Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
The iPhone 4 antenna problem is expected to be addressed tomorrow at the Apple [AAPL] press meeting tomorrow. This hasn’t stopped a US senator from sending a letter to Steve Jobs asking for more transparency with the issue as well as a free fix rather than putting the emphasis on the users to hold the phone different or buy an iPhone 4 case.
The full letter is below and according to Gizmodo who posted it, it has been verified as real and should be publicly made available shortly. [Read more…]
Vlingo is launching a new app for Android based devices. The new app is called SuperDialer which is being described as an infinite address book in the cloud.
The SuperDialer is voice activated. When enabled you simply say what you want to find and Vlingo finds it for you and displays the contact details you need. The service is location based meaning that you can just say to it “Pizza” for example and it will list all the pizza places near your location. [Read more…]
Bloomberg is reporting that a top engineer at Apple [AAPL] warned of potential antenna problems early on in the iPhone 4 development phase.
The top engineer called Ruben Caballero is an antenna expert who informed management at Apple about the design’s potential to cause issues.
As well as Ruben raising the voice of warning to Apple management it is also believe at least one carrier partner also raised concerns about the new design before the June 24 release date.
Although we’ll never know for sure if Ruben mentioned this or not, it’s certainly difficult to imagine that Apple didn’t spot the problem whilst testing the device. It is also surprising that their press release about a few weeks back also didn’t accept there was an issue. [Read more…]
The Elonex 710EB eBook reader with colour screen is now available for pre-order in the UK. The device has an LED backlit screen measuring 7 inches which is a change from the usual e-ink we see on most eBook Readers. The LCD screen does drain battery life though from the usual “days or weeks” that we see with e-Ink down to 8 hours on a single charge.
The 7 inch screen has an 800 x 480 resolution and is touchscreen. For connectivity it has wireless built in that can connect to 802.11b/g networks along with microUSB and a HDMI port. [Read more…]
Buffalo has launched a new media-player called the Link Theatre LT-V100. The new model supports 1080p video, DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and also supports several formats which include MPEG-2, MPEG-4 SP/ASP and MPEG-4 AVC.
For pictures and audio it supports jpeg, bmp, png, gif, tiff, WMA, Mp3, WAV, OGG, FLAC and LPCM. [Read more…]
Last week we heard rumours that T-Mobile could be launching the Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S class smartphone on July 15. It turns out the rumour was correct and for those in the US, you can now go ahead and buy the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant.
The Vibrant costs $199.99 (same as the DROID X that also launches today) and also comes with a two year agreement that needs to be signed. Off contract the Samsung Vibrant costs $499.99.
The Samsung Vibrant is a branded Galaxy S class phone that has a 4 inch Super AMOLED screen that is very Vibrant, hence the name. It comes with Android pre-installed. [Read more…]
Today is July 15 which means that the Motorola DROID X is now available to purchase.
You can log on now to the Verizon Wireless site and order it now. The DROID X costs $199.99 which includes a two year service agreement.
If you prefer to get a DROID X on a 1 year contract then the price goes up to $269.99 which isn’t bad at all. If you prefer to get the smartphone off contract then the full price of the smartphone is $569.99. [Read more…]
Samsung have a great phone here, and an even greater opportunity to take a bigger chunk of the prosperous smartphone market, especially with current issues the iPhone 4 users are experiencing.
Straight out of the box the first thing we notice is the phone is lightweight and slim with more than decent build quality, I have read others compare it to the iPhone 3GS in feel and look but I’d have to disagree and say that’s like comparing the design of a wood encased Atari to the all black plastic design of an Atari 2600, they’re not as close in looks as they are in function, and while the original Atari was new, sleek, and modern at its release, the 2600 was clearly a better design and very up to date.
Turning on the Galaxy S is easy, there are really only two options, a small control button on the right side of the phone which would have been better placed on top beside the sliding USB port door, or what appeared and eventually turned out to be, the rocker type volume control on the left. Once the initial wallpaper appears there’s a moment similar to the recent Staples commercials advertising low prices, ‘Whoa! That’s a crisp image!, while the iPhone 4 may cram in the most pixels per square inch of screen realty it does not match the vivid quality of the Samsung AMOLED equipped Galaxy S. [Read more…]
Apple [AAPL] has purchased a company called Poly9 who deal generally with web-based mapping software for companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo! to name a couple.
It isn’t clear when the deal went through although it appears to have all been sorted now. It also isn’t clear what Apple intend to do with Poly9. Perhaps we might seen some mapping integration on the iPhone which might get rid of Apple’s reliance on Google for that part of the service. [Read more…]
ColorWare are well known for modifying the look of gadgets. We saw recently that they could provide a coloured XBox 360 Slim model. We now see that the iPhone 4 is being tackled by the company.
ColorWare allow you to customise the colours of the iPhone 4 which includes the main button, metal band, microSIM card tray and the back as well as the earbuds.
The ColorWare website lets you click on the part you want to change colour and select from a variety of colours. [Read more…]
The Pandigital Novel is an eBook reader that costs $179 off the shelf. It has a large 7 inch colour touchscreen and runs Google Android in the background that has a custom software interface on the top for reading eBooks.
Someone has managed to bypass the custom software to access Android direct which makes the eReader in to a nice 7 inch Android OS tablet.
Once the custom software is bypassed it allows apps to be installed such as the Amazon Kindle App and other eBook reader apps. Also it allows you to install games and most other apps that you can think of. [Read more…]
BGR was recently sent a Verizon Wireless catalog that details a number of new smartphone releases launching over the summer. Included in the catalog is the Motorola DROID 2.
Specifications confirmed for the DROID 2 include 8GB of memory pre-installed on a memory card. A 5 megapixel camera is included along with 3G mobile hotspot functionality and a 1GHz CPU (probably a Snapdragon).
Other devices confirmed include the Pantech Jest and Samsung Intensity 2. The final two phones include the Verizon Wireless Salute and the Samsung Gusto.
Check out the full details and catalog it’s self over at BGR.
