Archives for March 2010

HTC Diamond2 Win Mo Phone running Android 2.1

Just a few weeks back we reported that someone had managed to get Google [GOOG] Android running on a HTC Touch Pro2 smartphone. The Touch Pro2 incidentally is a Windows Mobile phone which hasn’t been designed to run the Android OS.

Following on in that vein, someone has also managed to get Android 2.1 running on a HTC Diamond2 smartphone. The previous phone (touch pro2) was running a Nexus One ROM. This time the HTC Touch Diamond2 is running the ROM from the HTC Legend which also brings the HTC Sense user interface to the phone. [Read more…]

Nintendo 3DS Captured on Video – Kind of

Last week we heard reports about Nintendo creating a New Nintendo DS called the Nintendo 3DS (as in it’s a 3D handheld). It is expected that the Nintendo 3DS will launch perhaps March next year in 2011 and will be the first handheld gaming device to have a 3D screen that requires no special glasses to see the 3D effect.

A user managed to capture the 3DS on video to show us a little more of what it might be like… it might surprise you. [Read more…]

Windows 7 Advice – Use a User rather than Admin to rid 90% of Vulnerabilities

When using Microsoft [MSFT] Windows 7 logged in as an admin user (hands up who is guilty of that!), a report says that your computer is very vulnerable when compared to using your computer as a regular user with standard user rights. Tests indicated that 90% of vulnerabilities can attack your computer just because you are logged in as an admin.

The sensible option here would be to just create a user account and use that when day to day computing tasks need to be done.

Ninety percent of critical Microsoft Windows 7 vulnerabilities can be mitigated by configuring the operating system for standard user rather than administrator, according to a new report released on Monday.

[Read more…]

Apple Mac OS X 10.6.3 Update now Available

If you are using Snow Leopard on your Apple [AAPL] Mac then it’s time to check for software updates as a new one became available recently.

Apple have released version OS X 10.6.3. Fixes found in the latest version are said to increase reliability and stability of the operating system as well as a few application specific problems have received a fix too.

One of the main things that has been fixed was a problem found in Mac OS X 10.6.2 where a USB flash drive could become corrupted. According to the release notes an update to improve reliability on 3rd party USB devices is included which will hopefully mean less corruption happens. [Read more…]

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 GPU Launched

NVIDIA have launched the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 GPU that falls in to the high-end of graphics cards. The card has been named Fermi and is capable of creating life-life 3D images and animation.

The card it’s self is capable of supporting DirectX 11 and from early reports it appears that the GTX 480 is 10 – 20 percent faster than the AMD 5870 GPU.

On to the technical specs we find it has a 700MHz processor. 1.5 GB of GDDR5 memory is included that is clocked at 1.85GHz. It requires 250W to run and will be shipped next month costing $499. [Read more…]

Nokia Aquires Novarra – a Mobile Web Browser Company

Novarra is a name you might not be too familiar with in the mobile phone industry, yet their software powers many mobile phone browsers around the world.

The Novarra company has provided software to Palm, Motorola and Samsung as well as several other companies. Novarra’s main product is the Vision Mobile Browser that runs on both Java or BREW. This particular browser is used on the Sprint networks lineup of basic phones (their entry level devices).

Due to the sheer amount of phones that use this software, Nokia buying the company will create quite a stir in the industry. [Read more…]

Google Chome 5 Beta for Microsoft Windows Announced

Google [GOOG] have announced Google Chrome 5 Beta that is ready now for download. The new version 5 fixes a couple of security holes present in the current Chrome browser as well as adds a new options for automatic webpage translations as well as a tabbed bookmark manager.

If you are either a beta or dev user it is recommended that you download the latest version to seal off the couple of security holes present in the browser.

If you currently have Chrome installed and are using a developer release then you can use the update checker program built in to the web browser. [Read more…]

iWEB 2.0 Portable Laptop Concept

The iWEB 2.0 Laptop is a concept gadget that overcomes the problem of a small keyboard found on a netbook sized device. The iWEB has a fold out keyboard that essentially doubles the size of the keyboard when opened out.

When the keyboard is opened up, it is the same size as a normal PC keyboard allowing you to more easily type when compared to the 92% of so sized keyboards that can be found on netbooks.

Although it’s quite a good idea mixing a large keyboard in to a netbook sized casing, this particular concept design does look a tad on the bulky side which would be a downer should this ever get made. [Read more…]

Geo Hot Suggests Holding off on PS3 Firmware Update

Yesterday we announced that Sony are releasing a new firmware for the Sony PlayStation 3 that will get rid of the “other OS” option on the older fatter PS3 model. Sony didn’t cite any reasons why they are doing this other than it’s a security concern. They list no benefits for adding this restriction.

Geo Hot has suggested that those who want to use the Other OS install option should hold off installing the new firmware update this Thursday when it is launched. Instead, he says the following will happen…

“A note to people interested in the exploit and retaining OtherOS support, DO NOT UPDATE. When 3.21 comes out, I will look into a safe way of updating to retain OtherOS support, perhaps something like Hellcat’s Recovery Flasher. I never intended to touch CFW, but if that’s how you want to play…”

[Read more…]

Apple iPhone SDK 3.2 now Gold

If you are a paying member of the iPhone Developer program from Apple [AAPL] you should now have access to the iPhone SDK OS 3.2 Gold version.

The update has followed several beta updates over the last few weeks where a few new features have been spotted which includes a couple of new gesture functions that were spotted in the Beta 4 update which includes 3Tap and LongPress being new gestures. [Read more…]

Best Buy to get 15 iPads per Store – Rumor

The leaked Best Buy document has been found to mention that on launch day Best Buy will only have 15 Apple iPads available per store (those stores that sell it) to buy. That makes it five of each device as in 5 16GBN models, 5 32GB models and 5 64GB models.

None will be made available on the website to buy in the beginning and it is believed that once those 15 Apple iPads have sold that the next batch wont arrive till April 11.

This information all relies on the accuracy of the leaked documents though, but looking at the Apple site it does mention that all pre-orders that are made now wont be honoured till April 12 which indicates a lot of the Apple iPads have already been purchased. [Read more…]

Apple iPhone HD Coming Soon – The Apple iPhone 4G Handset

WSJ are reporting that an Apple iPhone will be launched this year. In fact, they actually mention two iPhones are launching this year with one being a version specifically built to work on the Verizon [VZ] network. It is expected that both models will run the exact same features other than the compatibility of what networks they actually work on although the CDMA model for Verizon actually might be just an older 3G S version of the phone. This point isn’t clear just yet.

Although rumours have been around a while now about a new iPhone arriving from Apple [AAPL] this year, they have been based on the fact that Apple have launched a new iPhone every year since it’s initial launch. Now that WSJ say it’s happening we almost know for sure that this will happen.

The new iPhone is believed to be called the Apple iPhone HD rather than the iPhone 4G and focus on a larger resolution screen. John Gruber who often predicts upcoming Apple products says that the Apple iPhone HD will run an A4-class SoC and have a 960×640 pixel display. A front facing camera is also predicted and the OS is expected to be be the new Apple iPhone OS 4.0 which enables third party multitasking. [Read more…]