Android 2.3.4 heading to Nexus S devices. Native video calling is a go

For an update with such a modest name, this is actually quite a major step forward. Google's about to start delivering Android 2.3.4 to Nexus S devices out in the wild, and in among all the bug fixes and optimizations, users will find the addition of video and voice chat to Google Talk. You'll be able to do it anywhere you can get a web connection going, whether by virtue of WiFi, 3G, 4G, or the force, and other Gingerbread handsets are expected to get the same improvements in time. For now, however, Google's own-branded device is the only one enjoying the very freshest Gingerbread around.

via Engadget

Google Research Shows How People Use Smartphones to Help Them Buy Stuff

A Google-commissioned study on smartphone usage has confirmed just how addicted we are to our devices and revealed how we use them to help make purchasing decisions. The data, which were laid out by Google in detail during a webinar yesterday, revealed a ton of information about how we use the devices in general. A couple of takeaways were particularly interesting for businesses large and small. see full article here RWW

Motorola Xoom LTE delayed

Motorola's just finished giving the news and the numbers on its quarterly financial report, and there was one bit of badness that we just had to share: the Xoom LTE upgrade has been delayed. We won't be seeing it until summer according to Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, which is also when we'll be seeing the Bionic, a delay that we were already sulking about. Jha was a little vague about what the "issue" was that is causing the delay, only that whatever quality concern there is applies to both devices, and it could simply be that the company is waiting for its LTE rollout to get a little further along. Net result: one less G for Xoom owners until the summer, and no Bionic at all until then. Bummer.

Read the rest of the article via Engadget

CEOs of Google, Apple asked to testify at U.S. Senate hearing about mobile location tracking and privacy concerns

What do tech companies know about us and when do they know it?

CEOs of Google and Apple have been asked to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing on mobile technology and privacy concerns, amid reports that smart phones could be tracking users' locations.

The hearing, scheduled for May 10, was called as consumers worry that technology could be compromising their privacy and personal information.

Apple and Google are facing scrutiny from consumers and lawmakers concerning data that's being collected from mobile users and stored. Senators urged Google CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Steve Jobs to testify, though there was no word yet if they would.

via nydailynews

Will Android 2.3.4 have a native FaceTime-esque video call feature?

With Google I/O on the horizon, the Android world was quietly hoping for more than a new release of Gingerbread to be shown, and if one particular tweet is to be believed, we could be in for some native video calling goodness coming to the platform.

The Twitter user in question, @MAFiA303 allegedly works with Samsung, though that’s as yet unconfirmed. If he is to be taken at his word though it appears Google is planning to bring built-in video calling to their mobile device operating system. No word yet on whether this would work over 3G or if a WiFi network would be required.

via Redmond Pie
source AndroidPolice

Its Official: The white iPhone 4 is almost here [UPDATE] Its here.

Apple today announced that the white iPhone 4 will be available beginning tomorrow. White iPhone 4 models will be available from Apple’s online store (www.apple.com), at Apple’s retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

“The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it’s beautiful,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we’ve worked to get every detail right.”

iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple’s stunning Retina™ display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone resulting in super crisp text, images and video, and FaceTime®, which makes video calling a reality.

UPDATE: The online Apple Store has been updated, the white iPhone 4 is now available in both GSM(AT&T) and CDMA (Verizon) flavors.

Casio Commando designed to survive in places you might not

If you’re an insatiable technophile with plans to enter a war zone, climb a mountain, or embark on any other potentially hazardous adventure, chances are you’ll want to risk life and limb while attached to a specially ‘ruggedized’ smartphone. If so, the hardy G’zOne Commando from gadget maker Casio might just be the technological tether you’ll need while pinned down in a crossfire or lying broken at the bottom of an icy gorge.

According to Casio, its sturdy smartphone has been designed to fend off “the most extreme conditions” and meets Military Standard 810G, which covers immersion, rain, shock, dust, vibration, salt, fog, humidity, solar radiation, altitude, and low and high temperature storage. Woof.

Core technical features include Android 2.2 (Froyo), a 3.6-inch WVGA screen, a solid 5.0 mega-pixel camera with auto focus and video capture, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11b/g/n), VZ Navigator for GPS and audible turn-by-turn directions, and support for Mobile Hotspot 3G.

via thetechherald

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace hits 15,000 apps in just 6 months. 30,000 expected in October

Marketplace trackers windowsphoneapplist.com is currently tracking 15,054 apps in the U.S. Marketplace.WP7applist is tracking 14,895 applications and explains 957 of them are inactive, 39% are available for free and the average price is $1.73 per paid application. Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace is growing at an impressive rate. The software giant added 3,000 applications in April alone after reaching its 12,000 milestonein late March. WP7applist says that 155 apps are updated on average each day. In the last 24 hours, 75 apps were updated and 81 were added.

Luigi Violin, who founded WP7applist, says he expects the Marketplace to reach 30,000 applications in time for its birthday in October. “If I had to make an exact average of daily new releases, the Marketplace should hit 25K in the first days of October, but as the trend is slightly increasing I’d guess we’ll be well over 30K,” he said in an email statement to WinRumors. “It’s still growing at a nice rate, and even at a noticeable increasing rate lately so it really looks in full shape,” he added.

Continue reading via Winrumors

Nielson reports interest levels of smartphone operating systems

Nielsen ran monthly surveys of mobile consumers in the United States from July to September 2010, and said back then that 33 percent expressed interest for an Apple iPhone, while slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) said they desired a device with Android and 13 percent said they wanted a Blackberry device. How quickly things change. for full article go here: TechCrunch

Qualcomm's next-gen snapdragon roadmap leaks

Seems like we just can't get ARM's next-generation Cortex-A15 system-on-chip out of our minds. Having figured as a headline item in LG's ARM licensing deal this morning, it's now shown up on a leaked Qualcomm roadmap, landing itself a lynchpin role in that company's Snapdragon future. for full article look here: engadget

Verizon announces the Droid Incredible 2

Available on Thursday Apr. 28th the Droid Incredible 2 seems like more of a revamp of the original than anything NEW. With almost the exact same hardware specs one has to wonder what HTC was thinking, especially with the Thunderbolt fresh out. For the full article go here engadget

Sony unveils two new Honeycomb tablets. Ones a dual-screen too

Sony's hosting a press event in Tokyo today where it just made the first announcement: a pair of Android 3.0 tablets -- yes, the very two Honeycomb slabs we told you about exclusively back in February. The first is the 9.4-inch S1 media tablet (aka, Qriocity focused) with a curved top much like a folded magazine and both front- and rear-facing cameras. The S1 features a Tegra 2 SoC and customized "Quick and Smooth" touch panel UI with "Swift" web browser. It can also be used as a remote control for Sony gear thanks to integrated infrared.

Read more about the dual-screen tablet and see more images via Engadget

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet with Honeycomb on the way.

Ready for one awesome Easter present? Well, it appears that Lenovo’s having a rough time keeping a lid on its new products this weekend, and we just got a hold of a juicy PowerPoint that reveals a new ThinkPad tablet for “on-the-go professionals.” No, this isn’t a Windows 7 convertible like you’d expect — this is a full-fledged Android 3.0 slate complete with an optional pen and an accompanying “keyboard portfolio case.” It’s also going to have an IPS display and a dual-core Tegra 2 processor. It sounds killer and we’ve got all the details on what’s shaping up to be the most interesting Android 3.0 tablet we’ve seen yet.

Read the entire leaked preview via This Is My Next

Is this the Apple iPhone 4S?

M.I.C. Gadget posts two images of what they are calling the “iPhone 4S.” Of course this name comes from our report about game developers preparing their next-generation iPhone applications on iPhone 4s with A5 processors. We didn’t hear anything about a larger display on the “iPhone 4S” so if the above image has any legitimacy, we’re going to call it the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5′s with larger displays have long been rumored with Digitimes saying 4 inches, the WSJ says edge-to-edge, and Joshua Topolsky saying 3.7 inches. A quick glance at the photo shows the new screen to be slightly taller and slightly wider. If the image is legitimate, it appears to be closer to 3.7 inches than 4 inches. Of note, the image features a white iPhone bezel with Apple’s new proximity sensor. We think it adds legitimacy to the photo if anything. See another image after the break.

via 9to5Mac
source MIC Gadget

A review of the Acer Iconia Tab W500. Fusion powered and running Windows 7

Convertible PCs are nothing new – “swivel” style tablet PCs have been around for years, and more recently, we’ve seen newer, more consumer friendly convertible PCs like the Dell Inspiron duo. But the W500 is a completely new take on the concept. The core unit is a pure slate PC – it’s a 10.1”, 2.15lb multi-touch unit running Windows 7. It’s crafted from capacitive glass and aluminum and feels solid to hold. It’s nicely ergonomic, too – Acer did a very good job of using a weight, balance and thickness that is maneuverable enough to easily flip and move without feeling cheap or flimsy.

Read the rest of the review via The Windows Experience Blog

Up close with the HP TouchPad and Pre 3

HP presented two new webOS phones and a tablet at an event in San Francisco yesterday. I attended the event and got a close look at the HP TouchPad and Pre 3, the best of the new webOS products. The two videos give a detailed view of the hardware, and how multitasking is handled by the OS.

The new hardware was impressive, but no pricing information was divulged and no explicit delivery information other than “this summer” was given by HP. Those two bits of missing information make it impossible to determine if these products will advance webOS for HP.

The Pre 3 is essentially a bigger version of the Pre 2, with a 3.6-inch display and slightly larger QWERTY sliding keyboard. The phone works pretty much the same as the original Pre models, complete with Touchstone wireless charging. What is new about the Pre 3 is the innovative ways it works wirelessly with the main star of the show, the HP TouchPad tablet.

via ZDNet

Apple testing A5 dual-core iPhone on T-Mobiles network

That’s right, you’re looking at photos of an iPhone prototype with T-Mobile USA 3G bands. The actual internal model is N94, and if you remember, the Verizon model is N92 while the standard GSM variant is N90. We have verified that the phone itself is running a test version of Apple’s iOS, much like the one we saw in those videos from Vietnam, and it includes internal Apple test apps like Radar and Apple’s employee directory app. Additionally, the front of the white iPhone pictured looks a little different from the photos of the retail white iPhone 4 that surfaced recently — specifically, the proximity sensor has changed on the retail version.

Read the rest of the article via BGR

T-Mobile offers free computer voice calls to Facebook friends

T-Mobile released a series of software add-ons for the most popular browsers Tuesday. Once installed, a phone icon appears beside each name in the chat section of the user's Facebook page. Clicking the icon places a call through the Internet connection.

&

Only the caller needs to have the software installed for the call to go through, but both participants need to be logged in to Facebook and have headsets or microphones and speakers. The software add-ons are branded "Bobsled by T-Mobile." The company plans to use the brand for other Internet-calling features, such as phone apps that can place calls directly to Facebook friends.

via MercuryNews

Army enlists Android for battlefield comms

The U.S. Army is establishing a beachhead on the shores of Smartphone tech, and its got Google's Android operating system in its ranks.

The Android-based Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) gadget is undergoing evaluations and moving closer to deployment, according to a report on the Army Web site earlier this week. The JBC-P Handheld, which is currently in prototype form, is part of a broader effort by the Army to bring more mobile communications capabilities to soldiers engaged in tactical operations.

via CNet

Samsung files countersuit against Apple

Samsung responds to Apple's recent lawsuit with a countersuit claiming that the Cupertino-based company's iPhone and iPad infringe on 10 wireless technology patents.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung for allegedly copying its iOS products with the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. Samsung responded quickly with promises of a possible countersuit, and now the threat has been made good on.

via DigitalTrends

Archos 7c tablet is now shipping for $220

The new Archos 7c tablet which was not slated for release until june should be on store shelves this week, if not already. Coupled with a Cortex A8 processor(runs anywhere from 600Mhz to 1GHZ+) 8 gigs of storage and eclair(android 2.1) it should perform fairly well. as for myself, I didn't read the fine print when i bought my wife her velocity micro cruz reader, and missed a key purchase factor for us...no android market, and in the case of her reader no flash support. 

Read the rest of the article at Engadget

The Nintendo DS Lite being discontinued

The DS Lite had a good run, but the 3DS is here now. We’re not looking back. No, those aren’t tears in our eyes.

According to Go Nintendo, GameStop stores recently received an internal memo telling employees that, “New DS Lite systems have been discontinued and stores will no longer be replenished on this product.”

With the release of the 3DS many gamers are moving on. But Nintendo’s original dual screen system isn’t completely finished; gamers will still be able to buy DSi and DSi XL hardware.

 via GameInformer

Welcome to The Unfused Journal: Mobile!

Its been a year today since we launched the TUJ: Main website that's dedicated to everything PC, and we've seen tremendous growth in such sort periods of time. We've established ourselves on Facebook and Twitter where we see daily activity and interaction, we were also very lucky to have the opportunity to cooperate with AMD and Sapphire on our Agent Rudy Contest, and we've just recently launched our Folding@Home team and re-opened our YouTube channel with video reviews already in the works. It was quite clear that it was time to expand our reach and cover another industry that is always active, one that never fails to excite technology fans around the world, so here we are, launching TUJ: Mobile!

TUJ: Mobile is a site that will commit to covering top stories from the mobile industry. As part of our growth strategy, TUJ: M will serve as a place to stay up-to-date with mobile news that matters to you the most. Whether you are interested in smartphones or tablets from companies like Apple, Nokia and RIM, or operating systems from HP and Microsoft, or mobile hardware from Qualcomm, ARM and more, we've got you covered. And with two avid mobile tech fans, Jason Susavidge and Cathal McNally have joined the Unfused Team as TUJ: M's new editors.

We've got a lot of exciting things planned for TUJ: M, so stick around! In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the site.

Fahad Al-Riyami,
Founder/Director - The Unfused Journal

Intels CEO confirms Android Honeycomb will soon run on x86 processors

On an earnings call this week, Intel CEO Paul Otellini confirmed that Intel is hard at work on an x86 port of Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb. The port is intended to be paired with the company's recently announced "Oak Trail" line of SoCs, for a platform that rumors indicate will be called "PRC Plus." Otellini didn't get specific about when the new platform would launch, noting only that products from Acer, Lenovo, and Asus will be coming in the second half of the year. 

Oak Trail will certainly outperform the ARM competition for CPU-intensive tasks, but at the cost of some battery life. It remains to be seen if and how Intel can use that performance edge to its advantage with Honeycomb. The ARM version of the Android 3.0 OS will be more polished by the time the Oak Trail products hit the market, and most of the performance-intensive stuff that we've seen from the OS so far is interface-centric. As long as the interface remains the primary place where cycles are spent, ARM could still have an advantage, because SoC makers can just pair an ARM core with a capable GPU and drive the interface that way. 

via ArsTechnica

We should be seeing up to 12 new Windows Phones from Nokia in 2012

(Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer answer questions about the Nokia-Microsoft partnership)

Nokia could be in the middle of preparing Windows Phone devices to land in 2012. As many of twelve of these Windows Phone devices are intended to release during 2012, suggests information from a Russian website called Mobile-Review. The site has attained a reputation for its accuracy concerning Nokia. While releasing twelve handsets seems rather unlikely, the site does offer information on four main devices that Nokia intend to release towards the end of 2011, or the start of 2012. Currently, Nokia are using a naming system of W-xx (the 'W' denotes a Windows Phone device, and the 'xx' field will be replaced with numbers during their development; for example, W7-01). According to information available on Mobile-Review, Nokia's plans are subject to change almost daily, with hastily-made decisions.

Find out more about these Nokia devices by following the source link below.

via Neowin

HTCs upcoming Windows Phone will sport a 16-megapixel camera?

We already told you about Samsung’s plans to double the now-standard speed of high-end, dual-core smartphone processors from 1GHz to 2GHz. So why not double the standard 8 megapixel core image-sensor on smartphone cameras too, no? Blog PocketNow has sniped an HTC advert that boasts of a 16 megapixel smartphone shooter. The end of the video promotion depicts a Windows Phone device that has a look akin to the HTC Desire S — as PocketNow points out, this could simply be a placeholder device. HTC is not known for its optical awesomeness, so hopefully this new and improved imaging-core refocuses the company’s efforts on its camera.

via BRG

The PlayStation Phone - A Review of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

The PlayStation Phone. We've had quite the intimate history with this gamepad-equipped slider, learning of its secretive existence way back in August and then handling a prototype unit in January, so you'll forgive us for feeling sentimental and still entertaining our pet name for it. The Sony Ericsson marketing gurus renamed it the Xperia Play when it finally went official at MWC this year, but the PlayStation connection remains as strong as ever.

Aside from the D-pad, iconic game keys, and two touchpads, this device comes with a little app named PlayStation Pocket, which will be serving up dollops of classic PlayStation One gaming to all those with a taste for it.

Read the Full Review via Engadget

Samsung working on 2GHz smartphones for 2012

Samsung is looking to challenge Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 with a significant processor push that will take chipset speeds to 2GHz and broaden availability across manufacturers. According to a Samsung exec quoted in the Maeli Business Newspaper, the company intends “to release a 2GHz dual core CPU-equipped smartphone by next year,” going on to suggest that the handset “will have the data processing capacities of a regular PC.” The chip responsible for that hitherto-unseen grunt is still in development, but may not be limited solely to Samsung’s own range of handsets. Instead, the company is believed to be considering making Exynos chips available for other manufacturers, in an attempt to take on Snapdragon and Tegra 2 as the mainstays of the smartphone SoC industry.

Exynos is the new branding for Hummingbird, announced back in February 2011, and builds on Samsung’s Cortex-A9 expertise. Recently the company confirmed it would be overclocking the Galaxy S II from 1GHz to 1.2GHz, in a move that better positions the handset against the new HTC Sensation.

via SlashGear

20nm flash chip means more mobile-device features and smaller SSDs

By reducing its NAND flash chip size by as much as 40%, Intel and Micron have opened the door for tablets and smartphone manufacturers to use the extra space for product improvements such as a bigger battery or larger screen, or adding another chip to handle new features.

It also means solid-state drives with twice the capacity of current drives.This week, Intel and Micron officially announced that their joint chip manufacturing venture, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), is producing NAND flash memory with circuitry almost half the size of its current products, or 20 nanometers (nm) in width.

Read the Full article via ComputerWorld

First images of the HTC Mazaa leaked

While most of our stories deal with discussions about apps, games, and things that go on in the world of mobile phones, we do find interesting stuff “out there” from time to time. A very generous anonymous informant provided us with the first ever pictures (high quality too!) of one of HTC’s next upcoming devices. The code name for this guy is HTC Mazaa and it will run on Windows Phone 7. Judging from the pictures, it seems to have a single LED flash light, a single camera in the back (sorry, but no 3D shot coming out of this one), and what looks like a 3.7″ screen (not sure about the type of screen). Having said that, our source mentioned that it may be loaded with DDR2, but wasn’t sure and that it is coming to Sprint within the next 6 months. Also, one last interesting detail is that there seems to be an IMEI number on the device itself, which means GSM capabilities. So, we could very well be looking at the first Windows Phone 7 world phone. There was no mention on whether this device will include gyroscope capabilities or not, but one can only hope.

via Xda-Developers

T-Mobiles G2x (build by LG) launches on the 20th of April

T-Mobile's Android roster is growing in number and sheer benchmarking virility today with the launch of the LG-produced G2x. This handset runs bone stock Android (Froyo today, Gingerbread in the future) atop a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 system-on-chip, and just like its international twin the Optimus 2X, eschews the physical flair and focuses on being the best damn 4-inch smartphone that it can be. It costs $199.99 on a two-year contract and can be bought online today or in stores starting April 20th. Also scheduled for general availability on that date is the QWERTY slider-equipped Sidekick 4G, though that sleepyhead is missing out on any early web availability -- it's probably too busy adjusting its tricked-out Android skin and checking that its magenta accents are all spotless. Links are below, whether you're feeling inquisitive or acquisitive.

via Engadget

SanDisk will soon release Windows Phone 7 compatible microSD cards

Well, well -- what have we here? For avid users of Windows Phone 7, you no doubt remember the hubbub last year surrounding the so-called difficulties with Microsoft's latest and greatest mobile OS accepting microSD cards. We'd been pounded with news of "WP7 certified microSD cards," but even now, they're more ghost than reality. That said, it looks as if the tables are turning, with an nondescript AT&T store grabbing fresh stock of "certified" 8GB Class 4 microSDHC cards. Based on the packaging, it's fairly clear that Microsoft's taking the lead here, but SanDisk has been knighted to provide the hardware. $32 will soon get you a card that doesn't destroy itself upon insertion in your Samsung Focus, and we're guessing that they'll be available to purchase sooner rather than later. So, you sizing up, or what? 

via Engadget

A review of the BlackBerry Playbook

The words "play" and "book" are a bit of an odd choice for RIM's latest attempt at consumer relevance, a tablet that, at its core, runs one of the most hardcore and industry-friendly operating systems known to man. The OS is QNX and the hardware is, of course, the BlackBerry PlayBook. It's an enterprise-friendly offering that's also out to conquer the consumer tablet ecosphere, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the BlackBerry handsets that have filled the pockets of corporate executives and BBM addicts around the globe.

Read the full review after the break.

via Engadget

The HTC Sensation 4G is here!

We've known about the so-called HTC Pyramid for months, long before the Vodafone leak this morning. Now the long-rumored Android phone is official and coming to T-Mobile under the moniker HTC Sensation 4G. As expected, it matches many of the EVO 3D's specs, including a 4.3-inch (540 x 960) Super LCD screen, dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, and Android Gingerbread (2.3) with Sense 3.0. But it one ups the 3D handset by bumping the rear lens' resolution to 8 megapixels, throwing in a second LED flash, and speeding up the video frame rate to 30fps at max 1080p resolution. Speed-wise, this HSPA+ device promises download rates as fast as 14.4 Mbps. As for Sense, the Sensation also ushers in various tweaks to the company's UI, including customizable lock screens, 3D transitions, an improved weather app, and HTC Watch, the service introduced with the company's Flyer tablet that lets you download DVD-quality movies.

Read more about HTCs new flagship by following the source link below.

via Engadget

Nokia releases its next flagship Symbian phone, the Nokia X7

It comes as little surprise, given the various leaks we’ve seen over the past few months, but Nokia has officially announced the X7, its gaming and multimedia smartphone. Based around a 4-inch display with a distinctive chassis crafted from stainless steel and glass, the Nokia X7 has a bowed back-panel design which lends itself to slotting neatly into the hands.

There’s also an 8-megapixel with a dual-LED flash, capable of 720p HD video recording, and the faster browsing experience from the Nokia Symbian Anna update. That pulls Facebook and Twitter updates direct to the homescreen, as well as having refreshed iconography and boosted Ovi Maps.

Nokia will be preloading the X7 with Galaxy on Fire and Asphalt 5 HD, with other games available from the Ovi Store. The Nokia X7 is expected to arrive in Q2 2011, priced at €380 ($547) SIM-free.

See a few official images of the device after the break.

via SlashGear 

Nokia X7 launched in the United Kingdom

Nokia, at a UK-based event, formally launched the much anticipated X7 smartphone. The new Nokia X7-00 features a large 4-inch AMOLED display made with Corning Gorilla Glass technology. Apparently, it looks like a cross between the N8 and E7. Yesterday we spotted a video of Nokia X7 being demoed for Three, British Mobile Operator. The X7-00 will remain Three exclusive in UK. Nokia will offer X7-00 in Dark Steel and Silver Steel colors.

The New Nokia X7 has a 4-inch AMOLED display that supports 16:9 nHD 640x360 pixel resolution. Under the hood it houses a 680MHz ARM11 processor which seems to be the same one used in the N8 and E7. Weighing 146 grams, the new X7 is just 11.9 mm thick. It comes with 8GB memory card included and has expansion slot that can carry up to 32GB microSD.

via techtree