Hot stuffs, Technical Reviews and More…
electronic gadgets
If Internet Browsers Were Women?
Aug 1st
I don?t know who thought this one up, but it is genius ? If browsers were women?. Who would your sweetheart be? Firefox, who fills your memory, may drive you crazy, but you just cannot walk away from? Or the slim, sexy, tough Opera, whose performance you may enjoy? Safari is a hottie, but she always brings her iFriends along uninvited, so you never know who to expect when you come home. Chrome may seem friendly, but she?s extremely skinny and will leave you unimpressed with her performance. Internet Explorer is for most men, their first love. But beware, this one may infect you.
If women were in fact browsers, who would be your true love and who would be your bit on the side?
[Gearfuse]
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$1.2 Billion Opera generates from Mobile Operators
Mar 29th
Opera Mini (which may or may not be approved by Apple for its App Store) generates over $1.2 billion per year for mobile carriers across the globe, says Opera in its latest State of the Mobile Web Report.
In the US only, Opera Mini generates more than $146 per user, per year.
According to Opera, 50.5 million people used Opera Mini in February 2010 – a 145% increase compared to February last year.
More than 22 billion web pages were viewed with Opera Mini in February 2010, representing more than 330 million MB of data.
Motorola DEVOUR with Verizon USA at Cost of $149.99
Mar 25th
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) have just launched/announced the Motorola DEVOUR for use on ‘big red’. Available in-stores and online starting today, the DEVOUR will run you a cool $149.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate… Oh, and you’ll need to sign that 2-year agreement while you’re at it too. If the Droid ain’t your thing, the DEVOUR is the second Android-powered device to hit Verizon. Oddly enough, both devices are full QWERTY side-sliders, which, well all and good for many… I’m not a huge fan of. Just my personal 2 cents.
The Motorola DEVOUR packs Android 1.6 (Donut), a 3.1? touchscreen display, 3MP camera with video, MOTOBLUR (for all your social networking needs), WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 8GB microSD card, ah and yes, there’s that full QWERTY slider. Can’t forget about that keyboard.
Looks like a Camera but….
Mar 25th
Look, I know that sometimes you want to have a little drink without it being totally obvious. But how often do you need to be so sneaky about it that your flask needs to be disguised as an everyday object?
This camera-shaped flask looks very much like a real camera, but inside instead of image sensors and flash memory you’ll just find space for your whiskey. You can also grab one shaped like a cellphone, if that seems like a better trick to you. But that cellphone won’t be able to call AA, which might be what you need if you buy these.
Cost : BevBurry ($11) Bev-Cam ($13)
32 GB microSDHC card SanDisk ready to ship and cost around $200?
Mar 22nd
How long have 16 GB cards been on the market? Too fucking long is the right answer. People?s thirst for storage will never be satisfied, and to solve that SanDisk has finally come out with a 32 GB microSD card.
Take your microSD card out of your phone right now. Look at it. Isn?t that the smallest piece of plastic you?ve ever seen? Now marvel that one day you will probably own a 32 GB microSD card. The first batch of these things ships next month at an absurd price of $200. It?ll take a while to reach $100, and even longer to reach $50, but at least the race to the bottom of the barrel has finally started.
This is also the last specification bump for microSDHC. After this you?re going to have to make sure your mobile phone supports microSDXC, but it?s going to be a long, long time until you have to worry about that.
32 GB should last you quite a while, especially since most mobile media these days is streamed, rather than downloaded.
Android joining in the tablet wars – WePad is an Android tablet from Germany
Mar 22nd
Another product is joining the tablet wars. It?s WePad, which comes from the German company Neofonie. Specs wise, we?re talking about the device that?s more powerful than the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPad, but as you know, it?s not the specs that win the consumers? hearts, minds and ultimately wallets.
While the iPad relies on Apple?s 1Ghz ARM-based A4 processor, WePad uses 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 Pineview-M CPU. Instead of a 9.7-inch (1024?768 pixels) screen found in Apple?s product, WePad sports an 11.6-inch (1366?768 pixels) display. Then there?s a built-in 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 2 USB ports, SIM card slot, Flash and Adobe AIR support, multitasking, Bluetooth, WiFi and optional 3G connectivity. Android is running on top of Linux core (which makes it sound like Linux on top of Linux), allowing users to run both Android apps and some ?specially designed for WePad? apps.
In addition to powerful specs, the good thing is that Neofonie has its own publishing platform called WeMagazine, which they use to make newspapers and magazines readable on computers and smartphones. The plan is to use this technology on WePad in a move that will make them compete not only with the iPad, but with the Amazon Kindle as well. In that sense, they are reportedly in talks with Germany?s biggest publisher ? Springer, though we don?t have that confirmed.
Availability wise, the WePad should be available in April, and will most likely hit the German market prior to iPad. We?ve no idea when it will be available outside Germany ? I?m presuming that in addition to finalizing the hardware production, Neofonie also wants to have some publishers on board prior to launching the device elsewhere. We?ll see where that goes, and in the meantime ? you can get additional details from WePad?s official website.
Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus officially coming to AT&T
Mar 22nd
There have been a lot of rumors about webOS smartphones headed to AT&T, and now it?s finally official: Palm has announced that its Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will indeed be launched by the second largest US carrier.
However, as if it?s not already a bit too late, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus won?t be available right away ? but only ?in the coming months?.
AT&T will sell the Palm Pre Plus for $149.99 and the Palm Pixi Plus for $49.99 (both with a 2-yr contract agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate).
Save for the fact that they?re GSM/HSDPA devices and not CDMA/EV-DO, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for AT&T are similar to the ones Verizon is currently selling. AT&T will offer ?Wi-Fi access at U.S. hotspots included as part of their unlimited data plan? with the two handsets.
You can sign up here to find out when exactly the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will be available at AT&T.
Microsoft’s dual-screen Courier to compete directly against the iPad.
Mar 7th
You didn’t think Microsoft was just going to sit there and let Apple take all the tabletmania glory today, did you? New pics have surfaced of Microsoft’s dual-screen Courier, and the book-like device seems to be dolled up a bit to compete directly against the iPad.
There are new details coming along with these pictures. It’s less than inch thick, weighs slightly more than a pound, and its two screens are about the size of a 5 x 7 photo. There’s supposedly a built-in camera. The best news? Its powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics processor will be driving a version of those gorgeous Zune HD and Windows Phone 7 interfaces of which we are so fond.
We’re going to have to wait a while for this sultry temptress ? its launch date is still pegged at somewhere between the third and fourth quarter of this year, selling for an as-yet-undisclosed price.
A next generation type refrigerator from Samsung – Wi-fi refrigerator
Mar 7th
Refrigeration has gone a step above what it was some decade back: an ice-box! We now have something as cool as Samsung?s Wi-fi refrigerator that comes along with Wi-fi connectivity, a 10-inch touch display, Google Calendar support, a listing of 500 different kinds of food with their nutritional value, notes as well as news from the Internet. If you feel that it?s too geeky for your mum then let her know about the cool digital picture frame feature.
Now when it comes to the price of this fridge it?s a mighty expensive affair. $2600 is a bit too much for some of us to handle. Wait for a while, the price will come down as the novelty wears off.
Firstview of CE/Android tablets
Mar 7th
Doesn’t look too bad for a $95 Android tablet, huh? Well, there’s plenty more where that came from. Scattered along the main halls of CeBIT are dozens of Chinese and Taiwanese consumer electronics resellers looking to sell products to new customers, and this year they sure loaded up the suitcases with cheap Android / Windows CE tablets.
For the most part all these tablets (or small smartbooks) have ARM 9 or 11 processors and 5 to 7-inch resistive touch displays. While some like the FirstView PC607V tablet (pictured above) have attractive skins on top of Windows CE, others from companies like Forsa and Huawei have gone with stock versions of Android. In truth, all of the ones we played with felt chintzy, but it was easier to lower our standards when we learned they wouldn’t draw more than $150 from our wallets. We’ve got a hands-on video with FirstView’s Android tablet after the break, but if that doesn’t fill your cheap tablet needs hit the more coverage links for videos by some serious Android / ARM tablet lovers.
Apple iPad pre-orders start this month in the US on APR 03.
Mar 6th
If you?re hoping to buy an Apple iPad in the US this month, you?ll be disappointed to find out that the Cupertino company?s first tablet will only be available starting April 3 ? so those rumors about production problems may be true.
Of course, it?s only the 3G-less iPad that?s going to be available on April 3. For the 3G version of the tablet you?ll have to wait until the end of April ? when both the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G iPads will also be launched in Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Japan.
As a reminder, the prices for the iPad?s various versions will be as following:
Apple iPad 16GB with Wi-Fi: $499
Apple iPad 32GB with Wi-Fi: $599
Apple iPad 64GB with Wi-Fi: $699
Apple iPad 16GB with Wi-Fi and 3G: $629
Apple iPad 32GB with Wi-Fi and 3G: $729
Apple iPad 64GB with Wi-Fi and 3G: $829
?iPad is something completely new. We?re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before,? says Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
I?m not sure how something that looks just like a bigger iPhone can be completely new, but anyway.
Starting March 12, US customers will be able to preorder the iPad through Apple?s online store.
Low-Cost Android Devices from Innocomm
Mar 6th
Have you heard of Innocomm? Chances are it?s a name that doesn?t sound terribly familiar. That?s because it?s a fresh new smartphone manufacturer that has lofty inspirations to come out with several low-cost yet high-quality Android handsets and distribute them to carriers on a global scale.
We first saw Innocomm at MWC 2010, where it was demonstrating its upcoming Skate handset (pictured below), which will actually come out the second half of 2010 as the Innocomm Raja. Now the company is planning four additional devices, all using Android. The names of these handsets are the Innocomm Shark, Innocomm Shadow, Innocomm Scorpion and Innocomm Gemini.
The Shark is the closest to launch. Sales Manager Chuck Huang told PC World to expect this device to come out in May or June; he also mentioned that while it will be in the same category of smartphone as those that cost $500-600 retail, it will actually sell for much less at time of release.
Here?s some specs for the forthcoming Shark:
3.2-inch touchscreen
800 x 400 pixel resolution
8MP camera with flash
3.5mm headset jack
MicroSD slot up to 32GB
GPS, 3G, HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
115 x 58 x 12.5 mm
Analog TV Receiver
Digital TV Receiver in future model
The specs don?t mention processor speed, but we have been told that Innocomm has recently been making some changes in the chips for the Skate, so the final processor may not even be officially set yet in the Shark. But the 800 x 400 pixel resolution as well as analog TV receiver are great additions to the device.
On the other devices that were mentioned earlier, Huang told PC World that the designs are conceptual and haven?t been finalized, and could be influenced by customer requests. The only thing that can be counted on, according to Huang, is that Innocomm will always use Android OS in order to save money and justify a lower cost.
The Android smartphone market is becoming increasingly saturated with several young companies trying to make a name for itself. These companies typically choose Android because the OS just simply costs less to use than Windows. Innocomm is one of these young companies, and I believe that as long as it lives up to its mantra of being a high-quality device at a much lower cost, it will definitely stand out from the rest of the pack. But let?s not get too far ahead of ourselves; first Innocomm has to show up to the party before it actually gets judged. So, we?ll wait until May or June patiently to see how the Shark pans out?if it pans out at all.
And Innocomm, pretty please come out with the latest possible version of Android that you can!
Samsung launched the Clutch SPH-W9500 in South Korea – a luxury phone
Mar 4th
Samsung has launched the Clutch SPH-W9500 in South Korea, a new phone that resembles the Samsung Diva S7070 (recently released in the UK).
While the Diva S7070 is an entry-level touchscreen handset, the Clutch W9500 is a mid-end one. The phone features a 3.2 inch display, 3G, GPS, T-DMB, 3MP camera with 3D motion picture, secondary 1.3MP camera for video calls, MicroSD card support (up to 16GB), and a 960 mAh battery.
The Samsung Clutch W9500 has a ?Lady UI?, which is actually TouchWiz 2.0 with some extra apps (like party planner, meeting scheduler and calories calculator).
Samsung Clutch W9500 will be soon available in South Korea (via KT) in three color versions: Beige Silver, Romantic Pink and Black Gold. The phone should retail for about $520.
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