Archives for February 2011

Samsung Epic 4G gets Android 2.2 Froyo Update

Samsung has launched the Android 2.2 Froyo update for the Epic 4G.

The update isn’t available OTA via this method, but is official in that you can download it direct from Samsung. To get it, you need to download an executable file on your PC, load it up while your Epic 4G is connected. Another option is to use the update.zip file that can be put on your Epic 4G microSD card and once there, you can install the usual way by booting the device up. The latter method is only designed for the devices that run the DI18 build though, so for others not on that build you need to stick to the PC method. [Read more…]

Super AMOLED Plus Explained

Samsung has created an image that shows the difference between an ordinary AMOLED screen and a Super AMOLED Plus display that will be arriving in the Samsung Galaxy S 2 when it launches.

Put simply, the main difference is that the Super AMOLED Plus version has more pixels. At a WVGA resolution the regular AMOLED can show 768,000 sub-pixels while the new version of the screen is capable of showing 1,152,000 sub pixels. [Read more…]

Sony Announce Vaio C and S Series

Sony has introduced updates to the Vaio C and S series line of notebooks.

The Vaio S series has a unique selling point in that it has two battery options available. The standard Vaio S ships with a single battery that is good to power the notebook for about 7 hours. An optional second battery is available that can be charged from a PC and can connect to the Vaio while it’s still switched on. When connected, it further boosts battery life another 7 hours giving 14 hours in total. This is more than enough for a full days work and will certainly be an advantage to Sony. [Read more…]

Adobe Flash 10.2 Coming to Honeycomb Within Weeks

Verizon made a web page that went live in the last few days that specifically said that the Motorola Xoom would not come with Adobe Flash installed. Instead, Flash would follow sometime in the Spring.

Adobe has now posted to clarify what exactly is happening here. In a blog post, Matt Rozen from Adobe has commented that: “Adobe will offer Flash Player 10.2 pre-installed on some tablets and as an OTA download on others within a few weeks of Android 3 (Honeycomb) devices becoming available, the first of which is expected to be the Motorola Xoom.” [Read more…]

MacBook Pro Trademark Hints at Light Peak

Following on from yesterdays news about the possibility of Light Peak technology being added to the rumored MacBook Pro updates that are expected this week, Patently Apple has managed to dig up a trademark that was filed earlier this month by Apple.

The patent forms part of a MacBook Pro trademark filing that hints at some kind of fiber optic connection being added to future iterations of the laptop. This, mixed with the news yesterday, is providing a bit more evidence that Apple could be including a new high speed connector in their new devices. [Read more…]

HP TouchPad Rumored for April Launch

About 2 weeks ago, HP announced the first webOS based tablet… the HP TouchPad. After hearing about all the specs and about the new version of webOS that will ship on the device, we were only given a vague release date of sometime in the summer. No pricing was provided.

We now hear from DigiTimes that HP could be shipping the tablet in March which in turn, will see HP selling the TouchPad as early as April. [Read more…]

Instapaper Founder Suggests Verizon iPhone Buyers Were Existing iPhone Users

Instapaper is a popular app for iOS based devices. Due to the popularity of it, it always manages to hold a decent rank in the News category. That rank is constantly between number 2 and 5.

With the steady rank and popularity, it manages to give the owner, Marco, a good look in to various spikes that iOS devices get in sales. For example, when the iPad launches in a new country, a spike happens on Instapaper downloads. Likewise, when the NYT had a large feature in December about the iPhone, Instapaper downloads spiked (2.86 times to be exact). [Read more…]

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Update Begins Rolling Out

Microsoft [MSFT] has announced that it is rolling out a new Windows Phone 7 update, actually the first ever update for the platform.

Before you get excited about copy and paste though, this first update (first of many as the Windows Phone Blog mentions), is just a preparatory update that doesn’t change anything for the user in terms of day to day usage. Instead, the update is being used to get the phone ready for a better update process. [Read more…]

Chrome Browser May Get Vanishing Address Bar

Google [GOOG] is working on the next version of the Chrome Browser and one of the features that is currently being considered is the address bar that might vanish when moving the mouse away. The idea behind it is to save space at the top of the screen allowing for other buttons or controls, or perhaps a larger browsing window to be made available.

As well as looking in to the vanishing address bar, three other interfaces are also being considered. These include the classic, sidetab, touch and compact with classic being what you have now. The other three include the previously mentioned compact which compacts the header at the top of the page. The sidetab puts tabs down the side of the browser and the touch is being designed for touch screen devices. [Read more…]

Huawei Could Bring Internet to London Underground

When the 2012 Olympics kick off in London, you might be able to get online whilst using the London Underground. This is thanks to Huawei who is currently in talks to provide the necessary equipment to bring all parts of the underground.

The hardware will be provided by Huawei while the installation and maintenance would be carried out by Thales. Price wise, estimates indicate it will cost £100 million for the installation which will go along the roof of the tunnels. [Read more…]

Sony S2 Dual-Screen Android Device with 5.5 Inch Displays Leaked

Last week we saw details of the Sony S1 Playstation certified tablet. That particular tablet is will run Android Honeycomb and also will play Playstation games. It has a 9.4 inch screen.

We now hear that Sony also plan to launch a clamshell version similar to the S1. This second device is called the Sony S2 and is said to have two screens that are each 5.5 inches in size. The S2 is odd in shape in that it’s more of a cylinder when closed. However, it does run similar specs to the S1 which means it will include a Tegra 2 SoC as well as WiFi and 3G connectivity built in. [Read more…]

Hanvon HPad A112 7 Inch Froyo Tablet Announced for Europe

Hanvon has announced a new tablet device. This particular tablet is called the Hanvon HPad A112. It has a 7 inch screen that shows 800 x 600 pixels and runs Google Android 2.2 Froyo.

The tablet is powered by an ARM processor running at 720MHz and for storage, it has 2GB. [Read more…]