Samsung Captivate Launch Date on AT&T – July 18

July 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

AT&T [T] announced that the Samsung Galaxy S was coming to their network but with the name of Samsung Captivate. The Captivate we now hear will be made available in a couple of weeks time on July 18 and will cost $200 on a 24 month contract.

Technical specs of the Galaxy S class phone include a 4 inch AMOLED screen along with a 1GHz processor and a 5 megapixel camera. The phone it’s self is very powerful thanks to the type of processor it uses which allows it to shift three times more triangles per second than the Nexus One by Google [GOOG].

For storage the Captivate has 16GB of internal memory. For connectivity it has Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0 as well as Wireless that can connect to 802.11b/g/n networks. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Sony Creating new PSP and Playstation Hardware?

July 9, 2010 by 2 Comments

The people at Sony are working on a new Playstation concept according to the Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.

It isn’t clear at the moment if the new concepts being created are for a new Sony PSP 2 or perhaps even a PS4 although the PSP 2 is the more likely off the two considering the PS3 has a number of years of life left in it yet.

Sony has filed a trademark called Playview that reveal a few features that could be included in the new update…

”Portable electronic device for receiving and reading text and images and sound through wireless Internet access and for displaying electronically published materials, namely, books, journals, newspapers, magazines, multimedia presentations. with an added ‘Computer game software recorded on optical discs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

ASUS Eee PC 1215N Coming Next Month

July 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Last week, ASUS announced a new netbook called the ASUS Eee PC 1215N. The new netbook has a 12 inch screen, a 1.8GHz dial-core Atom D525 CPU and will be based around the Ion 2 platform.

At the time of writing last week there were no release dates or prices known. We now hear that the new ASUS netbook will ship on August 23 and have a price tag around the $500 mark although the price isn’t confirmed just yet.

Regarding the technical specs, the ION 2 graphics processor allows for 1080p video to be played back without issue. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

Fring Brings Face to Face Video Calling on iPhone 4

July 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Fring has updated it’s iPhone 4 app to allow 2 way video calling on the iPhone 4. What makes this update stand out is the ability to use Fring to do 2 way video calls from the iPhone 4 to other devices over 3G or WiFi.

Features include…

* Face-to-face video calls with friends on their Droids, Nokia (Symbian S60) and other iPhones
* Video calls over 3G or Wi-Fi (Performance over 3G is subject to mobile operators’ 3G coverage & quality)

What makes this version stand out is the ability to call across platforms. With FaceTime from Apple [AAPL], you are restricted to WiFi and iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 to make use of it. With Fring, those restrictions are gone making it way more handy than before. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Next Gen iPod Touch could get Front Facing Camera

July 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When Apple [AAPL] launch the next-gen iPod touch, it is likely to follow the same design as the iPhone 4. We also expect that features from the iPhone 4 will also be added to the new touch such as a front facing camera, perhaps a retina display and a faster CPU.

The front facing camera rumour has been further strengthened by some leaked shots that show a glass iPhone 4 style front with what looks to be a camera hole in the middle at the front.

Two pictures were captured with one showing the glass and the LCD and the other just showing the glass, both with a small hole in the middle top of the unit. On the iPhone 4 the middle top section is where the speaker sits with a camera just to the left. The iPod touch of course doesn’t need a speaker at that point, so shifting the camera to the middle does make sense. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Music Gadgets

iPhone 3GS iOS 4 Update Causing Battery Issues for Some

July 8, 2010 by 11 Comments

Reports are showing that those who updated their iPhone 3GS to iOS 4 have been suffering with a shorter batter life when compared to iOS 3.1.3.

A Norwegian journalist asked Steve Jobs by email if any deterioration should happen when iOS 4 is installed to which Steve simply replied “Nope”.

Over on the Apple forums a thread has started with a number of people (26 pages worth of people) reporting that they are also having problems with battery life with iOS 4 on their 3GS.

It isn’t clear if there is a problem that a software fix can fix. Ideas on the forum include closing out multi-tasking apps that are still running as well as lowering screen brightness and disabling push notifications. It isn’t clear if those will fix it enough to return to 3.1.3 levels and it isn’t clear if all users are experiencing a drop in battery life. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Free SatNav Might not be Free whilst Roaming

July 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Garmin released a press release today saying the following… “Using “free” navigation abroad could cost over *20p per mile in roaming charges”.

185 mile Calais to Paris trip costs *£24 to £39 in roaming charges one way, *£52 to £78 return journey

Of course we should expect either TomTom or Garmin pointing out the “Shocking Costs” of a free satnav when they obviously don’t like the “free” model offered by Google and Ovi. But, it does raise an interesting point and a good warning for those navigating out of their own country where data costs would suddenly apply. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Google Update Mobile YouTube Service

July 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

For those who use an iPhone or Android smartphone, you can now access YouTube more easily through the mobile browser. Google [GOOG] has announced a new update to m.youtube.com that brings more features to the small screen.

New features include a faster browsing experience along with a new designed UI that has large and touch friendly elements making it more easy to control. Search query suggestions have been added along with the ability to create playlists, designate favourites as well as like and unlike options for videos.

Also the new m.youtube.com site also follows more closely with the desktop version. When changes happen to the large site they should shortly after be added to the mobile site making your mobile browsing experience match more closely with the desktop version. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Twitter Handles 24 Billion Queries Per Month

July 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Twitter is a growing website. Since April it is handling 33 percent more queries taking it up to 800 Million queries per day or 24 billion per month. The information comes from the co-founder Biz Stone who spoke recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

It’s hard to compare Twitter’s monthly query volume to that of Microsoft’s Bing or Yahoo, since worldwide figures for their traffic are fairly old. Comscore reported that Bing was supporting 4.1 billion monthly queries worldwide while Yahoo was handling 9.4 billion in December.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Graphite Kindle DX from Amazon now Available

July 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Last week, Amazon announced that a new Kindle DX was being launched. The new DX comes in Graphite and also has a price drop too taking it down to $379 which is $110 cheaper than the previous DX.

“There’s no turning back once you read on our beautiful new Kindle DX screen,” said Steve Kessel, senior vice president, Amazon Kindle. “With 50 percent better contrast and darker fonts, you’ll find it easier than ever to read wherever you happen to be, whether it’s outside in bright sunlight or under the low light of your living room. We’re excited to offer the new Kindle DX with free 3G wireless at the lower price of $379.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cool Gadgets

OLED Panel Shortage Causes Concern for Android Smartphone Makers

July 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

OLED screens are rising in popularity and being used more in smartphones. However, according to a report by iSuppli, it seems that manufacturers of the screens cannot keep up with demand.

Samsung is one manufacturer of OLED screens but is actively pushing the Samsung Galaxy S series of smartphones this year and is using the screens for it’s own products. The other big player is LG who is also attempting to push screens out.

Shipments of small-sized AMOLEDs used in cell phones and other applications are projected to reach 184.5 million units by 2014, up from 20.4 million units in 2009, for a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 55.1 percent during the period, according to a revised forecast from iSuppli. While such growth is impressive, the AMOLED shipments pale next to small-sized AMLCDs, which are forecasted to rise to 1.75 billion units by 2014 from 1.3 billion in 2009.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Displays

Sony Cybershot WX5, TX9 and T99 Announced

July 8, 2010 by 1 Comment

Sony has announced three new point & shoot digital cameras. The first one is the Sony Cybershot WX5, the second is the same range TX9 model with the third being the T99.

The Cybershot WX5 and TX9 have 12.2 megapixel sensors that are capable of capturing HD at 1080i. Also these two cameras feature the ability to capture 2D and 3D panoramas like the Sony NEX-5 camera.

Zoom ranges on the WX5 and TX9 are 5x optical and 4x optical respectively. An interesting mode on these cameras is the ability to capture an image with Backfround DeFocus where two images are captured and combined to give a blurred effect on the background of the image if desired. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Camera Gadgets