Electronics New To Buy

Android 2.2 Coming to Motorola Droid Soon

2010-07-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

The nation's top carrier told us Friday that it will push out Android 2.2, also known as the "Froyo" operating system, to the company's Motorola Droid phones next week.
That announcement comes right after Sprint announced they're rolling out Android 2.2 to the company's HTC EVO phones next week as well.

Motorola Inc. reported surging sales of smart phones in the second quarter, but co-CEO Sanjay Jha, head of the phone division, said it is hampered by short supplies of chips.

An analyst asked him to explain how this affects its latest smart phone, the Droid X, which went on sale through Verizon Wireless two weeks ago.

QUESTION: Can you talk a little bit about the supply and demand dynamics of the Droid X launch?

ANSWER: Certainly Droid X has exceeded our expectations. But we believe that we will catch up with demand some time through the course of this quarter. We find multiple components in the industry being constrained.

I think the investment largely in semiconductor space of various different kinds over the last two and a half years has been below par. And I believe that the industry now is trying to compensate for that, and there is some greater investment in the semiconductor space.

The new upgrade will give the Droid many new features, including improved speed, voice dialing over Bluetooth, a faster browser, the ability to store apps on an SD card, and the potential to run Adobe Flash when that software is ready.

We have a hands-on with Android 2.2, otherwise known as "Froyo," from when it was first announced back in May.

Google has had trouble getting the company's Android partners to keep up with the blistering pace of software updates. Android 2.2 was announced in May, but for a while only the failed Google Nexus One phone (now off the market in the U.S.) could run the new OS.

Samsung, Motorola and HTC have all pledged Android 2.2 upgrades for more phones including the Samsung Vibrant and Motorola Droid X, but the company hasn't yet delivered.

Meanwhile, many phones on the market run even older versions of Android. T-Mobile's Motorola CLIQ and CLIQ XT are still running Android 1.5, to the rage of many owners who were promised an upgrade to version 2.1 during the first half of this year.

Sony develops a rollable OLED screen

2010-06-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Sony Corporation ('Sony') announced today that it developed a super-flexible 80 μm-thick 4.1-in 121 ppi OTFT*1-driven full color OLED display which can be wrapped around a thin cylinder.
To create the display, Sony developed OTFTs with an original organic semiconductor material (a PXX derivative) with eight times*2 the current modulation of conventional OTFTs. This was achived due to the development of integration technologies of OTFTs and OLEDs on an ultra-thin 20 μm thick flexible substrate (a flexible on-panel gate-driver circuit with OTFTs which is able to get rid of convetinal rigid driver IC chips interfering roll-up of a display) and soft organic insulators for all the insulators in the integration cuircuit. By combining these technologies, Sony successfully demonstrated the world's first OLED panel*3 which is capable of reproducing moving images while being repeatly rolled-up - around a cylinder with a radius of 4 mm - and stretched.

Sony will proceed with the development of the solution / print based process which manufactures display devices from organic materials that are easily dissolved in common solvents. High performance OTFT with originally developed high-mobility and highly-stable organic semiconductor materials, PXX derivatives

Sony has developed organic semiconductor material, peri-Xanthenoxanthene (PXX) derivative, which is stable under exposure to oxygen, moisture, light and heat and improved current modulation of eight-times*2 that of conventional OTFT with organic semiconductor of pentacene. Integration of a flexible gate-driver circuit with OTFTs

This is the world's first demonstration*3 of an OLED display with an integrated gate-driver circuit with OTFTs. The improvement of the OTFT described above enables integration of a flexible gate-driver circuit with OTFTs on a display panel. Enhancement of flexibility with all organic insulators in the OTFT and OLED integration circuit

In order to enhance flexibility of the display, Sony has developed organic insulators for all the insulators in the OTFT and OLED integration circuit. These organic insulators can be formed with the solution process in the atmosphere which is requires fewer steps, and consumes materials and energy more efficiently - thus has a smaller environmental footprint - compared to the conventional high temperature vacuum semiconductor process which use inorganic/silicon materials. Achieved display capable of reproducing moving images while rolled-up around cylinder with 4mm radius

Video Sony Rolleable OLED Screen

The OTFT-driven OLED display with the aforementioned technologies (1-3) can reproduce moving images while rolled-up around a cylinder with a radius of 4 mm.

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A slimmer or Thinner Kindle coming

2010-05-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Amazon plans to unveil a thinner Kindle with a sharper picture in August, according to a Bloomberg News report on Saturday citing anonymous sources.

Two people familiar with the online retailer's plans told Bloomberg the next-generation e-book reader will not have a touch screen or color, but the display will be sharper and more responsive.

Amazon says not to expect a color Kindle anytime soon. Shown here is the Kindle 2.

(Credit: CNET ) Earlier this week at Amazon's annual shareholder meeting in Seattle, CEO Jeff Bezos said a Kindle with a color reflective screen is still a ways off.

Bezos said Tuesday that Amazon intends to keep the Kindle focused on what it has always been--a reading device.

CNET e-mailed Amazon on Saturday afternoon seeking a comment on the Bloomberg report. Bloomberg said a call to an Amazon representative was not returned. in 2006--in several new countries this year, including Japan, China, and Australia.

Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, plans to introduce the next version of its Kindle electronic-book reader in August, according to two people familiar with its plans.

The device will be thinner and have a more responsive screen with a sharper picture, the people said, who didn’t want to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The new Kindle won’t include a touch screen or color, they said.

Amazon.com, which introduced the Kindle in 2007, faces increased competition from Apple Inc.’s iPad -- a color tablet device that lets users browse the Web, watch video and read digital books. The new Kindle may be aimed more at Amazon.com’s original e-reader competitors -- Sony Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc. -- than the newer threat from the iPad, said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

“It’s probably likely that Amazon already had this one in mind, more out of a response to Sony than out of any response to Apple,” McQuivey said. The shares have declined 6.7 percent this year.

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said this week that the company was concentrating on wooing committed book readers and that a color display screen is “some ways out.”

Not Ready

“I’ve seen some stuff in the laboratory, but it’s not quite ready for prime-time production,” Bezos said May 25 at the company’s annual shareholders meeting.

The Kindle uses a black-and-white screen that mimics the appearance of paper. The new version will have sharper contrast that makes e-books look more like real books, the people familiar with the product said.

Sony is taking on the Kindle with a touch-screen reader, which it introduced last year. Barnes & Noble’s Nook device made its debut in October.

The Kindle currently sells for $259, the same price as the Nook. Sony sells its touch-screen device for $199.

About 6 million e-readers will be sold this year, up from 3 million last year, according to Forrester Research Inc. The Kindle has about 60 percent of the U.S. market, followed by Sony with 35 percent, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research firm estimates.

CLICK HERE TO BUY A KINDLE

Earlier this year, Amazon.com bought a company called Touchco, which specializes in touch-screen technology, according to the people.

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Samsung UN55C8000 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV - review

2010-05-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE FOR BEST PRICE
Product Description
Samsung LED HDTVs combine breakthrough picture quality and advanced connectivity options that will keep you entertained 24/7. This UN55C8000 LED HDTV also makes it easy to be green, and will save you some green, by being ENERGY STAR compliant.
Samsung UN55C8000 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV

Watch jaw-dropping action leap off the screen with Samsung 3D technology. The UN55C8000 LED television brings new depth and dimension to it all— so you’re not just watching the action, you’re living it. Along with a visually stunning picture, it also features web-connected Samsung Apps so you can stream movies, play games, flip through photos, and more while you watch TV.

Key Features

Screen Size: 55 inches
Full 1080p HD: Enjoy the powerful picture quality, vivid colors and stunning clarity of Full HD 1080p resolution.
240 Hz Clear Motion Rate: Samsung 240 Hz technology delivers even the fastest onscreen motion with utterly life like clarity.
3D-ready: Samsung 3D technology makes images leap off the screen– so you feel like you’re a part of the action. Sync up with our Samsung Blu-ray player to experience movies in 3D on your TV – and enjoy more TV broadcasts in stunning 3D, coming soon. (Learn more about Samsung 3D Active glasses)
Internet@TV: Connect to an ever-expanding portal of your favorite digital content. Customizable widgets give you access to BLOCKBUSTER, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Amazon Video On Demand and more – all on your HDTV.
Ultra Slim Design: Stunning ultra slim depth – includes tuner (no external transceiver box).
Ultra Clear Panel: Advanced technology lets you enjoy crisp image details, natural skin tones, excellent shadow detail, and vibrant colors.
Touch of Color design: Exclusive Touch of Color design combines texture and color that can complement any room.
ConnectShare Movie: Connect a thumb drive or digital camera quickly and easily. User-friendly interface allows access to videos, music playlists and pictures via the remote.
Game Mode: Enhances dark areas, sharpens the picture, speeds up the image processing response and enhances the sounds of your games. Picture and sound quality optimized for the special needs of gaming systems at the touch of a button.
Exceeds ENERGY STAR Standards: LED Energy Efficient, up to 50% less than the latest ENERGY STAR specification depending on series and screen size in standard mode.
Wide Color Enhancer Plus delivers the entire spectrum of color and luminance for rich, saturated images with intense detail.
15 Watts x 2 audio power stereo broadcast reception: Supports multichannel sound (MTS)and second audio program (SAP) with 181-channel capacity.
Built in Digital Tuner: no external box needed.
Warranty: 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty (90 days parts and labor for commercial use), with in-home service, backed by Samsung toll-free support.
AllShare: Sync up your entire household. A wired or wireless DLNA connection lets you stream your PC audio and video files to your HDTV using your remote.
Skype on Samsung TV: Enjoy the convenience and connectivity of free, IP-based, picture-in-picture video calls via Skype right from your couch: View it all life size on your Samsung TV.
Pin-Point Dimming: Samsung’s innovative Precision Dimming Technology delivers our greatest range of dynamic contrast and rich, bright color. You’ll see whiter whites and deeper blacks, minus the “halo” effect, which occurs when light is diffused to such a degree that it distorts the image. Energy consumption is also reduced.
Brushed Titanium Finish
Swivel stand

Amazon Gift Card - review- How to buy it

2010-05-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO BUY AMAZON GIFT CARD

Amazon Gift Card Delivery Options

Amazon offers a lot of choice in the way you can get a gift card. The disadvantage of having a gift card mailed is that physical gift cards can’t be customized, and they just have a single design. This may mean the world to some people, while make no difference to others.

Print a gift card: If you want to present the card yourself, but can’t wait for it to be delivered, you can print it as well. Buy it online, and print it out to deliver it yourself, without having to wait the shipping period.

Amazon Gift Card Denominations

Amazon is pretty flexible with its gift card denominations. You can buy an Amazon gift card with any value between $5 and $5000. The only gift cards that are pre-denominated are the physical gift cards which need to be shipped in 3 – 5 business days. Otherwise, even the physical gift cards that are mailed to you do not have a predetermined denomination, and you can select the value of your gift card.

Customizing Amazon Gift Cards

Amazon has a lot of pictures categorized for occasions that can be used in your gift cards. For example, — you can use this cute little picture of a stork on your gift card, if you want to wish someone on the birth of their baby girl. There are several other pictures like this, which can give a personal touch to your gift card.

There is Kindle Gift card too, but all it does is have a picture of the Kindle on it. I am not sure who will find this useful (apart from Amazon itself). If you wanted to gift someone a Kindle, you’d buy that instead of the card.

How do I use my Amazon Gift Card?

Amazon Gift Card can be used at Amazon and Endless.com.

When you buy something after this, the balance will be deducted from your gift card first, and only if it doesn’t cover the entire price, will your credit card be debited.

The second way of using the Amazon Gift Card is to enter the promotional code, when you are placing the order through the shopping cart or using – “Buy with 1 click”. The amount will be deducted from your gift card, and if it doesn’t cover the entire purchase price, — your credit card be debited.

Here is a page from Amazon that has more details on this process.

Amazon says that once you enter the code on their website, they store it for you, and you don’t need to enter it subsequently. I haven’t tried this, but I’d expect that if money is left on my gift card, it will be deducted first before Amazon debits my credit card. Only when my gift card is exhausted, will my credit card be touched.

Can I use the Amazon Gift Card to buy anything? Sometimes Amazon promotes items by bundling them up with a gift card, and offering a discount of sorts.

Some third party sellers don’t accept it, and there are certain other exceptions. I’d use it if I knew someone who shops a lot from Amazon, but couldn’t think of a good gift for them.

How to Buy Amazon gift card ?

1.-Visit Amazon's official website and sign into your account.

2.-Read the information provided about Amazon Gift Cards. Be sure to review the terms and conditions of purchasing and using a gift card. Agree to these terms and conditions before proceeding.

3.-Decide on the format of gift card you want to purchase. Amazon gift cards are available in electronic, printable and mailable formats. The format you choose largely depends on your preference and the information you have available on the intended recipient. Electronic formats enable purchasers with only a recipient's email address to deliver the gift card; mailable gift cards need a valid, physical address for delivery; printable gift cards don't require a name or an email address.

5.-Enter a gift card amount between $5 and $5,000. Type the rest of the required information. Depending on your format choice, the required information may include email addresses, first and last names or a mailing address. Select a payment method and authorize the transaction.

7.-Review the successful payment and information page. Read and follow any additional instructions or advisements about your gift card purchase.

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PlayStation Move ad rips Wii, Xbox 360's Natal

2010-03-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've tried not to laugh, tried to maintain some semblance of journalistic dispassion, but screw it, these Kevin Butler PlayStation spots are hilarious. The latest plugs Sony's upcoming PlayStation Move motion control system with some pretty barbed razzing of Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's forthcoming controller-free Project Natal.

In it, Sony's new "It Only Does Everything" campaign front-man, played by Jerry Lambert (Everybody Loves Raymond, Malcolm in the Middle, That 70's Show) delivers a video-cast from the "future" to thank PlayStation 3 owners for making the PlayStation Move a success. You've got the controller and camera with microphone working together to give you total control over your gaming experience. [Butler waves the PlayStation Move wand left and right] ...but this way too [Butler delivers a haymaker].

On the Xbox 360:

[The PlayStation Move]'s also got what we in the future call buttons, which turn out to be pretty important to those handful of millions of people who enjoy playing shooters and platformers, or, well, anything that doesn't involve catching a big red ball.

If you're in the market for a PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii, you've probably noticed that they're hard to come by. One of those shops, GameStop, said in a recent earnings call with investors that those shortages are expected to continue.

"I am not exactly sure that I have a total answer, obviously, it is a question that we ask the platform holders," Bartel said in response to an investor question on why shortages continue to plague the market. "Consequently, I can tell you that we do anticipate that we will be in that situation for the PS3 for another couple of months, unfortunately, because we could sell a lot more hardware than what we have on both that and the Wii platform."

Bartel went on to tell investors that his company expects to have Wii in-stock sooner than the PS3, but it will still take some time.

"So we do anticipate that those shortages should have bade some time before the next couple of months," Bartel said. He said that "unprecedented demand" could be a leading cause and both Nintendo and Sony are "still scrambling to catch up from the December surge of hardware that occurred."

Nintendo's shortage woes have been going on since the Wii was released. For a while, the company got ahead of demand, but it still suffers from supply problems that, frankly, should have been taken care of by now. And according to the company, it's working hard on it.

"Even with healthy sales, we realize that there are missed opportunities had supply been able to keep up with demand," a company representative wrote in an e-mailed statement. "Wii hardware shortages, which affected approximately 70 percent of all retail locations during February, are being remedied. For a while, Sony couldn't get PlayStation 3 units to leave store shelves due to higher demand for the Wii and Xbox 360. PS3 sales have been so torrid that NPD reported earlier this month the console's sales in February were up 30 percent year over year.

Google Satellite TV Search to Be Fueled By Android

2010-03-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Google and the Dish Network are implementing Google's Web search experience through a Google Android set-top box, where the users' search queries bring back both TV content and YouTube video content, an IDC analyst told eWEEK.

The Wall Street Journal said Google is testing its search software on TV set-top boxes, which as one of the modern replacements for the cable box enables content transmitted from the Internet. Google is testing this search service with a "very small number of the company's employees and their families," the Journal said.

Reynolds noted that while such a blend of TV and Web video content will become standard in the industry within five years, Google will not be able to graft the standard search experience they use on the Web onto the video world. sports, drama, news, etc.) and then with rich visual representation of results, like little clips of shows, perhaps, or at least an image that represents visually what the video will be about. Good metadata annotation of video objects will be the key to the success of the search experience, since the text around video content description can be sparse at best."

Reynolds said that unlike text search, in which Google makes users click out to pages and read them, no one wants to click out to videos and have to watch a few minutes to see if what they've found is "the one."

Richard Doherty, research director for the Envisioneering Group, told eWEEK he believes Google has at least three strategies for melding the TV with the Web. Second, he sees Chrome Operating System running on smart networked TVs and Tru2way boxes. Finally, Google will serve YouTube videos with embedded ad links.

If Google can get search and YouTube running on TVs well enough, there's good reason to believe Google could extend this approach to the rest of its Google Apps.

Users could well even log onto their Google Accounts through the TV remote or keyboard and access Gmail and other Web services through their televisions.

Getting Google search on TVs, then, may seem like a foregone conclusion at this point, but one well worth pondering for those keen on the convergence of the Internet with television.

Google Engineering Vice President Vic Gundotra did not say when he expected the crossover in the so-called cost per click of its search ads to occur, during a webcast to analysts about the company's mobile business on Monday. But he said that mobile ad rates have increased "dramatically" in recent years.

And he noted that the number of Google searches on mobile phones have increased five-fold in the last two years.

"We hope and believe that there's even a chance that we could exceed desktop in the future," Gundotra said in reference to the cost per click of mobile ads.

Google, the world's No.1 Internet search engine with $23.7 billion in 2009 revenue, has stepped up its mobile efforts as consumers increasingly access the Web from smartphones like Apple Inc's iPhone.

In November, Google announced plans to acquire mobile advertising firm AdMob for $750 million, though the deal is currently facing regulatory review.

The mobile briefing comes as Google is in a standoff with China, the world's largest Internet market by users, over the future of its Internet search website in the country. Google has said it will no longer censor search results in China, a move that some analysts believe could mean the end of its Chinese language web site Google.cn.

Asked what the search situation might mean for Google's mobile plans in China, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said on the webcast on Monday that Android was an "open source" platform that's available to everybody and that the company thought China represented "another great market in which Android should flourish."

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Amazon and Microsoft Strike Patent Deal

2010-02-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Microsoft issued an announcement on Monday stating that it had signed a "patent cross-license" deal with Amazon.com regarding Amazon's Kindle e-reader device and the "use of Linux-based servers."

Amazon will pay Microsoft an unspecified amount of money to settle intellectual property (IP) matters.

Microsoft's announcement stated that the Kindle electronic book-reading device relies on "both open source and Amazon's proprietary software components," plus it uses Amazon's Linux-based servers.

Microsoft elicited controversy among open source Linux advocates when it announced a deal with Novell in November of 2006 over IP used in Novell's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server operating system. In May of 2007, Microsoft was accused of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt over Linux licensing after a Microsoft executive claimed that Linux violated 235 of Microsoft's patents.

Until this latest announcement with Amazon, Microsoft had been relatively quiet about alleged IP violations concerning Linux. To that end, Microsoft signed a deal in October of 2009 with Red Hat concerning Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on each other's virtualization platforms. No licensing or compensation agreements were announced with that deal.

The other day Microsoft announced that it had signed a deal with Amazon over licensing.

It appears that it got a promise that it would not be sued by Microsoft over the amount of Linux gear it used.

For a long time Microsoft has insisted that there were bits of Linux that used its patents.

However, buried in the small print of the press release about the deal was a set of technologies covered by the agreement including the Kindle, which employs open source software, and Amazon’s use of Linux-based servers. It is done to an outfit which is big enough to lose a lot of cash if Microsoft sues it. It will most likely say “OK” because licencing its technology to Microsoft does not cost it anything and it buys piece of mind for its future Linux projects.

It also means that Microsoft can send a message to the software world.

What surprises us is that the Open Source community has not kicked up more of a stink about it.

Jim Zemlin, of the Linux Foundation, wrote of the deal that most technology companies have invested heavily in patents and that a cross-licensing agreement is a non-news event.

Tag Blogalaxia: amazon microsoft software kindle patent strike license deal

Apple Adult Content Purge Encouraged By Developers

2010-02-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

Apple has been purging some adult-themed content from its iTunes App Store at the urging of both customers and developers.

"Whenever we receive customer complaints about objectionable content we review them," an Apple spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement. "If we find these apps contain inappropriate material we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple."

Letters that Apple has sent to creators of adult-themed apps state that customer complaints prompted the company to change its policy and to ban "overtly sexual content" from its App Store. One of the posts states that Apple's parental controls don't work as advertised.

Developers have been making similar complaints to Apple, but their concerns are also related to the volume of sexually-themed apps, which can represent as many as a third of the apps in certain iTunes App Store categories. It's a clever tactic because Apple has a process in place to deal with bugs and the company has a special bug reporting form that's limited to registered Apple developers. A complaint filed through regular feedback channels may have a hard time standing out among the thousands of spam messages and questions Apple receives daily.

Though Apple does not make bug reports public, a site called Open Radar hosts an open Apple bug database for the convenience of the developer community. Some developers choose to cross-post their Apple bug reports so that the information is available to the developer community. "Unlike music and movies, these apps typically have icons, names and screenshots that border on obscene just by themselves. "Apple sells movies and music on iTunes that have more explicit content than some applications that are rejected. Additionally I truly feel that all content (other than content which is manifestly illegal) should be available for iPhone users.

If Apple is unwilling to sell that content, the distribution system should be expanded to allow applications to be sold in other ways."

Application mobilization tools are both more effective and more confusing than ever.

Apple may be censoring adult-themed apps, according to developers to claim their more explicit offerings have been pulled from the company's App Store in recent days. 18 report on TechCrunch, developer Jon Atherton received an e-mail from Apple stating that one of his applications contained "content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complains from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately."

The purposed Apple e-mail, signed by "iPhone App Review," went on to add: "We have decided to remove any overtly [adult] content from the App Store, which includes your application…Thank you for your understanding in this matter."

Throughout Feb. 19, online reports seemed to indicate that a number of explicit apps had indeed been pulled from the App Store. While Apple has a history of pulling apps that incite popular protest, it also is notoriously quiet about policy changes. A clause in the iPhone SDK agreement states that "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind." The next month, Apple also pulled "Me So Holy," an application that attracted protests over its supposed religious insensitivity.

Apple has also been pulling apps for other reasons. That growth will likely pressure Apple further to weed out developers who attempt to flood the store with useless applications or otherwise attempt to rig the system. Apple has been encouraging developers to download the new iPhone SDK 3.2 beta in order to create programs for the iPad, which Apple is predicting will launch within the next two months with more than 140,000 applications capable of running on its 9.7-inch LED backlit multitouch display.

However, Flurry also noted that the retention curves for aggregated iPhone and Google Android applications were nearly identical, while IDC also predicts a massive rise in the number of developers designing programs for Android devices. That suggests that competition between Apple and Google within the mobile space is only beginning to heat up.

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T-Mobile Will Launch the Android-based Motorola Cliq XT For March 2010

2010-02-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

Motorola has just announced that T-Mobile USA is going to release the Motorola Cliq XT next month. This device -- previously known as the Zeppelin -- will be an affordable smartphone running Google's Android OS.

Like the Motorola Cliq that's already in T-Mobile's lineup, this upcoming model will have a 3.1-inch HVGA (320 by 240 pixel) touchscreen, but this one will use a tablet shape without a hardware keyboard.

Android OS and More

This will be an Android OS 1.5-based smartphone, and therefore come with the standard suite of software for connecting to Google services, like Gmail and YouTube. User will also be able to pick from over 20,000 third-party apps.

In addition, the Cliq XT will include MotoBlur, Motorola's software that brings together messages from a range of social-networking services like Facebook and Twitter, text messages, as well as consumer and business e-mail accounts, into a universal inbox.

Although it won't be running the latest versions of Google's operating system, Motorola has added some of latest features into this model, like pinch-to-zoom support. It will also include Adobe Flash Lite and Swype, a system designed to make it easier for users to enter text on the touchscreen.

Naturally, the Cliq XT will support T-Mobile's 3G mobile broadband service, as well as Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, and aGPS.

Dual microphones and noise cancellation technology will help make phone calls clearer.

This Motorola model is also going to include a 5.0 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash, a microSD memory card slot, and a 1,420 mAh battery. Informed sources say the launch day will be March 10.

Outside of the U.S., this model will be called the Motorola Quench.

US-based Motorola came up at MWC with what Cnet has called the silliest name for a smartphone, the Quench, which is an Android touchscreen device that brings back Motoblur, Motorola's signature user interface that's heavy on social networking features.

The device - which is Motorola's eighth Android-based device - has a 3.1-inch touchscreen display with a touch-sensitive navigation pad just underneath it with two buttons on each side.

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Facebook Company simplifies its home page

2010-02-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

In his blog Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said, "So to celebrate six years of Facebook and the 400 million people on the service, we're doing what we like doing most -- building and launching products for people."

The majority of changes only affect the top and left menu sections of the home page.

In the Top Menu, Facebook added icons next to its company logo for requests, notifications and messages that light up when there is something new to view.

Clicking on the Friends icon will open a drop-down menu showing the latest five friend requests or suggestions. Clicking on the Notifications icon, which is in the form of a globe, reveals the five most recent comments, postings and announcements by your friends and applications. From here you can edit your friends, change your account, privacy and application settings, check your credits balance, get help or log out of the website.

Facebook organized the Left Menu to make it easier to discover content from friends, access bookmarked applications and games, and see which friends are online.

Clicking on Photos will open up the new Photos page which allows you to see your friends’ photo albums with the most recently updated albums listed first. You are also able to upload your own photos and videos from the Photos page. The page also lists the games your friends are playing and how recent they played them.

The bottom of the Left Menu lists of any friends who are online. You can click on their name to open up a chat window. Clicking on the Chat box allows you to edit your chat options.

Zuckerberg hopes people like the simpler home page writing on his blog, "It's rewarding to see that as Facebook has grown, people around the world are using the service to share information about events big and small and to stay connected to everyone they care about."

Ipad Of Apple Deal Gives Hachette Pricing Leverage Against Amazon

2010-02-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

While the letter from Hachette CEO David Young did not specifically mention Amazon or changing prices of new books to between $12.99 and $14.99, it did state the company intends to transition e-book sales to an "agency model." That model allows the company serving the content to take a cut -- in Apple's case with the App Store, 30 percent of all sales.

"There are many advantages to the agency model, for our authors, retailers, consumers, and publishers," Young wrote. Publisher Macmillan wanted the ability to set those prices on the Amazon Kindle e-reader, which led to a temporary suspension of sales of the publisher's content from Amazon.

But shortly after, the two companies reached an agreement, with Amazon reluctantly agreeing to sell most hardcover releases between $12.99 and $14.99. Amazon, however, noted that it felt the prices were "needlessly high."

In addition to Macmillan, Hachette is joined by publisher HarperCollins, which also intends to renegotiate its deal with Amazon for e-book prices. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch said the new prices will be "slightly higher," but in the wake of Apple's iPad agreements, Amazon is finally "ready to sit down" and have discussions. We're taking the long view on e-book pricing, and this new model helps protect the long term viability of the book marketplace."

All three companies -- HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan -- were specifically highlighted by Apple last week when it introduced its new iBooks application for the iPad. They, along with Penguin and Simon & Schuster, have agreed to content deals with Apple.

Is Amazon's Kindle with a touch screen?
Yesterday news broke of Amazon buying Touchco. Touchco is a small company that was birthed out of a project at New York University’s Media Research Lab. The company itself had yet to ship a product but was working with display technology, called interpolating force-sensitive resistance, that can detect an unlimited number of simultaneous touch points, and for what could be cheaper than the cost to produce a capacitive touch screen.

The news has everyone speculating that a color touch screen could be coming soon to the Kindle. So, perhaps Amazon is just trying to guarantee that it could be competitive if needed, or maybe the company is indeed preparing to go touch? This screams research to me, and since Touchco will now join the Kindle hardware group, I would expect that it’s going to be research for a while still. If Amazon fast tracks Touchco’s technology, at the very least it will take the focus off of Apple’s iPad, with Kindle lovers potentially holding off on the iPad purchase in hopes of seeing a touch-friendly Kindle by year’s end.

Regardless of how Amazon decides to use Touchco’s technology, the company has now succeeded in keeping current with the iPad, with both an announcement of its pending Kindle Development Kit and now it’s acquisition of Touchco.

While most people continue to say that they want the Kindle to just be a good ebook reader, with a touch Kindle and an App Store, Amazon could have a killer device on its hands.

Blogalaxia Tag: amazon kindel ipad apple touch screen

Mophie Preps Iphone Credit Card Reader

2010-01-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

iPhone case and battery charger maker Mophie is planning on expanding beyond its current product lineup to add a credit card reader and processing attachment for apple's combination iPod and smarthphone.

It looks like Mophie's add-on system will include a credit card reader along with software to manage transaction, although for now the company is not making on its credit card reader plans. TRhe company is expected, however to reveal additional details during CES 2010.

Presumably Mophie's card reader will use the iPhone's wireless data connection to process transactions, it permit users handle credit card sales anywhere they can get a cell signal.

Mophie plans credit-card reader for the iPhone — It looks cool, but this Mophie product might fall into the nice but totally unnecessary department. The company normally makes battery packs and cases, but this device gives you an alternative to typing your credit card into various apps by hand. It’s aimed at small business owners.

Evernote hits 2 million users – The life-capture application has hit its second million in less than half the time it took to get its first million. Part of the reason is that it launched a popular app on the iPhone.

CES rumor mill – The biggest U.S. tech trade show isn’t until next week, but the rumors are flooding out. Motorola is reported launching two new phones next week, including an Android-based phone, according to analyst Trip Chowdhry.

The tragedy of One Laptop Per Child — One more design has been shelved, prompting predictions that this effort to educate the world’s poor children through laptops is a failure.

iPhone taking off in China? — The world’s most populous country hasn’t held out the welcome mat for the iPhone. But Apple may be having some success there with sales lately.

User sues RockYou — RockYou acknowledged that it lost as many as 32 million usernames and passwords to a hacker. The first class action suit has been filed. Will there be 32 million more?.

New TiVO on the way? — A packaging mishap may be a clue to whether TiVO is preparing to launch a new digital video recorder, sans dial-up modem and including a cable card slot.

Seagate ex-engineer testifies against company — The engineer claims that Seagate had access to trade secrets from Convolve when it designed noise-reduction technology into its hard drives which infringed the latter’s patents.

Buy HTC 2010 Roadmap On Sale

2009-12-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

You are lucky to be reading this post, because you are going to get great discount on HTC , it is on sale, we got the best price on the market, check it out

It is that time of the year again when HTC readies its 2010 roadmao, after that the people lead it, in 2008 as well, similar thing happened and we got to know about a lot of phone beforehand, after which they made their launche.

While the list this year isn´t as expensice as last year, one key point to note is the increased dominance of Android OS from in the line up. While in 2008´s ohones were mostly windows mobile powered, we are seeing a reversal of sorts with as many as five android powered devices in the pipeline from HTC. On the Windowns Mobile Front, HTC wants to get three devices.

the new phones that will see the light of the day are the HTC Bravo, The legend, the Salsa, Tide Buzz on Android platform and HTC Photon, The Tera and Trophy on the windows mobile Platform

The Bravo packs in a lot of getting power with the 1Ghz snapdragon processor it sports. It boasts of a 3.7 AMOLED touchscreen and 720P HD Video capture. This might just turn out to be the first Android device to boast of HD Video recording - if Samsung doesn't come up with a surprise. Slightly down the ladder will be the Legend which is likely to be positioned as a successor to the HTC Hero. Expect this one to make its landfall by March 2010. The HTC Salsa is a very thin smartphone directed at the mid range segment. It will come with a full QWERTY keyboard and will arrive by June 2010. The HTC Tide will arrive in April 2010 and it will feature both a keypad and touchscreen. The HTC Buzz will be similar to the existing Tattoo except that it will offer a larger display and an upgraded 5-megapixel camera.

HTC is now more intereste in developing Android based devices rather than windows mobile, once it's only choice of OS. Will the arrival of Windows Mobile 7 sometime in 2010 change things

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Tag Blogalaxia: buy HTC 2010 roadmap HTC-2010 sale HTC

Download music and games in Amazon MP3, Amazon Video On Demand, and Amazon Game

2009-12-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

Amazon is thrilled to bring you exciting new deals and gift ideas from Game Downloads, Amazon Video On Demand, and Amazon MP3

Amazon MP3's huge Holiday MP3 Store has the best new and classic Holiday music, classic holiday albums from $6.99, and party-perfect play lists across a wide variety of genres and holiday occasions. Special MP3 offers abound this holiday season as well: we’re expanding our usual 50 at $5 feature to 100 albums for $5 each. December’s list includes some of the biggest and best new releases of 2009, so stay tuned for that. We’re also revealing one new free holiday song between now and December 25 in 25 days free.

Amazon Video On Demand is offering movie and TV entertainment has some great offers with a holiday twist: for a limited time holiday favorites like Four Christmases, A Christmas Story and more are available to customers for less than $5. We’ve also got instant HD and new episodes of hit TV shows.

The latest way to watch Amazon Video On Demand on your TV is also a great way to earn referral fees. This Holiday Season, customers can purchase select Panasonic Bluray Players from Amazon and get a $30 credit for hit movies & TV shows on Amazon Video On Demand. Even better, help your customers purchase their new holiday HDTV. With the purchase of select Panasonic HDTVs, customers get $100 in movies & TV shows from Amazon Video On Demand.

Amazon Games

Through December 2009 and January 2010, With over 1,000 titles currently available, the Game Downloads store is a great destination for family entertainment and hours of fun.

Tag Blogalaxia amazon video demand amazon mp3 100 albums for each, day free, Chrsitmas Story, Amazon MP3, buy, download four christmases holiday MP3 store instant New episode hit show panasonicbluray player

Black Friday Deals In Amazon

2009-11-26T06:14:00.000-08:00

You should not have to stand in a long line to get big discounts, Amazon is searching for the best black friday deals everywhere, including deals other stores are planning, so they can meet or beat their price and them to you even earlier. These limited- supply offers weill go quicky but we´ll add new ones throughout the day, not only on the black friday, they will have great deals for every day this week, so you can skip the long lines and still save a bundle.

Click Here to go and check their prices

Google´s New CellPhone for 2010

2009-11-24T12:12:00.000-08:00

Google is the new branded phone.

Google is going to create a cellphone, it is supposed to arrive very recently, in first period of 2010, Google for super android mobile phone is partnering with smartphone maker HTC, as information based on web.

These rumors are not new, althought speculation did start to disappear once Android-based phone hit the maket last year. But it is twice a google phone rumor has popped up in recent weeks.

The google phone is supposed to e thinner than Droid and Iphone in the market. the handst designed by google will completely be dedicated by the team in Mountain Viwn. As such there is no any information commented anywhere about what type of specification of the handset would be, anyway the potention manufacturer for the phone would be Samsung and LG.

Selling the New google´s Phone:

Google will sell the phone directly to customers as well as throght retailers. That suggest the search giant may not have a network partner on board, and would sell unsubsidized phone instead. Phone sold outside of the carrier system means that google phone could price as much as 500 dollars, and would have to run on a SIM-friuendly GSM network like AT&T and T-MObile.

Amazon Improve Kindle Battery, it Last More

2009-11-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

The company Amazon.com just said on Tuesday that it has improved the performance of the battery on its kindle e-book reader, extending the baterry life by 85%. Amazon claims the device will go up to a week on a single charge with the wireless service turned on. also, the company said it has added a native PDF reader to the device to allow users to load their own documents. The kindle owners are going to be available to use those kindles with the improvements through a firmware update.

If you don´t have a kindle yet, and you need one, plese click on buy a kindle, and you will be able to see our prices.

Tag Blogalaxia: kindle amazon baterry last more PDF

AT&T Launched Prepaid Wireless Broadband Service

2009-11-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

It happens on Monday, when AT&T started offering the prepaid wireless bradband, following the lead of competitor Verizon Wireless.

AT&T and verizon Wireless plans are the same: the custimers may pay 15 dollars for a daily pass with a data usage cap of 75 megabites. A monthly plan cost 50 dollars and offers 500MB of usage, and 30 bucks for a week plan and you can use 250MB.

While AT&T and Verizon Wireless have offered prepaid service for cellphone a year. up until now the companies have needed user sing a contract for their wireless broadband services. Wireless broadband services allow customer to connect their laptops to internet via the carriers 3G wireless network. Business customers are the one who have mostly been tarjeted that service.

Virgen Mobile and Leap Wireles which are the prepaid niche players, they have recognized the demand for prpaid wireless broadband services, and they are now sealling services to addrss market. Vigin Mobile is owned by sprint, offers a 60 dollars plan that the client can use cap of 1 gigabyte for a month.

Will these new prepais offering be enough to entice consumers to sign up for 3G wireless broadband service?
That's a question no answered. But AT&T actually need to be careful whet it wished for. the company's 3G wirelees network is now overburned with iphone clients' heavy wirless data usage.