Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
It is now possible to update your DROID X or 2 to Android 2.3 Gingerbread, thanks to the guys over at MyDroidWorld.
Each of the smartphones needs to be rooted prior to installing the updates and once installed, the Gingerbread update cannot actually be rooted yet although the team is working on that. We also hear that it’s easy enough to jump back to a stock install in case things don’t go as well as planned, or if you run in to too many problems. [Read more…]
Reports today are hinting that the iPad 2 has sold out in the UK and that stock will not be available for a few more weeks now. The Daily Mail says that within 24 hours, all iPad 2’s we gone. What we have found is that a few other stores (non Apple stores) still have a few left here and there. If you want to still get your hands on one in the UK, check the likes of Argos through the morning. We found that very occasionally, a particular model would be available for next day or 2 day delivery. Other than that, most places have little or no stock.
It isn’t known just yet how many iPad 2 units were sold in the UK, or across Europe for that matter. We expect Apple to publish a press release in the next few weeks telling us that they beat last years iPad launch. We also expect that we might need to wait for the 2 – 5 week wait for UK shipments to pass so those numbers can also be reported on. [Read more…]
Amazon has launched a streaming service called Amazon Cloud Player. What it does is allow you to upload your music to the Amazon Cloud Drive and then stream the music back to your computer or Android smartphone.
The system works by you purchasing an MP3 album in the Amazon US store and when clicking purchase, you select the “Save to Amazon Cloud Drive” option. When done, your music becomes available for you to stream online. There are two ways to play the music. The first is to use Amazon Cloud Player for web in which you get 5GB of storage for free on a Cloud Drive. The other option allows you to use an Android app that you can download to your Google Android smartphone. This allows you to stream any of your music from anywhere. [Read more…]
Information provided by Mobile Review hints that Google is looking to make a Google Nexus Tablet device. The company who has been given the task of creating the Google branded tablet is LG.
If LG go ahead and make it, the tablet will follow on from a couple of smartphones with the first being built by HTC (Nexus One) and the second being a Samsung device called the Nexus S.
Right now, it isn’t clear if Google will use the Nexus Tablet externally and make it available, or if it might be for internal development only. [Read more…]
We just mentioned that WWDC2011 will be happening in June. What we now hear is that iOS 5 could well be revealed at the conference although it might actually be not pushed out till September this year.
Some recent patents hint that Apple is working on making elements of the UI more graphical. What this means is that contacts could change from the plan scrolling text list to thumbnails of the people you want to call. The same could be said for music lists and other lists within the UI. [Read more…]
The Nintendo 3DS launched a few days ago in the UK and it seems that reports of what is being described as a “black screen of death” are now appearing on line.
The error message, available below, says “An error has occurred. Hold down the POWER button to turn off the power, then turn it on and try again. If the problem persists, please contact your local customer support centre. For contact details, check the Operations manual or visit support.nintendo.com.” [Read more…]
Apple has announced that WWDC2010 (Worldwide Developers Conference), will be going ahead on June 6. What we expect to see at the event is an announcement of the iPhone 5 (4GS) to the world, just like the iPhone 4 was announced last year.
The event will be held in San Franisco at Moscone West and will be running for five days in total. Information presented at the event will include details of iOS as well as Mac OS and in specific, the future of these operating systems. We expect Apple to announce iOS 5 at this event. [Read more…]
After believing that the Sony Ericsson X10 had been put away in terms of getting no more Android updates, we now hear, or surprisingly hear I should say, that the device will soon be getting Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Before we continue, note that this it the X10 only and not the other variations of the X10.
Back to the Android 2.3 update for the X10, we were told months ago that there would be no more updates beyond Eclair for this series of smartphones, but for various reasons, all covered here, we hear that SE has changed its mind and will be pushing the new update out either late Q2 or early Q3 this year. [Read more…]
Google has confirmed that it will not be releasing Android 3.0 Honeycomb to open source just yet. It is in the plans of Google to do that, but not just yet as they feel it isn’t ready and have more work to do on it.
Android 3.0, Honeycomb, was designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes and improves on Android favorites such as widgets, multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization. While we’re excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones. Until then, we’ve decided not to release Honeycomb to open source. We’re committed to providing Android as an open platform across many device types and will publish the source as soon as it’s ready.
When RIM launch the BlackBerry PlayBook, it will be capable of running Android apps. This information comes from a press release sent out yesterday by RIM.
“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The upcoming addition of BlackBerry Java and Android apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook on BlackBerry App World will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform.”
When the first iPad 2 was taken apart, it was quickly noted that the glass was quite a bit thinner, 27% thinner to be precise. This led to some speculation that the iPad 2 would suffer with more screen breakages.
It seems though, after a bit of testing, that the screen could be just fine thanks to it being thin and a little more bendy than the original iPad 1 screen. The video below gives a demonstration of an iPad and iPad 2 screen being bent, beaten and generally used in a way not recommended by Apple. The second gen screen was just as tough as the original iPad screen in terms of breakages. [Read more…]
For those wanting to keep away from the iPad 2 queues tomorrow afternoon, it seems you’ll have an even longer wait than expected as the expected shipping time for the iPad 2 went online with in the last hour and the moment they went online, the dispatch time was 2 to 3 weeks.
Out of the 12 variations of the iPad 2 that are available, all of them have a shipping date of 2 to 3 weeks. Good news is that you can order now though and every model, black/white, 3G/WiFi only and all three capacities of each, is available to pre-order, but you’ll need to wait to get it.
It isn’t clear why Apple opted to open pre-orders on the early hours of the 25th other than trying to get more people in to stores, or perhaps due to known shortages of the new tablet device. [Read more…]
