Sunday, December 27, 2009

Kindle and eBook Xmas Success to Fuel Change?

The bottom of the Amazon Kindle 2Image via Wikipedia
The day after Christmas, Amazon announced that Kindle and its eBooks are still on top of the eReader/Book mountain. It's supposed to be the most "gifted" item in its company's history and that their eBooks outsold the physical ones. Granted they only compared the sales to themselves and not with their competitors, still it's a big achievement considering that selling physical books online is their main bread and butter.

Is this the start of something big or is it just a phase? Will people finally be convinced to leaving their hardbounds and paperbacks for eBooks? Some who have been collecting books for a long time aren't that too sold on eBooks: they are saying that it strains the eyes after reading for a few hours, while some are afraid of missing holding a thick book or even the smell of a freshly unpackaged novel. For me and all of the people who bought the Nook and clogged up the Barnes & Noble site will agree with me that it's time to shift mediums: from paper to electronic.

However, the main problem seems to be the availability of the medium: the eReaders. Most eReaders are in the West and most European countries while the bookworms of the East would have to sell their arm and leg just to get one. And don't even get me started with using credit cards to buy an online book.

The good thing is that the seeds have been sown, it may take quite a while, but eventually eBooks will take over and more trees will love the world for it.
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Friday, December 25, 2009

Barnes & Noble Failing the Nook?

Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader is tiny!Image by Todd Barnard via Flickr
Nook was a surprising hit, got some trouble with the pre-order bulk, and B&N was able to ship as much Nook as they can to waiting customers. However since they were able to send out quite a lot of these orders (some reports saying 60,000), something happened--a domino effect if you think about it. After receiving their Nook, what would the customers usually do? Yes, they will immediately download e-books. And when tens of thousands of customers download e-books at the same time, a queuing problem emerges.


Judging by customer feedback on its support forums, it appears a glut of download requests over gift-giving day jammed the B&N net pipes and left a great many disappointed Nook users. All attempts at downloading an ebook yesterday -- even by those who got their Nook a little earlier in the month -- were greeted with a "Queued: Will complete shortly" message, which apparently remained that way until early this morning when downloading finally resumed functioning.

I guess the people at Barnes & Noble were totally unprepared at how to supply and strategise the implementation of the Nook. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people who are still in the queue are fuming mad at Barnes & Noble, but this for me this is part of the birthing pains of a new product. Hopefully their customer service personnel is able to handle the situation and the product and supply team be able to cope up with all these hassles.

With all the trouble the Nook had to go through, this gadget better be worth it.

Source
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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Google Voice Eventually Appears in iPhone



Apple is a company that has superior quality gadgets, but I felt it necessary to focus on the way they deal with possible competitors. One of their biggest news this year was the way did away with Google Voice applications--and one of these was VoiceCentral. Now a few months later, it seems that Google Voice will be making a comeback to the iPhone through Black Swan anyway.

How will it be able to bypass being banned in the App Store? Easy: it'll run in the browser.



When you dial a number, Google Voice simply makes a call to your iPhone while simultaneously calling the number of the person you are trying to reach, so you still pay for the voice minutes. But the appeal of having Google Voice on your iPhone is the ability to read transcribed voicemails, or play them, and avoid SMS charges by texting through Google Voice.
You can't use the contact list in the iPhone as it's running on the browser. So to get around this I suggest you duplicate your contact list in your iPhone in Google Voice. Although you may access the mobile site freely, using it will require you to pay an amount.

This is a good sign for developers who feel that Apple's App Store is just too strict or for those who want to earn more for themselves. Is this the beginning of paid applications on the browser for the iPhone and the end of application hosting on the App Store? New year coming, new ways of using the iPhone coming...

Source

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The Olive 4HD Entertainment Box



Olive media just released the Olive 4HD, intended for people who are just crazy about music. Intended for the music lover industry, Olive’s latest box plays a gold standard 24-bit engineering recordings as well as playing CDs and DVDs.

The Olive 4HD does more than playing the typical songs but rather it has a server inside the black box that will rip your media apart and store it on the 2TB hard drive inside it.

The Olive 4HD matches quality sound with gold quality engineering delivering 24-bit sound at 192KHz sample rate making the sound 250 times much better than the resolution of CDs.

The Olive 4HD is easy to set up and handle with. It is easy to configure and navigate through the menus making it much more user friendly to many consumers. The new Olive 4HD acts as a control center that can access to a library full of digitalized music. A typical two-terabyte hard drive can handle about 6,000CDs or up to 20,000 high resolution 24-bit tracks. Digital media can easily be rip and copied to the Olive 4HD via the built in CD mechanism or through your PC or MAC, by the use of its wireless network connection. The music is breathtaking, offering music reproduction through Olive’s proprietary high-resolution Digital Analog Converter, featuring Texas Instrument’s 192Khz/24 bit Burr-Brown technology.

To complete your home entertainment system, the Olive 4HD directly connects to a stereo receiver. Music libraries can easily be navigated through the integrated touch screen or with the use of the unit’s built in HDMI interface. They also have added a iPhone application to allow user to control music from anywhere within the home network.

The Olive 4HD is a great addition to home entertainment system with its unique array of music capability features. Music can be access and control from anywhere in your home network.

Nook's Coming to You Soon...Hopefully

Image representing Barnes & Noble as depicted ...Image via CrunchBase
So the Nook was a big hit, although it wasn't much to most tech bloggers after they were able to get their hands on one. I guess eventhough something isn't critically acclaimed doesn't mean that it won't sell. The problem now for Barnes & Noble is that it was too big of a hit: they are currently getting swamped by pre-orders that they were unable to supply their stores or send it to buyers in the appropriate time.
The original plan was to ship pre-orders by November 30 but that date was pushed back to December 7. It took a mere month for the entire order process to break down. Now a small number of pre-orders still haven’t arrived and most brick and mortar stores are sold out and even then they were only available in “higher volume” stores on December 7.
It's so big that it's giving Barnes & Noble a headache. However, don't fret if you're one of them as there's a silver lining in this dark cloud.
B&N is assuaging those customers whose pre-orders and early orders haven’t shipped with a $100 B&N gift certificate if the device doesn’t ship by December 23. The company wrote:“With our sincerest apologies, we will send you an e-mail notification on December 23rd with a $100 Barnes&Noble.com Online Gift Certificate.”
In my opinion, this is a win-win for both B&;N and the buyers. For the company, it shows how much a success their gadget is, for the buyers: they get a $100 Gift Certificate and a Nook (possibly early next year). However, there will be some negative effects as some can't hardly wait and have begun cancelling their order.

Source

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Apple Leaks! 3MP Cams in iPhone and New Tablets

Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBase
Finally we get to read some Apple leaks again! And it's not just about the iPhone mind you, we'll be talking about the iPod and another possible Apple gadget that may take the tech world again by storm. Will this mean that the next year is going to be Apple's year again?

3MP Cams in iPhone 4 Gen and Future iPods?

If Digitimes wrote it right, they just inadvertently spilled the beans that the iPhone 4Gen and the next sets of iPods will be having 3.2 Megapixels over the old 2 Megapixels they have today:
"The sources said OmniVision has secured 5-megapixel CIS orders for the next-generation iPhone model, which will hit shelves sometime during the second half of 2010. OmniVision snatched 3.2-megapixel CIS orders for Apple's iPhone 3GS, beating out Aptina Imaging which supplies the 2-megapixel CIS solution for the iPhone 3G."
Hopefully this means better camera shots and videos coming out of the iPhone 4Gen and iPods in the next year.

Apple Tablets are coming!

According to Boy Genius, they're certain that a 7 inch Apple Tablet is in the works and will be announced next month.
"Our connect said there is 100% a 7″ Apple tablet, to be announced in January, and whether this is in addition to a 10″ model, they don’t know. Would we bet the farm on this? No, but they’ve been amazingly accurate for us in the past..."
So we're actually waiting on TWO tablets? Wow! How will this affect current Netbooks? Will the tablets be better than the Mac? Are Apple shooting themselves in the foot?

Source of New 3MP Cams
Source of Apple Tablets
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Logitech’s Portable Webcam C905


Through the years Logitech has been known to produce the best quality speakers for personal computers all over the world. With the holiday rush in progress, Christmas is all about family celebration and the like. What better way to spend Christmas with your family together with Logitech’s neat new Portable webcam C905.

In these times of the holidays, connecting with your love ones abroad is now possible with the help of Logitech’s Portable webcam. Video calling is relatively free of charge and the C905 portable webcam from Logitech help keeps the job done. With easy to use software and the simple to use Logitech Vid Zeiss optics with autofocus, it makes video calling easy to use and gives crystal sharp images even at close-ups.

It comes with a 2 megapixel HD sensor that delivers true to-life video of the person you are calling. It can support of up to 720p of video resolution and can handle photos of up to 8 megapixels with the use of a clever little software.

With the new Logitech Vid integrated into your webcam, setup will be as easy like those plug and play devices in the market. Expect to have crystal clear images with the help of Zeiss optics that offer true to life zoom capabilities.

It also has a built in Logitech RighLight 2 Technology that easily adjusts and set-up for the best possible images that you might encounter. And also with Logitech Video Effects, it lets you personalize your conversations with hundreds of unique avatars, face accessories and other built in features.

To complete the video calling feature, the Portable C905 webcam comes with a built-in microphone with integrated Logitech RighSound Technology that offers clear hands free conversation covering up those pesky background noises.

With the holiday rush, Logitech’s portable webcam the C905 is the greatest gift you can avail to your love ones who wants to stay connected here and abroad.

Motorola Leaks: Opus, XT701, and XT800

With Motorola smelling like roses after the Droid, they know they got something and they are rolling more Android powered phones and devices coming next year.

Motorola Opus Revealed!



Some pictures and details on Motorola's new Android phone, the Opus, has been leaked into the internet. Thanks to Boy Genius, everyone knows that the next Motorola Android phone will be a step back in version: From Droid's Android 2.0 to Opus's 1.5. Looks more like it's going to be an Android starter phones for those who just want to try it out, but I thought that was what the Cliq was for? Here's the leaked specs of the Motorola Opus:
  • 3.1″ hVGA 320×480 capacitative touchscreen display
  • 3 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash
  • Accelerometer
  • Proximity sensor
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
  • Bluetooth
  • microSD card slot
  • 2.5mm headset jack
  • Home, Menu, Back, Speaker buttons are capacitive buttons with haptic feedback
  • iDEN PTT & PTX
  • Android LBS which is integrated into the iDEN GPS engine
  • “Enterprise email”
  • Plastic-molded housing with some rubberized texture finishes
  • 58mm in width, 118mm in length
  • 100g weight
  • 512MB Flash / 256MB of RAM
  • 64k and 128k iDEN SIM card support
  • A-GPS
  • Motorola dual-mic technology noise-canceling for noisy enviroments
  • Flash Lite v3.1.x
  • Some of the preloaded apps include: corporate email client with ActiveSync support, MOTONAV navigation app, barcode scanner, and document viewer.

Motorola XT701 and XT800 Leaked!

Motorola's got a duo of new Android powered phones with leaked picture and specs got into the net, and as usual, the guys at Boy Genius are on it. The handset is called the Motorola XT701 Sholes Tablet and the XT800 Zeppelin.

XT701 Specs:



  • Android 2.0 with full suite of Google applications
  • Cortex A8 quad-core processor
  • WLAN (WAPI / WIFI) 802.11 b / g
  • Support for 3G (WCDMA / HSDPA 10.2M / HSUPA 5.76M)
  • 3.7-inch-wide touch-screen super FWVGA capacitance, 854X480 resolution, high-definition display
  • 5 million pixel auto-focus camera, Xenon flash
  • Built-in gravity sensor, infrared proximity sensors, ambient light sensor model
  • Android Market support (pending)
  • aGPS
  • 32GB Micro-SD(HC)
  • FM Stereo FM radio
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Fashion Touch Interface
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack


XT800 Specs:



  • Android 2.0 with full suite of Google applications
  • CDMA EVDO / GSM dual-network
  • 3G network support, WIFI / WAPI free switching
  • 3.7-inch high-definition resolution of 854×480
  • HDMI high-definition (720p) output
  • 5 million pixel digital camera, auto focus, dual LED flash
  • Cortex TM – A8 multi-core processor
  • MOTO-specific Nicam -professional intelligent noise reduction
  • GPS
  • 32GB Micro-SD
  • Electronic Compass & Support for gravity sensing
  • Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
  • FM Stereo FM radio
  • Standard 3.5 mm headphone jack

With all these leaks going around, it's a wonder whether Motorola's marketing team ever gets fired--well it does give people something to look forward to next year...

Source for Opus
Source for XT701 and XT800
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Friday, December 18, 2009

The LG Chocolate BL20


Chocolate seems to be theme when it comes to developing new phones. Chocolate bars like the new LG BL20 Chocolate is the new addition to its older brother the BL40.

The LG BL20 may not have the splendor of the BL40 but is definitely an-awe inspiring device to be reckoned with. The chocolate series is back and here is the ingredient that keeps the chocolate sweeter than it is.

The latest BL20 Chocolate comes with a spectacular lively screen and a touchpad for easy navigation. To add to the functionality it has a sliding keypad that steers away from both traditional designs. Definitely the LG BL20 is a fashion phone and here are some of its core features.

First of all the LG BL20 by far is the slimmest of all LG slider phones available in the market. It only measures 106.9 x 50.8 x 12.3 mm, and the handset can still fit in your pocket. It only weighs at 115g just above the average phone you would encounter.

It has a 2.4 inch screen big enough for you to glide your hands through. Screen resolution is by far the best feature of this phone supporting 240 x 320 pixels at 262K colors. Just behind the back lies the LG BL20 Chocolate’s 5 megapixel auto-focus camera fully equipped with Schneider-Kreuznach certified optics. In addition to that, it also has an LED flash which can be used as a source of video light.

The LG BL20 also has some useful applications, this include an organizer, a calendar, a To-Do app, memos, Alarm settings, calculator and stopwatch just to name a few.

The new Chocolate series by LG is a great all rounder phone featuring all the best bits mold up into one. Not only it is powerful enough but it is also great to suite as a fashion statement.




The Funky Nokia 5530



In just a short span of months Nokia has released another ground breaking device in the form the new Nokia 5530. Hitting the market within six months apart, the Nokia 5530 definitely by some call it as the younger brother of the Nokia 5800. Well consumers might have a hard time comparing the two devices on which is better but after you take a glimpse of the handheld you would notice that it is definitely two unique devices.

To start it off, the Nokia 5530 phone casing comes with myriads of color combination casings of red, white on grey, black, and pink on white and yellow and white. The camera specs of the phone are awesome; it is built with “True Colors” by Cindi Lauper. The Nokia 5530 boasts a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with Auto Focus and can capture videos in a dazzling 640 x 360 pixels or in short up to 16 million colors.

The phone is touch based so there is actually no physical keyboard in place. Instead, the Finish manufacturer opted to have a virtual numeric keypad shown in front of the high definition 2.9 inch screen. When the phone is held horizontally on its left, the screen displays a QWERTY keyboard in response to your action.

The phone itself boasts a 70mb of internal memory and is equipped with a microSD card that is expandable of up to 16GB. As well for its raw power, it has a CPU speed of RM 11 434 Mhz processor. In terms of connectivity it has Wi-Fi capabilities and also has a FM and Bluetooth support. And to top it all, the Nokia 5530 even has a 1000mAh battery that means the phone has a talk time of up to 4.9 hours and a stand by time of up to 14 days.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Creative’s New Vado Mini-Camcorder



With the holidays just around the corner, capturing those precious moments on film would be a wonderful experience to many of us. Capturing those precious moments with a camcorder is one of the best ways to have those precious memories stored in our hearts forever. Creative has a solution to all of this with its brand new mini-camcorder the Vado HD 3rd Gen.

The Vado HD3rd Gen joins into the crowd of an increasing population of pocket camcorders in the market. This includes the Flip line, as well as old favorites like the Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera and the Sony Webbie HD Camera. Pocket camcorders like these have a total weight between 3.5 and 4 ounces that offer consumers one touch functionality.

The Vado HD 3rd Gen comes with a slightly slicker and unique design than that of its predecessors. The Vado HD 2nd Gen, offers only an ample 4 gigabytes of internal storage. But manufacturer Creative says that 4 gigabytes of memory can offer up to two hours of 720p resolution (1280 by 720) video.

The 3rd Gen has been revamped to produce more than the usual. It now has the ability to snap still shots of resolution of 1280 by 720 and a 3.5mm jack for consumers to connect it to a optional stereo mic which enables them to improve audio performance. The downside of the photo resolution is terrible, considering the Kodak Zi8 can manage to snap still images at an awesome 5.3 megapixels.

Creative also promises that the 3rd Generation Vado can capture images at low light thanks to the new manual exposure option. The manual exposure feature promises to be able to optimize video and make it clearer and vibrant. Another great feature to the Vado line would be its battery life and removable feature allowing you to purchase extra batteries.


miBook Comes Alive with Video and Sound


The latest crop of eBooks are great for reading text, but what if one wanted to cook a meal or fix a leaky faucet and actually watch how it's done, step-by-step? It couldn't be done. But with miBooks it can.

A recent review called miBooks eBooks on steroids.

miBooks successfully expand the eBook category beyond just text and at a fraction of the cost – the miBook multimedia player costs under $100. Leading retailers, including Best Buy, offer the miBook player and titles.

While one can view text on a “traditional” eBook reader, the sleek, portable 7” miBook player changes the game by providing an enhanced experience with video and audio content. Imagine cooking a recipe not by reading instructions but by watching a chef actually prepare it, step-by-step. Unsure how to mince an onion? Just watch. That’s a big change from traditional cookbooks that can leave a fledgling cook stranded with a bunch of words.

miBooks are highly interactive, pausing, for example, after each step of a recipe so users can cook at their own pace. The new books even suggest recipes based on a home cook’s preference for main ingredient, cooking method, and available time.

(Source) Press

Monday, December 14, 2009

Sneak Peek: Google Phone Picture and Features!



We mentioned last time that Google is finally entering the market with its Google Phone. although it was manufactured by HTC, we are expecting that it will fully embrace everything Google--and that usually means good. Cool thing that Engadget was able to get some photos of the now named Nexus One.
Just like we've heard before, the updated OS features new 3D elements to the app tray, as well as an extended amount of homescreens, though it looks like the lock screen / mute is the same as in Android 2.0.1. Additionally, there's now a new grid icon at the bottom of the homescreen, which when pressed brings up a webOS card-style preview of all homescreen pages -- which raises some interesting possibilities.
According to the article, it is running under T-mobile and has Wi-Fi capabilities. It lacks any buttons to push and looks thin and sleek. And oh by the way it supposedly runs on Android 2.1.

This phone has a lot of tech gadget fans salivating for it considering that there are other excellent phones out there right now (yep, don't count out the iPhone and Droid yet). Will this mean that similarly powered smartphones will have decreasing sales after this Google phone rolls out of production? In my opinion, one should never buy a version 1.0 because there's bound to be a lot of bugs (even if it was quality tested for a long time) and problems. Another to be concerned about is the security of the phone itself. Since it's going to be the first Google Phone, a lot of hackers will want to get in on the action and do some foolery on your phone (Google should learn from Apple's mistakes on this one).

Nevertheless, this phone will be in a lot of tech stories in the coming weeks. Count on it.

Source

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Google Phone is Out There!

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...Image via CrunchBase
Is it good for service providers to go into the hardware side of the business? We all know that Google's Android has been slaughtering the competition (except for the iPhone that is) and now Google seems to be branching into the smartphone market with the ominously titled, "Google Phone".

Yep, it's been confirmed and Google employees are getting it--unlocked--as the tweets from the following Google employees show:
We noticed a Twitter message from a Google Program Manager, who writes “Stuck in mass of traffic leaving work post last all hands of 2009. ZOMG we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It’s beautiful.”
Another guy, Jason Howell, says he had his hands on the device, which he says is made by HTC and is running Android 2.1: “The new Google Phone runs on HTC hardware. I saw it w/ Android 2.1. Homescreen has new visual enhancements like animated desktop wallpaper.”
“Supposedly, Google employees were given tons of these phones today. unlocked,” he adds.

What does this mean for current hardware manufacturers and developers like Motorola, etc. and the Android carrying lot? Does this mean that Google will focus more on making their Operating System work better on their phones over the others or will they still support their comrade at arms in the smartphone business? Nevertheless what Google decides, I know it's going to be a game changer in the smartphone industry as the Google brand alone will attract a lot of geeks out there to at least try out.

Source
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Droid: Jailbroken and Beats iPhone in Time Mag List!



It's been a long time since I wrote about the Motorola Droid. The last time I did was when it launched, after that there was nothing. A lot of people praised the Motorola Droid as the one to beat Apple's iPhone 3GS and if Time's correct, it already did. However, with such a high profile phone, there's bound to be people who want to break it like they did the iPhone, and they just did.

Droid is Jailbroken!

There have been reports going around that the Motorola Droid has been finally "rooted" or for those not technically inclined--the Operating System has been opened up and anyone can muck around with it. The one who announced it was Cyanogen who tweeted it. However the one who hacked it was a person named Zinx Verituse.

So what does this mean for current Droid owners who wants to root their phone?
A rooted Droid means the user will have administrative rights and the ability to control every aspect of the phone, not just those that Motorola or Verizon have provided access to. A person will be able to download widgets that allow them to overclock their processor or install themes that dramatically change the appearance of their phone. Cyanogen offers custom builds that truly customize a device and provides easy access to hidden features.
Just remember that rooting your phone has also a great chance of totally bricking it.

Droid Beats iPhone in Time List!

According to Time Magazine, the Motorola Droid is the number one gadget of 2009, beating the iPhone (who sits at a lowly four).
"The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it. The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the iPhone."
Congrats to Motorola for beating the iPhone on this list!

Jailbreaken Droid Source
Time Magazine Top 10 Gadgets of 2009

Monday, December 07, 2009

Dell to Dive Into Smartphone Market



Being successful in business means going out on a limb a lot to ensure that your company will be able to develop new products and services for the current and potential customers. This is what Dell's going to do with their intent on making it on the mobile phone market.

Dell, one of the best desktop computer makers out there, has decided to try their hand on the booming smartphone market. They've created a mobile division with the reorganization of the company. Although they failed before with the Axim, they're going to try again with the Mini 3i.
Dell’s new mobile phone division will be run by one Ron Garriques, a former Motorola boss who was leading Dell’s consumer computer division. When Garriques was brought to Dell (reportedly personally by Michael Dell) in 2007, it spurred rumors that Dell would reattempt something in the mobile product line.
Dell’s PDA line, Axim, was produced from 2002 to 2007, but sold poorly in the ‘BlackBerry era’ of smartphones with well designed e-mail and other business features. Dell’s Mini 3i is their first phone attempt, although it is only going to be sold (at first) in China and Brazil. Dell said that in addition to phones, Dell will also produce MIDs (mobile internet devices) and possibly a tablet.
Good luck to them as the market for smartphones is really getting rough and tough with all the hoopla with Apple's iPhone 3GS and the various Android phones (most prominent as of the moment: Motorola's Droid).

Source

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Nokia to Improve on Symbian




I mentioned last time that Nokia's move to the Maemo from Symbian maybe a disaster if they keep on continuing the same way they treated Symbian. It's great news that Nokia has focused on improving Symbian by focusing on the User Interface (UI) to make it look less cluttered and a lot more easier to reach your fave apps (for example tap twice instead of eight times to get to your application). This will surely make Nokia phones so much faster and efficient for its users. Scrolling will be supposedly be faster from 15 frames per second to 60.

However, Nokia will still push through with their lone Maemo powered phone next year--most likely a parallel run to truly test which smartphone OS would best suit the majority of their customers. Why not have two smartphone operating system running with their phones? Will it be too much of a stretch for them? HTC (supposedly one of the forerunners of Android phones) have done it with both Microsoft Mobile and Android in the past. Although it looks more like Microsoft's getting kicked hard in the butt by Android, there are still hardcore people out there who use Microsoft Mobile as their OS of choice.

Another question is why did they just move now since they had Symbian way before the Android was even thought of. Whether Nokia lost its focus on its smartphone OS all this years is no longer the issue, but rather how do they move up the charts again? Will they be able to do it with a vastly improved Symbian or a new kid on the block Maemo? Looks like will see next year.

Source

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

GP2X Wiz Portable Arcade & Console Emulator



If you're an old time gamer like I am, you long for the days where you can just jump into a game and immerse yourself in that reality for a few minutes. The games these days take quite a while to finish and requires a lot of effort and concentration, thus the fun factor has been sorely lacking. It also requires you to buy multiple cartridges or discs in order to play games that you like. It's great then that the GP2X Wiz is coming out with a lot of games under its belt. Not only is this a Game Boy Emulator but it's an emulator to end all other emulators.



The Wiz uses Linux-based firmware to support a number of different emulators. As a result, games ranging from classic Nintendo to Sega Genesis to Neo Geo plus Arcade favorites are playable in one handheld device. "The retro gaming community grows in size every day. The demand for old favorites to be readily available is constantly increasing, despite how many new games are released" stated Mark Hall, Wiz enthusiast and proprietor of the community site GP2XWiz.info.

Although I do have to admit that the games included in the Wiz seems to be more targeted to an older audience, it doesn't mean that the younger generation can't get into it as well. Let's say it's a way for them to appreciate where the gaming today came from. For those of my age, it's a great way to relive younger days where games are meant to be fun rather than a challenge.

Press Release