Apple iPad UK Shipping Dates for new Pre-orders Changed

May 22, 2010 by 2 Comments

If you pre-ordered an Apple iPad in the UK on May 10 or 11 then you’ll still be getting your iPad on May 28 (this coming Friday). For those who pre-ordered after that, the date changed to June 7. It appears that Apple has run out of those pre-orders now and have put a more generic shipping date for all those pre-ordering today and onwards to just June.

This indicates pre-orders have been selling very well and that Apple [AAPL] is now waiting for more stock to be produced, or that they might be holding some back for store launches that will also happen next week.

If you still want to get hold of an Apple iPad this coming Friday then the only way now will be to queue up (possibly over night) outside the closest Apple store to you. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Google Maps Earth View

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Google [GOOG] recently added Google Earth View to Google Maps. Earth View brings the features of Google Earth to the browser where you can now scroll around maps, rotate, see 3D imagery and pan around the globe just like the desktop version.

To access the feature you can just visit maps.google.co.uk and on the right of the screen you should see a tab saying Earth. Click on this and it will ask you to install a plugin. Once installed you can then navigate around 3D imagery in a similar way to how Google Earth works.

From my tests I found the interface wasn’t as sleek to use as Google Earth, but in general it works very well showing a number of 3D buildings in various locations. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Google Pac-Man Logo is Playable – 256 Levels

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

May 22 1980 was the day when Pac-Man was first introduced. That’s 30 years ago tomorrow. To celebrate the launch of Pac-Man, Google [GOOG] has decided to make a fully playable version of Pac-Man as the Google Logo. The Google Pac-Man Logo allows one or two players to play against the ghosts and pick up all the power pellets.

For those who do not know about Google Logos, a couple of times a month the company change the logo on their search page to reflect a historic event such as Teachers Day in Korea, Childrens Day in Spain and April Fools day each year. All the previous logos can be found over at Google.

Back to Pac-Man, the two player version can be played by hitting the insert coin button. Controls for the second player are the WASD keys for Up, Left, Down and Right. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cool Gadgets

Logitec to Launch Google TV Companion Box

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday, Google [GOOG] announced the Google TV amongst other things. Google TV is a service that makes television the way it should be (in Google’s words). Two options are available to get Google TV. The first requires that you get a TV with built in Google TV. These will be developed shortly and will come from companies who work with Intel to put computers powerful enough to run the operating system.

The second option is for those who do not want to buy a specific Google TV, or for those who do not want to upgrade. This option comes in the form of a companion box that sits between your set top box and your TV.

Logitec has announced that it is getting on board with the Google TV system by creating companion boxes for users to hook up to their HDTV. The Logitec box will be the first Google TV box and will launch in the US when the service is ready to run. The system will work with the Harmony remote technology that will allow users to interact with the Google TV services. The controller includes a compact keyboard along with a touchpad. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Nokia N8 Launch Date Revealed as August 24

May 21, 2010 by 3 Comments

We finally have an official release date for the Nokia N8. The date for launch is August 24 and that day, we’ll see the new Symbian^3 device launched.

Right now, no carriers have the Nokia N8 smartphone listed (as to be expected so far away from launch) although one place that does have the smartphone listed off contract is Amazon in Germany.

Amazon DE have the Nokia N8 priced at ‚¬469,50 and the phone is available to pre-order today. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

AT&T ETF Raised for Smartphones

May 21, 2010 by 1 Comment

AT&T [T] is raising the ETF (Early Termination Fee) for those who sign a new contract starting June 1 this year.

The new early termination fee, specifically for smartphones here, is being raised from $175 to $325 and as AT&T say, to make it more fair for those who get cheaper phones.

The idea is, and we think that it’s fair approach, that if you spend less on a device, your early termination fee should be less. If you spend more, your early termination fee should be more.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Macally Eco-Friendly Bamboo Lapdesk

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Macally has launched their new eco-friendly bamboo lapdesk.

There isn’t much information about the Lapdesk other than what we see in the pictures. From what we can figure out, it appears that the bamboo lapdesk has two sections that slide in to each other to make a smaller unit and open up to create an area for a mouse to be used.

Unfortunately there is no pricing or availability details on the bamboo lapdesk. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

USB Port Cleaner from Brando

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Brando come up with some odd gadgets and this next one joins that category.

The USB Port Cleaner has been designed to clean your USB ports on your laptop, PC, Mac and any other gadget with a regular sized port. The reasons for creating this are for the “need to clean them up occasionally in order for them to continuously conduct electricity efficiently and keep data flowing at the satisfactory speeds.”

The small USB sized gadget simply slots in a USB port and cleans the copper pins that are found in there.

The copper used for electrical contacts in the USB ports of your computer is subject to oxidization. Especially for those who always use their laptops at places near the sea, the problem will occur faster. But of course, no matter where your laptop is used, the problem will still occur. Over time, it’ll cause a film developed over the copper that provides insulating barrier, preventing good electrical contact between the USB port and the connector of the USB device.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: USB Gadgets

myTouch 3G Slide headed to T-Mobile June 2

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

T-Mobile in the US is launching the myTouch 3G Slide on June 2, a few days before the HTC EVO 4G. The myTouch 3G Slide is an Android OS based smartphone that when launched, will cost $180 after a $50 rebate.

Hardware wise, the phone has a 3.4 inch screen along with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. For times when you prefer to use a virtual keyboard, the myTouch 3G Slide has the Swype keyboard preloaded.

On the back of the 3G Slide is a 5 megapixel camera and with the 3G Slide being Android based, full access to the Android Market is possible. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Ciphone C9 iPhone Clone can Dual-Boot OS and WM6.5

May 21, 2010 by 2 Comments

The Ciphone C9 is a clone of an Apple iPhone. The C9 can dual boot in to OS or Windows Mobile 6.5 and comes with quite a few decent features such as a GPS unit, 2 Megapixel camera, a choice of 4GB or 8GB of storage, GPS, G-Sensor, dual compass, WiFi and EDGE as well as a 3.5 inch touchscreen.

A full run down of the specifications can be found below which show that it’s actually a decent and capable phone. However, we are unsure of the build quality and if it meets that of the iPhone. Also with it running OS or WM6.5, we are not sure how good they are on the device and if it runs quick enough to make the user experience good enough. Chances are it will be a little buggier than the iPhone. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Asus Eee PC 701 Modded in to a Tablet Form Factor

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Asus Eee PC 701 is a netbook that launched a couple of years ago. It had a 7 inch screen when launched and kick started the netbook scene to what it is today.

This particular Asus Eee 701 has been modded and changed in to a tablet form factor. The guy responsible goes by the name of McG and took the Eee apart, made a few modifications inside and put it back together.

Since everything did work well, he went ahead and began to use it for the function it was originally designed for: to read eBooks, watching movies made by DVD Shrink, and to use as a portable media player. In case you would want to mod your EeePC, you could also choose better Touchscreen drivers with 90 deg, 180 deg and 270 orientations.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hacked Gadgets

Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 10 is WiMAX Equipped for FCC Visit

May 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Lenovo submitted a WiMAX equipped Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 10 to the FCC for approval in late April.

The ThinkPad Mini 10 was first believed to be going to schools in New South Wales, and has now become a netbook being used as a testbed for Lenovo’s new WiMAX module.

The Mini 10 is a smaller version of the X100e that has a 10 inch screen rather than an 11.6 inch screen. It is expected that the antennae spotted are going in to all of Lenovo’s laptop collection which also includes the X100e. Of course when purchasing any model it will be an optional extra in most cases. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops