Selasa, 30 November 2010

Apple reportedly names next-gen iPad camera supplier

By: Zach Epstein | Nov 30th, 2010 at 09:00PM

Rumors that Apple’s next-generation iPad will include at least one camera gain purchase Tuesday morning as a new report suggests Apple has named its camera lens supplier for its upcoming tablet. Citing market rumors instigated by a public filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, DigiTimes reports that Largan Precision has been awarded a contract that will make it the sole supplier of lens modules for the second-generation iPad. Largan also supplies 5-megapixel cameras for Apple’s iPhone 4. The inclusion of a front-facing camera for FaceTime video chat is almost a given at this point, and the iPad will also reportedly include a rear-facing camera — possibly the same 5-megapixel optics currently found in the iPhone 4. Following the trail of unsubstantiated reports out of Taiwan, Largan joins Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies as PCD suppliers for Apple’s upcoming iPad sequel. The second-generation iPad is expected to begin shipping in the first quarter of 2011.

New images of 4-inch, Android, LG Star handset emerge

By: Andrew Munchbach | Nov 30th, 2010 at 08:13AM

18 Comments

What do we have here? It looks like an Android Forum member has acquired not one, but two LG Star handsets. The device has a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen display, 8 megapixel camera, front-facing camera, HDMI-out port, and runs a skinned version of Android 2.2. The device is rumored to have a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 1500 mAh battery, and 1080p video recording capabilities; rumors that were not substantiated by the user who submitted the images. The photo-taker did post some benchmarks for the unreleased device and , to be honest, they look quite impressive. Hit the read link to check out the full compliment of images and let us know what you think.

BlackBerry 8980 exposed by FCC

By: Andrew Munchbach | Nov 30th, 2010 at 09:55AM

76 Comments

It looks like our friends at the FCC have given the BlackBerry 8980, the presumed successor to the Curve 8900, a proper outing. Aside from the above picture, the FCC has the user manual for the unreleased and unannounced RIM handset available for viewing as well. The device will have a quad-band GSM antenna, Wi-Fi b/g/n, 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, and — judging by the instructions in the user manual — ship with BlackBerry OS 5. The device looks extremely similar to the BlackBerry 9700, aside from that sensual 8900 keyboard. Thoughts?

Sabtu, 27 November 2010

Do you want BBM on your iPhone?

by Rene Ritchie, Friday, Nov 26, 2010, 57 Comments

Every WWDC keynote we’ve joked that Mike Lazaridis from BlackBerry maker RIM would surprise everyone by joining Steve Jobs on stage to announce BlackBerry Connect and BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) for iPhone. Then we laugh and marvel out our new copy and paste, multitasking, or whatever Apple chooses to invent that year.

Our sibling site CrackBerry.com has put the whole BBM on iOS (and every other platform) issue right back on their front page, however, with Kevin asking the question:

So should RIM do it? Personally, I think they should. I get the reasons why they wouldn’t. RIM makes money from selling smartphones, and right now BlackBerry Messenger is one of those hooks that keeps people on BlackBerry and actually attracts some people to BlackBerry (I’ve heard stories from carrier reps where individuals walk into the store and ask for the phone that does BBM). But I don’t think this reasoning holds up long-term. As soon as a cross-platform BBM-style client emerges in the smartphone space and attains critical mass (ie. Kik or another), even if not as fully-featured as BlackBerry Messenger the hook of BBM starts to diminish. If it’s inevitable that a cross-platform BBM alternative is going to emerge down the road, is it not better for RIM to be the ones who put it out? There are some iPhone owners out there who no matter what are never going to own a BlackBerry (Apple fanboys!), but I bet those same people would rock BlackBerry Messenger on their iPhone.

I agree with Kevin. Look at what licensing ActiveSync has done for Microsoft. I’d prefer to a non-proprietary protocol — I like that I can switch from iPhone to Android, Windows to Mac, Outlook to Mail.app and my email stays my email — but I use Twitter and that’s the same model BBM could take.

What do you think? Should BBM be available on iPhone? Head on over to CrackBerry.com’s poll and let your vote be heard, then come back here and tell us why or why not.

iOS 4.2 features: Improved Safari web browser

by Rene Ritchie, Friday, Nov 26, 2010, 16 Comments

While AirPrint and AirPlay integration, and Find in Page are the big user-facing features new to iOS 4.2 Safari, MobileXWeb points out that Apple also snuck in a few improvements under the hood:

Accelerometer & Gyroscope support through the DeviceOrientation API
WebSockets API from HTML5
Updated HTML 5 Form Support
Partial XHR-2 Support
New JavaScript data types
New DOM events
Enhanced SVG and Canvas support

If you are a developer let us know how useful these additions will be to your Web Apps. If you’re not a developer that might look like mumbo jumbo to you but rest assured it means more better web applications could be coming your way soon, and since Apple uses Safari’s WebKit to render everything from iTunes to App Store or iAd to Apple.com, and Google uses it Gmail and pretty much all their sites, there’s potential for a lot more, lot better content coming our way.

Video after the break!

Jumat, 26 November 2010

Editorial: My next iPad won't be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be

By Paul Miller

posted Nov 26th 2010 5:30PM

Editorial

It took me a while, but I'm starting to fall in love with my iPad in a way I haven't loved a gadget for a long while. There's something about the form factor, the apps, the OS that feels just right and makes me want to do as much of my daily computing on it as possible. Of course, that's still a pretty small sliver of my overall day, and the iPad isn't even close to replacing my laptop for the large majority of my work, but I'm finding myself increasingly doing casual browsing, casual gaming, serious writing, and, yes, even some reading on Apple's 10-inch tablet.

But I have one "big" problem with the tablet that doesn't look like it'll be solved anytime soon: it's not 7 inches. Will Apple ever eat its words and build a smaller iPad, or will the 7-inch form factor be left to the rest of the emerging tablet market to fight over?

The iPad was built by Apple, which means in a few months' time we're probably going to see a brand new version of the device that will somehow cast the current version in a very unfavorable light. We'll wonder what all the fuss was about. "You mean the first iPad couldn't even do video calls?" could be the iPad's version of "You mean the iPhone didn't even have third party apps when it came out?" And of course, the current iPad is far from perfect. With impending competition from smaller, well-connected, camera-packing, Flash-compliant, and / or cheaper tablets (the Galaxy Tab, Nook Color, and BlackBerry PlayBook, to name a few), what's Apple planning for its second-generation iPad to keep a hold on its sizable market lead?

First off, I don't really have any idea. It's probably a pretty safe bet that Apple will be adding the iPad to its stable of FaceTime-compatible devices, courtesy of a camera or two, and apparently the screen is getting some sort of tweak, but that's about all anyone can safely guess. One thing I am pretty certain on, however, is that the new iPad won't come in a 7-inch flavor. Steve Jobs pretty soundly trashed all the swirling rumors of a 7-inch iPad on Apple's earnings call a couple months ago ("This size is useless unless you include sandpaper so users can sand their fingers down to a quarter of their size."), and I'm not too happy about that.

However have we managed with these 3.5-inch iPhone screens all this time?

I mean, his argument is simply absurd. If the only way to make the iOS UI work was a 10-inch screen, however have we managed with these 3.5-inch iPhone screens all this time? Apple could of course make a usable 7-inch interface out of the iOS elements, but they're either afraid of further development fragmentation, or consumer confusion (is this a phone or a tablet?), or both. Prior to the iPad's success I might be a little worried about the first problem: can you really expect developers to build all-new apps, or all-new-formatted apps, for an unproven new device? But the iPad showed the flexibility of the OS and the eagerness of its developers. Also, no offense intended, but Samsung has also done a pretty good job of showing what some of the iPad's UI ideas might look on a 7-inch form factor. At the end of the day, the iPad is a computer, and computers have always come in different sizes -- even from Apple.

See, I love the Nook Color and the Galaxy Tab -- for the form factor. Like it or not, Apple has the most mature software for a tablet, and a great complement of apps. I don't see that changing very soon, but I can't help but yearn for an iPad that's as small and light and comfortable as this new Nook. My biggest problem with the iPad is its shortcomings as an e-reader. First off, it's heavy. Josh noticed it in his review, and it hasn't gotten any lighter over time, no matter how many iPad-curl reps I do. Next up, it's just a little large for curling up with like you do with a book. Combining the curl-up-incompatibility and the weight and I've actually managed to hit myself in the face numerous times with the iPad while attempting to recline with it. Third, the screen's resolution is inferior to many e-ink displays, along with the high-res LCDs being used on the 7-inch Tab and Nook Color and PlayBook. Finally, the glass front might look classy, but it's terrible for glare, particularly when it's outside. Barnes & Noble attempted to fend off this glare a bit with the Nook Color, and while they didn't succeed entirely, I appreciate the effort: its results are certainly better than the glossy glass norm.

What's really amazing is that despite all these shortcomings, all signs point to the iPad being a runaway success as a reading device, both for books and for documents. It could be the software, which includes iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and excellent document viewers like GoodReader, or the fact that once people invest in an iPad they don't really feel like buying or carrying a Kindle alongside. No matter what, you don't see many regular users complaining about their inability to read on the thing, no matter how much I struggle. Perhaps this means Apple has nothing to worry about, but it's a nice in for the competition -- one which will be stressed endlessly, I have no doubt.

I doubt Apple will be dislodged from its tablet market share throne within the next year, but if they did fall to one weakness it would probably be price. I'm speaking mainly of the Nook Color, which seems to value a 7-inch LCD reading device (with an eventual promise of apps and more robust iPad competition) at $249. With Apple's top-end iPhone going for $299 and its best iPod touch at $399, it's hard to imagine the iPad getting too much cheaper, but Barnes & Noble doesn't have any such cannibalization or consumer confusion to worry about. Perhaps the $249 tag's worst aspect will be to make the B&N offering seem "cheap" or "low-end" but I doubt the large majority of consumers will care too terribly much.

So, let's assume (as is reasonable) that Apple won't be going to 7 inches this time around. Should it "spend" its annual update on blowing out the feature set, or stay conservative on functionality and go aggressive on price? Can it do both? Let's say Apple scrounges up a 4x resolution "Retina Display" for the iPad to improve the device's reading chops, scrounges up some sort of carbon fiber manufacturing technique to improve weight (although that aluminum back is hardly the worst of the iPad's weight problems), bumps the RAM to help out with multitasking, and bolts on a couple of cameras. That's not even considering some sort of new processor, which might be necessary to keep the iPad's graphics looking better than stretched-out iPhone 4 games, and any other features Apple might be dreaming up. It all sounds pretty pricey to me.

On the other hand, Apple could pull an "iPhone 3G," make a few minor tweaks, keep most of the same internals, and lower the price. Unfortunately, most of the 3G's wild price drop ($399 down to $199) came from a new subsidy model with AT&T, not a sacrifice of Apple's margins, so that makes this move pretty unlikely. Also, the speeds-and-feeds nerd within balks at the prospect of a whole iPad generation that hardly moves the needle on specs. Of course, all this hand wringing might be a bit silly: Apple could easily sell a new feature-packed version for $499 alongside a cheaper last-gen model for, say, $399, as it's done with the iPhone 3G / 3GS and 3GS / 4. Still, that assumes the iPad is getting dramatically cheaper to produce over time, which isn't necessarily a sure thing -- and, again, there's no carrier here for Apple to lean on and make up the cost.

No matter where we end up landing on price and features next year, and no matter which tablet brand ends up reigning supreme in the coming decade, it's going to be pretty obvious that competition is a wonderful thing. I just wish that competition had showed up early enough to force Apple into selling me a 7-inch iPad next year.

Oh, and if you're feeling like a little bit of compromise, Apple: I'd settle for eight.

Apple iPad 2 to feature Retina Display, USB port?

By: Zach Epstein | Nov 26th, 2010 at 10:28AM

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Filed Under: Rumors, Tablets

DigiTimes is hit or miss and while we’re inclined to think there are some misses in its latest report on Apple’s upcoming iPad 2, there are also some hits — or safe bets, at least. Citing an unconfirmed report in a Chinese newspaper, DigiTimes lists five key new features that Apple’s upcoming iPad sequel will supposedly tout:

•Retina Display
•Front-facing camera for FaceTime video chat
•A thinner glass panel for a lighter build
•A USB port
•A 3-axis gyroscope

Aside from the USB port, the paper’s claims sound reasonable. We’re not saying it’s impossible that Apple would add a standard USB port to the iPad, but we definitely give it a likelihood rating of 1 on a scale to 10 for the time being.

Kamis, 25 November 2010

More Nexus S Gingerbread pics and specs leak

Posted on Thursday, Nov 25, 2010 by Jerry Hildenbrand

An unnamed source has leaked pictures of the Nexus S running Gingerbread to XDA-Developers, and some rumored specs to go along with. There's about half a dozen blurrycam shots (aren't they always?) showing the software information, the UI, and the device itself -- check the source link for the gallery.

The rumored specs are:

ArmV7 CPU
Open GL ES Supported
~328MB Ram
1GB Internal Memory
800×480 Screen Resolution
4″ Screen Size
SuperAmoled2 – Possibly
720P HD Video

I certainly hope (and think) those specs will turn out not quite right, as they are a bit underwhelming. Hopefully Google or Samsung will give us some real information about this one soon. [XDA-Developers via Android and Me]

Nexus S poses for Mr. Blurrycam, flaunting those signature curves

By Sean Hollister

posted Nov 25th 2010 1:16AM

That fine bastion of cellular modding prowess known as XDA-developers received some particularly savory snaps this fine Thanksgiving morn -- spy shots of Samsung's elusive Nexus S running an operating system that looks uncannily like Gingerbread, which it calls "Android version 2.3," and sporting a new back cover that would look perfectly normal on the original Samsung Galaxy S, if not for the extra curves. XDA's source also claims it has a 720p video camera, though other specs are still a little shaky. To be clear, this is most definitely the phone that Eric Schmidt showed us at the Web 2.0 Summit, though the rear cover looks much further along -- assuming Samsung hasn't scrapped it for a dual-core version, we wouldn't be surprised if we saw it again in person quite soon. Hit up our source link for some shots of a green-and-black operating system running on that AMOLED screen.