Sony PS3 3.15 Firmware Announced

PS3-Firmware-UpdateSony have announced a new firmware release for the Sony PlayStation 3. The new firmware 3.15 offers a feature that allows you to copy content from one PS3 to another. Data such as saved games, save data, videos etc… will be transferred and deleted from the old PS3 while personal data such as photos and videos uploaded yourself will be copied rather than deleted from the original PS3.

The update is optional and need not be installed unless you need the mentioned features. A quick run down of how the system works can be found after the jump. [Read more…]

Orange App Shop Launched

Orange-App-ShopOrange have announced the launch of their new Application Shop which is available today. The Orange App Shop gives users one click access to thousands of handy applications. Although the application shop has been available for a while, they are now putting the App Shop on mobile phones rather than accessing through the web browser.

The App Shop is being made available on over one million phones in both the UK and France with millions more customers gaining access next year in 2010.

The program will be put on the home screen of phones and as Orange is a network rather than an OS, the App Shop will be multi-platform allowing users of many phones and OS’s to connect up and download applications they want. [Read more…]

Acer Liquid A1 Now Shipping in UK

acer-liquid-a1The Acer Liquid A1 has gone on sale in the UK at various online stores. Originally the A1 was reported as having a 1GHz Snapdrahon processor although looking at the specs now it seems Acer have clocked it at 768MHz to probably save on battery life.

The A1 Liquid has a 5 megapixel camera and a WVGA screen that can display 480 x 800 pixels and measures 3.5 inches. The screen is capacitive. The phone runs the Android 1.6 operating system. For connectivity is has Bluetooth 2.0 and wireless 802.11g as well as supporting both 2G and 3G networks. [Read more…]

Buffalo USB 3.0 ExpressCard

Buffalo-USB-3-0-Express-CardBuffalo have created a USB 3.0 ExpressCard that in theory should be capable of transferring data at up to 5GBps depending on what sort of ExpressCard it is (ie, 1.0 or 2.0). If the former older version then speed of data transfer will be restricted to 2.5GBps.

As USB 3.0 is still in it’s very early stages I’d suggest waiting for reviews of the USB 3.0 ExpressCard to be completed before jumping in and buying one. [Read more…]

Twoddler Lets Toddlers Twitter

twoddler-twitter-machine-for-toddlersIf you feel your toddler needs a voice on the Twitter micro blogging service then this gadget should be on their Christmas list (not like we think there is any point to it, but we thought we’d mention it anyway). The gadget is called Twoddler and uses sensors to capture a toddlers activity on a twoddler board that is internet connected. Each sensor has pre-defined text that is transmitted to twitter as of when needed.

It’s a bizarre idea if you ask me, but I guess there might be some who think their children need to be heard on twitter. [Read more…]

Google Maps Navigation out of US Gets Blocked

Google-Maps-NavigationWe wrote a few weeks back about how to get Google Maps Navigation to work for Android users outside of the US. Navigation worked great and was very functional. However, as can be expected, Google have externally closed the loophole preventing users from using the service outside of the US. When loading up navigation now you get simple message saying “No Route Found – Navigation to your Destination Not Possible”.

The thread on XDA Developers explains what is happening and what their teams are trying to do to get around it again. Ideas currently being worked on include looking in to using a proxy server to give the appearance to Google that you are in the US although I am sure it will be another cat and mouse game where users create a way around the restriction and Google in turn, close it off. [Read more…]

Seagate Pulsar SSD Drives Launched

pulsar-ssdSeagate have launched a new range of SSD (solid state drives) called Pulsar. The new Pulsar SSD’s are designed for server blades and enterprise configurations that require speed and performance. Each Pulsar SSD leverages non-volatile flash memory that has no moving parts unlike regular hard drives.

Each Pulsar SSD can store up to 200GB of data and comes in a 2.5 inch form factor measuring just 7mm in thickness. [Read more…]

FineDrive Style 3D Sat Nav Launched

Finedrive-Style-3DFineDigital have launched the Finedrive Style 3D sat nav system that takes it’s mapping technology from Atlan 3D. From what we see on the screen here, the navigation system is quite detailed in the 3D side of things and represents building and details more finely than other GPS units.

The system also has a system they call Turbo GPS that aims to track you quicker as well as help in low signal areas such as in busy cities where line of sight to the sky isn’t as broad as normal. [Read more…]

Dell Vostro V13 gets Adamo Looks

dellvostrov13-lg2Dell have announced a new laptop in it’s Vostro range called the Dell V13. From what we see the laptop takes a few design elements from the new Dell Adamo we mentioned a few months back. The Dell V13 is thin at just 0.65 inches and when launched will cost $450.

The laptop weighs 3.5 pounds and houses the regular ports found on many laptops, namely USB ports, eSATA, Ethernet as well as a card reader and VGA port.

The Dell Vostro V13 has an Intel CULV Celeron processor on the lower price bracket with options going up to Core 2 Solo processors and on to Core 2 Duo for the most expensive model. [Read more…]

JooJoo Hands-On

joojoo-iphoneThe JooJoo was revealed yesterday amidst a few issues between TechCrunch and Fusion Garage. CNET were the first to get a preview of the newly named JooJoo (formerly CrunchPad) that is a 12.1″ web browsing device. The device looks very sleek being very thin and also having a capacitive touchscreen.

On the right side of the device there are mic, headphone jacks and on the left a USB port to expand memory, or attach an external keyboard to the device. [Read more…]

Google Goggles Visual Search Launched

google-gogglesGoogle [GOOG] have launched a new web service for mobile phones called Google Goggles. The program is free and available now from the Android Market. What Google Goggles does is allow you to take a picture of an object and then Google uses the image to try find a match in it’s vast library of cached images. By mixing the captured image with GPS you also get location based services. An example here could be taking a picture of a shop front with Google then working out where you are and providing details on the local shop.

Although a fantastic idea, it currently is a bit limited and some captured images cannot be recognised. Objects not capable of being recognised could include furniture, clothing etc… I just tested now on a LEXAR 1GB SSD card and within a few seconds the search resulted in a number of LEXAR products being shown which was quite impressive. [Read more…]

Fusion Garage JooJoo Revealed

joojooWe spoke about the CrunchPad last week and about what had happened between TechCrunch and Fusion Garage and their breakup so to speak. At that time we only had one side of the story from TechCrunch. Fusion Garage have now spoken regarding the issues and basically said that no contract was in place. Engadget have a run down of the webcast that was given by Fusion Garage and go in to some of the details although I guess we’ll never really know what happened.

The JooJoo (formally known as CrunchPad) was revealed briefly showing a tablet style device with a touchscreen that boots direct in to a browser in about 9 seconds. [Read more…]