Author: Daniel Sung
Qualcomm announces 1.3GHz Snapdragon chipset
Qualcomm has given the tech world another kick up the bum today with the launch of the 45nm processor Snapdragon platform. The chipset carries a 1.3GHz CPU and is heralded as the number-crunching power required to step smartphones up to what the company calls “smartbooks” – larger, always connected, internet and media devices.
The Toshiba TG01 is at the moment the only handset to have embraced the last 1GHz Snapdragon chipset and this latest version, the QSD8650A, is set to support integrated GPS, HD video viewing and recording, Bluetooth 2.1, 3G, Wi-Fi, hi-res WXGA displays and mobile TV technologies all while using just 10 milliwatts of standby power – 30% less than before.
Qualcomm is showcasing the platform at Computex this week and hopefully in a device near you some day very soon.
Samsung unveils 12-megapixel Pixon12 mobile phone
Samsung has unleashed the first 12-megapixel camera-phone on planet Earth. The Pixon12 was launched today, will be on sale within a month in Europe and will doubtless have compact manufacturers quaking in their already quaky-shaky boots.
The news will come as a bit of a blow to Sony Ericsson who’ve just shown off their 12.1-megapixel Idou, or Satio or whatever it is they choose to call it, when it hits the shelves all too late in Q4. I don’t suppose that 0.1 of a megapixel is going to keep them very warm at the wrong end of six months of potential profit loss.
Worth remembering that megapixels aren’t everything but then, if you’re reading this, you probably already know that.
For more on basic photography, check out our “how to” guide on taking better snaps.
Google turns to eBook sales but no device in sight
Google is set to free eBooks from proprietary handhelds by selling digital works readable on any device that can access the web.
The move is in direct competition Amazon and their Kindle who’ve upset publishers by selling digital first editions at less than half the price of hardback hard copy versions. Instead, Google will charge the same as in print while reserving the right to alter prices where deemed “exorbitant”.
Google already sells eBooks through the Sony Store for the Reader but this will take their literature retail in-house and bring novels to mobile phones and laptops everywhere.
Personally, I rather like the idea of having a dedicated eBook reading device and I’m not sure I’m going to get a good experience on my mobile. I also don’t feel too good about paying the same for a digital book as I do for a hardback, especially when Amazon is knocking them out so cheap.
On the plus side, it does indicate there’s a lot tablets out their about to hit the market. I’m sure Google would have an inkling of such things and that the likes of Qulacomm and whoever else will be most pleased by the news. Fingers crossed there’ll be no international issues, or am I just dreaming here?
(via NYT)
Google Waves hello with its the social media aggregator to end all others
Google is introducing some frighteningly integrated web software that I can best describe as a kind of live, collaborative Facebook page. Google Wave will bring together all of your social media apps and all your media itself together in a place where it can be accessed by as many people as you like at one time. It can be added to, commented on and edited in more ways than I can get my tiny little mind around at 5pm in the afternoon the day after the Champions League final.
In a phone interview with Google software engineering manager, Lars Rasmussen, Tech Radar got the full low down on precisely what Wave can do but, suffice to say, it looks like a lot of fun.
Wave’s being shown off at Google’s I/O in San Franciso. It is, of course, all open source so that people can write extensions for it much like Firefox, it works in a browser, embedded in sites and the big G is also releasing an API for it.
They’ll be more on it including a video demo as soon as it goes official in America and doubtless we’ll all be addicted to it about three days after it’s ours to use. The mind blowing continues.
HDMI 1.4 brings adds internet to the audio and video
You know you’re a geek when you get excited about cables but I challenge even the hardest of cynics not to be quite impressed by HDMI 1.4 – because this time it come with internet too.
Dubbed HDMI Ethernet Channel, the idea is that it’ll dispense with having to make sure all your hardware has Ethernet ports. Good for you, me and the TV makers, not so good for Mr Ethernet. Fewer cables in the Satan’s nest behind my home entertainment set up is a very good thing, so thumbs up for HDMI 1.4.
Another feature of the latest standard is Audio Return whereby you can send the sound in either direction down the cable. So, you could connect up and TV and PC and use either as a source of audio for playback on the other. Not ground-breaking but probably qualifies for a “pretty neat” were I American.
We’ll be able to get data rates of up to 100 megabits per second up and down the wiring and they’ll also be coming in a new Micro HDMI size – about the same dimensions as mini USB apparently.
No word on exactly when HDMI 1.4 will be appearing in the shops and I dread to think how much they’re going to charge for them but you can bet you’ll be upsold next time you try to buy any AV kit.
(via Venture Beat)
Skype 4.1 beta brings screen sharing to your chats
At last, Skype has come up with a new version of their VoIP software that I actually want to download for reasons beyond the fact that it happens to be the latest. The Skype 4.1 beta sees the addition of screen sharing across Windows, Mac and Linux plus other trinkets like birthday reminders and a more in-depth contacts search.
Naturally, none of this costs any extra and, in case you’re worried about the privacy issue, it’s totally up to you whether you share the whole screen or just a part of it.
The birthday reminder is pretty self-explanatory – although interesting it does leave me wondering what kind of plans Skype’s cooking up for social network world domination – and the world’s favourite desktop VoIP app will now rootle through your Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL and LinkedIn profiles to find more contacts for you.
I’m downloading mine the minute I publish this. I suggest you do yours. Enjoy, and let me know what you make of it on the comments down there.
Skype 4.1 beta
SHINY PREVIEW VIDEO: LG GD900 transparent mobile phone
For something that looked so light and placcy, I’m rather impressed with the see through LG GD900. Do forgive my colleague for her bytes/bits slip. Rest assured she will be disciplined. That said, nice demo of the features from Lady Za Za.
The motion finger control action, for which LG appears to have no name, does look a little on the gimmicky side but then, let’s face it, so’s the idea of a transparent mobile phone. Fortunately, the 8-megapixel shooter hoiks the it up into the realms of the serious and I’m sure, all in all, it’s a handset that’ll go down very nicely with Joe and Jane Public.
As the lady says, it’s out from 1st July from them over at the Carphone Warehouse.
VIDEO: Spotify application on Google Android
We’ve heard it from head office and we’ve seen it on the iPhone but there’s something very warming about this video of Spotify in action on the Google Android platform. It might be the way they’re using a Mac as the computer while flaunting the non-Apple software on the non-Apple touchscreen smartphone, but then it might just be that the app looks like it’s running pretty damned smooth. See what you think.
We knew the cache potential of Spotify already but I’d be interested to see how many tracks you could have in an off-line playlist before you phone falls over. Loving the instantaneous syncing with laptop and the OTA search looks pretty good too although, let’s face it, that won’t have been a demo over 3G.
Still work in progress, as the man says, and no release dates yet but what do you think on first impressions? Would you pay the premium for Spotify Mobile?
(via Spotify Blog)
Bag yourself a free iPhone 3G loaded with Bento for iPhone
Who want’s a free iPhone 3G loaded with a free application? I’m thinking 95% of you said “yes”.
Who has a mobile phone that takes video? Again, thinking a lot of yeses there with the exception of those who already own an iPhone/rock a Doro.
Now, all you need to do is turn that camera on yourself and shoot a two minute vid of why you need Bento for iPhone to help organise your life. Simples. Full deets on the comp here. Clearly marked.
VIDEO: Nokia N97 at the Design Studio open day
I’ve been waiting a fair old while to get my hands on a fully operational Nokia N97 and there was a glut of the little fellas at the Finnish company’s design day in London this morning.
We’ve all seen the specs and artist’s impressions of the handset before over at the pre-order website but getting all touchy feely with a phone is what really counts. The verdict in short – I really can’t fault it. For the longer version, click play on the video below.
The touchscreen on the N97 is probably what sells the device for me. These high end phones are nothing if the interface is dead to the touch and this Nokia works just as it should – perhaps without the elfin beauty of the iPhone – but it works. The fact that there are no holes spec-wise is a serious bonus too. Not many top end mobiles have got a camera with a flash, let alone that of the 5-megapixel double xenon variety.
The widget-friendly, customisable home screen drew a lot of attention at today’s event, with the idea that you can bring more than ever to the front of your S60 OS, but, for my money, it was Nokia’s developments in gesture control that stole the show.
Before you get too hot, none of this is implemented on the N97 but the company is sure that gesture control will be a feature of their next handsets. The team ran workshops in different cultures across the world to establish what physical movements might link up with an appropriate on-phone response.
The one that felt best was the gesture for the mapping and GPS application, as shown on the left here. I’ll leave it up to you what the kissing your mobile on the right could activate.
The trouble is, as Nokia admitted, these controls aren’t necessarily any easier than doing it by finger and thumb. Sure, not everyone in the world is going to sue them but a few of them are downright impractical. The ones for data transfer from one mobile to another look like they’d result in scratched screens and the scrolling action above is all very well and good but it makes the display impossible to read.
Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’d want to advertise that I’m lost in a foreign city by waving my expensive mobile above my head anyway.
Then point is that it’s something Nokia’s looking at. We may not see these slides come to life but expect condensed versions of something similar coming soon to a Nokia near you.
