Video: Apple Introduces iCloud…Fina-****ing-ly!

By: Kareem 

Apple announced yesterday during their WWDC that they will be introducing cloud storage to the new version of iOS.  Along with I guess some other features, but finally no more f’ing rumors about iCloud thank Jobs!

There were some other interesting announcements at WWDC, such as a new notification system and the Lion OS release. But the real news is iTunes is going to the cloud. What that means for users is that you’ll be able to view and download all your purchases form any iOS web connected device for free. So if you’ve downloaded tons of apps and music on your iPad and didn’t want to go through all the effort of synching it with your computer, so you could then sync that to your other iOS devices. This is great news. All you have to do now is go to whatever device you want to download your stuffs to and launch the iTunes App or Music store. You should see a button called purchased. Hit that and you'll be able to see everything you’ve downloaded in those stores. Pick what you want, tap the little cloud and your done.

So that’s about that, there really is much to it. You can check out the video below to see the release:

 

Related Stuffs:

Source: Information Week

Quick Hit: Unknown HTC Windows Phone With 12 MP Camera Support

By: Kareem Ali

So it would seem the rumors of an HTC-WP7 12 MP camera were true. A phone reviewer by the name of Eldar Murtazi posted some tweets and pictures of the phone showing off it’s 12 MP capabilities check em out:

The pictures also show that the phone will be capable of capturing images in RAW format which is a first I think for phones.

Murtazi said this via his twitter account "I like 12 megapixel camera on WP7 - support RAW, some additional settings. Quality is not bad at all. Will compare with N8 tomorrow"

There is no other real information on the phone other than it will be running Mango (as Murtazi shows in the video below). There’s no release date or even and official  name for this device yet, but a lot of people seem to be pretty excited about it.

Here’s the vid (in Russian):

Related Stuffs:

• Source: GSM Arena
• Engadget: Mystery HTC Windows Phone sports 12 megapixel goodness, RAW support

Quick Hit: Samsung’s New WQXGA Debuting This Week

Samsung is planning to unveil it’s new display technology which will offer tablets in the 10.1 screen size range to compete with the quality of smaller cell phone displays.

The new screen will feature a 2560 x 1600 resolution at 300 dpi which is only 27 dpi short of Apples patented retina display. Besides the super high-quality of the new screens, Samsung boasts that they will consume 40% less power than the tablet displays on the market today.

Samsung is expecting to make the displays available to manufactures later this year and there’s no doubt that the first device to offer it will probably be their own Galaxy tablet. Some people are speculating that this new display tech might make it onto the iPad 3, but relationships are pretty strained between Apple and Samsung so that’s kind of a long shot in my opinion. Plus there’s no reason not to think that Apple is working on their own super high-def display for that device. There have also been some complaints about PenTile displays, (which use a pixel layout like to 5 on a 5 sided die) making pixels a little fuzzy, so it could be a step back from the retina display I’m sure Apple is hoping to get onto the iPad 3.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see once this hit’s devices if those complaints are valid in this case or if Samsung found a workaround for that particular problem.

You can read more about the details at the link below.

Related Stuffs:

Source: Tech News World

A few Specs On The New WP7 Mango Build

Microsoft is showing off it’s latest WP7 build, codenamed mango at this years TechEd 2011 in Atlanta.

So what’s new in WP7 Mango?

For starters Microsoft is offering users the ability share documents via their cloud services Office 365 and Windows Live SkyDrive. That’s pretty handy for people who have tons of documents and can’t store them all locally on their devices.

On the social side of things there will be improved Twitter integration which is good news for the many many people complaining about WP7 lack of a decent twitter app. Facebook/AOL chat is also getting an overhaul and being made more accessible.

There are also some new security features being announced at the reveal, such as complex password support and Information Rights Management capabilities that protect emails and docs from being stolen or unwantedly accessed.

Microsoft is also planning to add new functions for developers which will allow them to target their app distribution and a huge push for HTML  support.

There was no mention however on how or if they plan to leverage their recent Skype acquisition to add any new features, but I’m hoping they’ll mention something coming in the near future.

Microsoft seems to be playing it pretty smart, some people might say their being slow, but I think it’s a smarter idea for them to release things that can compete with the current kings of mobile operating systems (Android and iOS), rather than just rush things to the market. Microsoft has built a pretty good foundation with WP7, they have plenty of tools that make it easy for people to develop on their OS and there are already quite a few Silverlight, .Net, Visual… developers that can use what they already know to get a decent start on WP7 so the future is looking pretty bright for Microsoft mobile. Despite the fact that they’re struggling in market share and install base now.

So with all that Microsoft is hoping to attract more developers to the platform so they can start competing with the Apple and Android App store and Marketplace. Something they’re going to have to achieve if they want to be taken seriously in the mobile space, and repair their damaged reputation there.

Related Stuffs:

• Source: TG Daily
• Article: Microsoft's New iOS To WP7 API

Google’s New Android Market Makes Life A Lot Sweeter For Developers

By: Syeed

Google announced that there are going to be some changes coming to the Android market soon. The new layout, features and other goodies are defiantly going to help users find apps and devs make more money off their work.

The good news for users is that the Android Market on phones and the web is getting a sexy new look that makes it easier for users to find apps. There making it so people will be able to search by developer, related apps, Trending Apps, Top Apps and Editors choice. There will be no more fugly 3 column layout, it’s being replaced by panels that make the Top apps and most popular downloads ‘pop’ a lot more than they used to. The whole thing just looks a whole lot nicer, and makes it much easier to find and get the apps you want.

For the developers out there, Google is adding some sweet new features that will allow you to block apps from particular devices. This is a good move by Google to help deal with the fragmentation issue on Android. Since developers can essentially make their apps ‘invisible’ to certain devices, we can expect that within the coming months less and less people will be getting frustrated by downloading apps that don’t seem to work or run right on their device (anyone try playing Angry Birds on a Samsung Transform?… I rest my case). Just a word to you developers out there, don’t be lazy please block your apps if they don’t run on certain devices and you know it, at least till you can fix ‘em. It helps the Android dev community as a whole. So that’s cool…but wait there’s more. Google is also allowing devs to upload bigger files and create drafts so they can check out how their app performs on different devices by just downloading from the market.

Google is hoping all these new thingamabobs they’re offering will help get developers noticed in the crowded and increasingly growing Android Market.

Here’s a video of the announcement (scroll to the 40:00 mark if you just want to see what the new Market’s going to look like):

Related Stuffs:

• Source: Information Week
• Article: Chrome Laptops Coming Next Month
• Article: Google Music Service Launches
• Article: Google Adds Tons Of New Movies To YouTube VOD

Chrome Laptops Coming Next Month

By: Kareem Ali

Google finally made it official, the much rumored Chrome powered netbooks from Acer and Samsung will be shipping next month. The CR-48 (pictured above) was Google’s sexy test bed for the platform and thankfully the Acer and Samsung tabs don’t differentiate much from it’s design.

First a bit on Chrome for the uninitiated. Chrome is Google’s answer to Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. According to Google those operating systems are pretty much just getting in the way of what people really use their computers for nowadays, the internet, and this is their way of fixing that.

At it’s heart Chrome is hardly more than a simple really really small Linux kernel that only serves to run basic bootstrap code and then start up the Chrome browser. What that means for those of you who don’t know squat about OS kernel's and whatnot is that it can boot in about 8 seconds, and have you on the web within 15 (accounting for login and all). That’s pretty damned fast if you ask me. I’ve argued before that the cloud can help Linux get into more peoples hands. The way I see it Google is pretty much dead on in assuming that most people boot their computers, start up their browsers and spend pretty much all their time on the web. You don’t need a gigantic OS chugging along in the background slowing you down. so why bother having it? I know there are still a lot of people (like me) who use their computers for more than just surfing the web and playing games, and we need a powerful OS to handle all the editing and gaming software. But the fact of the matter is most people are just using their computers (laptops especially) to get online and do their thing, y’know check Facebook, Spam Porn, whatever it is you do online. Those people would benefit greatly from having a huge chunk of their OS removed so they could surf around faster and not have to worry about maintaining an OS, which if you ask any tech, seems to be well beyond the capabilities of the average computer user for some reason.

Here are the specs for each Chrome book, then I’ll get into some of my beefs with Chrome:

Specifications

• 12.1" (1280x800) 300 nit Display
• 3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg
• 8.5 hours of continuous usage ¹
• Intel® Atom^TM Dual-Core Processor
• Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
• HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• 4-in-1 memory card slot
• Mini-VGA port
• Fullsize Chrome keyboard
• Oversize fully-clickable trackpad

 

 

Specifications

• 11.6" HD Widescreen CineCrystal^TM LED-backlit LCD
• 2.95 lbs. | 1.34 kg.
• 6 hours of continuous usage ¹
• Intel® Atom^TM Dual-Core Processor
• Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
• HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
• High-Definition Audio Support
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• 4-in-1 memory card slot
• HDMI port
• Full-size Chrome keyboard
• Oversize fully-clickable track pad

 

The stats are pretty similar, as you can see, the glaring differences seem to be the battery life and the HDMI out port. Now on to my gripe with Chrome.

The only thing that really bothers me is that Google expects people to store most of their data in their cloud. The option is there for flash memory, but as you can see neither device comes with a hard drive. That’s the problem with netbooks in general however, they seem to straddle this fence of not quite being a laptop, while at the same time not quite being a tablet. It’s kind of weird and off-putting to me personally.

The problem with storing all my data in a cloud rather than on a hard drive is that I simply don’t fully trust it. You can tell me it’s safe, reliable and secure, but they say that about every new car that comes out and yet look how many people die in car accidents. I don’t want my data to die, I want it triple backed up in different ways stored in different places. I like the way things are now where I can choose what I want backed up in the cloud and then go from there. There’s no question that cloud servers are going to play a vital role in the future of computing but I don’t think it’s smart for Google to be banking on people trusting it.

For the people that do adopt Chrome as their day to day OS and don’t want to go all crazy on the cloud storage, are going to have to deal with carrying around lots of different storage devices in an attempt to make up the common 250-320 GB hard drives that come in laptops today. That means more chances to lose data as you could misplace on of those pretty much anywhere.

That’s my biggest gripe with Chrome OS, if you only use your laptop for surfing the web, and are ok with spending that extra money for memory or don’t mind storing all your ish in the cloud, than June 15th will be a great day for you. Otherwise I don’t see Chrome doing anything more than I could do in Linux if I really wanted to (except maybe the over the air updates) so, you might as well buy an OS-Free laptop and get you a copy of Ubuntu, it boots fast, you can find a really small bare-bones version if you look for it and if your hell bent on the chrome browser than it’s only a couple command lines away.

So there you have it, I found a video of Google introducing the Chrome book check it out below.

Related Stuffs:

• Source: Forbes
• Article: What Does The Cloud Mean For Linux Users?
• Official: Google Chrome Web

Sound, The Next Source Of Battery Charging Power?

By: syeed@techsual.com

A new technology being worked on in South Korea allows sound waves to be converted into energy. Right now it’s being tested and used on small electronics such as cell phones, but the man behind the project has some pretty high hopes.

That man is Dr. Sang-Woo Kim, of the institute of nanotechnology at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. He told the UK Telegraph;

"A number of approaches for scavenging energy from environments have been intensively explored.

"The sound that always exists in our everyday life and environments has been overlooked as a source. This motivated us to realize power generation by turning sound energy from speech, music or noise into electrical power.

His team has been successful in doing just that. The technology they've developed uses Nano-sized strands of zinc oxide placed between two electrodes. When sound hits an absorption pad that’s placed on top, the zinc oxide wires compress and release. The tiny movements then generates the electrical current that charges the battery.

Of course the tiny amount of energy being generated isn’t quite enough to do anything really significant, but Dr. Kim has hopes that a new material might yield much better results.

Dr. Kim also hopes that in the future his technology will be used in a larger capacity. He also mentioned to the UK Telegraph that “Sound power can be used for various novel applications including cellular phones that can be charged during conversations and sound-insulating walls near highways that generate electricity from the sound of passing vehicles.  He added that putting using “sound power” to insulate walls would not only help run the buildings electricity, but also provide better sound insulation to keep noise inside down.

This isn’t the only ‘environmentally charged’ technology on the block by any means, there have been devices that run on everything from kinetic (movement) energy to the human heartbeat. The thing that makes this interesting to me is, if the tech gets to a level where it CAN charge your phone. That would be pretty damned cool, I mean really what would be better than a phone that pretty much never dies. Since the phone can charge using sound from any source, you don’t necessarily have to be talking on the phone in order for the charge to take effect. That means the only time you’ll really be losing battery is when your playing games in church or the dentist's office, or whatever other awkward quiet places you like to hang out.

Related Stuffs:

• Source: UK Telegraph

• Article: (PCMag) New Tech Could Power Cell Phones Through Sound

Samsung Infuse Coming With Lots Of Free Goodies

 

By: syeed@techsual.com

Samsung’s new gigantic phone the Infuse is getting shipped on AT&T real real soon (May 15th). It’s got a huge screen, some decent power and when it’s out will be the thinnest smartphone on the market, but it’s the free crap they’re giving with it that caught my attention.

Ok maybe I shouldn’t call it crap, but you know what I mean yeesh. Just for kicks here’s what the phones packing:

• Screen: 4.5 Inch Super AMOLED
• Resolution: 480 x 800
• Processor: Single-Core ARM 1.2 GHz
• Storage: MicroSD (up to 32 GB)
• Cameras: 8 MP rear/1.3 MP FF
• OS: Android 2.2
• Width: 0.35
• Weight: 5 OZ

Sound’s good, like your average Android phone nowadays. Now lets get to the sweet, sexy free crap.

The phone is coming with Angry Birds pre-installed, and…wait for it…they’ve added a whole new level especially for Infuse owners. Samsung also says that if you beat the special ‘Golden Egg’ level you can register for a sweepstakes that includes a 55-Inch HDTV and a Blu-Ray home theater system.

Not only are you getting Angry Birds, Samsung has included a $25 voucher to download movies from Media Hub to the first 500,000 Infuse owners. Buying the Infuse 4G will get you a 2GB MicroSD card that comes pre loaded with ish-loads of summer movie trailers (you can thankfully delete).

Well there you have it. I’m defiantly not saying you should go out and buy pre-order this thing. Just wanted to let you know about the free crap giveaway bonanza Samsung is offering if you do.

Related Stuffs:

Source: PCWorld

Chinese Customers Get Violent Over Apple Products

 

People in China got violent over the iPad 2 release in Beijing over the weekend. Fights broke out, people were bloodied and glass was smashed.

By: kareem@techsual.com

What happened at the iPad 2  launch?

At the iPad 2 release, group believed to be a scalpers was caught trying to cut ahead in line. They were confronted by one of the Apple store security guards who told them they could wait in line and buy theirs the same time as everyone else. Apparently the would-be scalpers didn’t dig that idea and started a fight with security. An employee from the Apple store then came out with  a metal club (I guess to help the poor overwhelmed security guy out) and smacked up 2 young men and 2 middle aged women. According to the reports Apple then shut down the store, which somehow led to one of the stores glass windows being shattered when the crowds got mad they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on the ’magical’ device that day.

The store remained shut down all Saturday and re-opened on Sunday with no issues to report.

Related Stuffs:

• Article: People Get Bloodied At Beijing iPad 2 Release
• Source: CNN

Quick Hit: Evo 3D Pre-Orders Started, You Just Have To Ask

Androidcommunity.com has gotten their hands on an apparent text message sent out to Best Buy employees about customers asking for the HTC Evo 3D, which hasn’t has any official release date or price announcements yet.

According to the text message they will be allowed to take pre-orders starting today (May 2nd 2011), they’re just not allowed to let customers know they can yet. However if you ask, they are allowed to tell you what they can and take your pre-order request

Source: Android Community

HBO Ready To Go Mobile

By: Syeed@techsual.com

HBO is all ready to get on the mobile streaming bandwagon.  They’ve announced that starting today subscribers will be able to download a free app on their Android or iOs devices that will allow them to stream content from the networks catalog directly to their device.

HBO go is the networks current online viewing option which launched last year.  It allows subscribers to watch quite a bit of HBO’s content online, on their own time. The app will give users access to that entire catalog online which includes over 14,000 worth of content such as movies and full seasons of some of their hit shows.

The app is only free to users who subscribe to HBO through their current cable provider, which is odd if their plan is to get back old subscribers or entice people who watch most of their TV on the web and most likely have already cancelled their cable subscription. I don’t think this app is going to make anyone want to re-subscribe to cable or HBO if they’ve already found a comfortable alternative.

Source: The Chicago Tribune

RIM Launches New Blackberry OS 7, Two New Phones And Announces Video Chat Coming For Playbook

By: Kareem@techsual.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seems like someone’s trying to overcompensate for all those bad PlayBook reviews, Research in Motion has gone announce crazy today. RIM announced two new phones, a new OS and said that they will be brining WiFi video chat to the PlayBook soon.

 

First Off BB OS 7:

RIM has integrated what they call Liquid Graphics into their new OS which according to their press release will help deliver “faster rendering and seamless panning and zooming.” Sounds Spiffy, although they didn’t say exactly how it achieves this faster rendering and whatnot. Another big addition to the new OS is a better browser that comes with a JIT (Just in Time) JavaScript compiler which is cool, I’ve heard some good things about JIT compilers and their performance, should make things load a little faster. Along with that JIT action the new browser will be coming with additional support for HTML 5 tags such as <video> (yay!!).

The new BB OS 7 also comes with voice activated search and a feature RIM is calling BlackBerry Balance, which separates personal content from corporate content. I guess that’s their attempt to make it easier for people to have one device for personal and business use, rather than having to carry around a separate phone for each. BlackBerry balance also works in conjunction with a little thing called BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.3 to add better controls over blocking certain content from certain contacts.

Second The New Phones:

They are the BlackBerry 9900 and 9930 and are the Thinnest, most powerful BlackBerry smartphones to date.  The 9900 will be available on AT&T/T-Mobile’s HSPA network while the identical 9930 will be coming to Sprint/Verizon’s CDMA.HSPA+ network. Here's the stats:

• Screen Size: 2.8
• Interface: Touchscreen/Physical Keyboard
• Resolution: 640x480
• Processor: 1.2 GHz Qualcomm
• Storage: 8GB
• Camera: 5MP (capable of recording 720p video)
• Wireless: Bluetooth, WiFi

The new phones will be running the new BB OS 7 and apparently thanks to it’s aforementioned new liquid graphics, will be able to run games and video at a full 60 FPS.

Third PlayBook Video Chat:

Pretty much the same as any other OS’ chat functionality. You’ll be able to chat with other PlayBook owners face to face over a WiFi connection, I’m assuming it will be a free app and is all set to be unleashed upon the droves of PlayBook owners May 3rd (tomorrow).

Research in Motion also announced they’ll be releasing an official Facebook for Blackberry PlayBook app sometime in the near future. But no announcement of a native SDK so developers can get cracking on those apps that seem to be all the craze nowadays.

Related Stuffs:

• Source: PCMag
• Article: What's Up With The PlayBook, iPad 2 and Xoom
• Article: RIM's Co-CEO defends Against Bad PlayBook Reviews

Video: BlackBerry PlayBook Demo

Microsoft Announces New iOS to WP7 API Mapping Tool

By: syeed@techsual.com

Microsoft announced on the Windows Phone Developer blog yesterday that they’ve released a new iOS to Windows Phone 7 mapping tool that makes it easier for iOS developers to port their code over to WP7.

The tool basically allows iOS developers who want to develop for WP7 to load their code into Visual Studio and find the equivalent classes, methods and notification events in WP7. According to the blog:

“A developer can search a given iOS API call and find the equivalent WP7 along with C# sample codes and API documentations for both platforms. The code samples allow developers to quickly migrate short blobs of iOS code to the equivalent C# code. All WP7 API documentations are pulled in from the Silverlight, C# and XNA sources on MSDN.”

Microsoft hopes to attract more iOS developers with this new tool, but it’s probably going to take a lot more than what they have now before developers start seriously thinking about dedicating time and effort into porting their code. Not to mention the fact that WP7 has no where near the install base of iOS yet.

The good news however is that they see this as a work in progress and intend to add a lot more functionality in the future.

Source: Windows Team Blog

White iPhone 4 In Stores Next Week

By: Kareem Ali 

According to all the top sources Apple’s Infamous white iPhone 4 will be shitting stores as early as next week.

The white iPhone 4 was supposed to ship alongside the original, like the current iPad 2. Users were expecting to have two choices at launch, but due to a manufacturing error the phone never shipped.

The rumors suggest that U.S retail stores started receiving the promotional information for the white iPhone 4 last night. The rumors also say that retailers will have to hold out on putting the phone on display until there is an official announcement on the 27th, and 9 to 5 Mac got their hands on a screenshot of  Best Buy’s inventory system which shows the white iPhone 4 stock date.

According to Apple Insider, Apple normally experiences a drop in sales around this time of year and releasing a white iPhone might serve as a boom to sales until the iPhone 5 comes out later this year.

Source: Apple Insider

T-Mobile Will Launch The First 3D 4G Honeycomb Tablet The LG G-Slate

T-Mobile suddenly announced that their G-Slate tablet, which they announced in February will be released tomorrow 4/20/2011 here in the U.S. The tablet is the first to offer 3D (albeit ‘old school’ style with the red and blue glasses) and will come loaded with Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

The tablet is selling for $529.99 with a two year contract for current T-Mobile customers, that’s after a $100 mail in rebate which means you’ll be paying $629.99 out of the door. For that price you get:

• 8.9 Inch Multi-Touch 1280 X 768 display
• Android 3.0
• Tegra 2 1GHz Dual-Core CPU
• 32GB Internal Memory
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• HDMI Out
• 5MP Front Facing Camera
• 2MP Front Facing Camera
• Micro USB Port
• Micro-SDHC Card Slot
• Kickstand
• 3D Video Recording
• 3D Video Playback
• Accelerometer
• Gyroscope

LG G-Slate

Seems like a pretty reasonably powered device even without the somewhat gimmicky anaglyphic 3D being tacked on to it. The G-Slate will also come with some nifty bloatware for you to immediately delete unless of course you like; T-Mobile live and on-demand TV, Need For Speed Shift HD, Zino eReader, Google eBooks or Google Talk.

The tablet was built in conjunction with LG for T-Mobile so I guess it’s only a matter of time before Apple’s lawyers start suing them both for patent infringement, it seems to be their way of dealing with any competition lately. Plus if you believe their lawyers you pretty much can’t make a tablet people touch with their fingers without ripping off iOS.

So there you have it. A full on 3D Honeycomb tablet you can take home tomorrow. Can’t wait to see what happens with this one.

• By: Syeed@techsual.com
• Source: Tablets Planet
• Official: T-Mobile Blog

PlayBook Launches Today

 

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Research in Motion’s first tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook launched today, the real question is can it overcome all the bad pre-release press?

Although the BlackBerry PlayBook is an ideal solution to any BlackBerry smartphone owner, there dosen’t seem to be many benefits of it outside of that group. The PlayBook has some pretty sweet features for those who own both devices, such as the near-field communication capability which allows users to see their emails, calendar and other information from their BlackBerry phone on their PlayBook without any need for synching or tethering with a wire. There’s also the QNX operating system which is supposed to be built from the ground up to be a multitasking OS.

Will these things be enough? I know there are some people out there who see this as the ideal role of a tablet PC and if it succeeds with BlackBerry users there’s a good chance some consumers might jump on board once there’s more of the bells and whistles and hype that fuel the sales of the iPad 2.

RIM decided to price there PlayBook at the exact same pricing as the iPad 2. Here’s the list:

• 16GB: $499
• 32GB: $599
• 64GB: $699

So there you have it, I just have one question. Do you plan on getting one and why or why not?

By: syeed@techsual.com

Source: eweek

iPad 2 Officially Hits Toys R Us

Apple’s insanely popular iPad 2 started selling at Toys R Us over this past weekend. Quite a while before the rumored release next month.
Toys R Us is putting the iPad 2 in 30 states and only in select stores. Along with the iPad 2 Toys R Us will also be selling cases and accessories for the tab.
Some people are concerned that Apple putting the iPad 2 in a toy store might ‘cheapen’ it’s reputation. I think it’s a good move on Apple’s part. I don’t see any devaluation in the iPad’s reputation by it being in a toy store, it’s not like they made a cheaper kid friendly version to sell to Toys R Us, and if this gets better technology into the hand of children I’m all for it.
I think children should be exposed to technology at a younger age. I very much believe that the future of education lies in social networking and gaming.
Toys R Us will be selling the iPad 2 through it’s online store as well as the few stores it’s available in. But there will still be a wait as demand is crakhead high right now for Apple’s ‘magical’ tablet.

• By: syeed@techsual.com
• Source: Mac Observer

HTC Gives it’s New Tablet, Dubbed the Flyer a Release Date

HTC announced yesterday that their first tablet, the Flyer will hit U.K stores on May 9.  Although it’s their first tab, fans of the company think it might actually give Apple’s iPad 2 a run for its money.

HTC is touting the Flyer as a tablet meant for gamers on the official page and the specs somewhat back that idea up. Here’s what I found:

• Weight: 420 grams
• Display: 7 inch TFT Capacitive touchscreen with a1024 X 600 resolution.
• Input: Gyro Sensor, Multi Touch, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor
• Operating System: Android 2.4
• CPU: Single-Core Qualcomm 1.5 GHz
• Ram: 1GB
• Memory: 32GB Internal (MicroSD Slot included for extra memory)
• Video: Mp3, WMA, AMR, OGG, AAC, AAC+ and WAV
• Audio: MPREG 4, Xvid, WMV, 3GP, 3G2, avi
• Bluetooth: 3.0
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
• Camera: 5 MP rear, 1.3 MP front.

Besides those specs the Flyer also comes with a nifty ‘magic’ pen. You know, in case you got chubby nubs. According to their website; “HTC Flyer's magic pen transforms anything. It can draw, paint, write, and even retouch pictures. It can be a highlighter for the reader (and by the way all your highlights will be collated when you're done). The HTC Flyer can link audio to the notes you take for work, and it can add voiceover to a storybook you're drawing up at home. Work or play, it's magic for the whole family.”

I personally like HTC. So I’m pretty anxious to see what people in the U.K think when they get their hands on the Flyer next month. Hopefully this is just the shot in the arm the tablet industry needs in order to shake the iPad off it’s throne.

By: syeed@techsual.com

Sprint Releases Their First Green Phone, the Samsung Replenish

Sprint made an announcement today that their releasing their first green-approved phone, the Samsung Replenish, this may. The phone continues Sprint’s efforts to become the most eco-friendly player in the U.S mobile market.

The phone isn’t too shabby either, but it’s nothing to get excited about either, unless your into all that green nonsense. If you sign up for a two year contract it only costs $49.99. For that price you get a 2.8 touch QWERTY interface, 3 MP camera, Wi-Fi support a microSD slot and Android 2.2. The Replenish is also made of a pretty impressive 82% recycled materials.

Sprint also announced a solar battery charger accessory for the phone that will also be available in may and a Green ID pack that will come pre-loaded in the phone (I assume) and fill it with all sorts of hippyware, such as Treehugger.com and Earth911.com, apps that will allow you to do such things as find energy efficient lighting and locally grown produce.

• Source: ZDnet
• By: syeed@techsual.com

RIM’s Playbook Tablet Previews Are In

According to most of the people who were lucky enough to get their hands on the pre-release version of Research in Motion’s (RIM) 7-inch Playbook tablet seem to be liking what their seeing.

Several reviewers, from sites like like Bloomberg and The New York times are already posting their feelings on the tablet, for the most part they seem pretty good with a few flaws here and there, which can mostly be attributed to the fact that this is not a final build of the tab and there are still a few software kinks to be worked out.

Although most of the comments seem pretty positive a majority of the reviews are suggesting consumers wait a little while before investing their hard earned greenery in the Playbook, mostly due to it’s current lack of any sort of emailing capabilities and the aforementioned ‘software kinks’. I’m sure that won’t stop any of you early adopters out there from picking it up when it drops on the 19th of this month.

Check the links below to read the reviews for yourself.

• USA Today
• Canon City Daily Record
• Bloomberg
• The Wall Street Journal
• The New York Times