Toshiba has officially recalled select Sandy Bridge based notebooks, after Intel admitted a silicon flaw in the 6 Series Cougar Point chipset could lead to degradation of SATA 3Gbps connectivity. Over thirty Toshiba SKUs – across the Satellite, Portege and Qosmio lines – have been affected, with the company asking customers to “return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund.” Meanwhile, HP has delayed a new product launch because of the issue.
According to a statement from the company’s PR company, HP “are postponing the business notebooks briefing on Feb. 10 as the availability of HP products will be impacted.” Intel has increased its estimate on how much the Cougar Point problem might cost to remedy, with the figure now hitting $1bn in missed sales and fixing costs.
Samsung and NEC have also been affected, with Samsung saying it will offer refunds on certain machines and NEC delaying releases of four new models. The full list of Toshiba models affected can be found below:
Satellite A660 See note below
Satellite A665 S5176, S5177, S5182, S5183, S5184, S5185, S5187, S5189, S6100
Satellite A665 3D Edition 3DV10, 3DV11, 3DV12
Satellite E305 S1990
Satellite L655 S5161, S5161BN, S5161RD, S5161WH, S5162, S5166, S5166BN, S5166RD, S5166WH, S5167
Satellite M645 S4116, S4118
Portege R835 P50, P55, P56
Qosmio X500 Q930
Qosmio X505 Q8100, Q8102, Q8104
Note: If you purchased a Satellite A660 from Toshiba Direct, with a Core i7 2630QM quad-core processor, you will be contacted directly by Toshiba.
It’s taken a while, but Verizon has finally released Mac drivers for its 4G LTE modems; well, at least one of them. The LG VL600 we reviewed – and were so impressed by its data speeds – is still Windows-only, but the Pantech UML290 now has official OS X support.
We’ve already actually seen an unofficial UML290 Mac hack, but this new release makes things a lot more official. The Pantech UML290 is priced at $100 with a new, two-year agreement; data plans range from $50 to $80 per month.
Apple has denied updating the App Store rules regarding in-app purchases – and which Sony fell foul of with their Reader for iPhone app – claiming instead that it is merely enforcing a rule that has been in the guidelines for some time. “We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines,” Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told AllThingsD. “We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase.”
The rule in question is believed to be 11.2:
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected
It, along with Muller’s statement, implies that Amazon could continue to sell ebooks via its current method – opening up the regular Amazon webpage in the Safari browser – but if so it would also be required to offer an internal system using Apple’s in-app purchasing system. Since IAP items are treated as just more app store content by Apple, that might mean Amazon had to individually submit each ebook for approval, as well as handing over 30-percent of the takings in an iTunes tithe. It’s also unclear whether Amazon would then allow Kindle users to re-download – from their own servers – the IAP content on Kindle ereaders or non-iOS versions of the app.
If anything, the clarification has made the situation a little more confusing; Apple looks to be pushing for a bigger cut of the content pie, and since Sony’s Reader app looks to have used the same browser-based purchasing system as Amazon’s, that implies Amazon may well have to tweak the Kindle app too. Apple has also been using rule 11.2 to crack-down on emagazine subscriptions; according to Monday Note, publishers have been told that they have a “grace period” up until June 30 2011 to enable the required IAP support:
“For existing apps already on the App Store, we are providing a grace period to bring your app into compliance with this guideline. To ensure your app remains on the App Store, please submit an update that uses the In App Purchase API for purchasing content, by June 30, 2011″
Pinch of salt time, but images purportedly showing Apple’s second-generation iPad display have emerged, hot off the Chinese production line. According to 9 to 5 Mac and iFixYouri, the iPad 2 panel is both lighter and thinner than the existing LCD used in the first-gen iPad; that would certainly fit in with previous rumors.
In addition to being more than a millimeter thinner, the iPad 2 display also has a smaller bezel. That should give Apple more flexibility in its overall casing design, since there’s less bulk to fit in. Considering the first-gen iPad was basically a sandwich predominantly comprised of display and batteries – with the electronics squeezed in – that could make a huge difference to the overall aesthetic.
Going by the product code, LP097X02-SLN1, and some online deduction – still unverified – one of the 9 to 5 Mac commenters has worked out that the display could well be an LG Philips panel running at 1024 x 768 XGA resolution and using H-IPS technology. Again, that would fit in with suggestions that Apple is saving an iPad Retina Display update for the third-generation model.
The LG G-Slate that was introduced to the world at CES (then seemingly disappeared) has been further detailed by T-Mobile. The impressive Honeycomb-based tablet will be a direct competitor to the Motorola XOOM when it’s made available this spring.
On-board the device will boast a NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor which will power Android 3.0 Honeycomb, 32GB of internal storage, gyroscope and an accelerometer. The main feature of the device will be its set of on-board cameras. On the back, the tablet sports stereoscopic rear-facing cameras – one of these will serve as a 5MP still camera with flash for capturing shots with the device. On the front you’ll find a 2MP camera for video chat over T-Mobile’s HSPA+ and WiFi networks. Also supported is the output of 1080p video playback from its built-in HDMI port.
The device will ship “this spring,” but pricing has yet to be determined. But, if we know anything about tablets, we can expect it to be somewhere near the Motorola XOOM.
The Galaxy S line of phones from Samsung has just expanded with the Galaxy S 4G. This fabulous new phone will be rocking the house with 4G speeds, a full copy of the movie INCEPTION, and a bunch more surprises including full T-Mobile TV functionality. A 720p video camera on the back, Android 2.2 Froyo installed inside, and a pre-installed 16GB microSD memory card make this phone a slight step behind the rest of the pack as far as being the absolute top notch, but certainly it is heading for the top of the middle heap.
Also take special note of the fact that this phone’s stocked with Inception. Certainly an odd play by Samsung, but possibly leading again to the idea that more media (movies and music) will be finding their way onto phones in the future — will today mark the day when all Androids become iPods? We’ll see. Take a peek at the full press release below and stay tuned for additional details!
Galaxy S 4G from T-Mobile to Offer Blazing-Fast Speeds and Unparalleled Entertainment Experience Featuring Movies, TV and Video Chat ?
T-Mobile expands America’s Largest 4G Network to eight new
metropolitan areas in South and Midwest
BELLEVUE, Wash., and DALLAS — Feb. 2, 2011 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. 1, today announced the anticipated February availability of the Galaxy S™ 4G, exclusively from T-Mobile. According to T-Mobile, the Galaxy S 4G will be the fastest smartphone running on America’s Largest 4G Network™2. The Galaxy S 4G, T-Mobile’s first smartphone capable of delivering theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps, offers enhanced mobile experiences and unparalleled entertainment including mobile HD TV3 through T-Mobile TV, the ACADEMY AWARD® Nominated film INCEPTION, and T-Mobile Video Chat powered by Qik™ — delivered at 4G speeds on its 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display.
T-Mobile also announced the expansion of America’s largest 4G network into more than 100 major metropolitan areas, reaching more than 200 million people nationwide. In addition to expanding its 4G footprint, T-Mobile also has aggressive plans to double the speed of its 4G network in 2011, and the company expects that 140 million Americans in 25 major metropolitan areas will have access to these increased 4G speeds by midyear.
“The Galaxy S 4G pushes the envelope by reaping the benefits of our network’s unprecedented speeds and by offering groundbreaking entertainment experiences,” said Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, product management, T-Mobile USA. “We are excited to continue to expand our portfolio of 4G devices that enable our customers to have access to unique and compelling features and an optimal 4G experience.”
“The Galaxy S 4G offers customers Samsung’s core premium product investments to speed, screen and content,” said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer, Samsung Mobile. “Galaxy S 4G is T-Mobile’s fastest smartphone and offers Samsung’s brilliant Super AMOLED display and rich multimedia features for premium movie and TV content.”
Through the delivery of faster speeds comes an enhanced experience when viewing video entertainment over the Web using services such as YouTube. In addition T-Mobile TV, a preloaded application, offers consumers access to live and on-demand mobile HD TV on T-Mobile’s 4G network, including free programming from select stations like ABC News NOW, FOX Sports, PBS Kids and Azteca America.
To further enhance the entertainment package on the Galaxy S 4G, T-Mobile has preloaded, at no additional cost to consumers, Warner Bros. Pictures’ ACADEMY AWARD® Nominated film INCEPTION which is nominated for Best Picture, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Music (Original Score), Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. Customers also have the option to rent or purchase their favorite movies and TV programs directly from the Samsung Media Hub, which features a robust collection of new releases and TV shows.
The Galaxy S 4G’s blazing-fast speeds will make sharing memories via e-mail, social networks or video quick and easy. For example, the preloaded T-Mobile Video Chat application powered by Qik enables customers to share any moment with loved ones virtually whenever and wherever they want through T-Mobile’s network or Wi-Fi. Using either the front-facing or the rear camera, which features a 720p HD camcorder, paired with Video Chat allows customers to hold video conversations with friends and family who have a compatible mobile device.
Featured as a pre-installed application, doubleTwist® with AirSync™ provides customers with a useful and easy way to auto-sync and back up photos, HD videos and music to and from their home computer. With a Wi-Fi connection, customers can easily sync their media wirelessly and at no additional cost. The doubleTwist Player lets customers enjoy their favorite tunes and videos directly from their phone while on the go. The Galaxy S 4G also comes preloaded with Slacker Radio, offering music fans more than 130 genre stations and ability to create their own custom stations for free.
With a slim and sleek design, the Galaxy S 4G’s 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display gives customers a vivid, sharp viewing experience, whether consumers choose to watch a movie or read a book or newspaper with the preloaded Kindle for Android application while on the go. Powered by Android™ 2.2, the Galaxy S 4G is equipped with a speedy Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor, an ST-Ericsson M5720 HSPA+ 4G modem to enable theoretical peak downloads of up to 21 Mbps, a 5 megapixel camera, a pre-installed 16GB microSD memory card, and a 1650 mAh lithium ion battery.
Availability
The Galaxy S 4G is expected to be available to T-Mobile customers in February. Customers can visit http://galaxy-s.t-mobile.com/4G for more information.
Beginning today, T-Mobile’s network will also be delivering 4G speeds to Albany, Augusta, Columbus and Macon, Ga., and Chattanooga, Tenn., in the South region as well as in Champaign, Ill.; Lansing, Mich.; and Rochester, Minn., in the Midwest.
Mister Aaron Levie is the chief executive of enterprise cloud storage company Box.net, and he’s been so bold and so kind as to say that Google’s Android will soon be the winner in the enterprise tablet race. Why not iPad? Why not the upcoming tablet from RIM, BlackBerry PlayBook? Because Android is an open system, Levie says Android’s tablet operating system version 3.0 Honeycomb will bring with it an avalanche of enterprise applications for Android tablets. Levie notes that with this more open development ecosystem there comes more support for enterprise apps and a bigger IT community creating applications for Android.
We must assume he means “on a large enough device” since Android isn’t an extremely new operating system, and has been on handheld devices for some time now. Levie continues that since Android focuses on multiple carriers, their ability to be on the fastest network (amongst always competing groups) will be another giant bonus point.
Apparently we’re to understand that this same fellow Levie has “shot from the hip” before (his last claim being that HTML5 would kill desktop software,) but in this case we’re inclined to believe he may have a point. Several points.
On the other hand, if you’d like to play devil’s advocate, you’d note that not only is the iPad already established, but the Fortune 100 list of top companies in the world, 80 of them have begun testing or deploying iPad applications. Android devices currently take up around 30 percent of enterprise activations, while Apple scoops up a giant 65 percent. All of this of course is excluding RIM’s gigantic presence, one that we’re not sure will ever be extinguished.
Also a point to note: Box.net has recently launched its first Android application (Q4 2010) and now says they’d like to make it “as slick as its current iPad and iPhone versions,” and is in negotiations with Samsung to release the app with what we expect to be a future version of the Galaxy Tab. Box.net’s app has seen around 70k downloads in the Android Marketplace while it’s been downloaded 250k times in Apple’s App Store.
Do you agree with Aaron Levie? Will Android overtake Apple and (god forbid) RIM as well? Welcome to a world of possibility.
If you’re not one of the thousands and thousands of world citizens that have subscribed to the idea that you need a smartphone to function normally in society, you undoubtedly have you reasons. Cost is of course prohibitive, and some people just don’t see the need (weird!), but I’d wager to guess one of the most giant reasons people do not seek to further their understanding of this new handheld device world is the fact that they’re confused about data costs. Verizon today seeks to change your mind with an easy-to-read fact sheet.
What this fact sheet appears to be is a response to last year’s FCC fiasco for Verizon in which they were investigated on “mystery fees” billed to 15 million users of their services. Verizon’s sheet (pictured above and below) is being sent out to subscribers who use their “pay as you go” data plans. One side of the sheet is title “Understanding your Data Charges” and shows all the ways a user can get charged for data usage, including downloading apps, mobile web surfing, using apps that regularly update themselves or your info, browsing online application stores, and more. It also shows the maniacal price of Verizon’s pay as you go plan ($1.99 per megabyte) and shows its tools for tracking said data usage.
The other side of the sheet lists 15 Verizon apps often/always installed on Verizon-purchased smartphones including V Cast Music, which has no charges outside of its SONG ID feature, and Verizon’s ESPN MVP app and VZ Navigator GPS app that don’t use bandwidth for use but do for upgrades. Email, in contrast, uses data no matter what you’re doing with it.
This move comes right on top of AT&T receiving a heavy charge insinuating it’s been overcharging for iPhone and iPad data. Verizon spokeswoman Debi Lewis told Forbes today that these sheets did indeed find themselves born out of the “mystery fees” case last year, the case resulting in Verizon singing a consent decree noting how transparent they had to be in the future.
These sheets, in combination with free text message updates on data usage as well as a dedicated section inside it’s user homepage “My Verizon,” are meant to deter themselves from ever making as costly a mistake as was made last year. The case with the FCC last year cost Verizon a $25 million dollar fine as well as a $52.8 million dollar refund to customers.
Is this sheet, that site, and the text messages enough? Or is Verizon (and not to mention every other carrier with smartphones) bound to repeat a history of pain?* *History of Pain would be an amazing name for Slayer’s next album. You hear me Slayer?!
Click the thumbnail in the gallery below to see the Verizon sheet larger.
This is not the first time that someone’s carved out a book to put electronics inside (everyone in the worlds’ favorite case being, of course, in the The Matrix ala Neo’s hacker disks,) but it is the first time we’ve seen one with a NOOKcolor in it. And not only that, but this particular book is heavily ironic, a great choice to be cutting up: Future Consumer .com, a book by Frank Feather.
Inside of this book, carved out by XDA Developers forum member JF-WS6, you’ll find a well-out space for his NOOKcolor. Well rounded edges, perfect fit, and even a little space near the spine of the book where he can stick his finger to pop the device out should he wish to do so. Of course this is also the location of the power button, for those of you that don’t know, so he really won’t have to pop the device out at all until he needs to charge it up. Brilliant!
Apple has denied updating the App Store rules regarding in-app purchases – and which Sony fell foul of 
