Dell Venue unveiled, an 8MP camera phone

The time was meant for the official announcement of a phone from Dell. This Texas owned company taking not into consideration over the dilemma on defining the 4G, has ignored all bite backing and failed not to forget the official launch of Dell Venue, an Android handset, which is a distant cousin to Dell Venue Pro.
Apart from running on Android 2.2 OS and designed to play well on the Dell Stage, a new UI for customers of Dell, has been envisaged to blend well other features of the phone like a 1 GHz processor, 8 MP camera, full Flash support 10.1v and Dell Stage widget support.
Other features will include a curved body and a 4.1” Gorilla Glass made touchscreen, which is touch resistive.
Meanwhile, we have to wait for the price tag with the retail Dell vendors and the official launch of this model for sale, which most probably has been promised to happen in the coming weeks.

Source: Techperk & Dell

BlackBerry Playbook

Every CES seems to have a theme, the focus for last year was on 3DTVs, this year seems to be tablets. With almost every company attempting to cash in on Apple's successful iPad, the market will soon be flooded with options from around the world, and just about every hardware and software maker.

BlackBerry unveiled their PlayBook a few months back, but this was really the first time consumers were able to get their hands on the device. Although this is still just a prototype device and not the final version, the device has managed to surprise some consumers.

Today, I got a chance to play with the BlackBerry Playbook, which actually surprised me how good it is. Using a number of tablets this week, BlackBerry seems to have the most impressive table-OS and hardware. The lightweight tablet is only 100g, has a really powerful dual-core 1Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM. The tablet was very responsive, felt very solid and reliable, and just looked amazing. Multi-tasking on this device was shockingly good. As you'll notice in the video, you can have an HD video, game, web page and others things running at the same time without any lag.

When it comes to tablets, I strongly believe the BlackBerry PlayBook will be a strong competitor in the market. Although the battery life hasn't been confirmed for this device just yet, the price, with a starting point of $399 for the 8GB model. The PlayBook will run a specially modified version of BlackBerry OS, which offers true multi-tasking, not task switching, a stylish swipe control feature that exits out of applications and brings up the multi-tasking menu.




SOURCE: Neowin & CES

A New Line Of USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drives From Silicon Power

Silicon Power has just introduced to us a new line of USB 3.0 portable hard drives dubbed as the Stream S10. These new 2.5-inch hard drives coming in 320GB, 500GB, 640GB and 750GB capacities, and feature a simple curvaceous design that is inspired by Italian sports cars, a USB 3.0/2.0 interface and are bundled with a 60 day trial version of Norton Antivirus.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing and release date at the moment.



SOURCE: Silicon Power

Lenovo 'LePad' combines tablet and laptop

The newly unveiled Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid device, which serves as a laptop for work tasks then converts to a touch-screen tablet for play time. The device combines "LePad", a 10-inch Android-powered tablet, with a Windows-powered base station. The company says it will enable users to balance life and work

Chinese computer colossus Lenovo has unveiled an IdeaPad computer that serves as a laptop for work tasks then converts to a touch-screen tablet for play time.

The IdeaPad U1 hybrid, with a "LePad" slate that serves as a laptop screen but unplugs to become a tablet computer, made its debut on the cusp of the Thursday opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"It is one device to balance life and work," Lenovo product manager Leo Li told AFP.
"A keyboard is more important and Windows software more powerful for a lot of things you need to work, especially productivity and creating content," he continued. "At the same time, people want to enjoy music, see videos, go to websites, read e-books, and play games in their personal lives."
The LePad tablet is powered by Android software backed by California Internet giant Google and a Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm.
Once plugged into the keyboard base, the computer switches to Windows 7 operating software by Microsoft and a beefier Intel processor.

Lenovo is targeting consumers who embrace today's mobile lifestyle.
"Use the light-weight slate when you're mobile, and then simply slide it into the U1 base when you need to create and edit content," Lenovo Idea Product Group vice president Liu Jun said.
LePad has a 10.1-inch (26 centimeter) color screen, weighs less than two pounds (one kilogram) and connects to the Internet using 3G telecom service.
It has a front-facing camera for video chat and promises as many as eight hours of battery life.
IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be available in China by the end of March but won't be available in the United States until next-generation Android mobile software is available for use in the tablets.
IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be priced at 8,888 Chinese yuan (1,340 dollars) and the tablet will be sold separately for 3,499 Chinese yuan (528 dollars).

Toshiba’s Glasses-Free 3D

Wearing 3D glasses can be a pain, especially if you already wear glasses, so a TV without glasses can be a real advantage to some.

When it comes to 3D, I'm pretty much a worst-case scenario. I bristle at the fact that I'm expected to wear ill-fitting glasses over my regular glasses. I've sampled multiple 3D technologies and found all of them wanting. It all seems like a lot of expense and effort for very little benefit.

But I am sort of intrigued by 3D that doesn't require glasses. And at a pre-CES party tonight here in Las Vegas, Toshiba was showing a l56-inch flat-screen TV and a laptop which do 3D, no funny goggles required. The two devices use lenticular displays, just like the little picture of Pinocchio I owned when I was three. (Lenticular video screens are also nothing new, though all the ones I've seen until now have been blurry and unappealing.)

What Toshiba was conducting was a technology demo-it's not claiming it's come up with anything that's ready for prime time, and it hasn't announced any products. Which is good, because the tech needs more work: You have to be very precise about the angle at which you look at the screen. Even if you get that right, the imagery has issues. The pictures I saw looked grainy. and the 3D effect came and went. (Toshiba only seemed to be using video-game clips in its demos, which I took as a tacit acknowledgment that you don't want to watch a movie on one of these screen just yet.

But you know what? I've seen 3D that required glasses that was worse than what Toshiba showed, and the very best 3D TVs and notebooks I've seen haven't been that much better. Until now, I've always assumed that good no-glasses 3D was an impossible dream; for now, at least, I'm choosing to believe that Toshiba might get this technology to the point where there's no point in bothering with technologies that make you don spectacles. And hey, I'm in no rush-I wonder how good this stuff could get by, say, 2015?

Apple iPad 2 coming in three versions

 

The iPad 2 rumors have been started around since it's great Galaxy Tab rival has took the lime-light of a 7-incher tablet computer. This makes a theory that Apple is prepping for a 7-incher iPad dubbed as the iPad 2. Accordingly, Digitimes claimed Apple is working on three versions of the iPad 2 from unnamed source.

The three flavored iPad 2 will have the Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi + 3G(UMTS) and Wi-Fi + 3G (CDMA) the sources familiar to matter claimed. That supposed to support all major carriers in the US. The UMTS is the 3G technology used by AT&T and T-Mobile while the CDMA is for Sprint and Verizon. This also support claims that Apple will be two third of iPad shipment sporting 3G connectivity.

If this will be true, this will make MiFi 2200 Hotspot obsolete that mainly used by iPad owners connecting on Verizon network.

There's also some minor changes Apple is working on, like the smudging and screen reflection, however, Digitimes don't reveal any further details.

Now when this be available, the sources claimed that the iPad 2 is expected to be released by March or April. Ooh, there's still no match hype for iPad 2 that we regularly feel when an Apple new product is expected to be announce. Now we can expect that when there is a smoke, there is a fire.

Acer Iconia - Dual Touchscreen Laptop

Great news hit us this week: Acer Iconia, a cool dual touchscreen laptop will be released in January. Touchscreen may be great feature, but is may also become a great lack. The laptop features two average 14 inch screens displaying 1366×768 pixels resolution and both of them are touchscreen. You can use all your fingers together to use the touchscreen as it features all point multi touch input.

Acer has demonstrated many features and uses for the second touchscreen and one of the coolest is extending pictures and documents from the first screen. Of course you will be able to do different tasks together in the two screens and anytime you want the virtual keyboard to appear you will need to put your palm and five fingers together on the lower screen and the keyboard will appear instantly. There are other gestures also whom can bring different apps and turn things on and off and you easy customize your gesture inputs and their results manually. Acer is also working on developing many touch friendly applications to use with this laptop.

Choosing an OS for this laptop must have been a tough decision for Acer. Windows 7 is still not known as a very much user-friendly OS for touch screens, but the other operating systems are still not proven to be useable for a full featured laptop. So they are using Windows 7 as the OS and added their own software with it to make it more user-friendly. To keep up with the social networking trend they have also put a lot of social networking features in it. They have used a social networking hub with which you can bring all your social networking feeds together similar to desktop client TweetDeck or other Adobe Air apps. Many consumers will love facebooking on the bottom screen and watch a movie on the top screen as this is one of the coolest features of this device. That may be point of buying this device too.

link: www.itsgadget.com

Pulse Smart Pen

There isn’t everything you can write while listening to a lecture or going through meeting. Sometimes examples are so weird you are unable to express them in writing. Pulse Pen is the solution to this problem. I myself think it’s a perfect solution for a student for making his/her lecture notes. A computer in a pen that helps you never miss a word™. Pulse™ records everything you hear, say and write, and links your audio recordings to your notes. Find the most important information from your meetings or lectures just by tapping on what you wrote. 2GB of memory can hold over 200 hours of audio. Actual recording time varies by audio quality setting.

Record and Play Back
The Pulse smartpen records everything you hear and write. Replay the recorded audio by tapping directly on your notes.

Save and Search
Using Livescribe Desktop, you can save notes to your computer and even search for words within your notes.

Send and Share
Share your notes and recordings online publically or privately through the Livescribe Community or Facebook. You can also export your notes and audio locally as PDF or audio files.

UnityRemote Turns iPhone into a remote

Unity Remote is the recently developed gadgets by Gear 4 that turns any iOS devices, which does not exclude the iPhones, from turning into a powerful Remote Controller that can control other electronic devices with access to IR receivers via Bluetooth technology.

For this gadget to become live, you will need two things to begin the full functionality of the device: you need to download an app and a small hardware to allow signal transduction to any other responding electronic device. The functionality of this device will be known better on release at CES 2011, or when you decide to buy one, if you are located in one of the European Union countries.

Instead decorating your living room with the number of remotes for each of the gadget, you could rather switch to Unity Remote, by placing this small piece of hardware at a convenient location to find that you will be controlling nearly five electronic devices at one go or as chosen. The hardware for signal transduction does the job of sending and receiving signals from 360° and operates using 3 AA batteries. The device is also light in weight for abroad shipments and travel. You are also turning into eco-friendly by reducing the number of batteries that is being used for remote controls.

Talking of the app is free to download for any version of the iOS interface and Bluetooth technology. The device works on an open source that you will able to add your device model if not found in the list, following a simple step-by-step instruction.

Costing around 100 British pounds or 100 USD, this device is worth the money spent, if you have the compatible iOS device like iPhone 4, iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G and iPodtouch (4th, 3rd and 2nd gen).

Microsoft beats out Apple for top technology innovator of 2010

TheStreet laid it on the line and called out Microsoft as its #1 technology innovator for 2010. Forget about the iPhone 4, the iPad and the iPod touch, Microsoft and its Xbox 360 is the game changer of the year. TheStreet points out that the Xbox 360, Xbox Live subscription service and now the Kinect have exploded onto the scene in 2010. Long the ridiculed console with its nagging red ring of death, the latest generation of the hardware, the Xbox 360 Slim, has all but eliminated this troublesome problem. With reliability issues out of the way, Xbox 360 console sales have skyrocketed. Since the launch of the 360 slim, Microsoft's Xbox console has outsold the Nintendo Wii. An amazing feat when you consider that the Wii held the #1 position for several years straight.

Microsoft's position as the top innovator was bolstered by the release of the Kinect. This controller-free motion adapter for the Xbox 360 trounced the PlayStation Move in early sales. In its first week and a half of sales, Microsoft sold a staggering 1.5 million Kinect devices and is on target to sell five to six million by the end of the year. While its installed user base may slightly trail that of the PlayStation Move, the Kinect's rate of adoption is significantly faster. The Move currently boasts of 4.1 M users and, similar to the Kinect, is expected to reach five million by the end of the year. While The PlayStation Move, which launched in mid-September, and the Kinect, which launched in early November, will reach the same millstone at the same time, the Kinect was able to achieve this goal within eight weeks. The Move took a whole 3.5 months.

The third ace in the hole for Microsoft is its Xbox Live subscription. The yearly subscription service is the gateway to Xbox 360 online gaming and is necessary for Netflix customers that want to stream media to their TV via the Xbox. The Xbox Live service is also tightly integrated into Windows Phone 7. On this mobile platform, you can play games and share both achievements and points with your gamer profile on your Xbox console. In the future, the Windows Phone platform may become a mobile extension of a game, allowing you to control troops or deploy weapons while you are out and about. Both now and in the future, an Xbox Live subscription is a must have for serious and casual gamers alike.

So what do you think, do these three factors combined earn Microsoft accolades as the top technology innovator in 2010? or is Apple and its magical iPad getting the short end of the stick?

Exclusive Review: Microsoft Arc Touch mouse

Microsoft Arc Touch mouse

Over the past couple of days, Neowin got a chance to look at the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse. The small, portable, sleek looking design really gets your attention. The bendable mouse is curved for comfort and lies flat when off for easy storage.

Look and Feel

The overall look of the Arc Touch mouse is very appealing to the eye. This mouse caught my attention, making me want to test this device out. The mouse has a shiny black finish, with a unique small grey stripe for the touch scroll wheel. As stated previously, when in use the mouse is used in its familar curved posistion. When the device is turned off, it lays flat allowing for easy storage.

Parts of the Arc Touch, like the body, feel really smooth and built with quality, while the front of the mouse has that cheap plastic feel to it. However, there aren't many mice out there that do feel as durable and strong. Compared to other portable mice, this actually feels fairly nice in your hand.



Functionality and Performance

After using the mouse for a couple of days, I started to get the feel for the device. The tracking on my wood desk was slightly off, when compared to my Microsoft wireless laser mouse 7000. There was some steady issues while using programs like Photoshop, and if you have ever used Photoshop, you know exactly how important accuracy and smooth fluid movements are.

The performance of the Arc Touch really depends on how much interference is between the mouse and nano snap-in transceiver. The mouse features a 2.4Ghz 30-foot wireless range, more than an ample range for you to work with on your laptop or even desktop computer.

The mouse doesn't stack up when compared to the Microsoft wireless mouse 7000, but it is on the same level of performance, if not more, than the Microsoft wireless BlackTrack laptop mouse (3500).

The under belly of the mouse has a simple, yet very effective feature, a magnet. The magnet allows you to stick your nano transceiver to its belly, giving you more portability without the thought of losing it.

Cost and Conclusion

After a quick search on BestBuy.com, the pre-order price for the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse was listed at $69.99 USD, a fair price for the mouse.

My overall thought of the mouse is a fairly positive one. It does take some getting used to, but so do all other mice. This isn't a gaming mouse, if that's what you're in the market for, but it is a fantastic portable laptop mouse. The only real downside to the mouse is the feel.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

* Lightweight, making it easier to carry around as a portable mouse.
* Sleek design.
* Better accuracy than most wireless mice.

Cons:

* Left and right click buttons feel cheap.
* Not really suitable as a desktop, gaming mouse.
* No back and forward buttons


Source: neowin

HOT STORY: Nokia running Windows Phone 7 coming soon?

First of all the aforementioned thing above isn't a joke as ridiculously it may sound to you as Eldar Murtazin claims that Microsoft and Nokia have been holding ongoing talks regarding a Nokia-branded Windows Phone 7 smartphone line. This could be new handset devices branded and features the Finnish phone hardware, boasting the WP7 software, notably enough this would be sold under Nokia distribution. Ooh, well, low, mid or high-end lines of Nokia we really don't know.

After all, there's really something I can't chew in for a while now is this Nokia's brave talk backing up their software strategy for the new Symbian and Meego OS? Do you think Microsoft is worth-it for Nokia's high-quality hardware?

So far, until now, I'm not hearing some good feedback for any WP7 phones out there, and Nokia still falling down on the smartphone category, silly enough, I don't find anything good on this partnership. So just wish that Nokia still stick with Meego or Symbian until they established a well built software for their handheld devices. And for Microsoft's WP7, if this rumor is true, they should established first WP7 to stand on its own, like Google Android and iOS 4, ooh, am I thinking they might pull down other brand down on the marketplace.

Source: techgeeze

LG E-Note book

LG has announced the E-Note H1000B firstly in the Korea. The key features are:

•An Intel Atom 1.1 or a 1.6 GHz processor
•1 GB of RAM
•16 GB SSD
•2 USB ports, and SD card slot
•4-cell battery
This E-Note will have a resistive 10.1 inches touchscreen with an native resolution of 1366 x 768 with a stylus. The E-Note will ship with Windows 7 Home Starter OS, however you’ll have the option to upgrade.

Windows Phone vs. PC gaming now a reality

Microsoft has been pushing the gaming prowess of Windows Phone 7 devices since day one. But until now, one crucial link has been missing - multiplayer gaming between a Windows Phone and a PC.

That link has now been bridged, albeit in a relatively uninteresting manner, by "Game Chest: Logic Games", a US$2.99 app that allows for turn-based chess matches between a PC and a Windows Phone device. After sending an invitation to an opponent via email, the PC user can play via a web interface.
Gaming via Xbox LIVE has long been a cornerstone of Microsoft's mobile strategy and the company has indicated that Windows Phone vs. Xbox 360 gaming is on the cards at some point in the future. As far back as December 2009, Microsoft demonstrated cross-platform games that work across Windows, Windows Phone 7 and the Xbox 360 with the user's gaming session maintained between all three platforms.



SOURCE: Neowin.net

Is The iPhone 4 Worth The Upgrade From The 3GS?84

Many people are excited about the new iPhone 4 while others are wondering if it's worth upgrading their iPhone 3GS. Look at the chart to the right and read on to make up your mind

The Specs

While most of the new specs are impressive are they enough to make you switch? While many 3G owners didn't upgrade to the 3GS due to the lack of new features and relatively small jump in speed, the new iPhone 4 offers the biggest leap yet. The new display, 5mp camera(with flash) and front facing camera along with the jump in speed are definitely enticing. But we see no increase in capacity still sitting at 16gb or 32gb. Then again they did squeeze a bigger battery in there and the increased battery life is rather impressive with the addition of multi-tasking in the new iOS 4

Design

The iPhone 3G and 3GS saw no change in design and now the iPhone 4 looks to shake things up a bit. With its sleek look, custom glass and new stainless steel edges it looks like the coolest phone ever, plus it's 24% thinner than the 3GS. Also with the new design is a flat bottom and no more cheap smudgy plastic or aluminum outer shell. The glass on the new iPhone is said to be comparable to sapphire crystal and it's the same material that's used for helicopter wind shields, now that's just cool.

Features

A lot of the new features(muti-tasking etc) sound nice but they will also be available on the 3GS when the new iOS4 comes out. So a lot of what the new iPhone can do the 3GS will be able to as well. Now if you have a 3G you will see a few of the cooler features left out like muti-tasking and springboard wallpapers and if you have the original iPhone you aren't able to update to the new OS.

Price

Now a days price is one of the key motivators when buying anything and the 3GS is going down to just $99 while the new iPhone will be $199 for the 16gb and $299 for the 32gb. Will the extra $100+ be worth it? Only you can decide that but with many new smart-phones entering the market yours can become obsolete a lot faster these days.

Overall

Overall the new iPhone is the biggest leap yet in technology, speed and design. I know almost everyone with a 3G has been waiting for this but will the 3GS owners upgrade or hold out for next year or see what Android is coming up with? The options grow more and more everyday and only you can decide what phone your going to want to use for the next 18-24 months

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Is-The-iPhone-4-Worth-The-Upgrade-From-The-3GS

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