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US Update: London Underground, Palm Pad, Nokia X7-00
Nokia X7-00 prototype: N8 plus four speakers
Windows Phone 7 Jailbreak: Microsoft warns bricked handsets
Pirate Bay appeal: less jail time, more fines
Palm Pad concept design: tablet meets Pre
London Underground railway network adding mobile phone service?
Teatime Tech: iPad discounts, Acer’s tablet ambitions and the Cowon X7 arrives in the UK
Virgin Media TiVo service: first photos!
Fatman outs new iPod docking systems
Cowon X7 arrives to take on iPod touch

US Update: London Underground, Palm Pad, Nokia X7-00

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 07:00 PM PST

It's time again for that morning cup of joe so sit back and relax as we get you up to speed on the latest happenings, this side of the pond. In today's US Update we take a quick peek at everything from mobile phone coverage coming to the London Underground railway network to the unreleased Nokia X7-00 prototype.

Without further adieu let's get started. The mobile phone service rumored to be coming to London's Underground railway network could be just a couple weeks away from becoming a reality. Sources hint that the Mayor is ready to sign the deal. A sexy new Palm Pad concept design has just been released as part of the Precentral design contest.

The Pirate Bay founders are back in the news and this time their appeal has resulted in shorter jail time, but heftier fines to the tune of 46m crowns (£4.1m). ChevronMVP, the Windows Phone 7 jailbreak, is out but Microsoft has issued a statement saying doing so will void your warranty and could possibly brick your phone – is it worth the risk?

Last up this fine morning is the Nokia X7-00 prototype which recently appeared in a YouTube video. The device runs Symbian and looks to pack the same hardware as the Nokia N8, but with four instead of two speakers.

That wraps up things this fine morning from the states. Thanks for spending your morning with us as we break the headlines fresh off the press from our side of the world. Until tomorrow, this is Nick saying over and out.

Nokia X7-00 prototype: N8 plus four speakers

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 06:00 PM PST

An unreleased Nokia handset, deemed the Nokia X7-00, has just been leaked this Thanksgiving weekend in a YouTube video. The X7-00 looks to be packing not two, but four speakers in a surprisingly slim body, but what else does it bring to the table?

We love a good phone leak like the rest of you and that's why our blood was pumping this morning when the Nokia X7-00 prototype video was released. In the video we can see the device sports four speakers, most likely Dolby enhanced and it runs Symbian.

Judging by the speed of the device it looks like this is nowhere near a release build of the OS. According to the source, the Nokia X7-00 packs a feature set very close to the existing N8, but with a major focus on music.

Anyone else eying a Nokia X7-00 prototype as their next mobile?

via NokiaSaga

Windows Phone 7 Jailbreak: Microsoft warns bricked handsets

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 05:00 PM PST

Before you go running out to download the ChevronWP7 Windows Phone 7 jailbreak utility you might want to take a peek at what Microsoft has to say about the whole situation. Sideloading application without paying the fee for the Windows Phone developer program is nice, but is it worth bricking your shiny new toy?

At the moment there is only one jailbreaking solution for Windows Phone 7 devices — ChevronWP7. This small utility simply allows users to "unlock" their device and sideload any application. The official (and legal) way to do this without jailbreaking is to join the Windows Phone developer program which has an annual fee of $99 (£63). The ChevronWP7 is not without risks.

First, Microsoft's PVK system can detect and ban all devices unlocked with this method — effectively black listing the Device ID. Second, Microsoft has released an official statement regarding the jailbreak method,

"We anticipated that people would attempt to unlock the phones and explore the underlying operating system. We encourage people to use their Windows Phone as supplied by the manufacturer to ensure the best possible user experience. Attempting to unlock a device could void the warranty, disable phone functionality, interrupt access to Windows Phone 7 services or render the phone permanently unusable."

The inherit dangers of jailbreaking a Windows Phone 7 device combined with the microSD card difficulties are surely making WP7 the mobile OS not to toy with. At this point we can confirm that the ChevronWP7 method does in fact work, but if caught the consequences seem to outweigh the benefits. Personally I'd rather fork over the money to officially have access to sideloading of applications through the developer program and avoid the hoopla, but maybe that's just me.

Let us know what you think about the latest Windows Phone 7 fiasco and whether or not you plan to use ChevronWP7 to jailbreak your device. Are the risks worth the rewards? Let us know!

via PocketNow

Pirate Bay appeal: less jail time, more fines

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 04:00 PM PST

The infamous Pirate Bay founders are back in the news today as a Swedish appeals court upheld the 2009 ruling against the site's founders. After the original lengthy trial, the appeal has landed the foursome with reduced jail time but increased fines.

When Pirate Bay founders, Petere Sunde, Fredrek Neij, Gottfid Svartholm Warg and Carl Lundstrom landed one year jail sentences in April 2009, the team stuck behind the fact that The Pirate Bay did not actually host any pirated material. While true, the tracking service remained liable for the sharing in the eyes of the courts and as a result the fine has been increased to 46m crowns (£4.1m).

The revised sentencing will see Mr Neij serve a 10 month sentence; Mr Sunde eight months and Mr Lundstrom four months. Once Mr Svartholm Warg is well his “criminal liability” will be tested by the appeals court. Despite the original verdict and now the appeal, The Pirate Bay continues to operate with business as usual.

Following today's verdict, the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry said, "It is now time for The Pirate Bay, whose operators have been twice convince in court, to close. We now look to governments and ISPs to take note of this judgment, do the responsible thing and take the necessary steps to get The Pirate Bay shut down".

Those are some bold words, but judging by the results following the initial verdict it still seems unlikely that we'll ever see The Pirate Bay fully close its doors. Now it's time for you to tell us what you think about the new verdict: Did they deserve it? Will The Pirate Bay ever shut down? Give us a shout!

via BBC

Palm Pad concept design: tablet meets Pre

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 03:00 PM PST

If the Palm Pre and a tablet were molded into a sexy next-generation gadget, the end result would be this Palm Pad concept design. The design comes straight from the Palm phone design challenge held by PreCentral and while the contest is over, this stand-out design deserves a second look.

The web 2.0 iPad alternative, better known as the Palm Pad concept, packs a punch. With a 7-inch multi-touch display running at Apple's retina quality (640 x 960), the pixel density would surely stand out amongst the competition. On the rear of the Palm Pad is a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and under the hood is 64GB of internal memory and a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU. WiFi and 3G are also supported, rounding out the feature set and setting the tone for a very solid concept.

The X factor to the Palm Pre design is that 7-inch screen, which judging by the concept renderings looks to be a flexible OLED display. If the tablet form factor is not to your liking, a quick twist of the wrist and you can have the Palm Pad rolled and packed away into a canister within seconds.

With the exception of the flexible OLED display, the Palm Pad concept design looks to be a very realistic device. We know the Tegra2 processors are coming to CES in January and we know that HP and Palm are furiously working no a tablet running webOS. Palm has also promised that there will be no less than five webOS devices released in 2011.

Could the Palm Pad be one of them? Let us know what you think about this sexy new concept design and what features/specs you'd like to see in the Palm Pad.

via Concept Phones

London Underground railway network adding mobile phone service?

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 02:00 PM PST

Ready for mobile phone coverage on the London Underground railway network? A new report indicates that the UK's big four mobile operators are close to a signing a £150 million deal that would do just that.

Rumors surrounding mobile phone coverage on the London Underground railway network began back in September in the Sunday Telegraph. Since then a second story has surface in the trade magazine, Mobile Today. The magazine suggests that the deal between the Transport for London (TfL) and the big four operators has received backing from the Mayor of London and is expected to be signed within the next two weeks.

Of course, the source of the magazine remains unnamed, but claims to work at one of the mobile network involved in the deal. This is not the first attempt at mobile phone service for the London Underground railway network. Plans by the previous Mayor faltered after none of the bidders were able to provide a commercially viable solution.

This time around the deployment will involve conventional leaky feeder cables running down into the station platforms to deliver the radio signal along with signal repeaters. The source indicates that so far the mobile operators have agreed to roll out service on Jubilee and Central lines in time for the Olympics, with other rail lines added later.

Rather than sticking with a single source, Mobile Today, spoke with a TfL spokeswoman who said, "TfL and the Mayor of London are currently in discussion with mobile phone operators and other suppliers about the potential provision of mobile phone services on the deep tube network". It's safe to say a deal is currently underway and this time around it looks likely that mobile phone service will come to the London Underground railway network. So who's ready to make some calls?

via Cellular News

Teatime Tech: iPad discounts, Acer’s tablet ambitions and the Cowon X7 arrives in the UK

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 10:15 AM PST

The weekend has arrived, but hold on just one minute longer before you leave: we’ve got all the gadget news and gossip you could need for a night down the watering hole here in our teatime tech roundup.

First up, it may be Black Friday, but it looks like there’ll soon be another way to get an iPad on the cheap, and for more than one day only. Network Three is planning to sell the slate subsidised. Will you be picking one up?

On the tablet side of things meanwhile,. we got more rumours about the specs for the iPad 2, and Acer talked up its own tablet plans.

Finally, in audio, we got a look at Fatman’s new iPod dock, and the huge Cowon X7 PMP went on sale in the UK, for all you iPod haters out there.

Hungry for more headlines still? Roll on through to the homepage and help yourself to them all as they break.

Virgin Media TiVo service: first photos!

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 08:28 AM PST

Remember the Virgin Media TiVo on demand and search service announced for Branson telly customers early this year? Here’s a first glimpse into what it’ll look like on launch.

The new Virgin Media TiVo service, revealed in March of this year, has been a long time coming, but these first official shots hint that it should be worth it when it arrives. As well as a nice new menu system for the already solid Virgin Media TV on demand service, the big deal here is search – tap out the letters of your favourite show to see what its got.

The TiVo IPTV technology powering the new Virgin Media TiVo service is already being used in the US in TiVo’s Premiere service, which like the Boxee Box, comes with a rather QWERTY keyboard remote, to make said search even easier. There’s no word yet whether we’ll see the same remote here or internet video trawling skills here, but even without them, this looks like the next best thing to Google TV in the UK.

Out TBC | £TBC | Virgin Media

Fatman outs new iPod docking systems

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 08:04 AM PST

Valve amp obsessed audio firm Fatman has launched a brace of new iPod and iPhone docking systems. The Fatman iTube ValveDock MkII and Fatman Carbon Trinity both feature the company's trademark valve amps, which it claims result in a warmer, richer sound.

The Fatman iTube ValveDock MkII (pictured) is, unsurprisingly, an updated edition of the ValveDock. It features a two-piece design – the docking station and amp are separate – and USB port for playing back computer-stored music. It totes 2 x 25W of power and comes supplied with remote control and high quality speaker cables. You can buy it alone for £300 or for £400 with a pair of speakers.

The Fatman Carbon Trinity is a one-piece system, and the third generation of Fatman's all-in-one valve dock. The main additions are a USB port and subwoofer output, the latter allowing you quickly hook up a sub for extra bass response. Again, there's 2 x 25W amplification and a remote control. It costs £400 on its own, or £500 with a pair of speakers.

Out now | From £300 | Fatman

Cowon X7 arrives to take on iPod touch

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 07:27 AM PST

The Cowon X7, the latest media player to take on the might of the iPod touch, has launched in the UK. Toting a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 touchscreen and a battery delivering over 100 hours of music playback, could it be the PMP to give Apple a bloody nose?

Well, probably not in all honesty – there's none of the app compatibility which makes the iPod touch so appealing – but the Cowon X7 does sound like a pretty decent alternative for anyone who shuns anything created by Cupertino's finest.

The Cowon X7 comes in 120GB and 160GB capacities, boasts 10 hours of battery life for video playback (as well as the aforementioned 100 for music), an FM radio, picture and document viewers, Bluetooth and a TV output.

Apparently sound quality is a big plus point with the Cowon X7: its JetEffect BBE+ reportedly enhances even low quality MP3s, and there are 35 presets to play around with.

Out now | £229 and £249 | Advanced MP3 Players