010.
Press Release:
Intel Expands Atom Processor Line-up for Netbooks March 1, 2010
Today Intel introduced the Intel® Atom™ processor N470. This new, faster Atom processor for netbooks has integrated graphics built directly into the CPU to help enable improved performance and smaller, more energy-efficient designs for the popular netbook category. The single core Atom processor runs at 1.83GHz, with 512k of L2 cache and DDR2-667 support. Major OEMs are expected to introduce systems based on this processor over the coming months to further differentiate their netbook offerings with a higher frequency to deliver additional responsiveness for online and basic computing tasks.
No leaks or release date rumors this time, a mere 39MB download is all that separates your Sprint, O2 or Movistar connected Pre from video recording, Flash, enhanced message notifications and much-desired performance and battery life improvements. Verizon, Bell and Telcel customers are unfortunately still waiting for their day in the sun, only specified by the official Palm blog as “soon.” Check out Palm’s trailer for the new features and the full webOS 1.4 changelog after the break, after queueing up the download of course.
As Apple’s expected to launch its next-gen handset this summer, we’ll be seeing a higher volume of iPhone-based intelligence in the upcoming months. Patently Apple has revealed a patent application outlining a system that would potentially utilize the iPhone’s camera for touch-free gesture control.
The technology could be used for any number of applications: “For example, during access of a voice mailbox, the user may swipe his finger in the direction of the arrow … over the lens to rewind the playback of a voicemail message. The user may swipe his finger over the lens in the direction opposite the arrow to fast forward the playback of a voicemail message.”
The patent was originally filed in Q3 of 2008, which means Apple has had ample time to implement the technology, if they’ve decided to do so. Unlike other “improvements”, this one seems quite novel, and even useful, to say the least. While the tech company has only applied the patent to the iPhone at the moment, there’s no technical reason it couldn’t be theoretically implemented on other devices, such as the iPad. Well, if it Apple ever decides to give it a camera, that is.
The Telegraph has reported that the Nexus One will be launching in the UK with Vodafone, on sale through Google.com/phone only, as the company had announced earlier. The British news site hasn’t named actual sources but says that those close to both companies have confirmed an April launch.
They also say that “Tariffs have not been announced, but the Nexus One is likely to be priced very similarly to comparable smartphones such as the iPhone.”
Both Google and Vodafone would only say that they were committed to delivering the phone to the UK “in the spring”. We say April is pretty close.
We heard several days ago that Palm’s webOS 1.4 was rumored to be arriving the 25th; it’s not here yet, but screenshots have already surfaced online of what’ll come with the update, including video recording ability, and an improved call log.
There’s also a demo of the Video app, as well as new options in the reset screen and a much-improved call log that gives you more options and info on your missed calls and sorts calls by caller.
We had high hopes for the coming availability of the JooJoo tablet when we heard that the Fusion Garage was planning on shipping out at the end of this month, but we’ve just been told that due to a “manufacturing issue” shipping will be unfortunately delayed until March 25th. PR note after the break.
Apparently the issue involved touch sensitivity of the 12.1 inch capacitive touch screen, which Fusion Garage calls an “industry first”, and which the company has been able to identify and resolve, at the expense of another month in delay. The company will be providing a free JooJoo accessory to pre-order customers to take the edge off the situation. Hey, it’s still coming out long before, you know, the other tablet.
FUSION GARAGE TO SHIP JOOJOO INTERNET TABLET ON MARCH 25
SINGAPORE — February 26, 2010 — Earlier this month, Fusion Garage’s JooJoo Internet tablet went into full production with an anticipated on-time delivery to consumers at the end of February. Last week, the company became aware of a manufacturing issue involving JooJoo’s industry-first 12.1 inch capacitive touch screen which Fusion Garage was quickly able to diagnose and rectify. The company now forecasts the JooJoo will be sent to consumers on March 25.
The manufacturing issue centers on fine tuning the touch sensitivity of the capacitive screen. Fusion Garage will be providing all pre-order customers with a free JooJoo accessory to compensate for the delay in the delivery of their JooJoo.
Fusion Garage’s recent agreement with CSL, its manufacturing partner, has eliminated nearly all of the manufacturing costs associated with JooJoo. The company has no other barriers in the way of product delivery in the new timeframe.
The company apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the delay.
The existence of Intel’s Atom N470 processor – a step up from the N450 powering the Toshiba NB305 
