This comes off as a touch too incredible to say the least, but Imagination Technologies, who makes the PowerVR chip powering smartphones like the iPhone, Droid, and Pre, states that smartphones will be able to have graphics performance on par with a PlayStation 3 console in about three years.
Gizmodo’schat with the company reveals that future mobile PowerVR graphics cores are in development currently and will not only have much more realistic 3D detail, but will do so at 720p, output via HDMI to a TV. When asked about what would be different about their chips coming in the future, Imagination said that will be more aware of multi-core system processors and will support OpenCL to offload some non-graphics tasks and speed up supporting programs.
Note that all this technology will have to be based on what hardware is going to be available in the phones released at that time. “A lot of this is still based on phone makers like Apple or HTC or Palm or Motorola to make these features available. But since most of the major phone manufacturers are going to have essentially the same chip, it’s in everyone’s self-interest to push as much power out from their phones as possible.”
After four three flavors of the HTC Hero, the Taiwanese mobile giant has finally brought back the chin with an additional lick of aluminum and a similarly quirky name -- the Legend. If this alone isn't of much interest to you yet, just bear in mind that this is HTC's first Android 2.1 device with Sense UI. It didn't take much for us to fall in love with this Android phone at MWC -- HTC convinced us of its unibody toughness by banging it against the wall, and needless to say, the vibrant AMOLED screen caught our eyes, too. However, there are still some questions to be answered before we can decide whether the Legend lives up to its name, especially on battery life, wireless reception, camera quality and software performance. Unless there have been major tweaks, we'll try not to bore you with features already seen on the Hero -- so please, won't you join us?
We know you've barely recovered from our Devour review, but Moto just threw another Blur-ified phone in our laps this afternoon - the CLIQ XT. We've been playing around with the Android 1.5-based, Flash Lite-supported, multitouch-capable handset for the last couple of hours -- but before we grace you with our first impressions, just a fair warning: we don't yet know the price of the new T-Mobile Android handset, though Motorola did promise us that it will hit shelves this month. With that said, hit the break for a quick rundown of our early thoughts.
Being drip-fed information on the HTC Supersonic is unlikely to be as pleasant an experience as actually having one, but it's all we can do to fill the time until this beast of a phone finally makes its official debut (probably on Sprint). Today's appearance shows what looks to be a majorly insecure Mr. Blurrycam sporting gloves and gingerly handling a handset purporting to be HTC's latest and greatest. We're mostly treated to a sight of the back, which is white as our first (and most trusted) tipster had seen, and gives us a grainy first look at the camera and speaker grill arrangement. Check out the video after the break. As a bonus, we've found another source for the earlier Supersonic video -- you know, the one that got yanked from YouTube twice -- and have embedded it as well, go get them both while they're still around.
One of the biggest mysteries in the blogosphere right now is probably Crave'sNexus One, which somehow developed a cracked screen while simply charging on the desk (sounds familiar, right?). Not even HTC could unearth the cause from its forensic inspection, but it didn't rule out the possibility of a small crack growing over time due to, for example, "getting knocked around by keys" and repetitive squeezes in tight pockets. That's fine, but saying "people sometimes forget that they don't go in pockets" is surely stretching a bit, no? What happened to the awesomeness in the compression test and bend test that we once witnessed? More importantly, has anyone here had the same baffling screen problem and been charged £180 ($273) for the repair? If so, do share your pain with us -- we've got a shoulder for you.
We aren't trying to lump these two together or anything, but we figured we'd give those of you who opted for Palm's second set of webOS handsets an opportunity to pool your thoughts in order to make the smartphone landscape an even better place to survey. We personally didn't find too much new to laud on Verizon's Palm-branded twofer compared to the original Pre and Pixi, and those of you who were hoping for all new hardware from the company at CES were undoubtedly let down. Still, there's something to be said about a webOS product on America's "largest 3G network," and frankly, we're interested in hearing how you'd change things. Would you have overhauled things more drastically? Expanded the screen size? Bumped the resolution? Enlarged the keys? Go on and tell Jon exactly what you think in comments below -- who knows, the Pre Plus Plus might just carry your calling card.
We know Google would prefer us to be tapping away on our Android phone or pecking at a Chrome OS notebook, but it still comes as a moderate surprise to hear the company’s execs predicting the death of the desktop within just three years. That’s the opinion of Google Europe head John Herlihy, who took to the stage at the recent Digital Landscapes conference to tell attendees that “mobile makes the world’s information universally accessible” as well as make his outlandish prediction.
“In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs” John Herlihy, Google Europe
Of course, there’s a place for Google in this brave new mobile world, with Herlihy flagging up the increasing importance of search as a tool for cutting through this “universally accessible” knowledge. However he warned that, while there were business opportunities there, they would need to reach a user tipping-point: “ubiquity first, revenue later.”
Herlihy also explained some of Google’s approaches to business, and for a change the “do no evil” mantra failed to make an appearance. Instead, he compared the search giant to the Roman army:
“The other thing we do is celebrate failure. Here’s an analogy – the Roman legions used to send out scouts in different directions. If a scout didn’t return, the army didn’t head in that direction. We seek feedback at every opportunity on something – we either kill it, adjust it or redeploy resources. When we build something we strive for ubiquity in usage and adoption. That helps us understand how customers react and then we build a revenue model.” John Herlihy, Google Europe
Archos’ Android-based Phone Tablet was meant to make an appearance at CES 2010 a few months back, and after it failed to show up there we assumed it would be spotted at either MWC 2010 or CeBIT 2010 this week. That doesn’t look to be the case, however – Archos have outed their new Home Tablets and a range of PMPs, but no smartphone – and according to French financial paper Les Echoes (quoted by LesMobiles) the device may in fact never launch.
According to the paper, the issue concerns carrier support for the smartphone. Back in January, Archos CEO Henri Crohas insisted that the Phone Tablet wouldn’t launch without at least “two senior operators” onboard; it’s looking increasingly like that support has failed to materialise.
It’s strange, as we’d have thought the Archos Phone Tablet would be just what some forward-facing carriers would be looking for, given the state of play in the rest of the industry. Specs were to have included a 4.3-inch touchscreen running at 854 x 480 resolution, together with a 1GHz ARM Cortex processor and 3.5G connectivity, all in something just 10mm thick.
Live images of what seems to be like a BlackBerry slider phone have just surfaced online, and while source BlackBerry Leaks hasn’t been able to verify the authenticity of the images, this looks to be very much from maker RIM.
The photos depict a Pre-like slider, and a touchscreen front similar to the current Storm2 from RIM, but there’s also an optical trackpad below the touchscreen display. Previous reports suggest the unconfirmed handset will have 802.11n Wi-Fi, BlackBerry OS 6.0, and a 480×360 display onboard.
RIM has yet to verify anything about a new slider device; we’re hoping to find out more soon. For example, will it run the new blazing WebKit browser?
Alright, we know there's a big old watermark covering it up, but the HD2's price when it makes its eagerly awaited US debut on T-Mobile has been identified as being $199 after rebate, presumably as part of a two-year commitment with the carrier. As usual with such screen grabs, we can't be 100 percent sure, but that number seems to be in the right ballpark, and is joined by a $129 price for Motorola's Cliq XT and a $69 sticker for Nokia's Nuron handset. All three are expected to arrive at some point this month, though we urge caution with the HD2 -- it's still only a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, in spite of Microsoft's equivocations about Windows Phone 7, and should be obtained solely on the basis of what you know. That is to say, you'd better really love HTC's Sense UI and that 4.3-inch screen, because you'll be buying into an OS with a very short remaining shelf life, no prospects of future app development, and no guarantees about upgrades.
