While it might seem strange to westerners that Microsoft would promote the new version of Windows with a burger joint, it actually points to the reality that dynamic tech ads like these are far more mainstream in Japan. You can see video of Japanese fast food lovers attempting to scarf down the gargantuan burger here.
ViewSonic has recently introduced the VPC101, and it appears to be a nicely priced all-in-one desktop style PC. Of course, that nicely priced statement will most likely depend on your needs, but I am thinking extra house computer—something that will be able to stream some Pandora, play photo slideshows and maybe do some light surfing.With that, the VPC101 is similar in specs to a netbook. And I say that because it has an all-to-familiar set of specs which include a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, integrated GMA 950 graphics, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. And being an all-in-one PC it also has an 18.5-inch display that offers a 1366 x 768 resolution. Additionally, this particular model is running Windows 7 Home Premium and that means it comes with the touchscreen features.
Price wise, the list is $650 and it is expected to be available sometime next month
PlayStation 3 owners will now similarly be able to ruin their lives as Netflix is going to add the service to Sony's big black box before the year is up. It looks like you'll need to get a free disc sent to you through Netflix to get things started — whereas Xbox users only have to download an app for the service — though it's unclear whether it's just a simple one-time install or a disc you have to insert whenever you watch movies.
Other than that you just need a Netflix account, even one as cheap as $9. The PlayStation's online network is free, as opposed to Microsoft's premium Xbox Live Gold service, which is required if you want to get your Netflix stream on.
iPhone developers have long been frustrated by Apple when they have an application rejected for inclusion on iTunes. One such developer has decided that it is time to make public the kind of apps that are being rejected and, if known, the reasons. The new website is appropriately named App Rejections.
Besides rejections, some approvals are also posted on the website. Ultimately, it seems that the greatest contribution of the website is that it helps developers gain some knowledge into the iPhone app approval process which many have found “semi-random”. Sometimes, the website can also generate publicity to help a rejected or limbo app make it through the approval process. If you are looking to contribute to the website with a rejected iPhone app of your own you can Twitter @redglassesapps.
Adam Martin, the website’s author, is based in the UK and works as an online games and iPhone consultant. Since Apple does not wish to lift the cloak of secrecy around the app approval process it is nice to know there is one person who is trying create a map to navigate it. The website is not only valuable to developers, but to clients looking to have an iPhone app developed since some functionality may be a sure fire way to get an app rejected.
We like to keep an eye on the adoption of mobile video broadcasting applications around these parts. It’s a mighty competitive space, with Qik, Kyte, Flixwagon, Ustream and a number of others all taking a stab at what is essentially the same idea. While the idea as a whole has yet to really take off as something that everyone does, its one that just about everyone seems to appreciate once it’s explained to them. Therein lies the challenge: how do you tell people that such services exist?
One approach is to get it on the handsets right out of the box. If it’s hard to get them to come to you, why not go to them?
The only one of the lot we’ve seen do this so far is Qik, who managed to convince Nokia to pre-install Qik on all of their S60-based phones beginning in July. Today, they’ve announced a new factory-loading partner: Samsung.
After what Qik says was “months of rigorous testing and certifications”, Samsung is now pre-loading the application onto Omnia II handsets at the factory. Samsung managed to sell many millions of the first Omnia worldwide – if the sequel is anywhere near as successful, Qik ought to see a pretty good amount of growth in the coming weeks.
There are more than 100,000 approved apps in the App Store now, making it harder and harder to spot the really good ones. One of these apps that don’t get enough airtime (and that I viewed a demo of recently) is called Makibishi Comic (iTunes link) and is offered by Tokyo-based GungHo Works (it’s available in Japanese and English).
Here’s a demo video for Makibishi you should watch before you buy:
TomTom, the maker of the GPS equipment and software, has Black Friday deals in place that you may be looking for if you’re in the market for a personal navigational device this holiday season. The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based GPS vendor has discounted a number of personal navigational devices from its rich portfolio and some of the price cuts are pretty substantial, up to $120. Some of the noteworthy deals include the following items:
- ONE 130 is $79.95, down from $129.95 (a $50 saving)
- ONE 140S is $99.95, down from $199.95 (a $100 saving)
- XL 335S is $119.95, down from $239.95 (a $120 saving)
- GO 340 S LIVE is $199.95, down from $249.95 (a $50 saving)
The new GO, ONE, and XL family of devices feature the U.S. and Canada maps, TomTom Map Share, IQ Routes technology, advanced lane guidance, and seven million points of interest. While those software features are comparable with TomTom’s iPhone app, TomTom’s dedicated devices beat GPS capabilities built into smartphones in many areas, including price, screen size, battery life, and a much better reception.
Now that the holiday shopping season is upon us you are probably trying to find that unique gift for a loved one. If they are a gadget lover then perhaps you can commission them a unique iPhone. One anonymous Australian businessman who works in the gold industry did just that. You can get a similar iPhone like his. It will just cost you over $3 million dollars.
Gizmag has reported that the luxurious iPhone, commissioned by Goldstriker International, has grabbed the title of the world’s most expensive mobile. The device was designed by Stuart Hughes of Liverpool, England and took ten months to create. Some of the specs of the iPhone include a casing made of 22ct solid gold and 136 diamonds which outline the front bezel. The rear of the phone features a logo made up of 53 diamonds. Probably the most eye-catching addition to the phone is the navigation button which is made of a single-cut, rare diamond weighing 7.1cts.
Anyone who carries an iPhone worth over $3 million either really loves the iPhone or wants to show that they have money to burn. As a status symbol, I suppose carrying around the most expensive mobile phone in the world is easier than a Ferrari or a new yacht. Unfortunately, like most smartphones, it will be obsolete in a few years.
There's also one for Mac fans, as seen down below.
![Screen shot 2009-11-24 at [ November 24 ] 10.07.57 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Screen-shot-2009-11-24-at-November-24-10.07.57-AM.png "Screen shot 2009-11-24 at [ November 24 ] 10.07.57 AM")
It’s not all N900s and lollipops in the Nokia kingdom, folks. Nokia has made a big chunk of their piggy bank with the entry level stuff, and they’ve got two new ones for that market today.
The grander of the two is the Nokia 6700, which comes in a very iPod-Nano-esque array of colors. For around $240 bucks unlocked, you’ll get a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, FM radio, microSD expandability, 2.2″ QVGA display, and HSDPA/HSUPA.
![Screen shot 2009-11-24 at [ November 24 ] 10.08.09 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Screen-shot-2009-11-24-at-November-24-10.08.09-AM.png "Screen shot 2009-11-24 at [ November 24 ] 10.08.09 AM")
The Nokia 7230 tones things down a bit in terms of specs and hues. $150 bucks gets you a 2.4″ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, FM radio, microSD expandability, and Bluetooth.
Look for both handsets in Q1 of next year.
EIZO Japan is preparing to launch a new 22-inch LCD monitor ‘FlexScan SX2262W’ for the Japanese market. This widescreen monitor makes use of Vertical Alignment (VA) panel and provides 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, 6ms GTG response time, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 280 cd/m2 brightness and covers 95% of the Adobe RGB color space. In terms of connectivity ports, it offers two USB, dual-DVI and DisplayPort. The FlexScan SX2262W will be available in Japan starting on January 12th for an estimated retail price of $811. [InsideHW]
TwitterPeek is the company's third data-only product
In news for committed Tweeters (at least those without a smartphone), Peek has released what it says is the world’s first dedicated Twitter mobile device. TwitterPeek is the company's third data-only product (following on from the original and Peek Pronto) and like its predecessors, its key selling points are simplicity of function, low-cost and no contracts.
A US$99 outlay gets you 6 months of unlimited Twitter service and direct messages with charges of $7.95 per month after that. A second option for US$199 includes unlimited Twitter service for lifetime of device.
The "always-on" TwitterPeek has a full QWERTY keyboard, color screen and click scroll wheel. Peek promises Nationwide coverage in the U.S. and offers a 30-day money back guarantee.
The obvious drawback - it's another device to carry around, but if you're happy with the old faithful dumbphone and you're suffering from an uncontrollable urge to Tweet on the go, it could be worth a look.
The Tag Heuer Lamborghini certainly looks the business
If you're looking for value for money, a sports car-inspired designer mobile phone probably isn't the best place to start. Based on its Meridiist handset, Tag Heuer's latest model is inspired by the Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640. We’ve no problem with admitting that it looks the business, but as is strangely typical of these sorts of overpriced phones, it seems to be seriously lacking on the practicality front.
The phones “genuinely useful features” amount to a 2MP digital camera, media player, 2GB of memory, GPRS connectivity and a 240x320 1.9” main display. Oh, and Bluetooth. That’s about your lot, aside from the obvious, but this phone isn’t about competing with the most basic of mid-range handsets in such manner.
“Relentless in its pursuit of performance, TAG Heuer has revolutionized first timekeeping and now mobile communication by finding technological inspiration in professional motor sports and Grand Tourism cars,” said Steve Amstutz, General Manager for TAG Heuer Communication Instruments. “In partnering with Automobili Lamborghini, TAG Heuer reinforces its automotive legacy with the most extreme supersportscar of all.”
And to this end it offers a dual-time display, black titanium carbide coated 316L stainless steel case and a main display made from 60.5 carat scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. You’ll also find the famed sports car’s signature on the battery cover – the same one engraved on the Murciélago LP 640’s V12 engine block, if that affects your decision at all.
No prices are confirmed for the Lamborghini edition phone, though the original Meridiist would set you back between US$5,420 and US$6,216 depending on the configuration.
sparkz iPhone dock doubles as a pico-projector
We may have to wait some time before pico-projector technology finds its way into mobile phones as a standard feature, but until then products like the sparkz iPhone/iPod dock projector will help fill the gap. The handheld 4.5” x 3” x 2.5” unit uses a 3M LcoS projection engine to throw a 640 x 480 (VGA) or 1024 x 768 (XGA) at a brightness of 15 lumens - so you'll need to draw the curtains and dim the lights before the show starts.
The sparkz supports all generations of iPhone and video equipped iPods and can play a range of multi-media devices such as camcorders, laptops and game consoles via AV and VGA inputs.
The unit also includes built-in external stereo speakers, audio out, manual focus adjustment and ships with a mini-tripod. The rounded base is also removable so you can still use it on any flat surface without using the tripod
Batteries are good for 2.5 hours of video the run, LED life is specified at 50,000 hours and while the dock charges your iPhone, it wont sync with a computer.
Sharing your iPhone experience with friends is going to require a substantial outlay though - US$495 to be precise.
See the sparkz projector unboxed and in action below, where it appears to do an adequate job of projecting a 60" image in a dark room.
NTT DoCoMo, has announced it will license Nissan's Scratch Shield for use on mobile phones
Self-healing paint has been with us on automobiles since Nissan released its “Scratch Guard Coat” in 2005. Scratch Guard is a highly elastic resin that self-heals fine scratches and is capable of restoring the vehicle’s paint surfaces overnight or up to a week’s time in more severe cases. Now Japan’s major Telco, NTT DoCoMo, has announced it will license Scratch Shield for use on mobile phones as a value-add feature for Japanese customers.
The self-healing paint, currently applied to certain Nissan and Infiniti vehicles worldwide, was developed in collaboration with University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc.
Nissan’s research and development has yielded several other technologies over the years which have subsequently been licensed for various non-automotive applications, most notably its computer synethized around-view monitor and far infrared image sensor.
The ZMS-08 media processor from ZiiLabs offers full 1080p, Blu-ray quality playback on a low power chip
With the development of the ZMS-08 system on a chip, ZiiLabs is aiming to bring high performance media processing to low power devices. As well as allowing full Blu-ray quality 1080p video playback, the chip supports simultaneous HD encode and decode, 3D and 2D image processing and advanced audio.
The ZMS-08 is the third generation of media processors developed by Zii Labs and runs four times faster and has twice the power efficiency of previous incarnations.
At its heart is a technology featuring 64 fully programmable floating point processing elements called the StemCell Computing architecture. When combined with the ARM Cortex A8 processor running at 1GHz (which includes 1Gb RAM, 256K L2 cache, NEON and security courtesy of Trustzone), ZiiLabs claims that it makes high performance media processing available to low power devices such as web tablets, netbooks, connected TVs, video conferencing systems and home media hubs.
Hock Leow, President of ZiiLABS said: "Its new capabilities such as Blu-ray quality playback, 720p simultaneous encode and decode of H.264 video, accelerated OpenGL ES 2.0 and rich peripheral integration such as dual USB controllers and HDMI are blurring the boundary between the capabilities of the traditional PC and connected device."
As well as making it possible for mobile devices to decode full 1080p video at 40 frames per second (fps) or encode at 24 fps, the ZMS-08 will also benefits from 3D and 2D image processing at up to one gigapixels per second, features advanced Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi Audio effects and fully supports formats such as WMV9, MPEG2, MPEG4 and Adobe Flash 10.
In addition to having four bi-directional video ports, the ZMS-08 also supports full high definition HDMI output at 60 fps. The 13 x 13mm, 424-pin FBGA package also benefits from secure Boot ROM, three SDIO/MMC ports, UARTs, SPI, GPIO and advanced 64-bit and 32-bit memory controller supporting mDDR and DDR2 at up to 333MHz.
Some device manufacturers are currently sampling the processor but we're unlikely to see it start appearing in our mobile gadgets until early next year.
NTT DoCoMo's new STYLE series mobile phones
Japan’s biggest mobile phone operator, NTT DoCoMo, has unveiled a raft of new phones – 19 in all – along with a 3G-capable digital photo frame. The new lineup includes the waterproof F-02B (complete with snap-on perfume holder), four models packing a 12.2-megapixel camera and the world’s first phone with a separable two-module body.
The new lineup covers the company’s four main series of FOMA 3G handsets – the docomo STYLE series, docomo PRIME series, docomo SMART series and docomo PRO series.
The STYLE series is aimed at fashionistas who consider their phone a fashion item as well as a communication device. No less than ten new handsets have been added to the STYLE line with models including the waterproof F-02B, which includes a snap-on perfume holder, the SH-05B that was designed by models from Seventeen magazine, and the compact L-03B, which features a trilingual (Japanese/English/Korean) interface.
The multimedia friendly PRIME series sees the addition of five new models. The F-01B, F-04B, N-02B and SH-01B models all feature a 12.2-megapixel camera. The F-01B is also waterproof, while the F-04B has a separable two-module body that allows screen to be detached from the keyboard (though we're not quite clear on what benefits this brings at this stage). Meanwhile, the P-01B boasts a keypad that converts into a touchpad.
The SMART series gains two new models. The F-03B, which is a slim, waterproof phone that also sports a 12.2-megapixel camera, and the P-03B, which also features a slim design and boasts one of the longest battery lives among FOMA models of 720 hours 3G standby time and 230 minutes 3G talk time.
Aimed at the road warrior the PRO series also sees the addition of two new models. The SC-01B, a Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone featuring a touchscreen and QWERTY keypad, and the SH-03B, which also features a QWERTY keypad as well as a 3.7-inch touchscreen.
The lone digital photo frame announced is the Otayori Photo Panel 02, which is DoCoMo’s second model digital photo frame with 3G wireless connectivity released for use with the company’s Otayori Photo Service. It features a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and measures roughly 177 x 263 mm (6.9 x 10.3-inches).
NTT DoCoMo will release the Otayori Photo Panel 02 sometime around the New Year, while the new phones will see staggered releases between now and April 2010.
Samsung N510 on display at IFA 2009
Samsung has announced the imminent release of the N510 netbook. The N510 is powered by the Nvidia Ion LE platform, a scaled-down version of the Nvidia Ion platform designed for Windows XP and DirectX 9.0 that retains the benefits of a discrete GeForce 9400M - including 1080p video playback.
While the N510 looks to be the first Ion-powered netbook to market, there's plenty more to like about it. The 11.6" display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1366 x 768 resolution is capable of displaying 720p content without downscaling. The inclusion of three USB 2.0 ports, one of which will charge connected devices when the laptop is switched off, makes it much less likely you'll need to carry a USB hub with you.
There's also a full-size keyboard, HDMI output, and a claimed 7 hour battery life - although we're guessing that figure will drop once you're using the 1.66GHz Atom N280 and GeForce 9400M to their fullest.
Road warriors will be delighted to hear that factory options of 802.11n, HSPA/WiMAX, and WiBRO connectivity can be ordered to compliment the standard 802.11b/g capability.
Samsung are yet to announce a price for the N510, or a solid release date - "early September" will have to do.
There's no denying that laptops have made life on-the-go a lot easier. However, if you're used to the ease and comfort of a mouse rather than a touchpad, you might be interested in a new product announced by Logitech. Complete with built-in mouse pad, the portable lapdesk is designed to allow you to use a mouse whenever and wherever you use your laptop.
The portable lapdesk has a retractable mouse pad and an anti-slip top - for notebooks 15.6" or smaller - to keep it firmly in place on your lap. Although it's thin and comfortable, it still manages to protect your legs from the heat generated by your laptop and if you’re the messy type, the top is washable. (Check out the photograph in the image gallery!)
The lapdesk is designed to be used with Mac and PC laptops - as long as the screen has a 15.6 inch display or smaller. Thin and lightweight, it can be stored in any laptop bag or sleeve (15.6” or larger) and is barely noticeable beneath your laptop.
This isn't the first laptop desk released by Logitech - their comfort lapdesk was also designed to reduce laptop heat and improve comfort.
You can pre-order the Lapdesk - which is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe this month - for USD $29.99 from Logitech.
Toshiba's new middleweight T100 Series laptops will hit shelves on October 22, coinciding with the release of Windows 7. Both the 11.6 inch and 13.3-inch models come in at under 4 pounds and feature a LED backlit widescreen displays, built-in webcam with face recognition, HDMI port, up to 9 hours of battery life and the company's very useful "Sleep-and-Charge" technology, which lets you power up portable devices when the laptop is turned off.
The 13.3-inch Satellite T135 and the smaller T115 both run on Windows® 7 Home Premium operating system, use DDR3 RAM and feature 802.11b/g/n wireless. The hard drives - which start at 250GB (5400 RPM) - are protected by Impact Sensor technology which detects sudden movement and “parks” the heads of the HDD to minimize any damage before the laptop hits the floor.
Both models also feature full-sized keyboards, multi-touch control pads and come in red and black finishes (a white finish os also available for the T135). The pricing is also worth noting - the T135 starts at US$600 and the T115 starts at $450.
Here's a run down of the key specs:
- Toshiba Satellite T135:
- 13.3-inch diagonal widescreen HD TruBrite™ LED Backlit display
- Windows 7 Home Premium operating system
- Intel® Pentium® SU4100 processor or Intel® Pentium® SU2700 processor
- DDR3 RAM
- Starting at 250GB (5400 RPM) HDD
- 802.11b/g/n wireless and 10/100 Ethernet
- Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR (available on select models)
- Toshiba Hard Drive Impact Sensor
- Touch Pad with Multi-touch Control
- Weight - 3.88 lbs.
- Long-life 6-cell battery delivering up to 9 hours of battery life
- One eSATA/USB combo port with USB Sleep-and-Charge and two USB 2.0 ports
- HDMI port
- Built-in Webcam with Toshiba Face Recognition, stereo speakers and microphone
- Toshiba PC Health Monitor
- 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader Slot
The Toshiba Satellite T115 carries the same specifications except it's lighter at 3.49 lbs., has an 11.6-inch diagonal display and a choice of Intel® Pentium® SU4100 processor or Intel® Celeron® 743 processor.
Nokia Booklet 3G - 'Key feel and pitch is good for a unit of it's size'
Recently at Nokia's NokiaWorld 09 event, the company unveiled what appears to be the first in a line of netbook devices, the Booklet 3G. Dave Weinstein was there to get a first hand look at the device.
The Nokia Booklet 3G is sleek, thin, well designed, and generally feels like a high quality device. Key feel and pitch is good for a unit of its size and casual typing was possible with minimal errors after just a few minutes of practice.
We're not sure how, but Nokia managed to cram a gigantic battery into a device that's total thickness is only about 3/4 of an inch (including the folded screen AND the body), and the company reports that the expected battery life will be around 12 hours with normal use (but we'll have more to say about this later). On first impressions, this is the best netbook class device that I've seen yet.
Shiny shiny
Considering its ultra-portable nature, we believe that the Booklet 3G could benefit from an anti-glare rather than ultra-glossy screen. There were certainly occasions, even in the controlled environment we tested in, where the glossy screen turned into a mirror due to glare. Also, the non standard screen resolution for 1280x720 is a bit of mystery - 1280x768, or even a higher resolution would be a preferable option.
Windows 7 support
Nokia is shipping the Booklet 3G with Windows 7, and has skipped supporting Windows XP and Vista completely. This seems like a smart move since they're entering the market so close to the Windows 7 launch.
The device runs this new OS well, although the performance of the machine was a bit sluggish with its default settings. As it turned out, part of the way that Nokia achieved its 12 hour battery rating was by setting up some fairly power thrifty defaults. So we decided the try an experiment. By tweaking the settings to favor performance over battery life we were able to get the Booklet to run like a champ, and significantly improved its speed. Roughly estimating by eyeballing the Windows battery meter, these changes would reduce the total run time from 12 hours to nine. Certainly a trade off that we'd be willing to make for the extra performance that it yielded.
Pricing details
Of course the big question still unanswered is what the device will cost end users. While Nokia did announce an MSRP of EUR575, its built in 3G radio makes it a shoe-in for carrier subsidies. While it has recently been reported that Best Buy has landed exclusive distribution of the Booklet 3G in the U.S., it's not clear that the US$599 price that's been touted won't still be subsidized by U.S. wireless carriers if customers sign up for service when they buy the device. Best Buy has a long history of selling subsidized phones from multiple carriers in the past. Fortunately for us, there isn't long to wait - hopefully the device will be available on or shortly after Windows 7 "ships" on October 22nd.
Dell Adamo XPS - World's thinnest laptop (for now)
Dell has bettered its wafer-thin Adamo laptop launched in March with the announcement of the 0.4-inch (9.99mm) thin Adamo XPS. Apart from the attention that the label of World's thinnest laptop brings, the XPS has some very appealing design qualities that are nothing to do with its slender profile or 3.2 pound weight. Rather than the conventional hinge, the full-size keyboard folds into the display in such a way that it's raised at the top when it's opened to provide enhanced cooling and there's also a capacitive touch latch mechanism which allows you to pop the unit open with the swipe of a finger.
The Adamo XPS runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo (1.4Ghz) ultra-low voltage processor, sports 4GB DDR3 800 memory, and like its predecessor it has a 128GB solid state hard drive.
The 13.4-inch WLED display is high-def (720p), there's built-in 802.11n wireless, display port video out, 2 x USB ports (giving it an edge on the MacBook Air in that department) and an Ethernet dongle is included.
The gesture touchpad looks to be conveniently positioned close to the front lip and the full size keyboard includes aluminum keycaps.
Battery life is likely to be a little disappointing at around 2.5 hours, but Dell says a higher-capacity option can extend this to more than 5 hours.
The Dell Adamo XPS is expected to be available "in time for the holidays" and will ship with Windows 7 64-bit edition starting at US$1799.
Dell Adamo XPS - World's thinnest laptop (for now)
Dell has bettered its wafer-thin Adamo laptop launched in March with the announcement of the 0.4-inch (9.99mm) thin Adamo XPS. Apart from the attention that the label of World's thinnest laptop brings, the XPS has some very appealing design qualities that are nothing to do with its slender profile or 3.2 pound weight. Rather than the conventional hinge, the full-size keyboard folds into the display in such a way that it's raised at the top when it's opened to provide enhanced cooling and there's also a capacitive touch latch mechanism which allows you to pop the unit open with the swipe of a finger.
The Adamo XPS runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo (1.4Ghz) ultra-low voltage processor, sports 4GB DDR3 800 memory, and like its predecessor it has a 128GB solid state hard drive.
The 13.4-inch WLED display is high-def (720p), there's built-in 802.11n wireless, display port video out, 2 x USB ports (giving it an edge on the MacBook Air in that department) and an Ethernet dongle is included.
The gesture touchpad looks to be conveniently positioned close to the front lip and the full size keyboard includes aluminum keycaps.
Battery life is likely to be a little disappointing at around 2.5 hours, but Dell says a higher-capacity option can extend this to more than 5 hours.
The Dell Adamo XPS is expected to be available "in time for the holidays" and will ship with Windows 7 64-bit edition starting at US$1799.
SPDY from Google's Chromium development team has achieved 55 percent faster page loading times than the more familiar HTTP protocol
Loading pages from the Internet into browsers or accessing your favorite applications may seem pretty fast now, but the folks at Google think it could be a lot faster. Designed specifically for minimizing latency, the new SPDY protocol currently undergoing testing is proving to be an awful lot faster than more familiar HTTP and will shortly break out of the lab and head for the real-world.
Chromium is the open source code on which Google's browser, Chrome, is based. Not content with developing a fast browser though, the folks behind Chromium are now looking at the way browsers and servers communicate with the aim of speeding things up a bit.
HTTP became a web standard in 1996 and has since been the transfer protocol of choice for the vast majority of surfers around the world. Developers at Google have come up with SPDY (pronounced SpeeDY), an application-layer protocol for transporting content over the web. Using Google Chrome with SPDY support, they have undertaken a limited test in lab conditions and noted significant improvements in download speeds.
Connecting to and loading up the top 25 websites enjoyed a 55 percent speed increase and while the team recognizes that there is still some way to go, initial results are encouraging. SPDY now needs real-world testing and the developers are asking for the active participation, feedback and assistance of the web community.
Netizens interested in helping can view the documentation and code before getting involved in the development via a special discussion group.
The video below shows the reasoning behind wanting to make the web faster:
Piaggio's MP3 was the world's first hybrid three-wheeler and at EICMA this week, it showed what is likely to be the first two-wheeled hybrid – the Piaggio USB (urban sport bike). The combination of a highly efficient, low-emmission GDI (gasoline direct injection) two-stroke motor and an electric motor, the USB is much smaller than it looks in the images and weighs in at just 130 kg. The USB runs 50km (30 miles) on electric only, and returns 1.5 l/100 km (156 U.S. mpg and 188 imperial mpg).
Quite remarkably, the performance of the USB is awesome using both to develop a claimed combined torque figure of 200 Nm which means the plug-in USB blitzes to its top speed of 100 kmh far faster than your average performance car.
For the electric propulsion only, the 2.5 Kw/h lithium-polymer batteries offer a 50 Km endurance at a cruising speed of 60 kmh and the USB will be reconfigurable as a single-seater, twin-seat, or with top-box. Piaggio's Vespa popularised the scooter in the fifties and its three-wheeled architecture is revolutionary too - this looks to be a particularly viable concept and we think it'll see production.
Once again, Piaggio has chosen a confusing, and now we must assume deliberately misleading, name - last time it named its revolutionary hybrid three-wheel scooter the MP3 (coincidentally the abbreviation for the popular digital music format) and this time it's the USB, another computer term in extremely common daily parlance. It looks like stupidity from here, particularly when both products are world-leading - can anybody think of a good reason to deliberately confuse a product's name with popular terms?
From leftt: Dr Christian Mohrdieck, Director Fuel Cell and Battery Drive Development, Daimler AG; Ganther Elste, Chairman of the Board, Hamburger Hochbahn AG;and Richard Averbeck, Head of Product Engineering Daimler Buses, Daimler AG; in front of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus
Image Gallery (3 images)
Image Gallery (3 images)
The first of ten new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid buses has appeared in Hamburg, Germany as part of a large-scale fleet trial taking place there and in other European cities. Two major features of this latest-generation fuel cell hybrid bus are that it emits no pollutants while in motion and is virtually silent, making it ideal for use in highly congested inner cities and metropolitan areas. From next year, ten of the 30 vehicles that Daimler Buses is producing for European transport operators are destined for the Hamburg transport authority. Hamburger Hochbahn will take delivery of the remaining 20 buses.
This roll-out is a follow-up to two successful projects undertaken by the European Union - CUTE (2003) and HyFLEET:CUTE (2009). In the HyFLEET:CUTE project, a total of 36 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses equipped with the second-generation fuel cell drive systems demonstrated their ability to function reliably over a combined 140,000 hours of operation where they traveled 2.2 million kilometers for 12 public transport agencies on three continents.
“The new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid clearly demonstrates that electric mobility is already feasible today also with commercial vehicles,” says Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses.
Daimler AG says it achieves manufacturing economies for the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid and the B-Class F-CELL by using common parts, such as fuel cell stacks. For example: the new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus is powered by two fuel cell systems of the same type used in the B-Class F-CELL.
Utilizing improved fuel cell components and hybridization with lithium-ion batteries, the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid consumes almost 50 percent less hydrogen compared to the preceding generation. The operating range of the fuel cell bus is around 250km (155 miles) and Daimler AG says that the fuel cell drive system is also practically maintenance-free with a long operating life, desirable by public transport operators.
Global undertaking
The company says its global initiative “Shaping Future Transportation” consolidates all the activities for sustainable mobility in the commercial vehicles sector at Daimler AG. Its aim is to use clean, efficient drive systems along with alternative fuels to realize zero-emissions while maintaining the highest possible safety levels in its new ranges of commercial vehicles.
Prof Kohler, Vice President e-drive & Future Mobility at Daimler AG, says: “Our intensive research and development conducted since 1994 has enabled us to bring the fuel cell to series production maturity. This enables us to entrust two fully practical electric vehicles with battery-electric and fuel cell drive systems to our customers - the smart fortwo electric drive and the B-Class F-CELL. The main objective now is to achieve a competitive cost level in comparison with conventionally-powered vehicles and to create a full infrastructure of electric and hydrogen filling stations in cooperation with energy providers and the petroleum industry.”
To this end, Daimler is cooperating with the Hamburg city council as well as with Shell, Total and Vattenfall Europe. The aim is to create an appropriate infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations that would support an emission-free fleet. The project is part of the Clean Energy Partnership in Hamburg and Berlin. It is being supported by the Federal German Government as part of the National Innovation Program for hydrogen and fuel cell technology (NIP).
As part of this cooperation, four public filling stations with hydrogen pumps are to be built in Hamburg, enabling fuel cell vehicles to be refueled within minutes. Thanks to the high hydrogen pressure of 700bar, their operating range will then exceed 400km (250 miles) making locally emission-free fuel cell vehicles fully suited to long-distance operations.
Building electric cars will come with its own set of challenges - but then, in other ways things are going to get a whole lot easier. With plenty of battery technology available pretty much off-the-shelf, and electric motors being incredibly simple compared with their combustion counterparts, there's not a lot stopping small, independent operators from building fun electrics and getting them to market as soon as they're approved for sale. And such is the case with the ECOS Harbinger - which truly could foretell a bit of a small-business revolution in electric sportscars. US$89,995 will buy you a 120mph, 150-mile per charge, 6 second electric supercar with Lambo-style looks and scissor doors to boot. Nice!
ECOS have built their reputation in recent years by offering fully electric rebirthing of old Volkswagens - bring in an old clunker without too much rust on it, and for around US$12,500, you can walk away with a simple electric commuter.
Of course, while simple and practical EVs are doubtless going to be the biggest sellers in the electric car revolution, there's nothing like a sportscar model to drum up a bit of enthusiasm - and that's where the Harbinger comes in.
It features an aluminium chassis, with a carbon/kevlar composite one-piece bodykit shaped to evoke an Italian supercar. Lambo-style scissor doors complete the look, but the heart of the beast is a 30kwh LiFePO4 battery pack and electric motor good for sub-6 second 0-60 times, a 117mph, electronically limited top speed, and a range of 150+ miles if you drive it like a granny.
In many ways the Harbinger seems like a very simple automobile - it looks great, performs pretty well and looks like a hoot to drive. Its US$90,000 price tag puts it far enough out of most folks' reach to be exclusive, and its Euro looks and electric-drill-meets-turbine engine sound will make it a surefire head-turner wherever it goes.
It goes on sale in Feb 2010 - although pre-orders are now being taken directly through ECOS. Here's hoping we see plenty more small-scale electric fun-mobiles in the near future!
Via Autoblog Green.
A new analyst note has revived a rumor that's a perennial hardware site favorite: the fabled NVIDIA x86 skunkworks project. Ars takes yet another look at the rumor that won't die.
It's the NVIDIA rumor that won't die: no, not the one where the GPU maker buys tiny VIA, but the other one, where it jumps feet-first into competition with both Intel and AMD by producing an x86 processor of its own. The idea has cropped up again in an analyst note from Doug Freedman of Broadpoint AmTech, in which Freedman claims that NVIDIA has been hiring former Transmeta engineers to work on a secret x86 processor that will appear sooner rather than later. In the note seen by the EE Times, Freedman emphasizes that NVIDIA not will take on Intel's Core i5/i7 lineup. Rather, the company's plan is to it attack the mid-range to low-end market, possibly competing with AMD in the value segment.
Before unpacking the rumor, let's lay out the full rationale for the "NVIDIA goes x86, competes with Intel head-on" idea.
First and foremost among the reasons cited for NVIDIA's alleged plans is the fact that we're about to make another turn on Sutherland's wheel of reincarnation, where graphics functionality will move back onto the CPU die. When this happens, NVIDIA's lucrative integrated graphics processor business is, of course, toast, which has to be one reason why the company went ahead and euthanized it a bit early.
This turn of the wheel is interesting because it's not just that the integrated graphics processors (IGP) will move from the chipset to the CPU, but retain their same basic degree of specialization. Rather, both the integrated GPUs that go onto the CPU die and the more discrete models are essentially becoming many-core, general-purpose processors (albeit specialized for multithreaded throughput and floating-point). This makes the situation even more ominous for NVIDIA, because not only will Intel and AMD take their IGP market from them, but even in the discrete GPU market NVIDIA will also end up with a generalized processor that competes with x86.
The ultimate point is that in both the discrete and integrated GPU markets, NVIDIA is already destined to compete directly with Intel and AMD, which means that an actual x86 product from NVIDIA means only that NVIDIA has decided to fight x86 with x86, as opposed to fighting it with some non-x86 architecture.
As the launch of Apple's Snow Leopard, with its pervasive use of LLVM, makes clear, just-in-time compilation (JIT) is the way that everyone is going to tackle the many-core problem, at least in the near-term. This is because even when you know at compile-time that your target architecture is x86, you probably don't know the number of x86 cores that users will have available, so you can delay some parts of the compilation process to runtime so that the output precisely fits the target machine's hardware.
If you're already using JIT by default to map code to hardware at runtime, then you can just target non-x86 cores as well, should any be present. This is how Snow Leopard is able to take advantage of GPU hardware alongside multicore x86 for general-purpose computing tasks.
Because the software side of the GPU is already headed towards a heavy reliance on binary translation techniques, it makes sense that NVIDIA is scooping up Transmeta guys regardless of any plans to produce a CPU. So, again, the Transmeta hires don't necessarily augur much of anything.
In fact, the notion that NVIDIA might produce a non-x86 processor but use binary translation to sell it as an x86 competitor appears completely ridiculous. Now, this doesn't mean it won't happen—it just means that if it does, it'll fail miserably and we'll all have a laugh.
As for whether NVIDIA is actually planning an x86 CPU, I have no idea. As I always say when this rumor crops up, the scuttlebutt from journalists who have sources is that NVIDIA is indeed going to bring such a beast to market. I don't have any sources—just a bit of sense—and I think that anyone who jumps into the x86 market at this point is completely nuts, especially if they decide to roll their own instead of buying VIA.
It's the NVIDIA rumor that won't die: no, not the one where the GPU maker buys tiny VIA, but the other one, where it jumps feet-first into competition with both Intel and AMD by producing an x86 processor of its own. The idea has cropped up again in an analyst note from Doug Freedman of Broadpoint AmTech, in which Freedman claims that NVIDIA has been hiring former Transmeta engineers to work on a secret x86 processor that will appear sooner rather than later. In the note seen by the EE Times, Freedman emphasizes that NVIDIA not will take on Intel's Core i5/i7 lineup. Rather, the company's plan is to it attack the mid-range to low-end market, possibly competing with AMD in the value segment.
Before unpacking the rumor, let's lay out the full rationale for the "NVIDIA goes x86, competes with Intel head-on" idea.
First and foremost among the reasons cited for NVIDIA's alleged plans is the fact that we're about to make another turn on Sutherland's wheel of reincarnation, where graphics functionality will move back onto the CPU die. When this happens, NVIDIA's lucrative integrated graphics processor business is, of course, toast, which has to be one reason why the company went ahead and euthanized it a bit early.
This turn of the wheel is interesting because it's not just that the integrated graphics processors (IGP) will move from the chipset to the CPU, but retain their same basic degree of specialization. Rather, both the integrated GPUs that go onto the CPU die and the more discrete models are essentially becoming many-core, general-purpose processors (albeit specialized for multithreaded throughput and floating-point). This makes the situation even more ominous for NVIDIA, because not only will Intel and AMD take their IGP market from them, but even in the discrete GPU market NVIDIA will also end up with a generalized processor that competes with x86.
The ultimate point is that in both the discrete and integrated GPU markets, NVIDIA is already destined to compete directly with Intel and AMD, which means that an actual x86 product from NVIDIA means only that NVIDIA has decided to fight x86 with x86, as opposed to fighting it with some non-x86 architecture.
What about those Transmeta engineers?
The fact that NVIDIA has hired a bunch of ex-Transmeta guys doesn't necessarily mean anything at all for this supposed x86 processor.As the launch of Apple's Snow Leopard, with its pervasive use of LLVM, makes clear, just-in-time compilation (JIT) is the way that everyone is going to tackle the many-core problem, at least in the near-term. This is because even when you know at compile-time that your target architecture is x86, you probably don't know the number of x86 cores that users will have available, so you can delay some parts of the compilation process to runtime so that the output precisely fits the target machine's hardware.
If you're already using JIT by default to map code to hardware at runtime, then you can just target non-x86 cores as well, should any be present. This is how Snow Leopard is able to take advantage of GPU hardware alongside multicore x86 for general-purpose computing tasks.
Because the software side of the GPU is already headed towards a heavy reliance on binary translation techniques, it makes sense that NVIDIA is scooping up Transmeta guys regardless of any plans to produce a CPU. So, again, the Transmeta hires don't necessarily augur much of anything.
In fact, the notion that NVIDIA might produce a non-x86 processor but use binary translation to sell it as an x86 competitor appears completely ridiculous. Now, this doesn't mean it won't happen—it just means that if it does, it'll fail miserably and we'll all have a laugh.
As for whether NVIDIA is actually planning an x86 CPU, I have no idea. As I always say when this rumor crops up, the scuttlebutt from journalists who have sources is that NVIDIA is indeed going to bring such a beast to market. I don't have any sources—just a bit of sense—and I think that anyone who jumps into the x86 market at this point is completely nuts, especially if they decide to roll their own instead of buying VIA.
Last Friday, AMD and Intel reached a historic settlement that leaves AMD with a fighting chance. Here's a look at the settlement, and at what AMD faces when its employees clock in on Monday.
This past Friday, Intel and AMD announced a settlement in their acrimonious antitrust dispute, with AMD clearly coming out on top to the tune of $1.25 billion in cash and a host of concessions. Both companies hosted conference calls that Friday morning, and later in the day the released excerpts from the agreement that makes up the non-cash portion of the deal, in which Intel agrees to a number of conditions that should make life much easier for AMD and its fab spinoff, GlobalFoundries.
A hard reset
"With this agreement, we are trying to reset the relationship between AMD and Intel," said an AMD exec on the conference call. And a hard reset it is, given what Intel has conceded.The first thing that the two parties have agreed on is that Intel won't engage in the sorts of anticompetitive practices that were outlined in AMD's suit and in the NYC Attorney General's suit of the week before. The lawsuits and Friday's settlement go into specifics of the different types of proscribed behavior, but they all boil down to accusations of Intel strong-arming OEMs and ODMs into either not using AMD CPUs in their systems, or into severely handicapping their AMD-based products by launching them late or placing hard limits on the number of them that are shipped.
Intel allegedly had a variety of mechanisms for carrying out such strong-arming, some of which we've described previously. All of them involved either the granting or withholding of monetary inducements—i.e., giving cash kickbacks (dressed as rebates and other incentives) to OEMs for playing along, or withholding money or technical help to OEMs who flirt with AMD a little too much.
The key point, according to AMD, is that "Intel will not be able to condition doing business with them on not doing business with us."
To ensure that Intel toes the line and to keep these issues from spilling back over into the courts again, Intel and AMD have set up arbitration and audit mechanisms for checking compliance and resolving future disputes.
On the Friday conference call, Intel executives claimed that they had never done any of this alleged bad behavior to begin with, so it was no problem for them to agree not to do it going forward.
"We continue to believe that we've not violated any laws or regulations in these areas," said an Intel spokesperson. "However, it makes a lot of sense for us to stipulate that we won't do things that we both agree are wrong... from our side, we won't do those things, we haven't done those things, so there's no difference carrying forward."
And if it wasn't clear that Intel plans to brazen it out and insist that it's agreeing to refrain from activities that it never engaged in anyway, different executives repeated this line with varying levels of intensity throughout the call. In the Q&A, a reporter from the Financial Times asked, "So this involves no changes at all in Intel's behavior, full stop?" One of the Intel execs replied, "No changes at all."
Intel is double-plus insistent that the only new thing that this agreement brings to the table are the compliance and arbitration mechanisms, which are, of course, in place to ensure that Intel doesn't do what it hasn't been doing, and thus they don't really mean anything.
But no one should expect Intel to take any other position, because the chipmaker still has antitrust proceedings against it in progress, so any admission of guilt on its part would immediately bring the full force of the law down on it from the quarters where it's still threatened.
Benchmarks and fabs
There are other components to the agreement besides the alleged inducements, and these are also important to AMD. One of the clauses stipulates that Intel won't attempt to rig compilers and benchmarks—either Intel's own or those of a third party—to "artificially impair" AMD's chips.Also critical for AMD are the licensing portions of the agreement. AMD's licensing agreement with Intel had previously forced GlobalFoundries to remain a "subsidiary" of AMD, or else the fab would lose its license to fabricate x86-compatible processors. Under the settlement, however, AMD can now fully and finally spin off GlobalFoundries as a completely separate entity, without having to worry that the new fab will lose AMD as a customer.
It's a little late, but here's hoping
The AMD that scored Friday's victory is, in many ways, a shadow of the AMD of earlier years. A combination of major execution missteps and the economic downturn have contrived to greatly weaken the AMD side of the merged AMD/ATI entity. AMD has cut staff, gutted its R&D budget, thrown its promising Imageon line overboard, and generally behaved like a starving character in a Stephen King novel (eating one's own limbs and such) in its recent effort to attain the barest sliver of profitability—$35 million in the green this past quarter, AMD's first profitable quarter in years.In short, over the course of the past two years, AMD has essentially retreated back into its core businesses—x86 server and desktop CPUs, and GPUs—and is now attempting to rebuild from there. Before Friday's settlement, their odds were passing slim. But the company that opens its doors Monday has at least a fighting chance, if Bulldozer and Bobcat can deliver the goods in 2011.
Microsoft's goal with Silverlight is still to help developers put together high quality media and RIA applications for the Web and desktop. With version 4, the Silverlight out-of-browser capabilities which enable high-quality application experiences on the desktop have been improved, advancements in business application development (like access to other Microsoft products) have been made, and the HD-quality video experiences have been tweaked with native multicast and offline DRM support (both of which were demoed back in September 2009). If you want to see a full list of what's new, check out this page on Silverlight.net.
If you're a developer, ensure that you have Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 or Visual Web Developer Express 2010 Beta 2 (3.43MB) installed, as it is a prerequisite for developing Silverlight 4 Beta applications using Visual Studio. You'll also want to grab the Microsoft Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (25.1MB). In terms of documentation, there's the Online Silverlight 4 Beta Documentation as well as the Microsoft Silverlight 4 Beta Offline Documentation (66.0MB).
Silverlight 3 was released in July 2009, Silverlight 2 arrived in October 2008 and Silverlight 1 launched in September 2007. Officially, Microsoft expects Silverlight 4 to have a Release Candidate build, with the final arriving in the first half of 2010. The Silverlight 3 beta arrived four months before the final, and guess what event is happening four months from now? That's right, MIX 2010. We'd wager that Silverlight 4 will launch then
Colorize Photos with fun iPhone Application
ColorSplash turns your photos into greyscale and lets you give color to only specific parts of the photo. By doing this you can emphasize a small section of the photo very effectively. Because it works with your finger, it’s not very sensitive, but it’s definitely worth giving a try.
After colorizing your photos you can e-mail them or move them to your computer. As in the sense of giving effects to photos, it is similar to Camera Bag which we mentioned a while ago.
ColorSplash is available in the App Store for $1.99.
The price of the Sony Ericsson W995 has recently dropped, making it a fantastic deal if you’re looking for a top of the range phone with a huge list of features, but for a bargain price. In fact, its new price makes the W995 the best kept secret in mobile phones this Christmas – and one that you’ll be delighted to have discovered!
Why? Because although the W995 has a great feature-set – including huge 8 megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS and tons more – other sexier phones have since been released, and so the price of the Sony Ericsson W995 has had to be lowered to attract people’s attention again.
The result is a great mobile phone with some superb features for a ridiculously low price – perfect for a credit crunch-busting Christmas present!
To see if the W995 is for you, read our Sony Ericsson W995 review below (or just jump straight to the price of the Sony Ericsson W995 now!)
So buy a W995 and you’ll get:
Better than that, though, rather than focusing purely on music, Sony Ericsson threw everything they could at the W995! As feature-phones go, there’s hardly anything that the W995 doesn’t have.
So not only do you get a phone that comes with a list of features as long as your arm, because it’s a Sony Ericsson, they all work really well. The photos, for example, taken from its 8.1 megapixel camera look crisp and clear – see for yourself in the sample pics below (courtesy of PhoneArena) – while the sound of its music player is excellent.
The user interface is quick and responsive too, so you won’t have to wait as you select the options you want.
There are even dedicated music buttons on the outside of the phone for super-quick access to all of your phones.
And if it’s the mobile Web you’re more interested in, the W995 scores highly there. The W995 is a fast phone in every sense – its user interface is responsive, so it’s easy and quick to scroll around a Web page, while Wi-Fi and fast HSDPA (3.6Mbps) ensure Web pages are downloaded in super-quick time.
Better still, the W995 comes with dedicated apps for Flickr, Facebook and YouTube, so you don’t even need to browse to their Web sites – you simply go there with a single click!
The only problem with the W995 is its user interface, which is a bit dated. The second half of this year has seen some stunning looking phones emerge with all manner of sexy software that make the W995 look a bit, well, 2008!
In part, this is because it’s following the design of previous Walkman phones, the design of which is now a couple of years old. It’s also because Sony Ericsson underestimated the competition a bit, and didn’t realize the range of new smartphones that would be released, such as the HTC Hero, Motorola Droid and Palm Pre, would all looks so gorgeous!
It’s not that the user interface is terrible – it uses Adobe Flash, so it’s still got loads of whizzy effects, animations and transitions. But it’s not touchscreen and the world wants touchscreen phones at the moment. This, however, is the secret to the W995’s real value.
Because its not quite so attractive as other phones, Sony Ericsson have had to keep its price low in order to sell it. So if you don’t mind that your phone doesn’t look quite as cutting edge as it could, you can grab yourself one of the best-performing feature phones on the market for much less than Sony Ericsson would rather you paid!
How much less? Check out the deals on offer and see for yourself.
You can see for yourself the quality of the phone in the video reviews below. Imagine showing it off to your mates with its huge list of features. Sure they might have a flashy touchscreen phone, but the W995 has what really matters – quality! Your W995’s features will make their touchscreen phone look just like a gimmick – and for just half the cost!
GSMArena were extremely impressed:
It doesn’t have the slick touchscreen user interface of the average smartphone – it’s just a straightforward high-end mobile phone. But because of that, you get to buy the W995 at a knock down price. Bad news for Sony Ericsson, but great news for you!
If you’re looking for a cracking multimedia mobile phone for Christmas at a knock-down price, then the W995 has to be the bargain of the decade. Just don’t tell anyone, or the whole world will want one!
Check out the deals below to see how much you get for your money.
Why? Because although the W995 has a great feature-set – including huge 8 megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS and tons more – other sexier phones have since been released, and so the price of the Sony Ericsson W995 has had to be lowered to attract people’s attention again.
The result is a great mobile phone with some superb features for a ridiculously low price – perfect for a credit crunch-busting Christmas present!
To see if the W995 is for you, read our Sony Ericsson W995 review below (or just jump straight to the price of the Sony Ericsson W995 now!)
Things you’ll love about the Sony Ericsson W995
The W995 is a Walkman phone with the best features of a CyberShot cameraphone. In other words, it’s the perfect blend of both.So buy a W995 and you’ll get:
- the latest Sony Walkman 4.0 software, which is recognized as one of the best music interfaces on the market
- terrific sound quality thanks to Sony’s experience in music technology
- loads of storage for thousands of tunes, thanks to an 8GB MM2 storage card included the price
- freedom to hear your tunes with your own headphones, thanks to an industry standard 3.5mm headphone jack
- let your friends listen as well, with its large high quality built-in speakers
- FM radio
- a great 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, smile detection, face recognition and flash
- aGPS with Google Maps
- Guitar Hero-like games that make the most of the W995’s music features
- Wi-Fi, HSDPA and Quad-Band GSM support, for fast Internet downloads wherever you are
- DLNA, which lets you share music and pics between your phone and your PC or DLNA-equipped TV
- Great range of software pre-installed, including Web Browser, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and loads of games
- Access to Sony Ericsson’s new PlayNow download service for downloading videos, apps and games
- MediaGo software, which lets you sync your tunes seamlessly with the music library on your PC
Every phone feature you could ever want
The W995 offers the best music playing software and the best sound on the market – which is at it should be, as it’s the flagship Walkman phone in Sony Ericsson’s collection.Better than that, though, rather than focusing purely on music, Sony Ericsson threw everything they could at the W995! As feature-phones go, there’s hardly anything that the W995 doesn’t have.
So not only do you get a phone that comes with a list of features as long as your arm, because it’s a Sony Ericsson, they all work really well. The photos, for example, taken from its 8.1 megapixel camera look crisp and clear – see for yourself in the sample pics below (courtesy of PhoneArena) – while the sound of its music player is excellent.
The user interface is quick and responsive too, so you won’t have to wait as you select the options you want.
There are even dedicated music buttons on the outside of the phone for super-quick access to all of your phones.
And if it’s the mobile Web you’re more interested in, the W995 scores highly there. The W995 is a fast phone in every sense – its user interface is responsive, so it’s easy and quick to scroll around a Web page, while Wi-Fi and fast HSDPA (3.6Mbps) ensure Web pages are downloaded in super-quick time.
Better still, the W995 comes with dedicated apps for Flickr, Facebook and YouTube, so you don’t even need to browse to their Web sites – you simply go there with a single click!
Any downsides?
The only problem with the W995 is its user interface, which is a bit dated. The second half of this year has seen some stunning looking phones emerge with all manner of sexy software that make the W995 look a bit, well, 2008!
In part, this is because it’s following the design of previous Walkman phones, the design of which is now a couple of years old. It’s also because Sony Ericsson underestimated the competition a bit, and didn’t realize the range of new smartphones that would be released, such as the HTC Hero, Motorola Droid and Palm Pre, would all looks so gorgeous!
It’s not that the user interface is terrible – it uses Adobe Flash, so it’s still got loads of whizzy effects, animations and transitions. But it’s not touchscreen and the world wants touchscreen phones at the moment. This, however, is the secret to the W995’s real value.
Because its not quite so attractive as other phones, Sony Ericsson have had to keep its price low in order to sell it. So if you don’t mind that your phone doesn’t look quite as cutting edge as it could, you can grab yourself one of the best-performing feature phones on the market for much less than Sony Ericsson would rather you paid!
How much less? Check out the deals on offer and see for yourself.
Video reviews of the Sony Ericsson W995
Unsure whether you want a phone without a touchscreen? Don’t be – the quality of the W995’s pictures and the sound it produces is right up there with the best. Say what you like about Sony Ericsson, but they know how to make good technology, and as the W995 is the current flagship Walkman phone, they’ve kitted it out with the best tech they’ve got.You can see for yourself the quality of the phone in the video reviews below. Imagine showing it off to your mates with its huge list of features. Sure they might have a flashy touchscreen phone, but the W995 has what really matters – quality! Your W995’s features will make their touchscreen phone look just like a gimmick – and for just half the cost!
Sony Ericsson W995 reviews from across the Web
The W995 has been reviewed extensively across the Web, with near unanimous praise.GSMArena were extremely impressed:
“Sony Ericsson W995 is the company’s top-ranking Walkman and its spec sheet is clearly set to justify this label. The Flash-based user interface, which we’ve praised repeatedly, seems to be only getting better. There are no gaps in the connectivity set and the 3.5 mm audio jack is a long-awaited blessing.PhoneArena, too, love the quality of the W995.
Sony Ericsson W995 not only spares users the agonizing choice between Walkman and Cyber-shot. It has simply harvested all the high-end goodies and leaves nothing else to want. And all that skill is packed in a compact, solid and stylish body.”
“Just a simple glance at the specs of the Sony Ericsson W995 should be enough to convince you that this is the most high-tech model of the Walkman Series. Does that mean it is the best as well? In terms of sound quality (not through the boxed earphones), camera performance and GPS, this is the case indeed.”Finally, Channel 5’s The Gadget Show also make the same point about the W995:
“…The Sony Ericsson W995 suffers from all the same drawbacks as previous Walkman mobiles: it’s walled off, and lacking the power and customization of your standard smartphone. If that doesn’t bother you though, what you’ll find is one of the best multimedia phones on the market, and this time that includes picture taking.”
Conclusion
So, should you buy the Sony Ericsson W995? If you’re looking for a feature-rich high-end mobile phone that takes great pictures and has the best in class sound system, then yes, the W995 should be top of your list!It doesn’t have the slick touchscreen user interface of the average smartphone – it’s just a straightforward high-end mobile phone. But because of that, you get to buy the W995 at a knock down price. Bad news for Sony Ericsson, but great news for you!
If you’re looking for a cracking multimedia mobile phone for Christmas at a knock-down price, then the W995 has to be the bargain of the decade. Just don’t tell anyone, or the whole world will want one!
Check out the deals below to see how much you get for your money.
Sony Ericsson has decided to take its Xperia range of phones decidedly upmarket with the launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness.
Whereas other Xperia phones are high-end smartphone affairs that come with virtually every feature you can think of, the Xperia Pureness is, well, pure! It’s a fashion phone first and foremost, and its main claim to fame is its stunning see through screen, which can be seen on both sides of the phone.
It’s easier to see than talk about, so check out the video after the jump.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness – a good idea?
There seems to be a new trend towards see-through phones at the moment, after LG released its LG GD900 Crystal earlier in the year.
The Crystal, though, only had a see-through keypad, which anyone can do. Sony Ericsson decided to go one better and make the whole screen see-through!
The result certainly gives the Xperia Pureness the Wow factor. It looks extremely sleek, and being able to see the screen on both sides of the phone is certainly novel. It’s not particularly useful, mind, as of course the reverse side of the screen is a mirror image of the main side, which makes reading text a bit tricky; but it is at least novel!
It’s also only black and white, but this may not be such a problem, as black and white is always fashionable, and that’s exactly what you want from a fashion phone.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness videos
The Xperia Pureness was known in its concept form as the Sony Ericsson Kiki, and when pictures first emerged of it with its see-through screen, everyone assumed it was a fake. It must be, there was no keypad, and how can you have a phone with a see-through screen?
Well, we still don’t know, as Sony Ericsson have been very coy about showing it off in the flesh, and have released precious few details (apart form the price – $1,000 apparently!).
But it is real, and they’ve got videos to prove it:
If you want one, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness X5 release date is November 2009, so you’ll have to wait a bit. Still, at $1,000 it gives you the chance to save your pennies.
July 19th, 2009
The HTC Hero is a brand new Android phone that’s due to be launched in the next week or two. One of the best features about the Hero is the fact that it has a brand new user interface – called Rosie, of all things! Rosie has bee developed by HTC to help it differentiate its Android phones from the myriad competitors that are now appearing.
The new user interface has been designed from the ground up to give Android a super-slick polished look. It’s not just a port of HTC’s TouchFLO user interface that it created for Windows Mobile. It’s a brand new dedicated Android interface that looks super-slick, has a nifty new Web browser and great new music player, among many many other enhancements.
But what if you’ve already got a T-Mobile G1 with the “vanilla” Android user interface? Are you forced to watch your HTC Hero-sporting friend gloat over the greatness of his new phone’s UI while you’re stuck with your G1’s UI for the next year or so?
Fear not. If you’ve got the technical chops, patience, and balls of steel, you too can port the HTC Hero’s user interface over to your T-Mobile G1. Be warned – it’s not easy!
But it can be done, and my brother Dave (@terminal7) has proved it by successfully upgrading his G1. You can see the pics he took of his new Hero G1, plus videos and details on how to do it after the jump.
A small warning!
First, a small warning. If you decide to do this and you do it wrong, you may end up with a decidedly unhealthy G1. So unhealthy, in fact, it’ll have all the functionality of a brick!
Also, if you succeed, you’ll not be able to update your phone to any new Android updates that Google releases. The current version of Android is Cupcake, which added a plethora of new features to the original Android release. With the Donut, Eclair and Flan updates all scheduled for release this year, the chances are that the existing features of your G1 will be radically improved anyway without you doing a thing. If you choose to port the Hero’s interface to your G1, you won’t be able to use any of these.
That said, the Hero’s new Rosie User Interface is so cool, you may not actually care about the official Google updates!
What do you get with the HTC Hero user interface?
Before you decide to do this, though, you obviously need to know whether or not it’s worth it. In other words, what do you get with the HTC Hero’s Rosie UI that you don’t get with the G1?
Well, I’ll give a full run-down of the Hero’s features later in the week when I do a full HTC Hero review, but in the meantime, here’s a taster:
- Updated Web browser – lets you see the whole Web page on screen and easily swipe through pages in the browser’s history
- Updated interface – brand new set of icons and flashy user interface widgets makes existing apps such as email look much, much better
- Nifty new calendar – the calendar’s been updated and is much easier to use
- New music player – navigate your music playlists in a brand new media player
- New media gallery – view your images in a much sexier gallery app
For more on the Hero’s features, check out the pics taken by my brother Dave of his updated G1 (bottom of this post), or check out this video of the Hero interface successfully bolted onto the G1.
How to turn your T-Mobile G1 into an HTC Hero
And now for the fun bit – or should that be the scary bit – actually porting the Hero interface over to your G1.
According to Dave, it’s simple. Just do the following:
“After downgrading to pre-Cupcake firmware 1.0, then running telnet and rooting the thing, then flashing a new radio rom, then installing a new SPL, then installing a recovery image application, which I still cant seem to operate, then partitioning an SD card into 3 – and in 3 different file systems ! – then finally flashing a new build ROM from Haykuro and Jachero, it’s all done…!”
Ahem! Told you this wasn’t easy!
In a less breathless approach, the way to go about this is to follow the instructions over at XDA Developers, or just ask my brother Dave on Twitter (@terminal7). Not entirely sure how much help he can be with just 140 characters to play with, but I’m sure he’ll help where he can.
Pictures of the HTC Hero interface on the G1
Right, now for all the glorious pics of HTC’s Rosie on the G1. Now tell me you don’t want to do this ;)
If you’re raring to get one of the $197 laptops, you’d better get their super early! Only 5 will be available at each store and there is a strict limit of one per customer.