Archives for March 2010

Sony Vaio M Series Netbook Unveiled

Sony Insider have managed to track down some details of a new Sony Netbook range called the Sony Vaio M Series. The Vaio M series netbooks are similar to the Vaio W Series.

The Vaio M Series come with a 10.1 inch screen that’s backlit by LED. A resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels is found on the screen. The netbook runs an Intel Atom N450 CPU running at 1.66GHz. Memory wise it has 1GB of DDR2 and for storage a 5400RPM 250GB hard drive. [Read more…]

Skype for Symbian Launches

Skype have launched Skype for Symbian based phones. By developing this software for the Symbian OS it brings Skype to a potential 200 million more people around the globe.

The application is ready for download now over at the Ovi Store and as you will probably expect, it is free to download and use.

The Symbian Skype application works on a number of Nokia phones (all listed below) and works over both Wireless and 3G networks although make sure you’ve got a good dataplan before you use it over 3G to avoid unwelcome expense. [Read more…]

Skinput uses the Body as an Input Surface

When considering an input device for a mobile phone or other portable device, your own skin was probably not on the list. Skinput uses exactly that to create a unique input surface that allows you to interact with electronic devices.

Appropriating the human body as an input device is appealing not only because we have roughly two square meters of external surface area, but also because much of it is easily accessible by our hands (e.g., arms, upper legs, torso). Furthermore, proprioception (our sense of how our body is configured in three-dimensional space) allows us to accurately interact with our bodies in an eyes-free manner. For example, we can readily flick each of our fingers, touch the tip of our nose, and clap our hands together without visual assistance. Few external input devices can claim this accurate, eyes-free input characteristic and provide such a large interaction area.

[Read more…]

Deal of the Day: Canon PowerShot SX20IS – 42% Off

Amazon have a cracking deal on at the moment on the Canon PowerShot SX20IS that normally retails for $601.03 at the online store. Right now the price has dropped 42% bringing it all the way down to $349.

The Canon PowerShot SX20IS has a powerful zoom lens capable of 20x optical zoom allowing you to capture images closer to the subject. The camera is capable of recording video at 720p HD and the camera also has a HDMI output port allowing the HD captured video to be played direct to your TV.

Around the back of the camera is a 2.5 inch Vari-angle LCD screen. Inside there’s a 12.1 megapixel sensor with images being processed by Canon’s DIGIC 4 image processor. [Read more…]

Nikon Developing a Canon G11 Rival

Nikon are creating a new camera that will rival the Canon G11. Kevin Egan, the UK’s senior product manager at Nikon told Amateur Photographer that the Canon G11 is a benchmark for high-end prosumer compact cameras.

There are no specific details of what will be included in this camera except that it will probably borrow some of the features from Nikon’s range of digital SLR cameras as well as a build of the Coolpix point and shoot camera range.

It is rumoured that the camera will have a fairly large sensor, possibly APC-C sized. The other options are a CMOS sensor so that camera can work well in low light situations. [Read more…]

Apple iPad to get WSJ – Murdoch Confirms

Confirmation of the WSJ heading to the Apple iPad has been given by Rupert Murdoch. An Apple iPhone application is already available and with the scaling that the iPad can do, that particular application should be able to run full screen. However, an iPad version is also being worked on so that the company can utilise the full resolution of the large screen. The app is currently under development.

The developers have managed to get hold of an Apple [AAPL] iPad although funnily enough it is locked down at night by lock and key, and to make things even crazier, the key is turned by an employee of Apple to make sure nobody sneaks the device home with them. [Read more…]

Google Responds to Apple / HTC Problems

Google [GOOG] have made a statement about Apple [AAPL] going after HTC in the crazy 20 patent case. Google have said

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it.”

Google aren’t specifically named on the documents sent to HTC by Apple although a lot of the patents in dispute all revolve around Google Android OS based phones making a number of people believe Apple’s real target is Google. [Read more…]

Lego – The Force Unleashed Stop Motion Animation

By using Lego, a camera, photoshop and some imagination xxxfancypantsxxx, a user at YouTube, has created this cool looking Lego stop motion animation called Lego – The Force Unleashed.

The animation was part of a challenge to see who could make the best lightsaber duel. The special effects such as the lightsabers and blaster effects were done in Photoshop while the rest of it was done 1 frame at a time moving Lego men around and capturing every single change. The video is shown below… [Read more…]

Nokia Nuron 5320 Announced on T-Mobile

Nokia and T-Mobile have officially announced the Nokia Nuron 5320 mobile phone. The handset will cost $69.99 and for that price you get a 3.2 inch touchscreen that has a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels in a 16:9 wide aspect ratio.

The Nokia Nuron is in a candybar form factor and connects to GSM/EDGE networks at 850, 900, 1800 or 1900 MHz as well as WCDMA at 1700/2100MHz.

A two megapixel camera is included and the software allows for 3X digital zoom as well as video recording. The phone has GPS built in and allows Ovi Maps navigation to function (Nokia’s new free navigation application). [Read more…]

Virgin Mobile increases Mobile Broadband Allowances in US

Virgin Mobile in the US have made a few changes to their prepay plans by increasing the amount of data allowance you get. For $60/month you now get to use 5GB of data per month on their Mobile Broadband plans.

Previously the $60/month plan (not on contract) got users 1GB of data. By increasing the allowance to 5GB it brings it closer and in some cases in-line with what others in the market offer such as Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

The other plans on Virgin Mobile see the $10/month plan getting 100MB of data that has to be used within 10 days. Other plans are as follows… [Read more…]

Apple iPad has Ability to make Emergency Calls – Maybe

Since the SDK launched allowing developers to see what’s available in the Apple iPad a number of functions have been found. The latest finding indicates that emergency calls can be made from the device… how? we are not sure just yet.

The emergency call function was spotted when trying the passcode lock and entering the password incorrectly 5 times. On the fifth attempt it gives the option to make an emergency call.

The first thoughts I had which are in-line with many others is that it’s a simple mistake/bug that the Apple [AAPL] developers have left when modifying the iPhone OS. [Read more…]

Verizon Nationwide Data Outage Fixed

Verizon had a data outage earlier today that affected most of the US from connecting to the web on their mobile phones. The issue didn’t prevent NY users from connecting but did stop many other users across the country.

An update from Twitter confirms that all is fixed now though…

According to this official tweet the problem has been resolved: “VZW resolves early AM data issue that involved parts, not all, of eastern US: mix of some out, slower service, many unaffected from 4-8 AM.” So, if you’re still out, the time has come to hit up those customer service agents.

[Read more…]