So, by now you’ve had a chance to digest the fact that Verizon‘s getting the iPhone, right? A standout from yesterday’s news is of course the iPhone Personal Hotspot feature that those lucky red devils are being treated to. Hopefully the rest of us won’t have to remain envious for to long, though — BGR says its sources have confirmed that that feature is headed to all iPhones once iOS 4.3 lands. The word is the OS version with this shiny treat will be 8F5148B with a baseband version of 04.08.00. Of course, your carrier is likely going to have to be on board, a-la tethering support, but once that dust settles not only will you be able to tether your device, but your friends will be able to join in — and rack up your data usage, too. So sit back, relax, and all will be revealed if and when this bridges the gap between rumor and reality.
Pentax is tipped to be readying a pair of mirrorless camera technologies, one of which is being described as the digital version of the Pentax Auto 110. According to k-rumors, the new camera will feature a sensor that’s smaller in size than an APS-C sensor, set to arrive within the next 2-3 months.
The Auto 110 was an interchangeable lens camera that used a frame size very similar in scale to those current Micro Four Thirds cameras rely on, though there’s no indication in the rumors that Pentax plan to release a micro-4/3 model at this time. Similarly unknown is whether original Auto 110 lenses will work with the new, digital version.
As for the second mirrorless system, that’s expected to use an APS-C sized sensor and be announced in late 2011. Pentax enthusiasts are already arguing at the relative sense of the company developing a pair of new mirrorless systems and whether it would be practical or cost-effective; we’ll likely find out in the next few months.
No. Absolutely not. Anyone who says Facebook will be shutting down any time soon (or ever, for the rest of history and time,) is doing so because they’re misinformed or just for the hype of it.* This utterly false rumor is spreading through these internets like wildfire, catching sway apparently on Twitter and of course Facebook quickly. Would you like to know the source of this rumor? I bet you do. You’re gonna love it. Hint: it involves Bat Boy!
The internet is flipping out over the rumor that Facebook will be done and over starting March 15th, 2011. This story has gone so far as to reach Huffington Post, a sensationalist periodical in their own right. What everyone who didn’t take the time to do a quick search of the term “Facebook Shutting Down” and click a couple times haven’t realized is that the source of the rumor is none other than the OG of fake-news hype, Weekly World News.
This newspaper, now supposedly defunct (but their blog seems to be running just fine?) has been creating fake news since waaay before the Onion was ever conceived of. Images of drug dealers being sawed in half, young adults moving into nursing homes, Bat Boy making such an impact on the world as to be worthy of an off-Broadway play – wacky!
*But wait, Chris Burns, editor for SlashGear – isn’t the post I’m reading right this second all about hype as well? No. Dispelling a rumor isn’t the same as burning a fat one before breaking out the keyboard to create and speed up rumors that have no basis in reality. If this post gets hits, it’s because people are curious about the real truth in the matter, and they’ve found their way here, to the truth mill.
Take a peek at the original text of the WWN post that started a furious lol-fest:
PALO ALTO, CA –Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be shut down in March. Managing the site has become too stressful.
“Facebook has gotten out of control,” said Zuckerberg in a press conference outside his Palo Alto office, “and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness.”
Zuckerberg went on to explain that starting March 15th, users will no longer be able to access their Facebook accounts.
“After March 15th the whole website shuts down,” said Avrat Humarthi, Vice President of Technical Affairs at Facebook. “So if you ever want to see your pictures again, I recommend you take them off the internet. You won’t be able to get them back once Facebook goes out of business.”
Zuckerberg said that the decision to shut down Facebook was difficult, but that he does not think people will be upset.
“I personally don’t think it’s a big deal,” he said in a private phone interview. “And to be honest, I think it’s for the better. Without Facebook, people will have to go outside and make real friends. That’s always a good thing.”
…
“I don’t care about the money,” said Zuckerberg. “I just want my old life back.”
The Facebook Corporation suggests that users remove all of their personal information from the website before March 15th. After that date, all photos, notes, links, and videos will be permanently erased.
Well played, WWN, well played. Not that you (JB Smitts, the author of the article) had any idea that it’d be taken seriously since your whole brand is severely obviously false and comedic in nature. Well played anyway.
We’ve gotten up close and personal with Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc this week at CES, but one bit of information that the firm refused to hand over was an estimated release date. If the outfit’s Indonesian portal is to be believed, however, we’ve just three more months to wait before at least some portions of the world have access. The image shown above translates into “three more months,” which means that we’ll be both saddened and depressed if our pals in the Asia-Pacific region don’t have one by April. Don’t make us weep, SE.
Okay, so the general assumption at this point is that Tuesday’s big Verizon announcement will be the oft-rumored CDMA iPhone. But as for when it comes out, well… the Wall Street Journal is saying (by way of its long-standing sources) near the end of the month. Nothing else to go by at this point, but it’s definitely not out of the question. At least we won’t have to wait long to find out — say, have you bookmarked our liveblog yet?
Let the speculation commence: Verizon’s just sent out invites for a mysterious press event on Tuesday, hosted by Verizon Wireless President Lowell McAdam at New York’s Lincoln Center. That’s right — a huge event in New York after CES. Obviously the natural speculation is that this will be where the long-rumored CDMA iPhone makes its appearance, and it definitely feels that way — but we suppose it could also be any number of other things, and it’s definitely odd that Verizon’s in charge and not Apple. Either way, we’ll be there live to let you in on the scoop, so keep it locked right here.
Earlier in the week, Skype had some documents find their way onto the Internet, of which a few of them seemed to outline the possibility that the company was getting ready to launch video calling on the iPhone. The fact that Verizon’s name was included only helped to fuel the rumors and anticipation. And by now, we know that Skype will have some kind of video calling announcement to make in Las Vegas in just a few days, at CES 2011. But, the company isn’t slowing down, and they’ve even launched a new “What’s Next” page, where they’re fine showing you all sorts of neat teases about what’s to come.
The main takeaway of the site, in the video you can watch through the source link below, is that Skype is focusing on the whole “moving” thing. No longer will you have to be tied down to your computer at home, or your laptop. While there’s no official announcement on the site, obviously, and there’s no word on what type of devices we should expect to see in the (hopefully near) future, it’s pretty clear that Skype is planning something on the mobile front.
It won’t be too long before we have all the answers, but it’s not helping that Skype is more than willing to continue to poke us with teases and taunts. Let’s just hope it’s something worthwhile.
According to “sources” at Taiwanese component suppliers Apple is upping its shipment goals for the iPhone for Q1 2011. The goal has been increased from 19 million units to 20-21 million units according to the sources.
The increase includes an adjustment from 13 million units of WCDMA iPhones to 14-15 million units. The goals for shipments of the long rumored CDMA devices is said to be 5-6 million units for Q1 2011 in the US and Asia. The sources claim that the CDMA iPhone will hit US and Asia in Q1.
DigiTimes reports that Q4 shipments for the WCDMA iPhone is expected to be 15.5 million units with all of 2010 expected to see 47 million iPhones shipped. Foxconn and Pegatron Technology are expected to share production for the rumored CDMA device.
Sony’s PSP Go failed to ignite the mobile gaming market in the way that the company hoped it might, but that hasn’t stopped Sony engineers and designers from pushing ahead with another PSP successor. According to Sony’s gaming chief, Kazuo Hirai, the company has been looking to the next-gen handheld “since the day” the PlayStation was released, and might use both a touchscreen and traditional physical gaming controls. Meanwhile, Hirai believes there’s still a segment of gamers for whom the popular – and cheap – iOS, Android and other mobile games aren’t sufficient.
“The games being played on Android and Apple platforms” he suggests, “are fundamentally different from the world of immersive games that Sony Computer Entertainment, and PlayStation, aims for.” As for the dual control methods, “depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel,” Hirai explains. “But you can definitely play immersive games better with physical buttons and pads. I think there could be games where you’re able to use both in combination.”
If you’re thinking that sounds a lot like the Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone – aka the XPERIA Play – then you’re not alone. Although Hirai suggests the “gaming industry pie” is only growing larger thanks to the new interest in casual titles like Angry Birds, Sony is also apparently cautious about how it will differentiate between, say, the XPERIA Play and a new PSP. “We don’t want gamers to be asking, what’s the difference between that and a PSP,” he explained. :We have to come up with a message that users will understand. It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation’s strengths intact.”
We’ve been hoodwinked by trademark filing and domain registrations before (cough, BlackPad and SurfBook) so we wouldn’t say this is anywhere near definite, but we just caught wind of a Sony Ericsson EU trademark registration for “Xperia Play,” and SE PR firm Jung Relations has registered a variety of Xperia Play domain names, including XperiaPlay.com, .net, and .org. Yes, that certainly sounds like a promising name for the PlayStation Phone (although not quite as promising as, you know, “PlayStation Phone,”) but honestly we wouldn’t bet on anything at this point. We’ve got a feeling we’ll either find out either at CES or at MWC in February — hold on tight.
Update: Turns out SE also registered Xperia Arc, Xperia Duo, and Xperia Neo, so now our interest is definitely piqued. And our hopes are totally shatter-able.
