Bluetooth 4.0 Arriving Q410

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has said that the new version, Bluetooth 4.0, could be launching in the 4th quarter of this year with devices such as headsets, phones and PC’s all getting the technology.

The latest specification allows devices with smaller batteries to utilise Bluetooth. Previous versions of BT required that a device had at lease a AAA or larger capacity battery to function. The new 4.0 specifications allow for smaller devices that require coin-cell batteries to run.

As well as utilising less power, the device also has higher speed data transfer. Version 3.0 was launched last year although it kind of fell flat on it’s face due to the power requirements needed. Version 4.0 fixes those problems. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Microsoft Courier Details Arrive

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Quite a while back we wrote about a new tablet type device called the Microsoft Courier. The Courier is a dual screen device that opens like a book and works mainly with pen input to organise and keep track of your life. After the initial renderings and video it all went quiet. Engadget managed to get some more details today that give is a little more insight as to what it is and when it will become available.

From what we hear, Microsoft [MSFT] will be creating the device to function as a digital journal primarily. The device is going to be portable measuring about the size of a 5×7 photo frame and measuring under 1 inch thick when closed while weighing just over 1 pound. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

HTC Desire, HTC Legend and HTC HD Mini Arrive on Amazon – April 1 Release

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

For those of you in the UK you can now go ahead and pre-order a HTC Desire, HTC Legend or HTC HD Mini (or all three if your crazy) over at Amazon in the UK.

Pricing for the HTC trio of phones is as follows (remembering you will be purchasing an unlocked model that isn’t subsidised)…

HTC Desire – £528.68
HTC Legend – £399.99
HTC HD Mini – £369.00 – Note an April 14 estimated release date. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Apple iPad Launches 3rd April with March 12 Pre-Orders

March 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

Official word is out about the Apple iPad launch. Apple [AAPL] have announced that the iPad will ship in the US on the 3rd April with pre-orders starting on March 12 (wi-fi only version).

Apple stores will also put the Apple iPad on sale the same day as well as authorised resellers. The version that you can pre-order is the Wi-Fi only model on the 12th March in the US with the 3G version shipping later in April.

In addition to launching the iPad early in April with the 3G version launching late April, the late April launch will also include Wi-Fi and 3G models in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK with other countries following later on in the year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

USB Power Station has 5000mAh of Capacity

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The USB Power Station is designed to give your mobile phone batter a boost when you are away from a regular power source. The device can hold up to 5000mAh of battery storage that can charge a mobile phone, MP3 player or any other electrical gadget while on the move.

The Power Station has a couple of USB ports allowing up to two phones to be charged simultaneously. With a 5000mAh battery built in it allows for a regular phone to be charged 2 – 3 times or more depending on the capacity of the phone battery you have (usually between 1000mAh and 1500mAh).

The USB unit measures 110 x 70 x 16mm and weighs just 152g making it quite small and handy to carry around. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cool Gadgets

HTC Incredible Pics Leaked

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Some leaked shots of the HTC Incredible have been found on the web that show the device from the front and back (without cover). There’s nothing specifically new here other than they are different pictures to what you might have seen before which is always a good thing.

The pictures were found by a user on Twitter called DevDroid who passed the details on to Android Central.

What we currently know about the HTC Incredible is that it will run a HTC Snapdragon CPU that we think will be clocked at 1GHz along with having 256 MB of RAM. The screen is estimated at being 3.5 to 3.7 inches running in a WVGA resolution. It is also expected that the screen will be AMOLED due to how vibrant the pictures have looked in previously leaked shots. The phone will run Google Android when it launches (probably 2.1). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

ASUS Eee Pad – iPad Killer?

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When Apple created the iPhone it seemed to be the benchmark for what other phones should at least be like. Each time a new smartphone was launched people asked if it would be an “iPhone Killer”.

Of course with the launch of the Apple iPad in a few weeks it seems companies are now wanting to create “iPad Killers”. ASUS are said to be pretty confident with their ASUS Eee Pad creation and believe that the iPad from Apple [AAPL] offers nothing that the Eee Pad cannot achieve. Eric Chen, the VP of ASUS Systems Business Group has said that the iPad is nothing but a big iPhone and due to that, the iPad won’t be able to command the same market share that the iPhone has achieved. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

Honda Driving Simulator Lets you Learn Safely

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Honda have been working away at creating a new product called the Honda Driving Simulator that aims to bring a more realistic simulator for drivers to learn in.

The driving simulator has 3 large LCD displays that give a wide view of the road ahead. The software on the system allows various weather and day/night conditions to be created.

The simulator was designed for driving schools to purchase it allowing students to practice on a more realistic computer before going out on the road. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cool Gadgets

Rii Mini Wireless Backlit Keyboard

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard is a very small QWERTY keyboard that features backlights allowing it to be used in darkened conditions. The keyboard is wireless and works on a 2.4GHz radio frequency that connects up to a provided USB receiver. The range of the keyboard is 30 meters.

The mini keyboard also has a mini touchpad allowing you to take control of the mouse pointer. The pad works both vertically and horizontally.

The QWERTY keyboard isn’t full, but it has 69 keys in total providing plenty of function keys and other various keys you might need. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

Polish your iPhone or any other Phone to Perfection

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When you get a new mobile phone you often polish the screen each and every time a fingerprint is seen on it. After a while of being in your pocket a phone also gets covered in scratches as it hits your keys, coins and occasionally gets dropped etc…

If you want to get a shiny looking phone again then you can actually polish out all the minor scratches by just using some materials and a bit of elbow grease.

Hack n Mod has created a tutorial to show you how you can get your phone looking as new again. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Panasonic G2 and G10 Micro Four Thirds Cameras Leaked

March 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Panasonic accidentally leaked a couple of cameras on to their site a few days too early. The new cameras spotted by various photography sites includes the Panasonic G2 and the Panasonic G10 that each have a 12.1 megapixel sensor.

Panasonic G2 Specs

The Panasonic G2 has the 12.1 megapixel sensor as mentioned above that captures images in a 4:3 aspect ratio. For focussing it uses a Contrast AF system and the focus mode is AFS, AFC, MF. Face detection is also built in. ISO sensitivity for the camera ranges from 100 to 6400 along with being able to use that in auto mode as well as an intelligent ISO mode. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Camera Gadgets

Sony PSP Phone Rumored Again

March 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

Wall Street Journal today reported that Sony are planning to take on Apple [AAPL] this year by releasing a much rumoured Sony PSP smartphone.

As well as launching a Sony PSP Phone, rumours about a netbook/eBook type reader/PSP combo were also mentioned that would be aimed at competing with the Apple iPad along with an on-line service to download media such as music, video and games from an online store. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News