Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
BGR is reporting that Verizon Wireless [VZ] is out and about testing Apple iPad devices on their network.
The Apple iPad being tested is a CDMA compatible device although LTE has also been mentioned by a source who informed BGR.
It isn’t clear if the CDMA and the LTA models are the same or different. [Read more…]
Last night, Steve Jobs was interviewed at D8 and a number of things were spoken of. Nothing said was particularly new as we expected, but the interview gave some great insight in to how and why Apple [AAPL] makes the decisions it does. The reason nothing particularly new was announced is that the WWDC event is starting this coming Monday which is where we will hear all the good stuff.
In no particular order we should add, the first thing we will mention is about the iPhone OS and where it all started. It was quite a surprise when Steve said in effect that the iPad came first. iPhone OS was designed to run on a tablet originally at which point Steve said that it would make a great phone. Apple switched to creating the iPhone and of course, the iPad followed about 3 years after that. [Read more…]
We first heard of Windows Embedded Compact 7 when the ASUS Eee Pad was revealed on Monday. Microsoft [MSFT] has now announced in a press release exactly what the new operating system is and what it is capable of.
As part of this effort to deliver richer customer experiences across a variety of scenarios, Microsoft will unveil the public community technology preview (CTP) for Windows Embedded Compact 7, the next generation of Microsoft’s widely used Windows Embedded Compact platform for hardware manufacturers of specialized devices. With a $9.5 billion annual investment in research and development, Microsoft is committed to continued innovation and bringing new products to market that meet the needs of customers.
We literally just mentioned that the HTC EVO 4G was available off-contract for $549 direct from the HTC online store. We then come across iFixit who have done a complete teardown of the HTC EVO 4G to see exactly what’s inside and what makes it function the way it does.
iFixit are well known in the Gadget world for taking apart high end gadgets, often Apple [AAPL] products, but anything with a high price tag. The latest teardown was made possible because of Google [GOOG] handing out free HTC EVO 4G’s at the Google I/O event that was held recently. The iFixit team managed to get one of the EVO’s and take it home to carve it apart.
iFixit say that the EVO 4G was an easy phone to take apart. All that was required was removing the back cover and then unfastening 6 Torx screws to reveal the insides. [Read more…]
Apple [AAPL] appears to have responded to the problems found in factories where the Apple iPad is built. Recently there has been a number of suicides and although it’s difficult to judge the exact cause of the suicides, Apple has stepped up to offer 0.7% of iPad profits to those assembling the device. This will bring about a 20% raise to each worker on the line.
A small cut to Apple’s profit margin may make a big difference in workers’ lives
As well as cutting 0.7% of it’s profits for iPad assemblers, it is also believed that iPods and iPhones workers will also get a rise.
Apple has it’s products mainly built by Foxconn where other companies products are also built from the likes of HP, Dell, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft to name a small group of them. It isn’t clear if Apple will set a standard here for other companies to follow or if they will be the only company to do this. [Read more…]
Intel is working on a new generation of Atom chips, this time called Canoe Lake. The new CPU’s aim to halve the thickness of netbooks with possibilities of just half an inch being achievable.
The downside of the new Intel Canoe Lake is that there won’t be much more power than the current Intel Atom’s used although the slimmer design makes netbooks slightly thicker than an iPhone possible.
The new CPU platform uses thermal cooling rather than fans and this is what allows the netbook to be slimmer. What the thermal cooling also achieves is a netbook that also runs cooler than what we see today. [Read more…]
Microsoft [MSFT] has put out a prediction which says that Windows Phone 7 will be on 30 million handsets by the end of 2011. The information comes from a slide presentation shown at ReMIX in Paris France recently.
The sales of 30 million handsets with Windows Phone 7 installed comes from a couple of areas. First is a prediction that the smartphone industry will rise from 14% this year to 40% by next year along with a mix of what Microsoft believes it can sell in the next 18 months (or however short that duration is based on when it launches).
Challenges of course come from the likes of iPhone OS 4.0 that is launching perhaps next month, and Google Android which is seeing 100,000 devices a day being shipped at the moment. [Read more…]
Loads of crazy apps can be found on the iPhone and iPad. This list includes a portable heater, a torch/flash light and many other apps.
The next doesn’t actually exist and has been designed for a bit of fun. The image shows a person standing on an iPad screen with some scales underneath on the screen showing the weight. Of course this app will never be made as it will never work with this iPad and obviously you’d damage it if you tried. [Read more…]
Skype is coming to Google Android smartphones in the near future. Right now, only those on Verizon can download the Android Skype app due to a deal with Skype and Verizon [VZ].
We learn today though that this is changing and that Skype will be launching an Android (and BlackBerry) application that will not be restricted to just Verizon, ie, any carrier in the world can be used. The information comes from a chat that Skattertech had with someone at Skype who said the following…
Skype envisions a world where video plays a larger role in the way we communicate. The next generation innovation involving video calling will not be bound to the computer. We’re seeing a proliferation of video calling shared between all kinds of connected devices. It’s on computers (today 1/3 of all calls on Skype happen via video), televisions (Skype bringing video calls to living rooms via Panasonic, Samsung & LG partnership), and it will eventually be coming to mobile devices too. We’re betting big on video, and we intend to set the bar on mobile video calling, and it’s something we’re going to do this year.
We will be bringing a direct to consumer app to the Android marketplace later this year. This application will be available for all consumers globally to download regardless of carriers. (i.e. similar to how we offer the iPhone app today)
Brianna Reynaud, Skype PR
Earlier today some rumours were going around about Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft [MSFT] taking a 7 minute slot at WWDC in the Steve Jobs keynote. Lots of ideas started moving around because of this including that there could be some sort of Bing integration with iPhone OS, or some kind of developer tools being tied in to Visual Studio 2010.
Well, Microsoft just squashed the rumour saying…
Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI.
In a couple of weeks time on June 7, the Apple [AAPL] WWDC 2010 will kick off. The event will start with Steve Jobs offering a key note at 10am where we expect to see the Apple iPhone 4G announced along with details of the Apple iPhone OS 4.0 release date. Due to all the iPhone 4G leaks over the past couple of months, a number of people wonder how “groundbreaking” the keynote can be from Jobs due to pretty much everything leaking about the said device.
Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry is predicting that the Microsoft [MSFT] CEO Steve Ballmer could be making a seven minute guest appearance during Steve Jobs keynote. [Read more…]
Back in March a Samsung Omnia HD was seen showing off the newly announced Windows Phone 7.
The same device was spotted at the Microsoft ReMIX event where MobileTechWorld were allowed to get some hands-on time with the prototype smartphone. Just to clarify a few things first though, the Samsung Omnia HD will unlikely be used to run Windows Phone 7 when the OS launches later this year. This specific device is a modified unit that runs a Qualcomm SnapDragon chipset rather than the TI OMAP 3430 that is normally found in this unit.
Either way, the 1GHz Snapdragon runs Windows Phone 7 very smoothly with the MobileTechWorld going on to say that the experience offered by the Omnia HD was as good as what the Apple iPhone can do in that it’s very smooth and no lag at all. [Read more…]
