Full FeedNew battery technology could greatly improve battery life of mobile devices
Finding a new way to store power in our mobile devices has been a problem for quite some time. We’ve been stuck with Lithium-Ion batteries for a while now, and unless a device is using ULV or is a netbook, chances are the battery life could be a lot better. There’s been promises of several types of new battery tech recently, but none has really taken off. Now yet another new possibility has come as the replacement for the Lithium-Ion.
The new technology is called Metal-Air Ionic Liquid. It works by conducting electricity through an ionic liquid salt. Without getting into too much detail, it means that batteries can be made with metals heavier than the zinc used in zinc-air batteries. To put it into perspective to Lithium-Ion batteries, one kilogram or MAIL can hold about 11 times more watt-hours than the same weight of Lithium-Ions. The main idea of MAIL batteries will be for cars, but they could easily benefit our laptops can netbooks.
The promise of being able to hold up to about 11 times the charge of a Lithium-Ion battery could easily mean that our laptops and netbooks can last for close to a day, or even multiple days. It will probably be a while before we start seeing anything with MAIL batteries, but it might be worth the wait. With Intel pushing it’s ULV chipsets, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see standard laptops running for days at a time when combined with MAIL. We can only hope that this, like so many other battery improvements, doesn’t end up falling away into obscurity or becomes to unfeasible.
Read [jkOnTheRun] Read [Electronista]
RelatedMOTO announces 5-inch Android 2.0 MID for developers
Android seems to be the go-to OS of choice for gadgets smaller than netbooks, especially now with the 2.0 version. It makes a lot of sense, its open source, free to put on any device and has a respectable number of apps available. Plus, its backed by Google. Today we’re seeing yet another Android device, this one a MID from MOTO (not Motorola).
MOTO is calling the new device the AMP (Android Media Platform), the 5-inch version being the first, with a 30inch and 10-inch version on the way by early 2010. The 5-inch AMP comes equipped with a front-facing 8MP camera, a Texas Instrument OMAP3430 processor, capacitive multi-touch display and 256MB flash that’s expandable via SD card. The screen is OLED, so the 720p video the device is said to output should look quite nice. It comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and an optional 3G module, which makes the included navigation app seem strange given the lack of GPS.
While for some it might be difficult to get excited about yet another Android device, the AMP looks to be quite the interesting device. If not the current 5-inch model, then certainly the 10-inch model which looks more like an Internet tablet. While there’s no price for it yet, with a 10.4-inch OLED display with multi-touch, GPS, and 8MP camera (front), a 3MP camera (back) and pen digitizer it looks to be even more than what the (assumed dead) Crunchpad was looking to do. How well Android will be able to translate to such a large screen remains to be seen, but if it does translate well there could at least be a decent open-source alternative to the presumed Apple tablet.
Read [MOTO] Read [MOTO AMP specs]
RelatedVerizon increases ETF for smartphones, netbooks
If there’s one thing we can all agree we hate about cell phone contracts, it would have the be the Early Termination Fee. The ETF has long been the bane of anyone who cannot stick to a single phone or carrier for any extended period of time. Up until now they’ve ranged anywhere from about $175 to $200, but for some Verizon Wireless customers that’s about to change.
Starting November 15th, Verizon Wireless will be raising the ETF for devices like smartphones and netbooks to $350. That number will decrease by $10 for every month or service, so even if you want out of the contract at month 23 you’ll have to pay $120. The reason for the change makes sense for Verizon, smartphones and netbooks cost much more than feature phones do. Verizon subsidizes the phones, and makes it’s money back through the monthly payments. A smartphone that costs the buyer $99, like the BlackBerry Bold or upcoming Droid Eris, is paying much less than what Verizon paid for the phone, so this is really just Verizon trying to make that money back.
No matter how much business sense it makes, the change won’t make consumers any happier. The ETF is already frustrating enough, and there are those who don’t want to be stuck with the same smartphone on the same network for two years. Especially not Verizon’s network which until the Droid has had fairly poor choices of smartphones. Of course there are those who don’t mind having the same phone on the same carrier for two years who won’t be affected. It’s likely this give customers even more reason to stick with their plans until they run out, or just not use Verizon.
Read [USA Today]
RelatedBest Buy partners with CinemaNow for movie streaming
Physical media is slowly dying, or so it seems, and we all know it. The retailers know it, too, and some have been striving to find a way to survive if/when the transition finally happens. One of those retailers, Best Buy, has just inked an interesting deal with CinemaNow that it hopes will help.
The partnership between Best Buy and CinemaNow includes both physical and digital media. More particularly, the deal will allow consumers to buy DVDs from Best Buy, then watch the same movie through CinemaNow on their computers, smartphones or Blu-Ray players. It’s almost like buying a DVD and getting a digital copy on the second disc, but now you require just an Internet connection rather than the digital file. The exact details of the partnership have yet to be revealed, but it’s expected the service will launch in early 2010, just as soon as some studios jump on board.
Getting studios to jump on, historically, has been difficult, but this might be different. Best Buy’s plan will require a DVD to be bought, but there’s no guarantee that the DVD will stay with the buyer, or that the stream will. If it does work, however, it will add yet another streaming service to our media boxes. As it stands with Netflix, Amazon Video, Blockbuster OnDemand, Hulu among others, we already have quite a few. When it all settles down, hopefully we’ll be down to just one or two major companies doing movie streaming/downloads. That will make it much simpler to decide who to pay every month. In the meantime, its a good idea from Best Buy, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if it doesn’t work out all that well.
Read [Electronista]
RelatedKingston makes deal with Paramount to distribute movies on flash memory
We’ve heard it all before, that the DVD is dying, and that the Blu-Ray might not even matter for movies, that the industry is going towards digital download. While that may be true, there is a chance that we might be seeing another physical way of distributing movies before we move to all download and streaming. The good news is that’s it won’t be yet another optical disc to worry about.
The “new” method comes from a deal between Kingston and Paramount that would see movies distributed via flash memory. More specifically, movies will be available on USB flash drives and SD cards. The new method would see movies sold not only individually, but as part of bundles possibly on the same drives/cards or as part of a series, it’s not particularly clear. The deal itself isn’t too clear at the moment, with no release date scheduled, but the partnership and plans seem to be there.
Distributing movies on flash memory seems like a smart idea. Assuming the files are in some sort of standard format without DRM, they should be able to work on just about any computer or netbook. These would work especially well on netbooks or laptops, where users don’t want to carry around DVDs, but may not have the storage to fit a large collection of movies, or no Internet connection that can stream movies. It would be nice if the drives/cards contained both HD and SD versions for a netbook and laptop version. What’s more likely, however, is just SD films so they can be put on the cheapest cards available with a small amount of storage space. Either way, when the partnership does see some real product emerge, it will be interesting to see how well it takes off/fails miserably.
Read [Electronista]
RelatedDroid Eris looks to come same day as Droid
By now we all know that the Motorola Droid is coming to Verizon this Friday, November 6th. Verizon hasn’t been keeping many secrets about the Droid, aside from maybe the fact that Droid is looking to be a full brand rather than just one phone. A leaked document found by Engadget is pointing to a new phone, the Droid Eris, which is made by HTC and is set to be released on the same day.
The Droid Eris appears to be a repurposed model of the HTC Hero. It features the same Sense UI as well well as the exact same specs as the Hero. The only real difference comes in the phone’s body, carrier and price. While the Hero sells on Sprint for $180 (after rebates), the HTC Droid Eris will be sold by Verizon for $99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Given the price point it’s obvious that Verizon views it more as the lesser model to the Motorola Droid. The phone does have a less powerful processor, a lower resolution screen, no hardware keyboard and runs on Android 1.5 as compared to 2.0 on the Droid so that viewpoint does make sense.
The only real downside to the Droid Eris being on Verizon at such a (relatively) low price-point is that Sprint HTC Hero owners might feel bad about spending the extra $80 on what is essentially the same phone. Verizon could be missing a big point in not marketing the Droid Eris if it is coming in on the same day as the Droid. True, the focus is (and should be) on the Droid, but that doesn’t make the Sense UI any less desirable to many people. It’s clear that Verizon is really getting the Android platform and pushing the newer features, which is definitely a welcome move.
Via [Engadget]
RelatedLeaked NVIDIA hardware shows drastic improvements
With the except of the Tegra and Ion platforms, we haven’t been hearing much from NVIDIA in terms of graphics cards lately. Mobile graphics are certainly important, but we still need great graphic cards on our desktops or laptops. Screenshots leaked on a Chinese message board show that NVIDIA is definitely working on fantastic graphics with the new Fermi hardware.
The new graphic cards look to be able to render very realistic faces as well as realistic hair, lighting, and reflections. The captions on the pictures claim the new chips are “the most advanced GPU computing architecture ever built,” and given the results that could be hard to argue. The chips themselves will hold up to 512 separate cores to process all of the graphics. Word is these new chips, probably the NVIDIA GeForce 300 series could be out by the end of the year.
These new chips, should the leaks prove to be true, will likely be expensive though the performance should be worth the price. Paired with a Core i7 CPU, machines packing these new Fermi GPUs should be able to do just about anything. GPU-accelerated programs like Photoshop CS4 will benefit greatly and experience very little slow down, if any. Even if they end up being priced too highly, there’s always that fact the the current chips will more than likely go down in price, making great (if not the best) graphics even easier to obtain.
Read [Electronista]
RelatedUbuntu unleashes Karmic Koala, adds in MobileMe-like service for syncing
Only one week removed from the release of Windows 7 we have yet another new operating system. Canonical today released the newest version of its popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala.” The new version doesn’t pack in as many changes as an X.04 update does, but it does have more stability and more refined features than the previous version, Jaunty Jackalope.
Perhaps the biggest improvement with Ubuntu 9.10 is the inclusion of Ubuntu One. Ubuntu One is essentially Ubuntu’s version of Dropbox with some MobileMe-esque syncing included for good measure. It allows for 2GB of online storage, public sharing of files, syncing of Tomboy Notes and contact syncing, all for free. The service can be upgraded to 50GB for $10 a month, just like Dropbox. Other features include faster, prettier boot-ups, improved sound control across applications, and improved battery usage for Ubuntu Netbook Remix.
Karmic Koala, while not exactly featuring a lot of new things, promises to be a great upgrade or a good starting point for new users. Contrary to popular belief, Ubuntu Linux is actually quite simple to use, some might even say it’s easier to understand that Mac OS X for those who only ever used Windows. While Windows 7 is certainly a good OS, it might be worth the 25 minutes to install Ubuntu, or just use VirtualBox to try it out. If nothing else, the Ubuntu Netbook Remix is worth a shot for anyone tired of trying to run XP on a netbook and doesn’t want to try and instal 7 onto it. The interface is incredibly simple, and uses Firefox, so it shouldn’t be too foreign. If nothing else, its a decent way to change up your netbook experience while waiting for Chrome OS.
Read [Ubuntu]
RelatedNokia releases N97 software update, new N97 mini
On what could possibly be the worst day to be a non-Android, non-Droid phone, Nokia has decided to release an update to one of its smartphones. The update, dubbed software update 2.0 comes to the N97 today via PC download. In addition to the update, Nokia has announced that the N97 mini will be launching this week in Europe.
The new update is meant to make the phone better for users, though will most likely not add much for American users to get excited about. New features include “flip scrolling,” which seems like a nicer way to say kinetic scrolling and should improve scrolling across the entire device; shortcuts to personalized homescreen, Ovi Maps 3.1 with 3D maps (still not as exciting as Google Navigation), and Nokia email.
The new update will be packed into the new N97 mini as well. The N97 mini is just that, a smaller version of the Nokia N97. The main difference is that the mini is aimed at “style-conscious people who are active with social networks.” The emphasis on social networking and the new design brings the N97 mini to €450, which would make importing it more expensive than just buying the original N97 through Nokia USA.
Unfortunately for Nokia, the software update and N97 mini can’t escape Symbian. The OS just doesn’t seem to work well with American consumers. While it is fairly popular in Europe, it is still losing ground. With the N900 coming next month, there is still some hope for an exciting Nokia phone that everyone can like. However, with Android 2.0 and Google Navigation coming up, the N900 running Maemo 5 will have a harder battle. It will certainly be a tough decision for many fans of open source phones.
Read [PR Newswire]
RelatedAndroid 2.0 “Eclair” officially announced
With the impending release of the Verizon Droid, we already know that Android 2.0 is on the way. There have been some leaks regarding what’s going into the next version of the mobile OS, and now Google has made them official. The new version will add a lot of interesting features that could lead to some interesting new devices, as well as better functionality.
Among those new features is support for a larger variety of screen sizes, which will allow for the Verizon Droid’s massive 845 x 480 pixel display. The new screen sizes will allow all apps to work on all phones, but larger screens will obviously see more than smaller screens. The biggest improvement aside from allowing for larger screens, which should make most users of stock Android rejoice is an improved virtual keyboard with multitouch support. No more typing too fast for the keyboard by using two fingers, finally. It would make sense for multitouch to also come to the now improved browser, but sadly Apple has the patents on that is seems. Instead, the new browser will feature double-tap to zoom, as well as HTML 5 support and an improved UI. Other improvements include a combined inbox, Quick Contact to easily select just how you want to contact someone, and a host of camera improvements among others.
Android 2.0 looks to be the Android version we’ve all been waiting for. Sure, the platform, like all platforms, will never please anyone, but it’s certainly improving a lot. The SDK was just released today and the consumer version should be ready by November by the looks of it. It might not have the app selection or the brand that is associated with the iPhone, but for those who don’t want to be stuck with AT&T or Apple, Android is becoming a more viable option. With 2.0 and the upcoming Droid, it might finally be Android’s time to show off what it can do.
Read [Android Developers]
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Palm Pre Information & Updates
Palm just introduced their next-gen smartphone, the Palm Pre, and next-gen operating system, Palm webOS. Gadgetell's got the latest Pre and webOS information and news for you right here.
