Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Apple will be introducing a next gen iPhone later this year. Some say it will be arriving in June, while others are expecting to see it in September. Either way, it will be more powerful and more than likely it will be a refined iPhone 4, perhaps called the iPhone 4S.
We hear today that Apple has been handing out a new prototype iPhone 4 that has been described as the 4S in that it looks identical to the iPhone 4 on the outside, but inside it carries an Apple A5 processor to speed things up.
A new version of the Google Toolbar has been launched. The latest version is number 7 which brings a few new features. The main new feature of Toolbar 7 is that it now has Instant Search integrated. The service is called Toolbar Instant and allows you to type a search in the toolbar and the results immediately show on the page. If you decide that you don’t want this, you can just hit the escape button to return to the page you were previously viewing.
To active Toolbar Instant you first need to install the latest toolbar, found here. When installed you need to visit the Toolbar Options page and then click the “Enable Instant for faster searching and browsing” option.
Rovio will be launching another version of Angry Birds in the coming months. The new version will be called Angry Birds Magic and will be designed for phones that utilise NFC (near field communications). The idea behind it is that you need someone else with an NFC device to help you move to the next batch of levels. Rovio is making the Magic version exclusive to Nokia and will launch it on the Nokia C7 when the Anna update arrives.
Ovi Maps received a large update today that pushes the usual flat 2D mapping system in to the world of 3D. The new Ovi Maps 3D is available in 20 countries around the globe and provides realistic skylines of those cities. Nokia has also announced that more cities will be arriving in 3D over the coming months.
Toshiba is working on a new type of “smart” hard drive that can be programmed to either wipe data or secure it in the event of being plugged in to an unknown machine. The drives work with AES 256 encryption and when users move files on to the drive, they can specify if the files are to be kept secure, or if the drive is to be wiped if unauthorised access is detected.
The system works to the Opal specification that lists the standards that corporations work to and this is mostly where the new range of drives will be aimed at… corporations. If a drive happens to be stolen, then companies have more assurance that data will be either deleted or encrypted so that those trying to access the data cannot see it and in turn, it could prevent a data leak.
The White iPhone 4 has been very elusive over the last 9 to 10 months. It was first announced along with the regular iPhone 4 and since then, it has been delayed over and over to a point where most people believe Apple wont bother with the device and instead launch a white iPhone 5 in the next few months.
Bloomberg is now reporting that “three people with knowledge of the plans” have said the white iPhone will be launching within the next few weeks, before the end of April.
Angry Birds has been downloaded millions of times, up near 100 million times to be exact. One problem that has always existed with the game is that when you play it on more than 1 device, you need to start the game from the start. For example, you complete 3 worlds on the iPhone version, get a new iPad, download the game and you have to start right from the beginning on your iPad.
This can be frustrating for those avid and casual gamers who want to continue on from where they left off. Thanks to a tweet sent out by Rovio, it seems that a way to sync games might be introduced within the next few months. The system will be called Angry Birds Sync and from what we can gather, it’ll allow you to to sync your progress among a number of platforms so that when you load it up on the iPad, you play from where you left off on your iPhone.
Four of the main networks in the UK have now confirmed that they will be offering the new HTC Sensation. Vodafone was the first to announce the launch and also commented that it will be launching in May on its network.
Following on from that, we now learn that Orange, T-Mobile and Three will also be offering the device although probably not till June of this year. We suspect Orange and T-Mobile will launch around the same time due to them being under the header “Everything Everywhere”. As for the Three network, the company only says that it will launch sometime in the summer.
Microsoft has begun photographing Europe with its camera cars. The service is called Streetside and has been available in the US since December 2009. The service is described as being a direct competitor to the popular Google StreetView service.
Microsoft set out camera cars yesterday in London to capture images of the streets and map them in to a virtual world. When the camera cars have finished in London, they will then start tackling major cities across Europe although Microsoft is taking a slightly different approach in that it will only capture major cities and attractions rather than every single road across Europe like Google does.
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Google Docs is being further enhanced by adding pagination to the Word Processor. The new update rolled out to all Google Docs accounts yesterday and now allows users to see virtual pages, just like you would see in a desktop word processor.
By including pagination on all documents, it also allows for titles to be on each page as well as foot notes, where used, as well as the ability to add manual page breaks to your documents.
Just like a desktop word processor, Google Docs also allows you to switch the pagination feature on and off giving you the ability to view a constant stream of text if you desire.
I have mentioned the HTC Pyramid previously and over the last few months, we’ve seen technical specs leak and we’ve seen a render of the device. We now have the full and official details. What we learn is that the new device will be called the HTC Sensation 4G.
The specs mentioned back in February hinted at a dual-core 1.2GHz processor from Qualcomm. The chip was identified as the MSM 8260 processor and we actually find that the same processor has made it in to the official specifications. The other detail leaked about the device was the screen which was leaked as a 4.3 inch qHD display and we also find that these details are also correct. The screen will have a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. The screen is in a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9.
New details show that when launched, it will run the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and that it will come with 1GB of internal memory as well as 768MB of RAM.
The Samsung Galaxy S2 will be launching in the UK on May 1. Samsung made the announcement today where it also confirmed that it will be made available on all networks.
The Galaxy S2 is the next generation model from the Galaxy S that launched last year. It includes an improved screen that is still Super AMOLED, but also carries the Plus name on the end of it.
The operating system running on the S2 will be Android 2.3 Gingerbread. [Read more…]
