Author: Shiny
Shiny review – Motorola Dext (Cliq) – a return to form for Moto
We have been a bit slow on this one, but here is our video review of the first Google Android powered handset from Motorola – the Dext. Overall I think this is massive step forward from Motorola. Until recently…
Nokia to buy Motorola. Samsung to buy Palm and other wild mobile rumours
Next year will see a huge shake up in the smartphone market with the big players consolidating by buying smaller brands. That's the opinion of financial site 24/7Wallst.com which has published a list of ten brands that will disappear in…
Nokia to focus on touchscreen and QWERTY keypad phones in 2010, but will keep Symbian
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has been giving some hints about the direction of the company and top of the agenda are more touchscreen and/or QWERTY keypad phones. At its annual Capital Markets Day in Helsinki Kallasvuo also promised to focus on the user experience an area where Nokia has fallen a long way behind rivals like Apple and Motorola.
Nokia X6 Comes With Music phone hits the stores
In case you missed the news a few months back we were quite taken with the X6. It not only looks the dogs and boasts the now requisite 3.2inch touch screen, it also has 32 Gigabytes of storage on board, packs a five mega pixel camera and has 35 hours of music playing battery life. The phone also includes access to Nokia's Ovi – its equivalent of the iTunes app store – and is ready to sync with Facebook too via a Lifecasting with Ovi feature. This basically lets you publish your location and status updates directly to Facebook from the phone.
BBC iPlayer on Freesat confirmed – coming before Christmas
Now slated to launch next month the service will enable owners of Freesat satellite TV boxes to access the iPlayer's on demand programming via a TV. The iPlayer is already available to Virgin Media and BT Vision box owners but both of those services require a subscription whereas Freesat is free after the initial purchase of the equipment.
Virgin Media to bring TiVo back to the UK
Not a great deal has been offered by Virgin as to how the arrangement will work, however company CEO said "Our fibre-optic network combined with TiVo's capabilities will allow us to offer consumers the most significantly advanced and compelling TV service available in the UK."
In the US TiVo boasts a few features that aren't available in the UK on any DVR, such as the ability to search for shows by actors and the option of accessing music services like Rhapsody though a TV set. It'll be interesting to see how many of them make it to the UK box.
BBC watchdog calls for a break on the corporation's online activities
Against a background of criticism of the BBC by commercial media rivals which have struggled to monetise online content, Lyons has told the corporation it needs to restructure its online content or face the consequences. The alternative could see a radical restructure forced on the BBC by a future government which may have close links to media owners.
"Beyond the core offer of news, sport, education, children's and the iPlayer, which parts of the online service are essential to the BBC's mission and which could be stopped?" asks Lyons inthe report. He also questioned the future of content not tethered to specific BBC programmes.
Cue fanfare – the top 50 iPhone apps of 2009
Now after literally putting hundreds of apps through his handset he is now ready to name his top 50 iPhone apps of this year.
To make things easier he has split them into sections with four themed parts and an overall top ten.
Will you ditch Google for Bing to get the news?
In theory it sounds like a winner. Microsoft, in Bing News, becomes the number one place for users to search for news, while media organisations get money from Microsoft for cataloguing their stories.
However before messrs Murdoch and Bullmer get carried away there are few things worth bearing in mind
Scientists in sense of humour shocker – the Formula 3 racing car that runs on chocolate
The Formula 3 racing car is capable of reaching top speeds of around 125MPH despite being composed of a medley of vegetables. The steering wheel is created from a polymer derived from carrots and the bodywork is a mixture of starch and flax fibre. Even the steering wheel lubricants are plant based.
Best of all is the fact that it runs using a biodiesel engine which runs on fuel extracted from chocolate and vegetable oil.
