Latest News - Page 3199

The "will the iPhone come to Verizon?" swing has come back towards to side of it happening according to a Bloomberg report. Two sources, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the information not being officially released, stated that the iPhone will be available from Verizon in January.

The iPhone has been an AT&T exclusive device since its inception in 2007, but that seems to be coming to an end sooner rather than later if all of the rumblings are true. UBS AG analyst John Hodulik, who estimates Verizon customers could buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, stated: "Apple is going to dramatically increase the number of devices it sells in the U.S. when exclusivity at AT&T ends. It's hard to ignore the quality issues that AT&T has faced."

While this would obviously be a large coup for Verizon, I can only wonder how Apple would be able to keep up with the demand that multiple carriers would have. The iPhone sold out in the preorder stage as an AT&T exclusive; they would have to make some major adjustments to keep up with the estimated demand. All of those who have only stayed away from the iPhone due to disliking AT&T can hopefully take some comfort in this report, at least until something comes along to swing the possibility to "not happening."

The iPhone 4 went on sale in AT&T stores today, at least for an hour or so. It seems all of the launch day gripes about reception and funky screens did not deter many as tons of people stood in line hours before stores opened to get their hands on Apple's latest toy.

At&T stores only sold iPhone 4s to fill preorders on last Thursday's launch day. People in lines were also given the option to get on a list for an iPhone 4 after more shipments were received, since in store supplies were gone from 30-60 minutes after opening for most stores. Fom some of the quotes reportedly taken from people standing in line, customers were willing to put aside some differences to lay their hands on the device.

"At this point I might as well wait. I really love the design of the Apple product. But it's just ironic that I am waiting at an AT&T store where I've received the worst customer service," said loyal Apple fan Dave Norfleet-Vilaro. Stefani Bennett, when asked about the reception issues that were reportedly plaguing the iPhone 4, replied, "It's not that big of a deal. I've always had crappy reception with my iPhones. I'll just get the bumper. It looks a little tacky, but if I have to, I'll buy it."

An announcement on the Sprint blog this morning had a "good news, bad news" kind of feel to it. Sprint officially stated that Android 2.2, known as Froyo, will be coming to their flagship phone the EVO 4G "in the near future." Not all was joyous though as two of their more popular models, the HTC Hero and the Samsung Moment, will be left out of the Froyo goodness. This most likely means Android 2.1 will be the last update for these phones.

The blog states that "With the Android 2.2 upgrade, customers can expect improvements to include the following benefits: updates to user interface, improved EAS Support, improved browser performance, including Flash 10x Support, voice dialing over Bluetooth and application storage on external memory." Also stated is that any future devices launched with Android 2.1 will get updates to Froyo.

Google has had to remove several apps remotely from Android phones and from the Android Market for what they have deemed "security concerns." Via the Android Developers blog, Google's Android Security Lead Rich Cannings offered the following explanation:

"In cases where users may have installed a malicious application that poses a threat, we've also developed technologies and processes to remotely remove an installed application from devices. If an application is removed in this way, users will receive a notification on their phone."

Google apparently came across a couple of apps that, in their words, "intentionally misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage user downloads, but they were not designed to be used maliciously, and did not have permission to access private data - or system resources beyond permission." The publisher removed the app from the store, but Google had to remotely remove the app from any phone that had downloaded it.

There are rumblings out there that Hulu may be bringing a premium service to the Web and the Playstation 3. "Hulu Plus," a $9.95 US based subscription service that could offer a larger catalog of shows han he free Hulu service, was originally expected to be announced for Xbox Live at E3, but according to a Bloomberg report Sony could be ready to announce Hulu for the Playstation 3 as early as next week. A beta version of Hulu Plus could surface somewhere around the same time.

Hulu Plus, which could also make a mobile debut for the iPad as well as the Xbox, would offer the service to users with the single subscription price for any compatible device. CBS, Viacom, and Time Warner are said to be in discussions with hulu abut bringing shows to this premium service, and if the subscription gets big enough, it could be enough to convince some to ditch their cable or satellite service altogether.

Many notebook users out there seldom use their optical drive. Other than installing software, the drives often tend to collect dust. If you are the type of user, who can live without an optical drive and want to get more storage on a Mac OWC has a new product for you.

The new product is called the OWC Data Doubler and it is a bracket that replaces the optical drive inside Apple MacBook computers with a 2.5-inch HDD or SSD. The bracket supports any drive that is 9.5mm tall.

It is worth noting that you have to open your Mac up, remove the optical drive, and install the bracket and drive in your machine. This will undoubtedly void any warranty you might have. There are different adapter models for different MacBook models and they all sell for $79.99.

eMachines is one of those cheap PC brands that has been around for a long time in the US and often isn't associated with the best reputation for quality. The company has unveiled a new HTPC that looks very nice and has decent specs for the price.

The machine is called the mini-e ER1402 and it is very small. The machine is 7.1-inches in diameter and weighs nine pounds. It has full HD multimedia capability with HDMI out. Other features the 1402 include 802.11b/g/n and S/PDIF out.

The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and the machine uses an AMD Athlon II NEO processor. Graphics are via NVIDIA GeForce 9200 GPU and the machine has 2GB of RAM. Storage is to a 160GB HDD. The ER1402 is available now in the US for $299.99.

If you didn't get a chance to give Microsoft's newest toy for the Xbox 360 a go at E3 last week, the Kinect sensor will now be available for trial at any Microsoft Store across the U.S. The downside? There are only four in the country: Scottsdale, AZ, Mission Viejo, CA, Lone Tree, CO, and the newest store opened today in San Diego, CA.

Of course Microsoft is also pushing the Kinect preorders at the Microsoft site as well as many stores nationwide, but states on the site now that "official pricing has not yet been announced," and "$149.99 is an estimate only and subject to change." A preorder with a price subject to change doesn't sound like something I'd like to sink that much money into, but the Kinect has drawn rave reviews and will most likely be a big hit at release.

Yes, I just used an emoticon in a news title. But it is warranted, because T-Mobile launched three new Samsung phones including the :). That's right, an emoticon as the name.

The Gravity 3, Gravity T and, get this, the Samsung :) are social networking and texting based slider phones equipped with T-Mobile's Social Buzz which sends notifications and messages when there are new posts on sites like Facebook and Twitter. The Gravity models have 2mp cameras and 16gb of supportable memory while the  has a smaller 1.3mp camera, but shortcut buttons to messaging applications.

All three phones are now available in the U.S., but no international launches have been scheduled yet. C'mon, you know the whole world needs a smile..........:)

RIM, the company that brings you Blackberry, are still doing a lot of business in the wake of the iPhone and Android crazes recently. RIM has reported a company record 11.2 million BlackBerries shipped in the spring quarter, a company record and 43 percent higher than last year. The company also reported the sale of their 100 millionth BlackBerry and 46 million accounts active.

40 percent of the sales are outside the U.S. and could have done more with adequate supplies of their highest sellers like the Curve 8500. Revenue is up about 24 percent to over $4.2 billion, and its profit grew 41 percent to $768.9 million.

RIM also reported in a conference call that two new high-end devices coming later this year. One is rumored to be the BlackBerry 9800, their first touchscreen phone, but the other is yet to be announced. Rumors are floating that RIM is developing a tablet device and this may be the second item noted.

Vidabox, an award winning media server and control solution manufacturer, debuted their new iPad Media Center controls at the Asian Pacific CEDIA EXPO in Melbourne, Australia. This is believed to be the first such solution for Windows based Media Centers. This solution can be used to control your TV, media players, cable, satellite, and even be programmed to control lights in the house and other automated devices.

"We're all absolutely thrilled to be the first in showcasing what dealers have been asking for," claims Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox, LLC. "With the iPad®, users can now browse and launch movies & music by cover art, get rich metadata, and much more - quickly and easily - all from a single, inexpensive device. Beyond controlling media center, dealers and integrators can potentially tie in multiroom audio, or basic room control with lighting and more."

The controls are expected to be rolled out sometime in Q3 of this year to dealers and integrators.

Well, it's officially here. The iPhone 4 officially launched today, to the delight of thousands of people. Reports are flooding in from all of the initial launch countries (USA, UK, France, Germany and Japan) of long lines, crowded stores, and joyous people clutching their prizes like a 6 year old getting their favorite toy at Christmas.

But the story is not all happy-go-lucky. Reports of retail stores having no where near the expected stock on hand of iPhones and various problems with the unit itself have been cropping up all over the internet. Walmart, Radio Shack, and best Buy, the biggest in the chains expected to carry the phones, only had them in limited supply at select stores. Best Buy seemed to only have them available for the preorder crowd and Walmart is reported to have only had 8,000 total phones spread across 1,500 of their over 4,000 stores.

Then there are the issues with the phone itself. The biggest complaint has been the loss of signal when holding the phone a certain way, as the metal that rings the outside of the phone also acts as an antenna. Most people are getting "don't hold it that way" as their answer to the problem, although getting a rubber case also seems to help the issue. Other complaints have included yellow spots on the screen (residue from the manufacturing process reported to go away with time) and lack of Bluetooth connectivity.

When you have multiple companies operating in the same product category each wants to claim that their widget is faster than or better than the completion for one reason or another. This was the case when NVIDIA crafted its GPUs to run applications that were before that point only able to run on a CPU.

Developers have claimed that the GPU is as much as 100x faster in some applications that the CPU. NVIDIA says that Intel has unveiled a paper at ISCA in France called "Debunking the 100x GPU vs. CPU Myth."

The catch is in debunking the 100x myth in Intel's mind; the company admitted that the NVIDIA GTX 280 GPU was 14x faster in the benchmarks it ran than its own processor. Intel didn't say specifically which benchmarks it ran to arrive at its conclusion.

Etymonic has unveiled a new line of in-ear noise canceling headset in a variety of colors. Their MC3 and M5 lines, retailing for $99 and $79 USD respectively, feature an inline control pod and a noise isolating microphone with adjustable volume for music and other things like phone calls. The top of the line MC series for $179 feature an expanded control 3-button pod that's inline with the audio cable and are designed for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

The coolest feature included for these products is the ability to get fitted for custom eartips to match your ears. Buyers can sign up for a voucher for a free visit to an audiologist who will fit your ears with a mold, then send those impressions to a lab "where your impressions will become custom-molded, Etymotic-compatible eartips." The custom eartips will set you back $100 USD and carry a one year warranty. This program starts July 1st and is available for all Etymonic products.

With all of the leaks, pictures of features in the Droid eye, and other not-so-mysterious stuff surrounding the Droid X, it's about time we have something set in stone. Motorola and Verizon did just that with the official Droid X announcement at the Droid event today.

Here's some hard specs: a huge 4.3″ 854×480 screen, an 8mp camera capable of shooting 720p video with a "super slow mo" feature, metal casing, and Android 2.2 onboard later this summer. It even has HDMI out that will play back any media without DRM on your TV. The Droid X also has the ability to create a wireless hotspot for up to five devices, but you'll pay a $20 USD fee for 2GB of data with a 5 cent/mb overage fee. Need storage? They've got you covered with 8GB onboard and a 16GB microSD card included.

The Droid X is slotted to be available on July 15 for $199 USD after a $100 USD mail in rebate with a two year plan and $30 unlimited data fee. CDMA means Verizon only for now, but there may be an international version around the corner.

Nintendo's handheld 3DS system has gotten a lot of attention at E3 this week, and they had an actual game cartridge on hand to give the crowd a look at what the carts will look like. Slimmer than Nintendo DS carts, they also have a tab on one corner to set them apart from previous cartridges.

This was not the only news about the device though. It's ben reported that Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata spoke with Nikkei and gave the possibility that the wireless connection of the 3DS could possibly lead to ereader functionality, including downloading e-books, newspaper articles, and magazine. The 3DS also has the ability to connect to any WiFi network which would help make e-reader functions more available.

We have seen a lot of news about a lot of tablets on the horizon, but if you're not into the iPad, what's a guy gotta do to get his hands on a tablet right now? Well, for about 400 dollars, you can build your own "iPad killer" from the comfort of your own workshop.

Liquidware a company dealing in open source hardware, has released a tablet starter kit called the "Beagle." With a 4.3" OLED screen that mounts on a "BeagleBoard," the kit also includes a 1 Ghz processor, a battery module, and 4GB pre-formatted SD card to boot Angstrom Linux. Android is said to be supported on the system as well. There is no onboard storage past the SD card, but a USB port is included to connect an external device or pop in a larger SD card. Battery life is said to be from 3-6 hours. Everything from loading the OS to all the applications is up to the end user.

"The Beagle tablet is a portable modular open source handheld computer," says Justin Huynh, director of product development at Liquidware. "It's all about customizability and embedded development. With the iPad, you would have a hard time hacking it to read from a specialized sensor such as a temperature sensor or add your own custom hardware," he says. "The Beagle tablet is all about innovation."

Some interesting figures came out of the Untethered Conference in New York City today, with Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester Research providing projections that Tablets will outsell netbooks by 2012 and desktop computers by 2013. Tablets have only begun to surface with the iPad, but with the strong popularity of the Apple tablet along with the plethora of products on the horizon tablets look to be the wave of the future.

Epps expects 3.5 million tablets to be sold in 2010 (which is a VERY conservative estimate considering the iPad has already sold 2 million units all by itself) and will make up 6 percent of total PC sales. The market share is projected to more than double to 13 percent next year, eventually growing to nearly a quarter of the PC market by 2015. According to the figures, tablets are chewing almost exclusively into the desktop computer market, as the percentages for laptops (which will have the highest percentage as early as next year) and netbooks stays about the same throughout the graph. This goes against many beliefs that tablets would end up the replacement for netbooks.

The numbers here show units sold and not total money made in sale, but with the numbers stating 59 million people will be using tablets in the next five years, the rapid growth is stunning. Then again, with smartphones also becoming so capable, they may become a direct tablet competitor as well. But 2015 is a long way off, and who knows what we'll have on the horizon by then. It's still fun to project though, right?

The german folks over at Hardware-Infos have managed to get a good scoop on NVIDIA's next dethroning weapon to the GTX 480; a mild leap forward to make it worthy of its GTX 485 SKU. NVIDIA's own chief developer Bill Dally was apparently the source for Hardware-Info's news about the card's existence, who says it will see light of day this fall.

Running quickly over the specs provided, the card looks to get mild increases in all the right areas; 512 CUDA processors (vs. 480 on the GTX 480), a 20MHz higher GPU clock speed and 40MHz higher Shader clock. Whilst the ROPs remain at 48 vs the GTX 480, there are four more texture units aboard the 485.

Perhaps one of the most praised enhancements to the 485 will be the supposed superior reference cooler going on this model, said to be more efficient and quieter of which anyone who's heard a stock 480 under load will definitely appreciate any efforts made to improve in this area.

It's time again for another ATi Catalyst Driver update. Version 10.6 is out and listing some minor bug fixes as well as OpenGL 3.3 and 4.0 as well as GPU acceleration of H.264 video in Flash 10.1. No gaming improvements were noted in the link, but give them a try and check it out for yourself! Download links at the Source link below.

List of improvements according to ATi:

New Windows Features