While there are other bike concepts out there that may seem more out of the ordinary than others, we would like to put on the table that this one takes the cake. And to be honest, we’re not even exactly sure if “scooter,” or “bike” are the right names for this thing. Though, we will say that it looks like a lot of fun. Especially from the concept images.
Plus, it’s got a name like Soopa Scoota, and that’s just awesome. You’re saying it out loud right now, aren’t you? We did it, too, so don’t feel bad. Apparently this design is about as concept as it gets, and the designer doesn’t know when, or even if, it’ll become a reality in the future, but we can keep our fingers crossed. It definitely looks like a strange mix between a motorcycle and a bike, and we imagine there’s plenty of daredevils out there that would love to race down a hill with their face only a few inches away from the ground.
If the Soopa Scoota does make it to the market, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it costs a few hundred bucks. Especially when you consider the “lightweight,” “aerodynamic,” and “extreme” features of the Soopa Scoota, how could it not be? And who wouldn’t pay for it, right? Let us know: would you ride this thing?
The good news just keeps on coming for the JooJoo. It’s about time, too, considering early reviews aren’t necessarily the brightest. And, while Fusion Garage’s CEO, Chandra Rathakrishnan says that new software, along with a European launch, are on the way, this new bit of news from the company’s head is definitely a little bit more worthwhile.
According to Rathakrishnan, there’s two big extras coming. The first, and perhaps most notably (considering you’ll have to buy another model, if you were one of the 64 to buy the first, we mean), is the confirmation that there will be a JooJoo with 3G connectivity. And, best of all, it’s apparently coming in a matter of only 3 months. So, if you were waiting for 3G, there you go. At least you know it’s coming. Eventually.
As for the other big change, the company is going to allow for USB mass storage, thanks to unlocking the USB port on the tablet. This would indeed make it stand out from the competition, but not necessarily push it ahead of the pack. And, considering the iPad WiFi + 3G iPad is available today, we’d imagine that has a bit of a jump on the situation. Though, if the HP Slate is dead (or not), along with the Courier from Microsoft’s demise, maybe the JooJoo just got a little boost. Or not. Your call.
It’s been a few months since we’ve brought up the Samsung NX10, but now that it’s back, apparently Samsung wanted to make sure that it caught all the passer-by’s eyes. Because how many simple, boring, one color cameras can you have, right? It’s always better to give your customers a little bit of choice. Even if it is just for a limited time. For example, this white and black version of Samsung’s mirrorless APS camera.
The Samsung NX10 features a mirrorless interchangeable lens system, and the company is still boasting that it has the fastest autofocus of its class. Additionally, there’s a APS-C side CMOS sensor for good measure. Shots come in up to 14.6-megapixels, while the camera is perfectly capable of shooting at 720p, 30fps HD video. And when we mentioned it back in January, we noted that it would be launching in the Spring of this year. Well, sure enough, we’re officially in Spring, and now here’s a limited edition version of the same camera.
Most interesting, though, is the back display. It’s a 3-inch AMOLED display, which probably makes this one of the sexiest cameras out there. The white and black coloring definitely makes it stand out, and we imagine it’d be a great accessory to bring along with you if you happen to have the desire to photograph wolves all sneaky-like in the snow-covered forest. Still no word on what it costs, though. But considering the paint job and the “limited” nature of the camera, we imagine it’ll be costly.
T-Mobile’s got a reputation to uphold as the US’ value carrier, right? It looks to be doing that come the 16th of next month when it’ll apparently be rolling out a $50 monthly prepaid option for unlimited voice and text, beating AT&T’s recently-deployed plan by $10. You’ll also be able to get unlimited messaging plus 10 cents per minute for voice for $15 a month, an odd combination that might be surprisingly popular considering that text has all but replaced voice as the primary means of communication in some social circles (ours included). Here’s where it gets really interesting, though: there’ll also be an “Hour Pass” option for prepaid folks that lets them access as much web on their handset as they’d like for 99 cents an hour, a pretty sweet option that should keep overages to a minimum if you need to do a lot of browsing every once in a while. Well played, T-Mobile.
Apple’s recent MacBook Pro update brought a long awaited processor update and new GPU options, but much of the attention was lavished on the larger models in the company’s professional notebook range. In contrast, the 13-inch MacBook Pro saw a more modest refresh; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Frustrating to many frequent travelers, Apple saved the Core i5 and Core i7 processors for the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro refresh, leaving the 13-inch notebook with Core 2 Duo chips. Our test unit has a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor paired with 4GB of RAM, a 250GB hard-drive and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics borrowing 256MB of the notebook’s memory.
Options include a faster, 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor, up to 8GB of RAM and a 320GB hard-drive, or alternatively up to 512GB of SSD storage. The slot-loading DVD burner is still in place, and the previous array of ports remain: gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, Mini DisplayPort, two USB 2.0, an SD card slot, combined audio in/out and a Kensington lock slot. Unlike the 15-inch MacBook Pro there’s no Full HD display option, only the standard 13.3-inch LED-backlit 1280 x 800 panel; we don’t so much miss the extra pixels, but we wish Apple would offer an antiglare screen finish.
Standard wireless options include WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, while there’s also an integrated webcam, a backlit keyboard and the usual multitouch trackpad. Apple reckons the non-swap 63.5Wh battery is good for up to 10hrs runtime with wireless turned on.
Physically, then, little has changed from the last generation 13-inch MacBook Pro, and that’s generally a good thing. Measuring 12.78 x 8.94 x 0.95 inches it’s still a relatively compact machine, and though the 4.5lb weight makes it heavier than other 13-inch notebooks the upside is the sturdy unibody aluminum build quality. Display quality is on a par with the previous model, being bright and crisp with deep, rich colors. Of course, if you’re the sort of frequent-traveler to whom the 13-incher will appeal, you may find reflections in the display prove frustrating if working outside.
The MacBook Pro 13’s CPU marks it out as the only Pro-line Apple notebook to lack an Intel Arrandale processor. While that may be a price consideration on the company’s part, it does mean users miss out on newer features like Hyper Threading, which create “virtual” cores for use by compatible software. We ran our usual Geekbench benchmarking tests on the notebook, a synthetic test of processor and memory performance, and the MacBook Pro scored 3702 overall. That’s actually a little less than the previous generation 13-incher we tested midway through last year, which scored 3892, though it’s worth noting that particular machine was the 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros not the entry-level model of the time. (SlashGear 13-inch and 15-inch, Mid 2009 Review)
In day-to-day use, the MacBook Pro kept up with everything we asked for it, though it understandably lacked the responsiveness of its more powerful, larger siblings. The absence of Hyper Threading is only noticeable in apps that have been coded to support it: this includes titles such as Adobe’s Photoshop and other graphics and video design packages. Arguably Apple has made a sensible choice with their CPU picks: the type of buyers who’d be doing video editing is perhaps unlikely to choose to do so on a 13-inch notebook. When it comes to media playback, Internet access, mild video processing and other day-to-day chores, the 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo is more than sufficient.
As for the graphics, without the discrete GPU from the 15- or 17-inch machines (or their intelligent switching technology) it’s another good reason for video pros to look elsewhere, but the rest of us should find it a noticeable boost from the previous -gen MacBook Pro 13’s GeForce 9400M. It’s certainly decent enough to deal with iMovie – though you probably won’t want to do much multitasking while it’s rendering – and HD playback isn’t a problem (though of course you’ll want to output to a standalone display for Full HD, since the notebook’s own display won’t support it). Apple still refuses to fit an HDMI port for ready connection to an HDTV, but at least the Mini DisplayPort now includes audio-out.
Battery life fell short of Apple’s 10hr prediction, which presumes nothing but light web browsing and text editing with the screen brightness set to half (still a reasonably viewable setting, to be fair). With more typical use, throwing some music and video into the mixture, we managed between roughly 7-8hrs of wireless use, which is impressive. Loading up a DVD or gaming obviously had an impact on that figure, as did video editing, pulling it down to more like 4-5hrs.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro remains in the shadow of its bigger, more expensive range-mates, though given the price increase for the entry-level 15-inch model (up to $1,799, now that a discrete GPU is standard across that line) in comparison to our $1,199 review unit (or even the $1,499 2.66GHz version) it’s a costly step up for their improved graphics and processing performance. $200 does get you a considerably better machine than the plastic-bodied MacBook (SlashGear review), however, which has a slower processor, half the RAM, poorer graphics and promises less battery life. Unless you simply have to come in at under $1k, that’s certainly where we’d expect to see the new 13-inch MacBook Pro bite into sales. Existing owners of the last-gen 13-incher probably shouldn’t upgrade this time around, but this new version has plenty to recommend it to new buyers. http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
Apple, love it or lump it, has seen some big numbers lately: one million App Store apps downloaded, ten billion iTunes, and now it looks like the company can claim to be the number one phone maker in the US. According to Forbes, Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones in the first quarter, as opposed to 8.5 million mobile devices sold by Motorola — quite a slide when you figure that four years ago the company moved something like 46.1 million in Q1. If that ain’t enough to give Motorola pause, industry analysts IDC have issued a report stating that, while the mobile phone industry continues to recover (growing almost 22 percent in Q1) Motorola has been knocked out of the top five worldwide mobile vendors by RIM. We guess the next question is, will Motorola’s all-Android, all-the-time strategy be enough to bring it back into the big leagues?
Considering the almost complete absence of love in the commercial marketplace for Moorestown and Moblin — and the fact that there’s no sign of MeeGo building serious momentum just yet — we’re sure that Intel would’ve just loved for the drop-dead-sexy GW990 to serve as the platform’s crown jewel for 2010. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen, because we’ve just been able to confirm that the 4.8-inch beast (and potential Dell Mini 5 foil) has been wiped off the product roadmap. Though we don’t know exactly what happened, the fact that Moblin is effectively dead and MeeGo isn’t ready for prime time might be part of LG’s justification for killing it off; if you might recall, the GW990 was introduced before MeeGo was official, and the original plan was to have it on the market in the second half of this year. Then again, this might be just as well — we weren’t impressed by the fact that LG was positioning the phone as a closed device back at CES, and there are still plenty of open questions as to how Intel and Nokia plan to offer apps on MeeGo — so let’s just hope this form factor reemerges from LG’s labs soon enough, yeah?
Color us curious; while yesterday’s TechCrunch article claiming HP have axed their Windows 7 slate project has been widely reported, the company itself has remained stubbornly quiet. Now, Netbooknews has heard from its own source at HP that in fact the tablet hasn’t been axed; in fact, the source says it’s “very, very improbable if not even an impossible piece of news!”
That same source has apparently been keeping them updated on the various minutia of the tablet project – down to the design of the packaging – and while we don’t know their identity we also know Netbooknews to be a trusted source of mobile computing information. Right now, given the amount of speculation around HP and their recent Palm acquisition – and our own excitement at the possibility of a webOS based tablet – it’s entirely possible that this whole chapter could turn out to be untrue. We’re still waiting on an official comment from HP themselves.
Well, here’s a surprise: Reuters says Nokia might consider replacing CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo in order to please unhappy shareholders who don’t see the cellphone giant effectively competing in the smartphone market. The report is mostly based on analyst chatter and doesn’t provide any hard sources, but we’ve certainly seen analysts swarm around blood in the water like this in the past, so it’s not totally out of the question — especially given core concerns about Symbian^3 delays, stagnant profit growth, and (uh oh) competing against the iPhone. What’s more, OPK pledged to build up Nokia’s US presence when he took over, and he’s obviously failed to deliver on that promise — US marketshare has fallen from 20 percent to 7 percent, prompting one analyst quoted in the Reuters piece to wonder if “Nokia really has the desire to fix the problem.” Ouch. That’s a lot of big questions with no easy answers — OPK is scheduled to speak to shareholders next week, we’ll see what he has to say.
Nokia have offered a reasonable number of video demos of the new N8 smartphone, but one thing we’ve not seen before is how the Symbian^3 handset’s browser works. A video has been quietly added to YouTube demonstrating not just page rendering but kinetic scrolling, multitouch pinch-zooming and flash support, but if we were you we’d watch it sooner rather than later: one version has already been taken down.
Video demo after the cut
The browser is also shown flipping between portrait and landscape orientation, and we’re pleased to see that generally the full extent of the N8’s 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display is used rather than cluttering it up with menu bars. So far – and bear in mind this is a prototype running non-final software – it looks reasonable slick, though zooming is a little jerky.
The N8 is expected to arrive in Europe come Q3 2010, with a US launch shortly after. The first Symbian^3 device from Nokia, it has a 12-megapixel camera with autofocus and a Xenon flash, and can record 720p HD video footage.
As for the graphics, without the discrete GPU from the 15- or 17-inch machines (or their intelligent switching technology) it’s another good reason for video pros to look elsewhere, but the rest of us should find it a noticeable boost from the previous -gen MacBook Pro 13’s GeForce 9400M. It’s certainly decent enough to deal with iMovie – though you probably won’t want to do much multitasking while it’s rendering – and HD playback isn’t a problem (though of course you’ll want to output to a standalone display for Full HD, since the notebook’s own display won’t support it). Apple still refuses to fit an HDMI port for ready connection to an HDTV, but at least the Mini DisplayPort now includes audio-out.
