Stumbleupon iPhone and Android Apps Launch

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Stumbleupon is a service that lets you give a thumbs up or thumbs down to webpages. The process usually involves installing a toolbar and then browsing around websites you come across each day, or have a suggested web page pop up for you to rate. If you like it, you give it a review and if not you thumb it down. It might sound quite boring, but you certainly come across a lot of interesting content whilst stumbling and it’s easy to spend time each day just voting on pages.

A new version has launched for mobile devices. Stumbleupon has released apps for the Apple iPhone and Google Android based smartphones allowing you to rate web pages whilst on the move. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Foursquare Signups Rocket after Facebook Places Announcement

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday, Facebook introduced Facebook Places. The service is a location based service that lets you tag where you currently are and post the update on to Facebook.

One of the other major challengers in the on-line check in game is Foursquare. Some expected that Foursquare would be worse off after a service the size of Facebook essentially knocked it over. However, the opposite has happened in that yesterday the company had the most amount of signups they have ever had.

‘Just heard from The @HarryH that today was @foursquare’s biggest day ever in terms of new user signups, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley just tweeted out a few minutes ago (@HarryH is the Twitter name of Harry Heymann, Foursquare’s engineering lead).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

BlackBerry Mobile Ads

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Research in Motion [RIMM] is rumoured to be looking at buying a mobile ad network to generate more revenue for the company. The networks are believed to be similar to that of Google [GOOG], Apple [AAPL] in that the ads will target mobile pages.

This move appears to have arrived because of the success of the Apple iPhone as well as the rise of Google Android based smartphones which are eating in to sales of the BlackBerry range of phone.

Mobile ads offer a new window to make money, big money, especially when you consider the number of mobile devices that have an Internet connection. To try and get a piece of this pie, RIM tried to purchase Millennial Media, but at $500 million, the asking price was just to high for the struggling company.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

iOS 4.1 Testing in Progress on a Variety of New Devices Including iPod touch 4

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Apple [AAPL] looks to be currently testing iOS 4.1 on a number of devices which includes the unannounced iPod touch 4, iPad and an unknown product (perhaps iTV).

The latest Beta of iOS 4.1 has a few indications that Apple is testing these devices. It is expected that the iOS 4.1 release date is sometime within the next month.

The information is part of the latest iOS 4.1 beta in a section called “Configuration Descriptors”. The first device on the list (image below) shows a device code as iPod 4,1 which indicated it is the first iteration of the 4th gen iPod touch. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Canon G12 Appears Briefly Online

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Details of the Canon Powershot G12 were briefly uploaded by Cnet Asia. The Canon G12 is the next in line and is expected to be unveiled officially soon.

Details in the Cnet post (which has now been edited), reveal that the G12 has a 10 megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom and a 2.8 inch tilt and swivel screen. Other features include the ability to capture video in HD at 720p.

A quick phone call to Canon in the UK and our spokesman was playing “dumb” as to the leak, saying that Canon had launched the Ixus 1000 HS, the PowerShot S95 and the PowerShot SX130 IS in the UK on Thursday and nothing else.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Camera Gadgets

Sony Reader eBooks to Last One-Third Longer Per Charge

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

A couple of new Sony Reader eBook devices are launching soon. We first heard about them a couple of weeks back where we expected them to be thinner than the current versions.

From what the poster above (larger below) shows, the two new Readers are called the Sony Reader Pocket Edition and the Sony Reader Touch Edition.

Each appears to have a new user interface. The pocket edition will have a 5 inch display while the touch edition will be a little larger at 6 inches. Other details include a couple of thousand extra page turns per charge taking it up to 10,000 page turns per battery. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tablets

Sanyo VPX-PD2BK Dual Camera

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Sanyo is launching a “Dual Camera” called the Sanyo VPC-PD2BK. From what we can figure out the dual camera means that the camera is capable of capturing both stills and video rather than just being restricted to video.

The camera is capable of capturing video in full HD at 1080p at 30 frames per second. Other features include a 10 megapixel sensor along with 3x optical zoom.

Software wise, the camera is compatible with social networks and allows direct uploading to sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Picasa. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Camera Gadgets

HP webOS Tablet Release Date – Early Next Year

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday, HP had an earnings call in which they discussed the companies financial details for the last quarter. For some, that’s not particularly interesting. However, in that call someone asked about the arrival of a tablet from HP.

The actual question asked was more in line with the launch of the iPad and it’s effect on sales of netbooks. The response basically said a webOS based product was being launched early in 2011. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tablets

Android Honeycomb Arriving After Gingerbread

August 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We have already seen a few details on the next version of Android. That version will be Android 3.0 codenamed Gingerbread. Gingerbread is a big step up for Google [GOOG] who is also believed to be creating that version as tablet friendly.

Looking beyond that it is believed that the version after that could be either 3.1 or 3.2, will be named Android Honeycomb. TechRadar has been contacted by multiple sources who confirmed that the next version will be Honeycomb. It isn’t known just yet what additions that will bring over Gingerbread. What could happen with this version is some major polishing up of the 3.0 release as in optimising for speed, enabling a few new features and making a better experience. This would follow inline with what Android 2.2 did for 2.1. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Next Gen PSP to get Touch-Sensitive Controls

August 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Rumours are circulating about the next generation Sony PSP. The rumours say that the next version will be the same size as the PSP-3000 model and that it will have touch-sensitive controls on the back of the unit.

Rather than using traditional controls, it is expected that the touch panel located on the back will allow you to control the games.

The screen on the PSP 2 is said to be both rich and detailed although it isn’t clear if the screen will be larger with the controls moving to the back, or if the addition of both controls (ie, physical and touch sensitive) will be all included. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

Nokia N9 Spotted – Detailed Photos

August 19, 2010 by 3 Comments

Some leaked pictures of the Nokia N9 have surfaced. Normally when leaked photos are seen, they are blurry and often of just part of the device. In this case, they are very clear and show quite a bit of detail about the Nokia N9.

The Nokia N9 has received a new chassis that looks quite sleek. The chassis of the N9 is full metal mixed with a few plastic parts. The QWERTY keyboard looks to be done well and appears to be of a chiclet design. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

BlackPad to use QNX Software Systems Operating System

August 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Bloomberg is reporting today that the BlackPad from RIM (Research in Motion) will be using an operating system built and developed by QNX Software Systems.

Companies that already use QNX software include GE, Cisco Systems and Caterpillar. The move is certainly a departure from what we thought RIM would do. We figured an upscaled version of BlackBerry OS 6 would be used in a similar way to how iOS from the iPhone is slightly modified and made to fit the larger Apple iPad screen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tablets