Apple seeds second iPhone SDK 3.2 beta to developers...
Apple on Tuesday released a second beta version of the iPhone 3.2 SDK to developers. The first beta was initially seeded last month following the iPad unveiling. Many of the new features are focused on the iPad, with tools geared for the larger screen resolution. Although the device has yet to be released, developers can view UI layouts and debug apps on an iPad simulator.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
HTC planning 1.5GHz ultimate phone with Android 2.2?...
HTC may be in the earlier stages of developing an extremely high-end Android smartphone, says a code string reportedly leaked on Tuesday. Possibly to launch as the Scorpion, it would use the dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor teased at CES and would use Android 2.2, which is likely to be the final name for the update Google has so far codenamed Froyo. One line of code also makes reference to WiMAX and suggests it might head to Sprint's 4G network.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Real to split off Rhapsody as separate company... RealNetworks in a surprise move tonight broke off Rhapsody as a separate company. The move has the blessing of Real's partner in the venture, Viacom, and will transfer all the rights to Rhapsody so that its streaming and download music services remain intact. Real will also inject $18 million in cash and promises that Rhapsody will be independent, with no one else holding a majority stake.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Afternoon Edition
Notion Ink Adam tablet to get Flash, outlast iPad battery...
Initial impressions of a prototype Adam tablet from Notion Ink, first announced late last year, show that the device has some significant advantages over competitors such as the iPad. Powered by the new NVIDIA Tegra chipset and using a low-power display from Pixel Qi, the pre-production Adam is said to last at least two to three times longer than the 10-hour battery life for the iPad when browsing the web using Wi-Fi or watching video, according to Notion Ink CEO Rohan Shravan.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Belkin intros redesigned notebook cooling pad...
Belkin on Tuesday announced it has redesigned its Laptop Cooling Pad to now include a unique AirFlow Wing shape that is more efficient at taking heat away from the computer and a user's lap. At the same time, the design results in the notebook itself being quieter. The fan was repositioned compared to the previous pad and retains its USB power cable.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Siri Assistant debuts in public beta for iPhone 3GS...
Siri has launched a public beta of its personal assistant software for the iPhone, Siri Assistant. The program is designed to help with everyday tasks such as booking a restaurant or contacting a taxi service. Its main feature is voice recognition technology, which operates in a question-and-answer style. Over time the app is designed to adapt, and become simpler to use.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Elecom releases one of the first SDXC card readers...
Japan's Elecom has launched two new memory card readers with support for SDXC memory cards. The MR-A001BK is a USB thumb reader that can also read nine other types of memory cards, including SD Pro High speed cards. The MR-A002 reader is larger and attaches using a USB cable. It will be available in black or white and supports 32 different types of portable media cards.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Headwinds favoring extended AT&T iPhone exclusivity?...
Several analysts have expressed conflicting views on AT&T's iPhone exclusivity, and whether or not it will end in 2010 or be extended another year. Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research has raised his Verizon rating from Underperform to Neutral, in part because there may be little future for AT&T even if Verizon does not get the US iPhone. AT&T's growth will "sputter" without the iPhone as a guaranteed draw, says Moffett.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Fraunhofer details MPEG Surround for handhelds...
Best known for its work on the MP3 format, Fraunhofer this afternoon said it would use Mobile World Congress next week to formally roll out two new audio formats specially designed for mobile. MPEG Surround can produce as much as 7.2-channel surround sound but has no real effect on the bitrate versus a stereo mix. A smartphone or a networked media hub using MPEG Surround can get the full audio of a movie without needing more space or a faster network connection.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
BlackBerry Curve trumps iPhone, Droid as tops in US... IDC as part of a wave of mobile market share updates has again given the crown to the BlackBerry Curve as the top selling smartphone in the US. Despite the line's relative age, it outsold both the second-place iPhone and third-place Motorola Droid during the fall and was joined in the top ten by four other models: the Pearl, Bold, Storm and Tour occupied the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth place spots respectively. The iPhone 3G, Palm Pre and myTouch 3G filled out the fourth-, eighth- and tenth-place positions.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Apple patents system for social experience in online stores...
Apple has been granted a new patent, No. 7,660,749, that describes a system for "representing visitor activity in an online store." The background information suggests that online shopping offers a number of advantages over visiting brick-and-mortar locations, however the experience "can feel sterile and isolating" and lead to lower sales numbers.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Intel to add 1.33GHz ULV Core i7 this summer?...
An unofficial report has Intel releasing a new ultra-low voltage Core i7 CPU this summer, the 660UM. The dual-core chip would produce a 1.33GHz clock speed but ramp up to 2.4GHz speeds when overclocked in Turbo Boost. When it arrives, it should supercede the 1.2GHz Core i7 640UM, support the same 800MHz DDR3 memory and consume the same 18W of total power as the slower model.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Google unveils Buzz live updates on Gmail, Android, iPhone...
Google at its event today gave its users a new real-time status update system. Google Buzz aggregates live updates from a user's Google contacts and shows not just direct messages but updates from Twitter, Google Reader updates, and media posts from Flickr, Picasa and YouTube. Photos and videos are given special treatment and include special media browsers to view content without having to leave the existing environment.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Norwegian shops overwhelmed by iPad pre-orders...
Apple is facing the rare incident of an advance sellout this week as a number of Norwegian resellers have had to stop their pre-order programs for the iPad. Eplehuset (Apple House) has told its customers that "crazy interest" has led it to stop sales in advance. Fellow Apple reseller Humac has also quietly pulled the iPad, as it still has a category but no longer has active product pages.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Apple acknowledging, investigating Mac Pro problems?...
Apple has recognized and is now probing a critical problem affecting the Mac Pro, sources claim. Some Nehalem-based systems have experienced massive increases in CPU power consumption while playing audio, which are worsened by leaps in heat levels, and performance drops as high as 20 percent. In spite of these changes, the CPU usage does not register in Activity Monitor, and fans fail to kick in at proper levels.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
TI makes single chip with Bluetooth, FM, GPS and Wi-Fi...
Texas Instruments this morning brought out the WiLink 7, a design it says is the first to include four types of wireless on a single chip. It combines Bluetooth, an FM transceiver, GPS and 802.11n Wi-Fi into a single design and lets phone designers cut down on the size and energy needed. The creator estimates that it takes up half as much space as a normal multi-chip approach but also 30 percent less power.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Morning Edition
MobileNavigator 1.5.0 adds MyRoutes, 3D terrain...
NAVIGON has released MobileNavigator 1.5.0, described as a "significant" update to the company's turn-by-turn app for the iPhone. The principal upgrade is the addition of MyRoutes, which creates custom path choices for a destination. Up to three options are presented, with accompanying distance and ETA information. The routes are calculated based on driving habits, as well as day and time. [C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Warner sees stalled digital music after variable iTunes... Warner Music Group during its fiscal results call today acknowledged that its digital music sales have slowed since it helped push for variable pricing on iTunes last year. In the fall, the company's digital sales equivalent to whole albums grew about 5 percent compared to late 2008 where it grew 10 percent over this past summer and 11 percent in the spring. Absolute digital revenue followed a similar pattern as the income grew 8 percent year-over-year in late 2009, but less than half the 20 percent from the end of 2008.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Seagate reveals 10,000RPM 600GB hard drive ...
Seagate said on Tuesday it is now shipping its Savvio 10K.4 enterprise-grade hard drives. The series is the first to feature a model with 600GB of capacity and a 10,000RPM speed in a 2.5-inch form factor. The drives are said to offer twice the capacity of their competitors and are the first to carry a 2 million hour Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF).[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Apple hunts for iPad camera software engineer...
A new Apple job listing strongly indicates that cameras are coming to future iPads. The company's Cupertino headquarters is hiring a QA engineer for its iPad Media division, with the specific intent of testing still and video camera capture, as well as playback. The first-generation iPad, which has yet to ship, lacks any form of camera.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
NVIDIA outs Optimus live graphics switching for notebooks...
NVIDIA today formally unwrapped Optimus, a hybrid graphics technology that it promises will solve many of the problems of performance and battery life on notebooks. It can switch from integrated to dedicated graphics and back while the system is still active and logged in, providing a completely transparent experience for power saving; users can run on Intel's integrated graphics to save power but turn on the dedicated graphics in as little as 300ms. It can even turn on the dedicated GPU per app and accelerate certain tasks, such as 3D or a YouTube video, only when the hardware is necessary.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Apple launches Aperture 3...
Apple has released Aperture 3, a major update of the company's photo workflow software. The program is now 64-bit only, and has also been upgraded with several new features, most notably Brushes and Adjustment Presets. The former allow people to "paint" edits onto a photo, making them more precise without having to open a secondary app like Photoshop. There are 15 default Quick Brushes, such as Dodge, Burn, Blur and Polarize.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Adobe limits Flash for Android to 2.1, criticizes Apple... Adobe today provided a disappointment for some Android users as it revealed that Flash 10.1 will only be available for phones running Android 2.1 or later. Showing it off in a demo (viewable below), the developer new OS is necessary due to certain software-level access but effectively shuts out the majority of Android phones, most of which are either waiting for upgrades or are unlikely to ever receive the upgrade. Only the Motorola Droid and Nexus One so far carry 2.1.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Ericsson, Netgear team on 3G/Wi-Fi router...
Netgear on Tuesday made an unusual branch into 3G this morning through teamwork with Ericsson. The MBRN3300 can use an internal 3G modem, including HSPA+ at roughly 20Mbps, and share the link through either 802.11n Wi-Fi or through four 100Mbps Ethernet ports. The companies envision it as a modem for homes where regular cable, DSL or fiber isn't available, or for completely mobile local networks; it even has the option of a car charger or a battery pack to run free of a traditional plug.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Early Morning Edition
ATI Radeon HD 5570 gives DX11 to small form factor PCs...
AMD this morning launched its second new video chipset in just a matter of days and this time targeted a comparatively untapped mini PC category. The Radeon HD 5570 is a major step up in performance from the 5450 with 400 stream processors versus 80 but still occupies a single card slot and is relatively short, making it ideal for small form factor cases where even the 5600 series would be too large or use too much power.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Mimio Studio 6 debuts for Mac and Linux systems...
Mimio has announced that its Studio 6 software is now available for both Mac and Linux systems. The program is designed for the teaching industry, providing tools for creating interactive lesson content such as recordable dry-erase whiteboard notes that can be saved for later use. Teachers can also use drag-and-drop input to create animated presentations with video, audio, or Flash files. The interface also offers controls to play, pause or rewind the presentations.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Monday, February 8th
Last updated: 11:40 PM EST
Evening Edition
Nikon reveals two wide-angle SLR lenses...
Nikon tonight had its second round of camera news in as many weeks with two new lenses for both its DX- and FX-mount DSLRs. The 24mm f1.4G ED provides an even wider angle than many of Nikon's other primes and has an extremely wide aperture that both takes in a large amount of light and focuses quickly. It lacks image stabilization but uses Nikon's extra-low dispersion optics to minimize chromatic effects.[C o n t i n u ed... | print | email | comment]
Evening Edition
