Archives for May 2010

Apple iPad iBookstore gets More Premium Content

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

A couple of days ago the iBooks application for the iPad was made available in iTunes ready for download. Up till yesterday evening, the only books available were the free ones that have fallen out of copyright.

When checking this morning, we see that the regular eBooks have now populated the shelves of the iBookstore. When looking at the chart section we see it is split in to two sections of the top paid books and top free books with many popular books found in both sides of the screen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Nokia N8 UK Release Date Confirmed as August 25

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Nokia N8 went up on the Vodafone UK store yesterday allowing users to register their interest in the new Nokia smartphone. With Vodafone putting up the details so early we were hoping for an earlier release as we had heard it isn’t due for launch till August.

Pocket-Lint reported today that the date is still “unfortunately” August and August 25 to be exact. It’s unclear why Nokia announced the N8 so early as phones that get leaked or announced months before launch tend to lose the interest of people.

As for technical specs the new N8 has a 12 megapixel camera that can capture HD at 720p. It runs the new Symbian^3 OS and looks to be an impressive phone. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Motorola to launch Two Droid Phones in July on Verizon

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Motorola DROID Shadow leaked out a few days ago thanks to a Verizon employee using the Verizon staff gym.

From what we read, the Motorola DROID Shadow will launch in July along with another DROID device although which DROID device it is, we don’t know.

The Shadow is an exclusive on the Verizon network although we are unsure if the second DROID device will be also exclusive. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Skype Mobile with Video coming to Android

May 28, 2010 by 6 Comments

Skype is coming to Google Android smartphones in the near future. Right now, only those on Verizon can download the Android Skype app due to a deal with Skype and Verizon [VZ].

We learn today though that this is changing and that Skype will be launching an Android (and BlackBerry) application that will not be restricted to just Verizon, ie, any carrier in the world can be used. The information comes from a chat that Skattertech had with someone at Skype who said the following…

Skype envisions a world where video plays a larger role in the way we communicate. The next generation innovation involving video calling will not be bound to the computer. We’re seeing a proliferation of video calling shared between all kinds of connected devices. It’s on computers (today 1/3 of all calls on Skype happen via video), televisions (Skype bringing video calls to living rooms via Panasonic, Samsung & LG partnership), and it will eventually be coming to mobile devices too. We’re betting big on video, and we intend to set the bar on mobile video calling, and it’s something we’re going to do this year.

We will be bringing a direct to consumer app to the Android marketplace later this year. This application will be available for all consumers globally to download regardless of carriers. (i.e. similar to how we offer the iPhone app today)

Brianna Reynaud, Skype PR

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Neofonie WeTab Gets Delayed till September

May 28, 2010 by 2 Comments

You might remember the Neofonie WeTab from reading gadgetvenue a few weeks back. The tablet recently went from being called the WePad to the WeTab, perhaps to avoid a run-in with Apple [AAPL]. Either way, we are hearing today from various blogs about gadgets that the new tablet is actually being delayed till September. It was originally set to launch next month in June.

The WeTab is one of the few new tablets that shows a lot of potential. It runs on the Google Android platform that is progressively getting better over time. It has an 11.6 inch touchscreen that has a decent resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Powering the WeTab is an Intel Atom N450 processor although it does only have Intel GMA 3150 graphics.

Storage wise, either 16Gb or 32GB models are available. Like the iPad, the WeTab will come in either WiFi or WiFi+3G variants for those who want a little bit of extra connectivity whilst on the move. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

Aggressive Quadrocopter Demonstrates Accurate Manoeuvres

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The video below shows an autonomous quadrocopter that flies aggressively, but accurately through small openings.

The flying device actually looks quite scary when seen on video. It can fly through a letter box opening with less than 3 inches gap on all sides. Also, the letter box opening can be at any angle in 3D, meaning it can fly down through a small opening or at any other angle. What makes this even more impressive is the sheer speed it can fly through the small openings. The quadrocopter certainly doesn’t hang about and flys quickly from point to point in a very accurate way. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cool Gadgets

T-Mobile G1 gets Android 2.2 Froyo Alpha Release

May 28, 2010 by 3 Comments

For those who are daring with their Android smartphones, you can now get a working Alpha launch of Android 2.2 for the T-Mobile G1 / Dream, Magic / Sapphire.

The build comes courtesy of Cyanogen, Chiefzreloaded, Zenulator (XDA), ts0cha0tik, punkkaos and Azuske who have worked on the G1 port since the ROM was available for download.

With the build being alpha, there’s obviously some things that do not work just yet. The list of things that do work includes calls, 3G, LEDs, call audio, gapps and the notification bar. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Apple iPad Now on Sale Internationally

May 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Apple iPad has now launched in the UK and several other international locations. The device went on sale this morning in Apple stores in the UK at 8am. Currys and PC World also have stocks in some areas for the iPad.

For those who pre-ordered an iPad in the UK, you probably received yours a day early as TNT and UPS were both shipping units out yesterday although our own drive who delivered said that most people were not home, probably because they took today off and didn’t expect it yesterday.

If you want to get your hands on one today then you need to get to your local PC World, Currys or Apple store (check with each to make sure they have stock) and get there right away. Alternatively you can pre-order an iPad online although there is currently no stock of the iPad and a shipping date of just June is given. We estimate that Apple [AAPL] might get stock in mid-late June as the last batch of pre-orders were dated June 7. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Steve Ballmer Will Not be Speaking at WWDC 2010

May 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Earlier today some rumours were going around about Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft [MSFT] taking a 7 minute slot at WWDC in the Steve Jobs keynote. Lots of ideas started moving around because of this including that there could be some sort of Bing integration with iPhone OS, or some kind of developer tools being tied in to Visual Studio 2010.

Well, Microsoft just squashed the rumour saying…

Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Toy Story Alien CD Player

May 27, 2010 by 1 Comment

Check out this little CD player/FM Radio. It’s shaped like the green aliens from Toy Story and features a CD player and radio.

All that is known about it is that the head opens up for the CD player to be revealed out and the alien’s collar and neck feature all the radio controls and various buttons.

Speakers can be found in the aliens ears and for some reason the aliens eyes open and close although the purpose of that is unknown other than for a bit of fun. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Crazy Gadgets

Apple iPad Delivered Early in UK – Sparks Complaints

May 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Apple iPad started showing up a day early here in the UK and many other international locations from what we hear. You might have thought this was good news though, but according to sources this has caused a lot of upset customers who booked tomorrow off and missed today’s deliveries.

When speaking to the TNT driver who delivered our iPad here, he had 37 iPad’s on his route. Each TNT depot has a number of routes indicating that 100’s if not 1000’s were shipped out early by TNT per depot. He also told me that he had a cab full of boxes from Apple because nobody was home to receive them.

It is unclear if TNT shipped early when they shouldn’t have, or if Apple [AAPL] gave the go-ahead. On my own personal order it did say the iPad would be delivered on or before May 28 although I have to admit, I didn’t expect the “or before” to actually happen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Palm’s Matias Duarte moves to Google

May 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Matias Duarte was the webOS design guru at Palm up until recently. We now hear he has moved over to Google [GOOG] to become the User Experience Director for Android.

Duarte previously worked on the Sidekick with Andy Rubin, so the pair already have a connection and should work well together. It will be interesting to see what changes and direction he takes Android in. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News