Archives for April 2010

Apple iPad Component Costs now Estimated at $260

April 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Back in February a company called iSuppli made estimates on how much each model of the Apple iPad would cost to make. From the report we found that potentially the 32GB WiFi+3G iPad could be the most profitable for Apple [AAPL]

Now that the iPad has launched, iSuppli have made some amendments to the numbers due to being able to get their hands on an actual iPad to see what exactly is inside.

The report now indicates that the 16GB Wi-Fi only iPad model will cost $259.60 vs $229.35 that was originally estimated. Reasons for the increase in component costs is due to more silicon chips being used than expected. For example, the touchscreen requires three chips to function correctly.

The increase is around $30 for the base model. The screen also was bumped up from $80 per device up to $95 per device after closer inspection of the hardware. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

LG Aloha Android Smartphone Captured

April 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Some pictures of the LG Aloha Android based smartphone have been spotted. The Aloha it’s self is yet to be announced but from what we hear it is to be a high-end phone that will run a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU from Qualcomm and have a 3.5 inch AMOLED touchscreen that has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.

The camera on the back is said to be capable of capturing images at five megapixels. From the pictures we also see that the LG Aloha has a slide out QWERTY keyboard that is designed for those who prefer to work with physical keyboards rather than virtual keyboards.

The phone front is black and mostly covered by the screen and appears to have a search and home button on the front along with what looks to be an optical trackball. The keyboard when slide out looks to be brushed aluminium or something similar. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

StreamTV to Launch Glasses Free 3D TVs in May

April 7, 2010 by 2 Comments

Two HDTV’s have been listed on Amazon today that come from a company called StreamTV (not heard of them my self). The TVs also claim to be 3D and surprisingly, glasses-free 3D TVs.

Unfortunately there is no information on StreamTV that we can find, and there are no images of what the TV’s actually look like and how the 3D effect works without glasses.

Coming from a relatively unknown company we are hesitant at the moment in believing these will actually surface although it would be certainly interesting to see them in a months time when they launch in May (according to Amazon who is now taking pre-orders on them). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Displays

How to Remove Scratches from a CD or DVD

April 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We have mentioned a few different ways of removing scratches from CD’s and DVD’s. Some require the use of an egg and a cloth to make some sort of funky cleaning material, while others come in the form of a kit you can buy from sites such as Amazon.

This next one is another custom one that makes use of Vaseline to fill the scratches in. You basically need a cloth, Vaseline and a couple of other materials and simply clean off the CD to make it grease and dust free. Once done you rub the materials over the disk and the gaps are filled in. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

OCZ Z-Drive R2 SSD Announced

April 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

OCZ Technologies are launching a new Solid State Drive (SSD) called the OCZ Z-Drive R2. The Z-Drive R2 is the second SSD in the series of Z-Drives from OCZ and has been built to have greater performance and more flexibility.

“Our 4th generation PCIe SSD, the Z-Drive R2, tackles the performance challenges facing enterprise IT professionals head-on. The Z-Drive R2 is a total solution that delivers exceptional performance over a wide of range of applications due to its superior sequential performance, making it a winner in both high IOP and high-throughput environments. In addition, it is the only bootable and field serviceable PCIe SSD option on the market today, and due to an innovative interchangeable module design, it enables low cost field upgradability and capacity increases giving storage architects unprecedented flexibility.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

How to Fix Apple iPad Wireless Issues

April 7, 2010 by 20 Comments

Several problems have been reported with the Apple iPad in that some say it is over heating, some say WiFi connectivity is having issues and some say they have power issues after switching off.

Apple [AAPL] have responded to the WiFi issues and provided a set of instructions of how to fix wifi on the Apple iPad. Basically they say the issues can be caused by dual-band routers where they suggest splitting the bands to make it easier. Another suggestion mentions resetting the network settings on the iPad and the final idea is to double check the firmware on the router you are connecting to, to make sure it’s running the latest. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Flip Slide HD Video Camera Spotted at Best Buy

April 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

An anonymous tipster dropped an image of a new camera by Cisco in to Engadget’s inbox recently. We heard rumours last month on March 11 that Cisco were going to be making an announcement this month (as in April) about a new Flip camcorder they were to soon launch. The pictures captured at Best Buy indicate the new Flip camera is to be called the Flip Slide HD.

From what we see (and unfortunately the photographer blocks part of the main picture of the device) it’s a slider device that appears to have a screen that opens up I guess to reveal controls, or perhaps a keyboard. The Slide HD also looks to have a screen about double the size of the previous Flip HD camera that takes up more of the panel. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Camera Gadgets

Notion Ink Adam – Update

April 7, 2010 by 3 Comments

Notion Ink have spoken up about the Adam and what’s happening with their new Android OS based tablet computer. Although Notion Ink couldn’t comment on 3rd party issues that are effecting it’s launch date due to NDA’s, they have commented that getting flash working on the device to give satisfactory results is one of their prime goals right now. They said that they would rather have it working right, and once it does they will launch it after a couple of months of testing. Launch dates have not been specified, but what was mentioned was the hope to get it launched in time for the new school year.

The creator is a student himself, and therefore has been working with various companies to provide an all around good educational experience for the Adam tablet.

Also the Apple iPad was mentioned in that they wanted to see how that functioned and compare it to their own device as in “did they miss anything, or can they improve on anything”. Of course the iPad has a fantastically smooth UI which we hope we will see similar results on the Adam. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

Official Nexus One Car Dock Arrives

April 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Google have launched the official Nexus One car dock that allows the Nexus One to be attached to the windscreen of a car. The unit it’s self costs $55 and is available over the the Google [GOOG] Phone store.

The dock (available here) allows you to position your Nexus One in either portrait or landscape mode in a similar way to how the TomTom docking station works for the iPhone, although this particular dock rotates on a flexible arm to position it better for the driver of the car.

Speakers are built in to the dock and allows the Nexus One to be used hands free while driving. When the Nexus One is inserted in to the dock, the menu systems automatically switch to the Car Home Application that has larger buttons and controls more relevant to a driving situation. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Vopium VoIP Apple iPhone App Enabled 3G VoIP Calling

April 6, 2010 by 3 Comments

Vopium have updated their iPhone application to version 1.6 that now allows VoIP calls to be routed over 3G connections on the Apple iPhone.

As well as being able to make VoIP calls over Wi-Fi and 3G networks, the software also allows IM contact with users of Skype, GTalk, MSN, Yahoo, AIM and ICQ.

Currently the app is for iPhone only although they do say an iPad app is pending approval at the app store and if approved will be ready for download soon. The iPad version of Vopium works on either Wi-fi or 3G connections and allows VoIP calls, SMS and IM messages to be sent. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Apple iPad SNES4iPhone Emulator Looks Great

April 6, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When the iPad was launched this past weekend, one user decided to install the iPhone version of SNES4iPhone that is compatible with non-jailbroken devices. The app loaded right up and was set to run at 2X magnification along with smooth scaling in the SNES4iPhone emulator. When up and running the Super Mario Kart game was tested and results show it to look fantastic.

The video below shows the game in action. Scrolling looks smooth and the larger screen makes the game very playable. Unfortunately the SNES emulator is now available for download just yet, although we hope it will be soon.

Video can be found after the break… [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Apple iPhone wanted by Verizon CEO – No Confirmation if they will get it

April 6, 2010 by 2 Comments

The CEO of Verizon [VZ] has commented that his network wants the Apple iPhone.

Normally Ivan Seidenberg avoids iPhone related questions, but this time around he is quite open in that he has said…

“we’re open to getting the device,”and that “our network is capable of handling it.”

However, what wasn’t said is if confirmation from Apple [AAPL] has arrived about them actually getting it. Just a couple of weeks ago we found out that two iPhones were being built with one being a new model (either the iPhone HD or iPhone 4G – it’s rumoured names), we then heard a CDMA model was being created which could potentially be going to Verizon. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones