Archive for the 'Devices' Category

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Amazon fights back: new Kindle, low price

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The iPad was released as being—supposedly—a Kindle killer. Amazon needed to strike back. And they did, in their own way.

What? Does it look a lot like the old Kindle? Shouldn’t it be filled with incredible features such as a multitouch screen—colors, at least?

Well, this is not Amazon’s strategy.

First, the price. Well, 139$ is a lot less than 499$ right? Now, I’ll let Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO continue.

For the vast majority of books, adding video and animation is not going to be helpful. It is distracting rather than enhancing. You are not going to improve Hemingway by adding video snippets.

Steve Jobs would probably say that he’s wrong, that, in the contrary, adding video snippets would help, but who knows?

PS. The best reading experience possible remains the book, people, don’t get excited.

iOS 4.1 Beta 2 has—probably—the solution for iPhone 4 proximity sensor issues

That’s what Rosa from Gizmodo thinks.

I hope it’s true. Because, personally, I’ve experienced the ‘Death Grip’ only one time. The biggest flaw I found on the iPhone 4 was the proximity sensor not recognizing my cheek and hanging up on everybody. Bastard.

Apple updates iMac, Mac Pro (12 core), unveils Magic Trackpad

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Today, Apple updated its entire line of desktop computers.

The Mac Pro will feature an impressive 12 core processor and many hardware improvements. Available to buy in August. More information from Ai and Apple.

The new Mac Pro desktops feature the latest quad-core and 6-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics and the option for up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD). The processors run at speeds up to 3.33GHz and use a single die design so they can share up to 12MB L3 cache, improving efficiency while increasing processing speeds.

The iMac is now available with Core i3, i5 and i7 processors along with the ATI Radeon graphics starting at the attractive price of 1199$. More information from Ai and Apple.

Starting at $1,199, the new iMac line is the fastest ever with dual-core processor speeds up to 3.6 GHz, quad-core speeds up to 2.93 GHz and discrete graphics including the ATI Radeon HD 5750.

The Cinema Displays now—well, in September—ships with a big, glossy 27-inch screen and the usual goodness. More info from Ai and Apple.

Apple on Tuesday took the wraps off its new 27-inch LED Cinema Display which sports a 2560 x 1440 resolution and 60 percent more screen real estate than the company’s existing 24-inch LED Cinema Display.

And finally, last, but the the only new product from this afternoon Mac frenzy is the Magic Trackpad. Which is quite similar to your MacBook Pro’s trackpad and should be used along your iMac. More info from Ai and Apple.

Apple has brought the multi-touch gestures available to MacBook users to the desktop with its new $69 Magic Trackpad, as well as a new battery charger for wireless devices like the Magic Trackpad, Apple keyboard, and Magic Mouse.

Plus, in an unprecedented eco-friendly move, Apple added the battery recharger that works for your Apple accessories. And since there’s an Apple on it, it’s the best.

Nadia, camera, gives her opinion of your photos

This is pretty crazy, people.

Wired reports:

Nadia doesn’t even contain a proper camera. Inside the black box is a Nokia N73 cellphone which talks to a nearby Mac via Bluetooth. The Mac sends the image off to Acquine’s “aesthetics inference engine” on the web and gets back a score, which it then displays on screen.

Nice project.

Is Windows Phone 7 sexy?

A device, manufactured by HTC was spotted in the wild, having the WP7 (Windows Phone 7) OS.

And many blogs are reporting the story. Before, nobody cared about Windows mobile. Now, it seems that, after the thorough WP7 previews, people are getting interested in Windows on mobile devices again.

Good news for MSFT (Microsoft).

India develops a 35$ tablet

And it seems, according to Engadget, usable.

Read more.

Apple profits: Macs are still here

AppleInsider does the job.

Recap: Windows Phone 7 previews

wp7engadget.jpgMany blogs, such as Gizmodo, Engadget and Boy Genius Report, published technical previews about Windows Phone 7 or WP7—which is a greater name.

As you may have read all over the web, these reviews are globally positive. Yet, this radical break, a fresh start, as my friends over at Gizmodo like to call it, seems a little bit violent and may disturb non-tech-savvy users.

But, Microsoft is this kind of company. It likes to set new standards. It has lost the recent smartphones war and they need to strike back. WP7 might be the right answer.

For what I have seen, the User Interface is great and the OS works in a very unique way. Click, read and see for yourselves.

HP files for PalmPad trademark, the WebOS tablet?

After HP bought Palm, a rush of hope ran through WebOS lovers’ veins. Yesterday, we learned that HP filed for the PalmPad trademark. Palm… Pad… Tablet. Right. Now this, is odd, no? Why would Palm call it the PalmPad and not the WebPad? Or something related to WebOS specifically and not to Palm.

Well anyway, it seems that this Palm rep is keeping his promise.

Mike Arrington’s take on Antennagate is wrong

TechCrunch’s founder Michael Arrington was debating with John Gruber, MG Siegler and Jason Kincaid about Apple’s press conference. The video is above.

He says that there were two key messages from the event. First, that there’s no iPhone antenna issue and second that Apple was going to give out free cases but the second point is paradoxical since there is no iPhone antenna issue.

Well.

First. Steve Jobs apologized. “We are not perfect” is kind of the most honest way Jobs could apologize. The Economist’s tech blog seems to have noticed it, too. So, there is a problem. Jobs, in a childish way, of course, said that other phones have the same problem etc. In what possible way, Mr. Arrington, does that mean that the iPhone has no problems? In no way.

Second — Case made. Apple wants to keep its users happy, so they give them cases.

 

Next-generation iPod touch rumors: 5MP Camera, FaceTime, Gyroscope

It makes sense, folks. The next-gen iPod-touch will have a 5MP Camera, FaceTime—since it works solely on Wi-Fi—a Gyroscope. Maybe a new processor.

 

iPhone 4 proximity sensor default

Users begin to report issues. Thanks AppleInsider for making news out of it. Add my voice.

IBM Watson: a computer that answers questions

Just watch this.

Nintendo 3DS is coming

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The E3 expo took place this week (June 15-17) and Nintendo announced its new gaming device, the real sequel to the DS, the 3DS. Yes, the 3, before the D, is about a 3D screen.

Read more about the 3DS.

Palm confirms new devices coming this year

A Palm rep. said:

“I’m not allowed to talk about future roadmaps, especially because we’re in the process of being acquired by HP, so I can’t say. But yes we have a road map. We are working on future devices. And a new version of the OS. So I think, you’re going to find the next year very exciting.”

So, new devices, cooler WebOS… Interesting. WebOS is the most serious threat to the iOS. Wait, what? Yes, you did read that. Why? Android will die, slowly, confused.