Hey gang, welcome to this week’s edition of the SlashGear Week in Review! This is the last edition before Thanksgiving in the US, so if you celebrate the holiday have a great one! We put up our review of the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab this past Sunday. We figure that the Tab has more flexibility in some areas than the iPad but has an overall rougher feel.
A rumor popped up early in the week that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X7 and X7 Mini smartphones would be coming in Q1 2011. The X7 is said to have a 4.3-inch screen and the X7 mini sports a 3.5-inch screen. Intel is getting serious about open-source with the announcement that MeeGo developers will get a free IdeaPad S10-3t. The free tablet for devs will likely spur more to try to work with the OS.
Early in the week the Nokia E7 clears the FCC. The E7 has a QWERTY keyboard, runs Symbian^3 and packs in a 4-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display. We posted up our Holiday Gift Guide Monday and it’s packed with all sorts of cool gear. There should be something for everyone on this list and it’s really packed.
Facebook added a new messaging system on Monday dubbed the Modern Messaging System. The system is interesting, but caused a few issues after its implementation. A really cool remote control for your TV turned up early in the week that is called the Pillow Universal Remote Control. The remote costs about $30 and has the remote built into a throw pillow. The only downside is if you sleep on the thing you may end up with some weird channel on the TV.
EviGroup unveiled the new Paddle Pro tablet computer that runs Windows Home Premium and an Intel Atom N450 CPU. The tablet has strange head tracking tech that lets you control the mouse cursor with your head movement. Proporta unveiled a new case for the iPhone 4 with a battery inside called the TurboCharger Back Pack. The case promises to recharge your iPhone fully one time.
The Dell Inspiron Duo hybrid notebook was rumored to go on sale on the 23 of the month. The cool tablet is convertible with a screen that flips around rather than twisting. The entire Beatles catalog landed on iTunes after years of fans waiting for the tracks to hit. Among the offers is a $149 box set with music, video, and lots more content.
Microsoft has sold a huge amount of Kinect units in the first ten days. According to MS, it moved a million units over a bit more than a week. A crazy expensive new SSD card that fits into the PCIe slot launched this week called the WarpDrive SSD. The thing sells for $11,500 and has up to 1,400MB/s of throughput.
Panasonic unveiled a gigantic 3D Plasma this week that measures 103-inches. The massive TV has a price as large as the screen at $102,000. A teen selling conversion kits to turn the iPhone 4 into the long anticipated and delayed white iPhone 4 has been hit with a legal threat. The teen sold $130,000 worth of conversion gear after coverage and ended up being accused of selling stolen goods.
ThinkGeek landed a really cool alarm clock this week that looks like a Star Wars Lego minifig. The clock can be had in Storm Trooper or Darth Vader guise for about $30 each. A leaked photo surfaced mid-week that claims to be a shot of a white iPhone 4 for Verizon. The device has the Verizon logo in the left corner and has a different antenna design and no SIM card cover.
An interesting concept phone surfaced this week that used both AMOLED and eInk tech inside. That would give the best of both worlds with color LCD for video and the eInk for reading. It seems a story that made the rounds this week was from a paper known for misquoting folks. The original story had Apple’s Woz saying Android would beat the iPhone, Woz quickly clarified that iOS is the best.
The Dell Inspiron Duo was fingered with an official launch date on Thursday. The tablet/netbook will land in early December for $549 and will run Windows 7 and an Atom N550 CPU. An awesome accessory for the iPad surfaced called the Magic Pinball. The accessory turns your iPad into a pinball machine for $79.95.
A really cool stop light concept surfaced late in the week that uses the colors we are used to and an hourglass design to show how long the light has left before it changes. The concept is cool but in the real world, the lack of other lights would cause some issues for the colorblind. Call of Duty: Black Ops is selling like crazy. The game made $650 million in 5 days. That is a crazy amount of money had better than most of the big Hollywood films.
Apparently Google tried to buy Twitter at one point for the tidy sum of $4 billion. That offer was turned down, as was the first offer of $2.5 billion. Sony Ericsson’s CEO has admitted that the company is in talks with Microsoft on using Windows Phone 7 in its line. However, the strict spec and software limitations mean adoption is an off chance according to the CEO.
A new iPad rumor has surfaced that has a world version of the iPad with a multi-mode GSM/CDMA modem hitting in 2011. I wonder if this would be the version that gets that carbon fiber case that surfaced in a patent app from Apple. If you are a photography geek that want’s to show just how geeky you are we found the perfect bracelets for you. The Lens Bracelets look like the focus ring around a camera lens.
I’m not a fan of video game soundtracks, but there are many hard-core game geeks out there that are. If you really like the Red Dead Redemption sound track and have a record player you can get the games soundtrack. You need that record player because the soundtrack is only on red vinyl. Thanks for reading this week’s edition!
We had another beautiful week in the geek neighborhood last week and it’s time to run down some of the most important stories over the last week in this edition of the SlashGear Week in Review. Windows Phone 7 went on sale in the US on Monday. Four GSM only devices landed with CDMA phones not coming to the US until early 2011. A cool looking Mintpass tablet with dual-screens was tipped to land in 2011. The coolest feature may not be the dual screens, but the dual-boot OS that the tablet will offer with Windows 7 and Android.
Backing up your computer got easier with a new Clickfree C3 wireless backup device landing. The device has a 500GB HDD inside and uses WiFi for backing up your data. A new tablet for kids is coming in the middle of 2011. The tablet will be called the Fable and have a 7-inch screen and kid specific features for helping them to learn and play.
A daredevil with a wing and rockets strapped to his back jumped from a hot air balloon last week. The guy then fired up his rocket pack and did some loops to prove how awesome he is. A crazy looking amplifier for the speaker on your iPhone surfaced that is called the Horn Stand. It reminds me of a record player form the 20′s and uses no electronics to amplify the sound.
Google announced that it would be offering free in-flight WiFi to passengers on three major airlines for Christmas. The service is expected to be used by about 15 million travelers. Hell’s Foundry has offered a new dock for your iPod that fits on a Harley gas tank. That may well make the Harley one of the largest iPod docks ever.
We went hands-on with the Samsung Continuum for Verizon early in the week. We figure the little 1.8-inch ticker display will take some getting used to, but it’s an interesting device. The Alienware M17x R3 was tipped to be landing soon with a new AMD GPU in tow. The notebook is pegged to be getting the Radeon HD 6970/6870.
The Hasbro my3D device surfaced and is sort of like a 3D Viewmaster that uses the iPhone rather than round discs of photos. The device is expected to launch next spring for about $30. Samsung Display has shown off a really cool flexible 4.5-inch AMOLED screen. The screen uses a new plastic substrate that can withstand the 350-400 degree temperatures that are involved with integrating the AMOLED layers.
Lenovo’s new IdeaPad U260 ultraportable notebook leaked last week. The machine has a 12.5-inch screen, will use Core i3 or i5 processors, and is very thin. A dude showed off his invention called the FlyRad. FlyRad is a battery-powered unicycle that the user can speed around being pulled by while they wear rollerblades.
We offered up a preview of the Huawei S7 tablet that will land next month in Europe for $299.99. That price will make it a lot cheaper than the Tab, but it has some compromises we aren’t that happy with and we are hoping that when it finally ships some of those things will be fixed. The Blackberry PlayBook tablet is set to arrive in 2011 and RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has hinted at the price. The PlayBook will reportedly be under $500, which we can expect to mean $499.
Windows Phone 7 launched during the week and by mid-week we had heard rumors that only 40,000 of the devices sold at launch. That would make for a much slower launch than the iPhone or Android devices. Sprint announced that it would be getting the ApplePeel for the iPod touch, the device is called the ZTE Peel and will sell for about $80 with the service going for $30 monthly with no contract.
A tiny, square computer surfaced Thursday called the Xi3 Modular computer that is really cute. The boxy little rig measures 4-inches per side and has all sorts of connectivity and an AMD Athlon processor with up to 4GB of RAM. HP has announced that “extraordinary demand” for the Slate 500 has prompted a six week weight to get the device in customer hands. The rub is that folks who pre-ordered don’t know if that means their machines will be 6-weeks out or what, and rumors are circulating that a WiFi issue is the reason for the delay.
Apricorn has announced a new Mac Array that puts a RAID SSD array inside a Mac pro to improve system performance. The Mac Array is used for virtual memory and promises 10x the performance of a Mac Pro without it. The HTC Media Link HD H100 hit the FCC last week. That should mean the device is set to launch really soon and it will let you get your content from the smartphone to the TV.
Call of Duty: Black Ops rolled in the dough to the tune of $360 million in the first 24 hours of sales. That figure is in the US only making for a massively successful launch. We tossed our review of the T-Mobile HTC HD7 smartphone up later in the week. We think that there are other WinPo 7 handsets on the market that do a better job.
A geek has taken a My Little Pony figure and crammed a soldering iron so far up its purple bum that the thing poked out of the pony’s forehead. The finished product is cute and made my 6-year-old daughter want a soldering iron for Christmas. Rumors circulated that the delay in the launch of iOS 4.2 was due to a WiFi connection bug on the iPad. Supposedly, after the update iPad users could connect to the web, but couldn’t do anything with the connection.
A new iPad app surfaced late in the week called Korg iMS-20. The app puts a classic Korg synthesizer onto your iPad so you can live out your 80′s rock dreams. We went hands -on with the Droid Pro and offered up our unboxing video Friday. Check out the video and details to hold you over until our full review lands.
Sony’s Vaio signature collection notebooks debuted Friday. The EA series can be had with a very ornate looking golden embossed patter with pattern that looks like it would be welcome in a high-tech version of Arabian Nights. Thanks for reading and we will see you next week!
Hey gang, welcome back to another installment of the SlashGear Week in Review. The Samsung Galaxy Tab hit the UK this week starting at £99.99 with a new contract or £529.99 sans contract. The 7-inch slate is expected to sell well all around the world. Logitech unveiled a really cool keyboard this week that is a first for the company and the market. The keyboard is called the Wireless Solar keyboard K750 and gets the power to operate from the sun or the light in your room.
We spied a few more details on the Sony Playstation phone with a new batch of pics turning up. The phone looks a lot like the PSP Go to me. The Xbox 360 got a dashboard update early in the week. The update brought with it some fixes along with ESPN Live on Xbox Live and more.
Stats from Canalys on the smartphone sales numbers were offered up early in the week. The stats show that Android devices are more prolific than other smartphones and that iPhone is the top smartphone in the market. New details on the launch of the ViewPad 7 and ViewPad 10 surfaced with pricing confirmed along with availability. The 7-inch version will launch in Q4 at $479 with the 10-inch version coming in Q1 2011 for $629.
The Blackberry Storm 3 specs were leaked this week. The leak pegs the Storm 3 to sport an 8MP camera, 8GB of storage, 3.7-inch screen and a 1GHz processor. We posted up our review of the Blackberry Style flip phone this week. We found the phone to be “alright” with a rather difficult user interface.
The next iPhone will use NFC tech and according to a source, the device will be able to get remote Mac access. The system would reportedly use the iPhone as an authenticator with user data stored on the handset and in the cloud. The Samsung Galaxy Tab was subjected to a teardown on video this week. The gang at iFixit took the device apart and showed us what the thing looks like on the inside.
Google’s Chrome OS was tipped to be launching in November. The OS has been anticipated by some for a long time and the OS is expected to bring with it a Google branded netbook eventually. Michael Dell said at an industry event this week that Windows Phone 7 was easier to develop for than Android. Dell also said that his company would be getting into the tablet market in a big way during 2011.
We put up our review of the HTC Desire Z smartphone this week. We figure that the compromises in size and usability involved with having a physical keyboard will be too much for most users. The LG H1000B Windows 7 tablet computer was outed by the FCC this week. The specs gleaned include WiFi and Bluetooth, the device is expected to show up around CES time.
A gigantic iPhone coffee table with a 58-inch multitouch screen surfaced. The table has an interface for the iPhone and you can actually use the device via the giant table screen. There are some faults in the screens of some MacBook Air notebooks. Those faults include visual glitches and failures among others that are forcing replacements of the screens in both new Air sizes.
Apple’s letter to music studios surfaced this week where it was telling the studios that it was upping the preview length on songs to 90-seconds. The crux of the note was agree or take your content with you when you leave. LG’s Optimus Pad Android tablet will be coming in early 2011 according to the company. It will have an 8.9-inch screen and a Tegra 2 chip inside.
The screen exploit on the iPhone that allows a user to gain access to the device has been patched. The patch is part of the iOS 4.2 update that should be landing soon. AUO showed off an interesting notebook with a solar keyboard lacking real keys and a screen that shows 3D content needing no glasses. The screen is a 14-inch unit and the machine should be seen at the FPD International expo, it looks all concept to me.
The Panasonic Lumix GF2 turned up this week. The little camera has a touchscreen and a 12.1MP image sensor that can record full HD 1080p video. The Skyfire browser supporting Flash video for the iPhone hit the App Store this week. The app sold so quickly that the company had to pull the app after its servers couldn’t handle the video requests from users.
An iPhone 3G user has filed suit against Apple and is looking for class action status. The woman behind the suit alleges that Apple knew the iOS4 update would brick the iPhone 3G and launched it anyway as a way to force users to upgrade. We learned that Notion Ink was set to start taking pre-orders in December on the Adam slate. The device should get FCC approval and might hit the market in time for gift giving.
The Dell Inspiron Duo has been offered up in an official video teaser. The device has a speaker dock and has both tablet and netbook modes, it looks really cool. Apple is working on a fix for the MacBook Air display issue is mentioned earlier. Apparently, one of the issues has the screen fading from dark to light after waking from sleep and at times has horizontal screen flickering.
Calvin Klein has unveiled a set of designer 3D glasses called the ck3D. The glasses will be offered at $180 per pair in December and are the only RealD certified curved lenses on the market. We put up our review of the myTouch 4G smartphone Thursday. The best way to sum it up is that we think it’s one of the best Android devices around.
The geeks over at iFixit took a shiny new Microsoft Kinect and tore it to pieces this week. The thing has a single cooling fan and multiple camera lenses inside among lots of other parts. Windows Phone 7 is said to be getting copy & paste in a matter of weeks. As basic and needed as that function is, I never understand why major devices try to launch without it.
We offered up our first impression of the Motorola DEFY smartphone Friday. The device is one of the few rugged Android smartphones around, check out what we thought about the device here. Some awesome Tactile+Plus Stickers surfaced for the iPhone Friday. The stickers stick to the screen of the iPhone and add more feel and accuracy when gaming. Thanks for reading this edition of the Week in Review!
Welcome to this week’s edition of the SlashGear Week in Review and Happy Halloween! Monday a Verizon Android smartphone for the coming LTE network was spotted. The device has no name yet, is said to support HD video capturing, and appears to have a front camera for video calls. A Dutch subsidiary of Microsoft let slip this week that Windows 8 is under construction. The next OS from Microsoft is about two years away, though no one will be surprised if that launch date slips.
We reviewed the Lenovo ThinkCentre M75e notebook this week. The computer is a workstation for business types and has a lot of performance for a good price. The Wi-Fi Alliance unveiled Wi-Fi Direct this week which allows devices to directly connect to each other using a WiFi connection. The connection will allow for the sharing of files and connecting to the web among other things.
Japanese scientists are working on a printer that is able to print out scents bringing new lifeg to the scratch and sniff stickers of my youth. The scientists apparently have a working model so this isn’t as wild as it sounds. An exploit has been discovered in the iPhone lockout screen that allows the screen to be bypassed. Once bypassed the user can access contacts and more on the device.
NASA has announced that Robonaut 2 is ready for tits trip to the ISS early next week. It’s interesting that the first robot to be sent to the ISS goes up on the last shuttle mission. Workers in the iPhone factory that Foxconn operates are claiming that they were poisioned by the fumes produced by chemicals used for the screen in production of the iPhone. The fumes reportedly came from chemicals used to treat the screens and left some workers in the hospital
We made our own unboxing video for the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet this week. We think this thing has a better chance than Steve Jobs is giving it and all 7-inch tablets. Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Color hit this week and it was felt up on film around the web. The thing runs Android and has a color screen making it one of the more interesting eReaders on the market.
Oakley showed off the sweet Tron: Legacy 3D glasses in cool Tron printed Gascan frames. The glasses wrap around for a comfortable fit and will work with any 3D movie at the theater. HP is set to ship its Slate 500 tablet computer on November 17. The device has an 8.9-inch screen and runs an Atom processor.
Acer let fly this week that it would be shipping its line of tablet computers in November. The line will include tablets with 7″ to 10″ screens in the $299 to $699 price range. We spied a really cool concept device mid-week called the Google Magnify. The thing is like a portable Google Translator for any text.
A rumor surfaced this week that the iPhone 4 in white may have secretly been cancelled. The scuttlebutt is that we will see another delay on the white iPhone 4 in March 2011 that will get us through until the iPhone 5 surfaces next summer. The oft rumored Sony PlayStation phone surfaced again mid-week and Sony denied the rumor flat out as “definitely fake.” Sony then supposedly went back and asked that they be quoted with the more benign “we don’t comment on rumors” bit.
We spent hands on time with the myTouch 4G smartphone this week. The device is a strong 4G contender on the T-Mobile network, but it is still limited by 4G’s scant availability. More Verizon iPhone rumors surfaced late in the week with Pegatron said to be scaling to produce 10 million iPhone 4 smartphones in 2011 for CDMA networks. Verizon also installed iTunes for iPad.
China got the world record holding supercomputer called Tianhe-1A using NVIDIA GPUs. The machine set the world record in LINPACK at 2.507 petaflops, 50% faster than the previous record. Gucci unveiled a new set of old school looking 3D glasses for folks that don’t want to wear theater glasses. They look like old aviator sunglasses and are shaped like the glasses my theater already uses.
WE showed off a video of the ViewPad 10 tablet launch from Viewsonic Thursday. The tablet has a 10.1-inch screen, runs Android, and uses an Atom processor. Panasonic announced that it was ending production of the Technics analog turntables. The reason given for ending the production of the turntable, an analog mixer, and a couple sets of headphones was poor demand in the marketplace.
We got word on Friday that Microsoft will give every one of its 89,000 employees a Windows 7 smartphone. That is one way to get rid of the iPhones in your midst. We published our review of the HTC HD7 smartphone Friday. We peg the smartphone as a solid Windows 7 offering with a good OS and a nice screen.
New stats came in Friday that show Apple is the 4th largest mobile phone vendor in the world. That puts Apple ahead of RIM and behind LG, Samsung, and Nokia. Thanks for reading this week’s edition. Have a safe Halloween!
Welcome to another edition of the SlashGear Week in Review! This was a huge week with an Apple event and several new smartphones turning up. Early in the week Mercedes-Benz announced that it was offering a new Media Interface Plus that would allow the user to stream content from a Bluetooth phone to the cars audio system among other things.
The HTC Gratia Android smartphone saw the full specs unveiled this week. The phone has a 3.2-inch screen, 600MHz processor, and a 5MP camera and the OS is Android 2.2. Shinobii Technology pulled the wraps off an awesome controller for the Wii that is perfect for gamers who like to play table tennis games. The controller has all the hardware for the Wii Remote put inside a paddle.
Out sister site Android Community got hands on the sweet HTC Desire HD smartphone running Android and was kind enough to share with us the unboxing photos and more. The device runs Froyo and has a big 4.3-inch screen. This week Nintendo kicked off the 25th anniversary celebration for the original Nintendo game system. It hardly seems like 25 years since that console hit stores. I had the original console system with the robot that moved things around in the real world to open doors in a game.
Netflix streaming landed on the Nintendo Wii this week with no disc needed. The streaming service has been on the console for a while now but you had to use a disc to view streaming content. According to reports the version of the iPhone dubbed 3,2 that is expected to be for the Verizon network has reached the final testing stages. The new device reportedly contains a SIM card slot meaning it could possibly be able to work on more than one network.
Millennial Media reported this week that its numbers for September showed for the first time ever Android devices beat the iPhone on its network. Android ad requests have grown 26% since January. Microsoft has announced Office 365, which is a cloud-based version of Office productivity apps. The service is in beta right now and will be offered globally early next year.
Razer announced this week that its cool line of Starcraft II gaming gear that was unveiled back during the summer at E3 was now up for pre-order. The gear is set for shipment in November. A picture of what is supposed to be the iPhone 3,2 prototype believed to be heading to the Verizon network surfaced mid-week. The device looks visually just like the normal iPhone on the market already.
If you are a fan of Asus Eee Top AIO computer the new 3D ET2400XVT machine went up for pre-order this week. The machine certainly has some nice specs with a 23.6-inch screen, 8GB of RAM, and GeForce GTX 460 graphics, but the price of $1899 makes it less appealing for most. A company called Verykool unveiled a new rugged phone this week called the R80 that launched in Asia. The phone is very nice looking and can survive drops, cold, water, and dust.
The big news this week was the Apple press conference held mid-week. At the conference a lot of new stuff was unveiled with iLife 11 announced. The new version will be pre-loaded on all Macs and will be a $49 upgrade for older Macs. We spent some hands-on time with the new MacBook Air for 2010 in both the 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch forms. We liked the machine and the svelte profiles of both were very impressive.
We spent hands on time for a bit with the 11.6-inch MacBook Air Apple unveiled. The machine has a full-size keyboard, webcam, and the screen is LED backlit with a resolution of 1366 x 768. It gets 2GB of RAM, a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo and will sell for $999 with 64GB of storage. The larger 13.3-inch MacBook Air also went official with a battery promising 7 hours of run time. The screen has a resolution of 1440 x 900 and it runs a Core 2 Duo CPU at 1.86GHz with prices starting at $1299.
The Apple press event was also the unveiling of Apple Lion OS with some new features and Apple announced that a Mac App Store was coming as well. The apps will run full screen on the notebooks and the service looks really cool.
We reviewed the Toshiba AC100 notebook later in the week. The ultraportable is very thin and packed with a Tegra 250 mobile processor at 1GHz for power. We had some issues with the notebook and hope that a port of Ubuntu might make the machine better than it is from the start with Android as the OS. The day after the MacBook Air went official, iFixit got hands on one and took the thing apart. The company notes that even the screws the machine uses are hard to open showing that Apple doesn’t want folks inside the machine poking around.
Sources are pointing to a new Android-powered eReader coming from Barnes & Noble called the nook Color. The device is set to launch on October 26 so we don’t have long until we know all the details. We spent a little hands-on time with the HP Slate 500 tablet that was announced this week. The machine is being aimed at the enterprise market and will have a $799 price tag.
We learned Friday that Netflix streaming consumes 20% of the peak bandwidth online in the US. That means a lot of people are streaming video content. Sony announced Friday that it was stopping production of the cassette Walkman that was so iconic for anyone growing up in the 80′s. I didn’t even know they were still making the things.
Analysts are predicting big sales for the new MacBook Air notebook unveiled by Apple. One analyst reckons Apple will ship 700,000 of the things in Q4 2010 alone. We got our hands on the 11.6-inch MacBook Air and did a complete review of the notebook on Friday. We reckon the machine is not for every user, but it has great battery life and will work well for many people wanting a thin and light notebook to take on the road. Thanks for reading this week’s edition, see you next week!
This was a big week for mobile phone fans with the unveiling and leaks of hoards of Windows Phone 7 handsets. Among those handsets was the HTC HD7 also known as the Schubert. The specs of the handset leaked Monday. T-Mobile’s pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the US also leaked early in the week. The device will be $399 with a new contract after a $50 MIR or $649 sans contract.
Vuzix’s WRAP 920AR augmented reality glasses started shipping early in the week. The glasses are aimed at the pro market and have a giant price tag of almost $2000. Another of the Windows Phone 7 handsets came out this week with the Samsung Omnia 7 being unveiled. The handset has a 4-inch screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 5MP camera, and 8GB of storage among other things.
HTC offered up details on what handsets running Windows Phone 7 would be landing on what carriers and the dates when they will be there. Among the handsets was the HTC 7 Surround that will hit AT&T in the US and TELUS in Canada on November 7. A lady offered up directions last week for making a very cool Storm Trooper helmet that is made from milk jugs. The helmet looks very much like the real thing and would be a great Halloween mask for a kid.
We spent some hands on time on video with the HTC 7 Mozart this week. The handset is a Windows Phone 7 offerings and looks very cool. We also went hands on with the Samsung Focus WinPo 7 handset. The thing has a 4-inch super AMOLED screen and a lot more.
A sweet steampunk Iron Man costume won a Marvel costume contest at Comic com in NYC. The thing was very cool and deservingly won the first place. We also spent hands on time with the Venue Pro WinPo 7 handset. This is a big phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a 4.1-inch screen.
A new app for Android smartphones turned up that is called Lego Mindroid. The app is designed to allow the user to control Lego Mindstorm NXT robots. Lexus unveiled the world’s most advanced driving simulator this week. The thing is on rails in a building the size of a football field and has a full-size car under the massive dome.
Some images of the Palm Pre 2 surfaced from France that shows a handset looking much like the older phone. Hopefully, this smartphone will be better than the original that didn’t fare too well in the market. We reviewed the Acer Aspire TimelineX 18030T this week. The GPU left us wanting more, but overall the notebook is very good.
Sony pulled the wraps off several of its TVs with Google TV service built in this week. The sets ranged from 26-inch to 46-inch offerings and included a cool Google TV remote with a keyboard built-in. The coolest Wii Remote ever was unveiled at Toys R Us from Lego called the Lego Play and Build remote. The thing comes with several blocks that can be connected to the front of the controller and will ship this month.
The iPhone 4 has a 82% higher rate of damage than the iPhone 3GS. That makes sense with twice as much glass to crack in a drop. TomTom unveiled a new custom printing option for some of its GPS devices. The GPS devices can be printed with images TomTom offers or the users own images that are uploaded.
Lensbaby unveiled a new optic called the Scout with Fisheye that will fit different DSLR cameras. The Scout optic is not movable like other offerings from the company. Apple is having an event on October 20 for media with a Lion behind the Apple. Presumably, the event is for a new OS version, I’m not lion.
T-Mobile has unveiled new prepaid mobile plans with voice, text and data at different price points. There are also some new plans strictly for mobile data as well. The MeeGo mobile operating system has finally come to the N900 for those that have been waiting. The N900 can be dual booted with MeeGo and the factory OS for those brave enough to try it out.
We went hands-on with the HP Envy 17 3D notebook late in the week. The notebook has a 17.3-inch screen and while too big for mobile use, the 3D effects were very nice. A man from the UK created a mobility scooter that is set to take on the world’s record for fastest scooter. The man is aiming at 70mph top speed and the scooter uses a 125cc engine from a motorcycle.
Former Apple CEO John Sculley has taken the blame for the near death of Apple on his shoulders. He gave an interesting interview about his time at Apple this week that is worth a read. A cool new projector concept for kids has turned up called KLEXL smart projector that lets kids draw on the wall without getting grounded. The projector is a concept, but I could see this selling well. Thanks for reading this week’s Week in Review!
Another week come and gone and another Week in Review is here for your perusal. Verizon Wireless has started to refund customers money that it overcharged for wireless access. The charges apparently went on for years and the refunds will cost Verizon about $90 million.
The Sharp IS03 Android smartphone surfaced this week with a 9.6MP camera and a display that is as high resolution as the iPhone 4 screen. That screen is 3.5-inches and the phone has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The really cool Skylifter balloon concept surfaced this week. The massive balloon is designed to carry huge equipment into remote areas that weighs up to 150 tons.
A new Android smartphone has turned up called the Altek Leo 3.5G. The official PR images where shown off and the thing has a 14MP camera with a ship date set for Q1 2011. Researchers have issued a report claiming that Apple iOS usage share is 4.9 times that of Android. The reports was in response to one that claimed Android was overtaking Apple iOS and only proves fan boys can spin numbers any way they want.
The official launch date for Windows Phone 7 is set for Monday October 11. The first handsets will hit AT&T that Monday and I hope the mobile OS is better received than the Kin phones were. The Samsung Wave II S8530 smartphone is getting a larger 3.7-inch Super LCD and dropping the previous 3.3-inch AMOLED panel. The real issue is that the phone is expected to run Bada, which is the worst part about the phone.
UD Replicas unveiled some really cool and supremely geeky replica motorcycle suits that look like the suits from the coming Tron flick. The suit for guys looks like the one Sam Flynn wears in the movie. AT&T whipped out three new Android smartphones early in the week including the Bravo, Flipout, and Flipside. All three of the devices run Android 2.1 and have Motoblur with prices running from $79.99 to $129.99.
Verizon has announced that the Droid Pro will be landing in the coming weeks. The phone will have a touchscreen with a full QWERTY keyboard and looks a lot like a Blackberry. Word that Call of Duty: Black Ops will have 3D as an option surfaced this week. I can only imagine how cool playing this game in 3D will be.
ThinkGeek started shipping the Star Wars Wampa Rug this week. The thing looks like a bearskin rug made out of the pelt of a snow monster from Hoth. Western Digital unveiled new external storage solutions with USB 3.0 connectivity. One of the new drives could be had in up to 3TB storage capacity.
The Logitech Revue Google TV box made its official debut this week for $299 on pre-order. The box lets you do all sorts of stuff like watch web content on your TV and tons more. Those rumors of a Verizon iPhone won’t die. Rumors circulate claiming that the iPhone for Verizon will go into mass production starting at the end of 2010.
If you are one of the users of Netflix on the PS3, you may get tired of having to use that disc to get access. Disc-free access for the game console is due to land this month. Rumors of a 11.6-inch MacBook Air continue to circulate and create lots of buzz. The rumors are being fed by the fact that stock of the current Air are out everywhere.
PayPal has updated its iPhone app and the update allows users to deposit checks without going to a bank. Depositing checks requires images to be taken of the front and back of the check and money hits the PayPal account about six days later. Kingston unveiled its new microSD card with 32GB of storage this week. The tiny card has enough space for thousands of photos and songs.
Rumors abound that a new iPad is coming next year with a Retina display and 128GB of storage. The latest batch of rumors was started by a Wall Street analyst. New features will undoubtedly come with the huge popularity of the tablet. Augen pulled the wraps off six new Android tablets. Several of them are rather mundane, but one very cool tablet has a netbook base with keyboard and lots more.
HTC has offered up a demo of the Windows Phone 7 running HD2. The video demo shows many of the ins and outs of the coming smartphone. iFixit has torn down the Nokia N8 and deemed the phone designed very well inside and the handset is said to be very reparable. The phone looks neat on the inside. Thanks for reading this week’s edition!
Welcome to this week’s edition of the SlashGear Week in Review. I hope your week was a good one, there was a lot going on in the tech world. We learned early in the week that Nokia had a touchscreen alternative to the iPhone that was axed in 2004. That device could have made for a different landscape in the smartphone realm today had it made it to market.
The Windows Phone 7 smartphones are set to hit on November 8 according to a rumor. That is a month after the launch is expected to happen in Europe. A German publication has leaked what it claims to be the launch date for the Nintendo 3DS. According to the publication the new 3D gaming console will hit on November 11. The catch is that the publication is a tabloid and it is known for printing outright false information apparently.
Motorola, HTC, and Asus have all adopted the NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform for their smartphones and tablets. Motorola will put the chipset into a smartphone with the other two makers using in a tablet. Monday marked the official unveil of the Blackberry Playbook tablet. The full specifications and all the pertinent details of the tablet were offered up and the tablet sounds pretty good.
Along with the unveiling of the Playbook, RIM also talked about app plug-ins, ads in apps, and in-app payments that will be coming to Blackberry devices. RIM also stated that there are 35 million App world users today. We also compared the iPad to the Playbook with the catch that we weren’t able to get hands on with the Playbook. I suspect the Playbook will not be as popular as the iPad.
Maingear unveiled a new model of the SHIFT computer dubbed Super Stock. The machines are customizable and have some really nice and high-performance features. Sony Ericsson unveiled a cool mini-display for Bluetooth Android phones called the LiveView. It’s sort of like a secondary screen for your smartphone.
A geek showed off the coolest R2-D2 robot I have ever seen. He built it DIY style and it is large enough for him to ride inside. The firmware for the Apple TV has offered up hints at a couple new iPhones that might be coming. The firmware shows 3,2 and 3,3 iPhones. The current iPhone is called the 3,1.
One of the most interesting things for the week was that the movie studios are reportedly contemplating a new pay per view service that would let the users watch movies not on DVD yet for $30 per view. It sounds a lot like a home version of the Spectravision offering in hotels. ATM’s generally dispense cash, but we learned that some new ATMs that dispense gold are set to come to the US. The new ATMs will hit the states by the end of the year apparently.
Borders unveiled a new wireless version of the Kobo eReader. The device adds WiFi to the mix, has a 6-inch eInk screen, and sells for $139.99. That sweet Motorola Droid R2-D2 version smartphone got its unboxing video this week. That phone has to be one of the coolest Android devices ever.
DARPA has been talking about the sweet transformer project for a while now. The goal of the project is to build a flying Humvee and the contrast to start working on a real version of the vehicle has been awarded. We got out hands on the Nokia N8 smartphone this week for an unboxing. The thing feels nice in the hands and we will be back soon with a full review of the device.
A rumor surfaced claiming that the next iPhone and iPad will move to a Qualcomm baseband. The move would reportedly make it easier for the device to be offered on other networks. GoPro has unveiled a new wearable camcorder that has a cheaper price than its other offerings. The device is called the HD Hero 960 and it sells for $179.99.
A new cheap Android tablet surfaced called the disgo Tablet 6000. The slate has a 7-inch screen, Android 2.1, WiFi, miniHDMI, and a pair of USB ports along with 2GB of storage. NVIDIA has agreed to a settlement on the defective GPUs that plagued Apple, Dell, and Sony notebooks. The settlement particulars are outlines on a special site just for those with affected machines.
Google announced that it has now expanded StreetView to cover all seven continents with the service now available in Antarctica. There are no roads there so you get images of Half Moon Island and a bunch of penguins. Friday news that the speed record for the fastest lawnmower had been broken. The record was 87.833 mph and the new record is now 96.529 mph. Thanks for reading, see you next week!
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Week in Review! Early in the week Fujifilm unveiled a cool new hybrid viewfinder digital camera called the X100. The little digital camera has a 13.2-megapixel sensor and retro style that looks really nice. Some details on HTC’s Android tablet surfaced early in the week. Those details point to a price of $790 and Tegra 2 for the brains of the device. That tablet will be a hard sale at that price I think.
The geeks at iFixit have taken the new PlayStation Move controllers and torn them down. Inside the black case are some parts that can be replaced easily like the battery and vibration motor while others are permanently attached to the board inside. A sweet gaming mod turned up early in the week that has 11 different consoles, a projector and other gear crammed inside a replica of R2D2. The thing has a GameCube, N64, NES, SNES, Atari 7800, PSP, DreamCast and other consoles inside.
We reviewed the Clearwire Rover Puck Monday and while it is cool in a 4G area, travel outside that area and you get squat. The thing doesn’t support 3G networks as a way to cut the price of the device. A report from an analyst surfaced that points to a new iPad coming in 2011 with a smaller 7-inch screen and a pair of cameras. Presumably, those cameras would be for FaceTime and shooting photos.
Rumors surfaced that ARM might be acquired by Apple. ARM came back and called those rumors “complete nonsensical” though it wouldn’t be the first time something was denied outright and then turned out to be true. Leica unveiled its sweet M9 limited edition Titanium digital camera. The thing gets a titanium case and a few other new features.
Headcase unveiled the coolest case ever for the iPad called the Etch A Sketch Case. The case makes your iPad look just like an Etch A Sketch; all it needs is an app for actually drawing and a couple white knobs that actually work. Panasonic unveiled a 3D lens that will be launching soon that allows any micro four-thirds G-series camera to shoot 3D images.
Sony officially launched the 3.50 firmware update for the PS3 that brings support for Blu-ray 3D flicks. The update adds little else to the mix. Scosche freedomMIC for the Flip line of camcorders. The mic has a wireless section that attaches to your lapel.
We reviewed the Mac Pro for 2010 and the unit we got hands on with is a mid-range machine. We liked the machine and it did well running Windows 7 in Boot Camp as well. AT&T has said that it isn’t worried about losing customers if the iPhone goes to Verizon. I still say they might not loose current customers because of contracts, but new iPhone customers may migrate to Verizon instead.
Quirky unveiled a cool new backpack that charges your gadgets with its own internal battery called the Trek Support. It can charge three gadgets at one time that use USB ports and is up for pre-order for $130. ThinkGeek unveiled a new pizza cutter that looks like the Enterprise NCC-1701 from Star Trek. It’s the geekiest and coolest pizza cutter in the history of pizza.
An analyst has cited sources that claim the iPhone 4 for Verizon will go into production in December. This is great news for Verizon fans and hopefully it proves to be true. Kensington unveiled a cool new iPad case called the KeyFolio that has a keyboard inside. The keyboard connects to the iPad using Bluetooth and has rubber keys to keep from scratching the screen of the iPad.
A tip points to a couple new INQ Mobile Facebook phones in 2011. The phones could potentially be on AT&T in the July or August time frame of 2011.
ThinkGeek pulled the wraps off a new iPhone case that adds a keyboard to your iPhone called the TK-421. The Bluetooth keyboard lets you type all you want with real keys and versions are available for the 3GS and iPhone 4. Marvell has unveiled a cool tri-core processor for smartphones and tablets. The processor is the Armada 628 and has a single low power 624MHz core for the functions of the smartphone or tablet and two faster 1.5GHz cores for other tasks.
The WeTab tablet has gone on sale and landed in its own video unboxing. The thing sells for €449 for a 16GB version and has some nice specs. SteelSeries has unveiled a new keyboard called the Shift that has interchangeable key sets. This is the latest version of that old Ideazon Zboard that SteelSeries snapped up a while back.
The iPhone, iPad, and iPod were all turned into cool DIY walking robots. The bots are complete with an animated screen with eyes that flick back and forth. A geek has created the most awesome costume in the history of Halloween. The costume is a full size version of the power loader from the Aliens flick.
A concept mobile phone from Mozilla called the Seabird surfaced late in the week. The coolest feature is the multi-angle pico projectors inside the thing. The Notion Ink Adam tablet may launch in several colors when it hits the market. The thing has a camera with extra swivel range for easier photo taking among other nice features.
The iPhone 4 may well be on the way to the Verizon network, but will Verizon accept Apple’s contract terms? The thought is that the iPhone on Verizon may risk the Android market it has carved out for itself. Thanks for reading this week’s edition! See you next week!
Welcome to the latest edition of the SlashGear Week in Review. This week Fujitsu showed off a really cool new wireless charging system that is able to charge multiple devices at one time. The system is very efficient and can adjust to what each device needs automatically. Panasonic unveiled a cool new camcorder that uses micro four thirds lenses. The camcorder is called the AG-AF100.
A Twitter leak from a product designer claiming to have designed some accessories for the Nintendo 3DS claims that the launch date for the portable console is November 20. The person who posted the Tweet later edited it and Nintendo has made no official statement on the launch date at this point. BPG Werks unveiled a new rideable device for soldiers that looks part tank and part Segway called the Shredder. The device can be ridden by a rider or controlled remotely.
Nintendo is celebrating the 25th birthday of Super Mario. Fans in the UK can enter a video contest to win a special Wii bundle to celebrate the birthday. Kensington pulled the wraps off a new iPad accessory this week called the PowerBack. The PowerBack is a case with a kickstand and a battery inside that extends the battery life of the iPad by five hours.
An awesome rubber band gatling gun debuted early in the week that is crazy expensive at $499. The thing weighs 20 pounds, is made of CNC machined aluminum parts, and will hold 64 rubber bands. Nokia officially unveiled the C6 and C7 smartphones Tuesday. Both of the devices use a ClearBlack display that promises better viewability in direct sunlight.
Microsoft released Halo: Reach this week and to promote the pending launch early in the week the company had a person dressed like a real Spartan flying around wearing a jetpack in London. Canon debuted a few new cameras this week and among them was the new PowerShot G12. The camera can records HD video and has HDR settings among others.
Nokia unveiled the E7 4-inch QWERTY smartphone early in the week with a capacitive touchscreen. The phone has 720p video recording and lots more with a price of about $636. Nikon unveiled a new D7000 DSLR camera with 16.2MP and full HD video shooting. The camera has some other nice features like continuous autofocus when recording that video and will cost right at $1500 in kit form.
New phones from HTC leaked mid-week and we snapped a couple pics of them when an exec left them sitting out for a potty break. The devices were unveiled on stage later in the HTC presentation. If you are the sort that likes to build things, Nanodots debuted this week and they are really cool. The little magnetic balls stick together and you can build all sorts of cool designs using them.
A new design for Twitter was launched with endless scrolling and in-line media. It sounds pretty much like that iPad app that launched a few weeks back. HTC will launch an Android tablet in Q1 2011 according to DigiTimes. The tablet will reportedly run Android 3.0.
HTC has a Media Link wireless adapted set to land in Q4. The device will work with some HTC handsets for streaming media to sets without DLNA support built-in. We went hands on with the mophie juice pack powerstation for the iPad, iPhone and any other USB device. The station has a 3600mAh battery inside and a pair of USB ports.
We learned on Thursday that the update for the PS3 adding support for 3D gaming and movies was coming on September 21. The update will bring the PS3 to v3.50. A cool wearable webcam for life casting and other uses called the Looxcie surfaced late in the week. The camera combines a Bluetooth headset with a 480 x 320 resolution 15fps camera with 4GB of storage.
Incipio launched a watchband case for the iPod nano called the Linq. The case protects the nano and lets it be worn on the wrist like a watch. A rumor surfaced that claims the PSP2 is in the hands of developers right now. A developer from Netherrealm Studios let it slip that his firm had one of the portable devices in house.
Thursday Samsung’s Galaxy Tab went official and the thing will be coming in four versions to major wireless carriers. That means that Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint are all getting their own version of the tablet. A cool net-slate thingy surfaced from Dell that has a prototype device with a screen that swivels leaving the fixed frame in place for conversion to a tablet. It’s strange looking but pretty cool, Dell offered no details on the device.
Olive unveiled its cheapest media streaming device last week that sell for $1000, which is nearly half the price of some the 4D. The new server is the 03HD and it has a 500GB HDD and CDR drive inside along with support for lots of media formats. Intel unveiled its plans at IDF this week for 15nm Atom processors. The catch is that there is no time frame offered so the 15nm processors could be decades away for all we know.
Best Buy’s CEO announced this week that the iPad is stealing as much as 50% of the laptop market. The iPad is certainly selling well and the statement was made along with the announcement that the iPad would be coming to Best Buy this month. HP unveiled a new camcorder that is pocket size and can record 1080p resolution video. The camcorder is called the V5020u and will ship in October. Thanks for reading this week’s edition!
