Full FeedAndroid 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]
RelatedjetBook-Lite announced as cheapest eBook reader
Nobody seems to be content with Amazon owning most of the eBook reader space with the Kindle. Sure, there are other alternatives both equally priced (Nook) and a bit cheaper (Sony Reader Pocket Edition). None seem to have ability to completely own the market as they’re all fairly expensive for most consumers. Enter ECTACO with its new jetBook-Lite.
The jetBook-Lite is actually ECACTO’s second eBook reader and according to the company, the cheapest reader out there now at $149. On possibility for why the reader is so cheap is because rather than the standard built-in battery, the jetBook-Lite uses four replaceable AA batteries. With the batteries, ECTACO is claiming 23 hours of continuous reading. On the upside, the jetBook-Lite supports the Barnes & Noble eBook store, as well as a variety of file formats, so it should support just about anything you throw at it, even PDFs.
What the jetBook-Lite doesn’t offer, however, is the good looks of the Nook, or the wireless downloads of the Nook and Kindle. It does support SD cards, so loading up books shouldn’t be too difficult for the average user, even if it’s not as convenient. On the plus side, it come with the CIA World Factbook preloaded, which wouldn’t be useful for everyone, but could be good for random fact checking. It might not be the best eBook reader, or the most attractive, but for the price, and for some the replaceable batteries and the cheap price could put it over the Nook, Kindle and Sony Reader.
Read [PR Newswire]
Read [ECTACO]
New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year
The biggest thing in CPU technology right now seems to be how many cores someone can fit on a chip, then how fast those cores will run. Intel right now looks to be leading the pack with its quad-core Core i7, and rightfully so, that chip is awesome. A new company spun out of M.I.T., Tilera, promises to multiply that number by 25, with 100 cores per chip.
Tilera is claiming that these chips will be available by early 2010, and should work with current x86 applications after a recompiling. If that sounds foreign, just know that it will work with current applications with some slight modifications. The chip manages to achieve 100 cores by assembling them in a grid on the chip surface, and connecting them via a mesh network. The result should end up with a chip that can easily turn off and on the cores as needed, and still work reasonably well with existing memory. The chips should provide enough processing power to do just about anything needed, like the Core i7.
The major downfall with Tilera’s chips is that they won’t be able to run Windows 7, or anything out right now. With a different architecture, the Tilera chips will not be capable of running anything until an OS of some sort supports it. Perhaps a Linux distribution (Ubuntu?) will at least get some code for the new CPUs. If the chips are as powerful as Tilera is promising, they should be able to handle anything Linux could throw at them. They would serve well for a server of some sort, or an ultra-powerful Linux desktop as of right now. If nothing else, hopefully this will push Intel into getting their 80-core prototype CPU out as soon as possible.
RelatedT-Mobile introduces Even More plans
We’ve been hearing for quite a while about T-Mobile’s “Project Dark/Black,” with the promise of better prices for more phones. The plans were meant to help T-Mobile leap over Sprint in terms of subscribers, up to the number three spot. The new plans were put in place today, being advertised on the T-Mobile website as the first thing a visitor sees.
The new plans are being called Even More and Even More Plus, both of which as advertised as “affordable unlimited” plans. The biggest difference between the plans is that Even More Plus require no monthly contract, while Even More locks customers into the standard two year contract. Even More Plus plans begin at $49.99, while Even More starts at $59.99. Each of those include 500 minutes and no data or SMS. Even More adds the standard services onto the price for SMS and data, while $59.99 with Even More Plus can get 500 minutes with unlimited data and SMS. The downfall to Even More Plus, however, is that you have to buy phones outright, so the MyTouch 3G will cost $499.99 rather than the current $149.99 for other plans.
The new plans certainly seem interesting, though it’s not clear if they’ll take too many customers away from Sprint. Sprint has unlimited data, SMS and mobile to mobile calling for $70 on a two year contract, with a subsidized phone like the Palm Pre. However, T-Mobile does have the ability to use data and still get a phone call, unlike Sprint. There were rumors of the Nokia N900 launching with these new plans, but with that phone being delayed perhaps we’ll see it next month on T-Mobile. Even if not waiting for the N900, waiting might be the best option right now. It’s getting close to the holidays, and AT&T and Verizon must have their own plans.
Read [T-Mobile]
RelatedWindows 7 netbook now on Verizon
Today, as you probably already know, is the release of Windows 7. The day comes not only with the new OS, but with a number of new computers to go along with the release. One of the biggest features is that Windows 7, unlike Vista, works fairly well on netbooks, which means today there’s a few new netbooks being released. It only makes sense then, that the cellular networks would take advantage of it.
Verizon Wireless has announced that it is now carrying two new HP netbooks that are released today. The new netbooks are the HP Mini 311-1037NR and the HP Mini 110-1046NR. The Mini 110 is a standard netbook running Windows XP, while the Mini 311 runs Windows 7. The Mini 110 will sell for $199 and the Mini 311 will sell for $249, both after a $100 mail-in rebate. The extra $50 will get you an extra GB of RAM (The 311 has 2GB, compared to 1GB) in addition to the upgraded OS. The plans for both are the same as the current Verizon Wireless netbook plans, which is to say expensive.
It’s great to see that Verizon is supporting the new OS on day one so users don’t have to try to find a way to get 7 to work nicely with the network after upgrading. What would be nice, would be if Verizon lowered the price of the data. $60 a month for 5 GB of data is not a good deal at all. Plus, its locking users into the same netbook for two years. It might just make more sense to get a new Windows 7 netbook with a Sprint MiFi. There’s no usage caps, you can upgrade the netbook, and the data is usable by more than just the one device.
Read [PR Newswire]
RelatedMetroPCS adds a second real smartphone - Samsung Code joins BlackBerry Curve
MetroPCS, possibly the most intriguing pay-as-you-go services is finally adding another “real” smartphone to their phones offerings. MetroPCS earlier in the year started carrying a BlackBerry Curve like just about every other carrier. Aside from that, it labels any phone with an HTML browser and email capabilities as a smartphone. Until now those other smartphones haven’t been using one of the more widely accepted smartphone OSes like Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, or Android.
That changed today when MetroPCS announced that it will start carrying the Samsung Code, which will be its second true smartphone. The Samsung Code runs Windows Mobile 6.1, so not only is it late to the carrier, but it’s not even using the newest OS. That does make sense, however, as MetroPCS would be trying to keep the phone price down. The Samsung Code is currently selling for $299 since it, like all of MetroPCS’ phones, isn’t really subsidized with the $50 unlimited everything plan the company sells. Features of the phone include 3G, a 2.4” screen, Bluetooth and expandable memory up to 32 GB.
Giving a real smartphone option to MetroPCS customers if they want to pay a premium for the phone is a great idea. Data for feature phones, or smartphones without the standard OSes and less features can be nice to have, but can ultimately be fairly useless. Web browsing on one of those phones is not a fun experience to say the least, and most other uses can be done through SMS rather than data. While the Code is a WinMo phone, and therefore not spectacular, it’s not a terrible option. At least it can take advantage of a handful of useful apps, and do most everything your average BlackBerry Curve will do.
Read [Information Week]
RelatedAT&T asking employees to oppose Net Neutrality
AT&T really isn’t letting up on the FCC’s proposed Net Neutrality rules. The company has expressed its displeasure with the proposed rules and have even gone after Google Voice in what seemed like a blatant distraction. Now, some advocacy groups are saying the telecom is going too far, as it has started asking “normal” people to write to the FCC and their elected members of congress opposing the proposed rules.
AT&T isn’t just asking those people, however. The company sent out emails to employees asking them, their family and their friends to write in opposing the FCC. The goal would be to convince the FCC that people outside of executives of ISPs oppose Net Neutrality. The email, however, didn’t mention Net Neutrality outright, choosing to word it as the FCC regulating the Internet.
It can be said that the groups calling out AT&T for this practice also ask people to write to their congressional representatives, however those people are not employed by Free Press and Public Knowledge. Net Neutrality is something that many people (myself included) care a lot about, so it makes sense that a lot of letters will be sent supporting the FCC’s proposed rules. AT&T’s logic of trying to get more Americans writing in opposing the proposed rules is sound; this isn’t the way to do it, though. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get the word out otherwise, though. Running an ad campaign would just seem mean-spirited, or wouldn’t motivate anyone. Perhaps AT&T could try saying why it doesn’t want the rules to pass, and what it’ll do if they don’t pass.
Read [CNet News]
RelatedDual-screen ebook reader reads books and browses the web
The ebook reader market certainly looks to be heating up quite a bit as of late. There’s the new international version of the Kindle 2, Plastic Logic teasing us with a new reader, Sony’s new readers and tomorrow’s Barnes & Noble announcement among others. Today, we can add another name to that list: Spring Design. Spring Design looks to have beaten B&N’s announcement by a day, announcing a device similar to the bookstore’s rumored ebook reader.
Spring Design’s new design brings two screen to an ebook reader and not in the notebook fashion like Asus’ design. The Spring Design device, Alex, will feature a 6” e-ink display for reading large blocks of text. It will also feature a 3.5” LCD touchscreen below that screen that will be used for functions such as web browsing. The bottom screen will be powered by Android. The device will have Wi-Fi as well as a 3G data connection, though no carrier is named yet. All we know so far is the name of the device, its features and design.
Spring Design’s Alex looks to bring an interesting dynamic to ebook readers. Sure, the battery life on it might not be as great as an e-ink only device, but that’s a small price to pay. There’s a number of possible ways the two displays can interact, and it makes for a device that can have a keyboard for searching without having the ugliness of having to have a physical keyboard. Spring Design has said that this isn’t the B&N ebook reader, which is supposed to have similar features to the Alex, and yet be cheaper than the Kindle. If this is where ebook readers are going, I might just have to go out and buy one soon.
Read [Spring Design]
RelatedMicrosoft recovered “most” Sidekick users’ data
It looks like we’re finally at the end of the great Sidekick disaster. Well, we thought we were already at the end when T-Mobile said that the data was lost and offered users gift cards and free data for a month. Now it looks like we’ll be able to put a bit of a happier note to the end of this tale for those users who may have lost all of their data.
Microsoft is claiming that it was able to recover “most” of the data that was lost in the recent server problems. The data that we all assumed was lost should now be able to return to users or should sometime soon at least. The data, including contacts, calendar entries, to dos and photos are included in all that data. The data isn’t all available right now, but Microsoft hopes to push it all out “as soon as possible.” Of course, this might exclude some users, as only “most” of the data was recovered. Hopefully, those people whose data was truly lost never turned off their phone, or let it run out of battery so the RAM retained it all.
It is great news that most of the data has been recovered, especially considering the fact that T-Mobile announced it was all pretty much gone forever. The whole deal should teach us all a valuable lesson, as well. Even data on the cloud should be backed up locally if possible. That way, if something unforeseeable, like say a giant corporation accidentally losing all of the information, happens, the files you need are still there for you. It’s doubtful that many of us backup their phone data to a computer despite the option to, which we should maybe start doing.
Read [Reuters]
RelatedSamsung adds Blockbuster, Amazon video to HDTVs and Blu-Ray players
It seems like no set top box is safe from getting Internet video options lately. Amazon, Blockbuster and Netflix have been hard at work to get their respective video stores on as many boxes as possible. We’ve seen a number of companies add the functionality through new hardware and firmware updates, and now we can add Samsung to that list of companies.
Samsung is now rolling out firmware updates to Blu-Ray players and Internet@TV displays that will feature two of the three major video services. Blockbuster On Demand and Amazon will now be available through the updates, allowing users two more ways to get movies and TV shows instantly. However, only Amazon video actually supports HD content, so it will probably be more preferable. To bring Blockbuster back in, however, Samsung Blu-ray players will now be available at Blockbuster stores, which, assuming people still use the store, should hopefully bring in a few sales.
With all these companies adding all these services, eventually it seems we’ll all have a large number of boxes that support Internet video. Not even just the boxes, but also HDTVs. Soon there will be no excuse to not at least know of movie streaming services, if you don’t already use them. Having a wide range of products that have the features is nice, but it can also become confusing and annoying. Different services could have different stream qualities for specific content, and some devices could produce better video or audio assuming the user has no home theater surround sound setup. Surely consumers will be able to figure it out, but for now, do we really need to have Netflix, Blockbuster and Amazon on every box that connects to a TV?
Read [Engadget]
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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.
