Archives for May 2010

Fujifilm FinePix F80EXR Reviewed

May 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Photography Blog has managed to do a lengthy review of the Fujifilm FinePix F80EXR point and shoot digital camera.

The F80EXR has a 12 megapixel sensor along with a 3 inch active matrix TFT colour LCD display. It is capable of zooming at 10x optical and is also capable of capturing video in HD resolutions. The camera costs just less than $280.

Surprisingly the review mentions that the F80EXR actually performs worse than it’s predecessor even though it has more megapixels. The worse performance is only classed as being “slightly worse” though. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Camera Gadgets

Android Tablet Spotted in Android Booth at Web 2.0 Expo

May 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Over at Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Adobe had a stand of products available that heavily pushed the Google [GOOG] Android platform. Zedomax was able to get a good look at various products including some very early tablets still in early form in that it was a circuit board with a screen attached encased in a transparent plastic.

The OS running on the tablets is believed to be Android 2.1 that ran Adobe Flash and Air apps. According to Zedomax, these ran completely flawlessly and were impressive enough to encourage the suggestion of holding off getting an Apple iPad and waiting till later this year for a slew of Android tablets to be launched.

It runs Adobe’s Flash and Air apps flawlessly. That was the first time I saw Adobe’s Air apps running on a tablet and totally impressed by how it ran. And now I can understand why Apple wants to ban Flash and other Adobe products completely from their iPhones and iPads, because it’s rather incredible technology.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

GMail for UK Users now Working

May 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When Google [GOOG] launched GMail in the UK a trademark was infringed forcing Google to call the service Google Mail. For those who adopted the service early in the UK, they managed to get an @gmail.com account, but since about 2005 all UK GMail addresses actually end in @googlemail.com.

After a 5 year dispute the tradmark issues are now resolved (someway or another in an undisclosed financial agreement) and users in the UK can now use @gmail.com for their email address. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Samsung 3D Glasses Need to be Worn Upside Down for Compatibility

May 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

If you have already purchased your nice big 3D TV that requires you use shutter glasses then a bit of a kick to the teeth is coming as some manufacturers glasses won’t be compatible with your TV set. However, there is a work around…. you simply need to wear the glasses upside down to make a Panasonic 3D TV set of glasses compatible with a Samsung 3D TV for example.

It’s odd that companies are trying to push 3D TV this year with broadcasters gearing up for it and then it gets let down by something so small and stupid in that manufacturers can’t even agree on a standard to prevent users needing to buy other sets of glasses (that aren’t cheap).

On a positive note, it is early days and we hear that by next year possibly, a standard will be set for active shutter glasses on TV’s.

“I think that it’s likely that the different manufacturers will come together, possibly as early as next year, to agree a common standard for Active Shutter glasses,” Lee said”which won’t thrill the early adopters who’ve already taken advantage of Samsung and Panasonic’s quick production-line-to-store-shelves moves.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Displays

HTC DROID Incredible Teardown by TechRestore

May 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

TechRestore are getting a good name in the world of teardowns due to their different approach at presenting the details.

Rather than taking pictures along the way and posting each picture, TechRestore create short stop-motion animations around 3 minutes in length showing a device being taken apart and being quickly put back together. Previous gadgets towndown this way include the Apple iPad and PSP Go.

This time, TechRestore have taken apart a HTC DROID Incredible that launched just a few days ago. There isn’t really anything special to be found inside other than the usual camera, chips, CPU’s and a screen, but for some reason watching it in stop-motion makes it a little more entertaining. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Apple iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 3 brings iPod Controls to Dock

May 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

Engadget managed to find a few new things in the latest beta version of Apple iPhone OS 4.0 beta 3.

Included in this beta appears to be iPod controls that open up in the dock bringing a skip back, play and skip forward control to the lower portion of the screen. To access these controls it just requires a swipe left of the finger to the edge of the screen.

The icon pictured on the left isn’t clear what it actually does although Engadget do mention it could be a screen orientation lock. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Intel LightPeak Demonstration – 10GB/s Connectivity

May 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

LightPeak is a technology being built by Intel that allows data to be transmitted at speeds up to 10GB/s over fibre optic connections.

A demo was recently run that showed a laptop sending a couple of HD streams over a LightPeak connection to a nearby HDTV. On the laptop side a USB adapter cable was used that paired the optical connections to a regular cable due to the lack of optical LightPeak ports on HDTVs.

By using a small 12mm square chip the device can convert electrical signals in to light pulses with current speeds reaching around 10GB/s although Intel intend to dramatically improve this over the coming years. 10GB/s refers to the simultaneous bi-directional transmission rate which is quite impressive. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Apple iPad Bluetooth Keyboard from Brando

May 4, 2010 by 2 Comments

Brando has launched a slim Bluetooth keyboard that is compatible with the Apple iPad. The keyboard measures just 112x61x13mm and weighs 70g.

The keyboard is powered by a rechargeable battery and is recharged over a USB connection. The keyboard isn’t just for the Apple iPad and is actually compatible with a number of other devices which includes Symbian S60 devices, Mac OS, Windows Mobile devices and most versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system going back to Windows 2000. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Nokia Ovi Maps lets you record your own Voice Instructions

May 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

Nokia has launched a new kind of cool in a weird way feature, that allows you to record your own voice for Ovi Maps Navigation so you can tell your self where to go whilst driving.

The system has been designed to allow you to easily set a recording for each instruction whereby you simply talk out the instructions step by step at which point a package is created. You then have the option of sharing your voice directions with others or friends, or if you’re too shy, you can just keep them for yourself. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Apple iPhone 3G / 3GS Form Factor Patent

May 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Apple [AAPL] has finally been granted a patent that basically protects the form factor of the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The patent number is D615083 that protects the shape of the iPhone preventing others from legally copying it.

Looking over the images found below we see that all features seem to be in place such as the volume control, silent switch, SIM card slot, headphone jack, ear speaker, microphone and loud speaker, dock connector etc… but for some reason the home button towards the bottom of the screen on ALL iPhone variations is not included. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

ASUS Eee PC 1015, 1215 and 1218 Pricing

May 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

ASUS are always creating new netbooks in their Eee range. Some we know about that are coming soon include the ASUS Eee 1015, 1215 and 1218 although we haven’t heard anything on pricing till now.

From what we hear these particular netbooks are heading to Taiwan and will have prices ranging from $478 to $605 USD. The higher than average prices are due to what is found inside each of these netbooks.

The latter two netbooks (ASUS 1215 and ASUS 1218) are both 12 inch screened devices which pushes them in to notebook territory. Each has next-gen NVIDIA ION graphics. The smaller 10 inch screen model (the ASUS 1015) is also believed to run NVIDIA ION graphics although from what we hear, it will run a less capable version of the ION platform. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

iPhone SDK 4.0 Beta 3 Ready for Download

May 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Apple [AAPL] has released the latest beta SDK today. The latest is now iPhone SDK 4 beta 3 that is ready for developers to download on the Apple site.

We haven’t taken a look yet as to what is included, but do recommend that if you plan on testing that you be prepared for the worst and anything you get will be better. What we have heard is that the camera now works on the iPhone with this beta installed, and it runs more stable than previous versions.

We do not know the official iPhone OS 4.0 release date just yet although some rumours are pointing to early June where it is also expected that the Apple iPhone 4G will be launched. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones