Amazon is reportedly preparing to bundlestreaming movie content with its Prime subscription service, in an attempt to better take on Netflix in the US. According to the FT‘s sources, the web retailer has been readying the streaming system for some time now; rather than pushing individual rentals, as the current Amazon Video On Demand system offers, it will follow a subscription-based pattern with unlimited access to movies and TV shows.
Amazon Prime currently offers unlimited fast shipping on purchases, for a flat fee of $79 per year. It is currently available in the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan; Amazon recently purchased European rental and streaming company LoveFilm in a $200m deal that will see the retailer gain an instant catalog of licensed titles to distribute.
Whether or not that acquisition heralds the start of an Amazon Prime streaming bundle in Europe as well remains to be seen.
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.
Microsoft may be playing a Samsung game when it comes to Windows Phone 7 sales and shipments, but just having handsets in stores should make a big difference to market penetration. According to TmoNews, T-Mobile USA is about to announce availability of the HTC 7 Mozart, joining the HTC HD7 and doubling the options for magenta-loving would-be WP7 shoppers.
The Mozart won our approval by virtue of its excellent build quality and above-average camera, offering 8-megapixels, autofocus and a proper Xenon flash. That’s unique among Windows Phone 7 devices and relatively unique among smartphones in general. No word on exact availability or pricing, but rumor has it T-Mobile will be offering both 8GB and 16GB versions.
Sony’s plans to make the PlayStation Move controller a PC peripheral have been prematurely outed, after references to the “Move Server project” were included in a Game Developers Conference 2011 schedule. According to the description, Game Systems and Developer Support head John McCutchan will be discussing PC software development for Move at a GDC talk later this month.
McCutchan will be revealing the “Move Server project that will make it possible for academics and hobbyists to develop software using the PlayStation Move controller on their own PCs” as well as looking at how the Move Shooter accessory can be accommodated. The project appears to be Sony’s attempt to kick start sanctioned hacking of the Move, perhaps in similar ways to how we’ve seen Microsoft’s Kinect and, before then, Nintendo’s Wii used in non-standard ways.
We’re already expecting the LG Optimus 3D to be made official at MWC 2011 next month – after all, it’s already been given one patchy pre-order listing and LG’s “new dimension” teasing invite isn’t hard to interpret – but now what’s believed to be the handset itself has seemingly leaked. Phandroid‘s tipster doesn’t confirm what exact LG this is, but the best guess is that we’re looking at the 3D Android phone.
Details are scant, with a display larger than 4-inches suggested (which we’d guess is most likely to be 4.3-inches) along with a nameless dual-core CPU paired with multi-channel memory. Given LG has jumped aboard the Tegra 2 train with the Optimus 2X, we wouldn’t be surprised to see NVIDIA’s chip at the heart of this device too. Finally there’s a front-facing camera to add to the list. SlashGear will be at LG’s press event at Mobile World Congress in just a couple of weeks time, when we’ll know exactly what the company has in store for us.
Squint, or you’ll miss it. The tiny slab of shininess clutched in the hands of Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group, is apparently a Medfield based smartphone that, according to the Maemo forums, was shown off at an Intel sales conference last week.
Details on the handset are almost entirely unknown, bar the chipset, but Intel hasn’t been shy with its Medfield expectations. Back in August 2010 the company promised to match ARM’s chipsets – currently the popular favorite in mobile devies like smartphones – for active power consumption with the new Medfield processors, which are expected to debut in shipping devices later this year.
At least one of those devices, so the rumors would have it, will be from Nokia’s stable and run MeeGo, the two companies’ collaborative open-source OS. Leaks earlier this month suggested the Nokia N9 had been reworked using a 1.2GHz Medfield processor and dropping the hardware keyboard, and would be shown off at MWC 2011 next month.
Ambitious news out of AT&T, with a leaked slide suggesting that the carrier plans to release a full 12 new Android devices in 2011. That’s not all, though; the slide – passed to Phandroid – confirms that AT&T expects not just two exclusive 4G devices in Q1 2011, but to have a range of twenty to choose from by the end of the year.
One of the devices sitting in both those categories will be the Motorola ATRIX 4G, the touchscreen smartphone announced at CES 2011 and which has an optional dock for using it as a notebook replacement. There’s also the HTC Inspire 4G; both devices are expected to arrive before the end of the first quarter.
The remainder of the devices are yet to be announced, but we’re hoping there’s at least one Windows Phone 7 device among the line-up, and we wouldn’t argue with an LTE webOS smartphone either. Of course, “devices” can also include tablets, so it’s not just handsets on the cards here either.
RIM’s 2011 CDMA device roadmap has leaked, bringing with it details of a renewed push for the Canadian company into touchscreen handsets. According to what looks like a RIM presentation passed to CrackBerry, the BlackBerry PlayBook release in Q2 2011 will be shortly followed by the all-touch BlackBerry Monaco, a 1.2GHz CDMA/UMTS World Phone hybrid with a 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera with flash.
The Monaco will also have an optical trackpad, 4GB of storage, 768MB of RAM and a memory card slot; connectivity will include WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, microUSB and NFC, along with GPS, a digital compass and accelerometer. The smartphone will run BlackBerry v6.1 and measure 120 x 62 x 11.5 mm.
It’ll launch in Q3 2011 alongside the BlackBerry Bold Touch (aka Montana), at 10.5mm the thinnest BlackBerry to date, and taking the top spot in RIM’s QWERTY range with its forged, machined steel chassis. The Bold Touch pairs a physical keyboard and a 2.8-inch VGA capacitive touchscreen, together with an optical trackpad, CDMA/UMTS and WiFi b/g/n. More specs in the gallery below.
Finally there’s the BlackBerry Sedona, set to bring its simple QWERTY phone ways to the market in Aug-Sept 2011, though still packing NFC, and the BlackBerry Curve Touch, a 3.25-inch HVGA all-touch smartphone with 5-megapixel camera and WiFi b/g/n. Full details in the gallery. RIM is pushing for NFC support across its range, which will be used for peer-to-peer networking and with special accessories.
The T-Mobile Sidekick 4G has been caught in the wild, complete with Samsung branding that seemingly confirms exactly who will be producing the newly-revived range. TmoNews‘ tipster sent them shots of the Android 2.2.1 Froyo based smartphone, and it’s clear that the traditional Sidekick style hasn’t been forgotten despite the gap in sales.
That means a sliding/tilting display and a distinctive hardware QWERTY keyboard, with just a splash of magenta on the shift key to let you know it’s a T-Mobile device. As for specs, the exact list isn’t known yet, but HSPA+ (aka T-Mobile’s take on 4G) is obviously onboard and there’s a front-facing camera for video calls.
As for software, the prototype pictured looks to be using a relatively stock version of Froyo but we’re guessing T-Mobile and Samsung will be doing some work on that before the smartphone actually launches. Half of the appeal of the original range of Sidekick devices was the blend of server-side and handset-side data management, so it will be interesting to see how much of that concept is carried over to the new platform.
The BlackBerry Curve has always been our favorite ‘berry because of its solid keyboard and lack of pretension to any functionality beyond great messaging, but it looks like things are about to change fast: you’re looking at a leaked image of what CrackBerry says is the Curve Touch, codenamed “Malibu,” and it’s all touchscreen — unlike the rumored Apollo, there’s no keyboard in sight. We’ve only got specs on the CDMA version, and they’re right in line with what you’d expect for a midrange device due out in late 2011 / early 2012: 800MHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor, 3.25-inch HVGA screen, 5 megapixel camera with HD video, 1GB storage with microSD expansion and 512MB of RAM, GPS, and NFC. Of course, CrackBerry says those are just “proposed specs,” so anything could change, but man — are we crazy for thinking an all-touch Curve definitely seems to redefine everything about what a BlackBerry is and is not?
Amazon is reportedly preparing to bundlestreaming movie content with its Prime subscription service, in an attempt to better take on Netflix in the US. According to the FT‘s sources, the web retailer has been readying the streaming system for some time now; rather than pushing individual rentals, as the current Amazon Video On Demand system offers, it will follow a subscription-based pattern with unlimited access to movies and TV shows.
