Archives for February 2010

Samsung HDTV’s with Embedded Skype Announced

Samsung have announced that they will be launching new HDTV’s that have broadband capabilities and Skype software embedded in to them. When the TV’s are connected up to the internet it allows for Skype calls to be made over the TV.

The next HDTV’s to get this functionality are the Samsung LED 7000 and 8000 series which as well as allowing voice calls will also allow video calls with the appropriate webcam attachment.

The debut of Samsung’s Skype-enabled televisions reinforces Skype’s commitment to making its video and voice calling capabilities available on a full range of Internet-connected devices, including TVs. Televisions with built-in Skype software were first introduced at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010.

[Read more…]

Deal of the Day: Western Digital 1.5TB Caviar SATA Drive

If you are looking for a new SATA hard drive and need a lot of capacity then Amazon have a good deal on at the moment bringing a 1.5TB SATA drive down from $122.99 to just $99.99.

The WD Caviar Green range cut down power consumption by 40% and run quietly. By using caching algorithms the drive is able to adjust spin speed while maintaining transfer rate, thus the 40% saving is achieved. [Read more…]

ASUS Eee 1015P, 1016P and 1018P Leaked

Details have emerged about three new ASUS Eee PC’s that are expected to be launched at CeBIT in the next few days. Each of the Eee PC’s falls in to the 1000 series and therefore, each has a 10 inch screen. It is expected that each of the netbooks will also run the Intel Atom N450 processor.

ASUS Eee 1015P

The ASUS Eee 1015P is an update to the ASUS Eee 1005P, but in this build it has a larger touchpad. It has a matte display and chiclet keys but the body of the netbook has been uprated to aluminium. The battery life is also similar to the 1005PE in that it gets around 14 hours although that is without wireless switched on, and we assume without too much demand on the processor. Either way, 14 hours with all that switched off should still see a good amount of hours with wifi switched on. [Read more…]

HTC HD2 to be First Windows Phone to get Flash – On 7 Series

There’s certainly evidence to support that the HTC HD2 could get an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series, but at the same time there isn’t any actual proof except for cryptic Twitter messages and postings on forums etc…

This next rumour comes from an Adobe representative on their forums where he answers questions based on when Flash will be hitting certain mobile devices and different OS’s along with some time-frame questions and answers mixed in.

When asked about the phones the rep replied… [Read more…]

Nokia to build Windows Phone and Android Devices?

UPDATE: We just head that the paper mis-quoted Williams… this is all not happening. Oh well!

We are hearing rumours that Nokia [NOK] are going to be porting Ovi Maps Navigation on to Android and Windows Phone devices in the near future. The information came as follows…

Greig Williams who is Nokia’s general manager for the Alps and South East Europe, told the Austrian newspaper Die Presse that porting Ovi Maps to Android and Windows Mobile “will be the next step.”

Reading between the lines a little here could reveal a couple of things. First is that they might want Ovi Maps Navigation to function on other platforms to give it away… but could it mean that Nokia are looking at creating Android and Windows Phone devices that will launch with Maps Navigation pre-installed? [Read more…]

Samsung 3D TV Now on Sale in the US

Samsung have launched their first 3D TV over in the US called the Samsung UN55C7000. The 3D TV measures 55 inches and can play full HD content at 1080p that runs at 240 Hz and is backlit by LED.

The 55 inch 3D TV had four HDMI inputs (version 1.3) along with Component and PC inputs. The TV is ready to work with new 3D content that gives an extra dimension and depth in video. Samsung do say that more 3D content is scheduled for launch from regular TV. [Read more…]

Flash 10.1 Not a Battery Hog

Recently Apple were heard to say that Adobe Flash on a mobile device would kill battery life and give up to an 85% decrease in how long the battery would last. The Apple iPad was specifically mentioned as dropping from 10 hours to just 1.5 hours if Apple allowed Flash on their device.

To try prove these numbers wrong an Adobe evangelist called Mark Doherty has created some evidence along with a video of Flash 10.1 running on a mobile device and the exact effect it has on the battery of a mobile device. By playing a 17 minute embedded video that ran flash, the consumption of flash was just 6% (mixed in with the browser processor usage). The numbers also indicate that H.264 playback over a WiFi connection could allow for about three hours on a single charge. [Read more…]

Quake 2 and 3 Ported to Motorola DROID

Back in 2009 Android and Me posted a competition to see who could port Quake 2 and 3 over to an Android based device. After being forgotten about for a while a winner suddenly appeared. The winner managed to get Quake working on the Motorola DROID and says it should also quite easily port on to the Nexus One.

Two developers have actually managed to get things working well. The first guy is called Julien who managed to create Quake2Android and has managed to get network games and touch based and accelerometer based controls to function. Although it works on the Motorola DROID at a frame-rate of 30 – 40 frames per second, we do hear it also will work on other Android based hardware such as the G1. [Read more…]

LG to Ship Windows Phone 7 Series Handset in September

Finally we are hearing some news about when Windows Phone 7 Series handsets will be shipping. From what we have heard it seems like LG are to be one of the first, if not the first, to have some hardware ship later on this year sometime between September and November. At this point there are no official dates and most of it will probably be related to when Microsoft [MSFT] can get the final build ready and waiting to ship.

The information came from a sitdown meeting with LG Mobile in Hong Kong where the dates were revealed. [Read more…]

Olympus PEN E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds Camera Now Available

The Olympus PEN E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera is now available over at Amazon in the US. The camera has a 12.3 megapixel sensor and is in the micro four thirds format allowing it to be compact as well as powerful.

A lens is included in the package which is a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko digital zoom lens. On the back of the camera is a 2.7 inch HyperCrystal LCD display that also has Live View. The PEN E-PL1 is capable of capturing HD video and storage of images and video is to SD or SDHC memory cards (supplied separately). A built in flash can also be found in this particular model which was not found in previous versions. [Read more…]

Business Card Scanner – CardScan Personal

A Business Card Scanner comes in handy if you have a habit of collecting business cards. The small scanning devices can allow you to quickly digitise the information on the cards allowing you to throw away the mass collection of cards.

The CardScan Personal is one such device that allows you to quickly attach it to your computer via a USB port, install a bit of software and then insert a business card for scanning.

The CardScan Personal software uses a drag-and-drop system allowing digitised business cards to be moved from email, websites and to devices such as flash drives. The software also automatically creates an address book for you to store business cards. [Read more…]

Hornby Digital Sound Spruces up the regular Train Set

Hornby, the train set makers, have created Hornby Digital Sound that brings locomotive noises to each individual train. The old system made it’s sounds from a single box located near the model railway tracks, but now each train that has the Hornby Digital Sound system built in has it’s own speaker that can emulate sound far better.

The trains also have a system built in that can change the sound effects as they travel around the track. If the train goes through a tunnel then the noise will be more echoed just like it would should a full sized train go through a tunnel.

Several new trains have the new Hornby Digital Sound system already installed which includes the LNER Herring Gull class A4 that costs £234.99. Others include the Diesel Electric Class 50 Illustrious that costs £209.99 and finally the Diesel Electric Class 60 The Hundred of Hoo that costs £209.99. Various models are available at Amazon that also are a little cheaper in price. [Read more…]