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US Update: MacBook Pro, Kyocera Echo, E7
At last, Nokia E7 starts shipping
HP TouchSmart 610 and 9300 PCs lean back
Motorola Xoom coming February 24th, start saving
Kyocera Echo: the world’s first dual-touchscreen smartphone
New MacBook Pros landing Friday, March 11
Teatime Tech: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Last.fm charges and the best Android tablet top 5
N-Dubz invade LittleBigPlanet 2: video
Last.fm to go the way of Spotify: subscription fees incoming
Viewsonic promises Android 2.4 device next week

US Update: MacBook Pro, Kyocera Echo, E7

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 07:00 PM PST

Starting off your week right, it's that morning dose of tech — best known as the US Update. In today's news we've got pricing for the upcoming MacBook Pro refresh, details on the Kyocera Echo, world's first dual-screen smartphone, HP's new TouchSmart PC lineup and more.

Leaked images from Best Buy's inventory system have revealed the next MacBook Pro refresh is schedule for Friday, March 11. The pricing looks to be identical to the current generation, but the real question is whether we'll see Sandy Bridge processors, flash-based storage or possibly even Retina displays.

Sprint and Kyocera held an event in New York City last night, introducing the Kyocera Echo. Dubbed "the world's first dual-screen smartphone", the phone runs Android 2.2 and features two 3.5 inch displays, separated by a hinge.

Next week's Best Buy ad circular has revealed the Motorola Xoom, the first Android Honeycomb tablet, will be $799.99 and require at least one month data service — even if you only want WiFi functionality. With the iPad 2 approaching, this could be a tough sell for Motorola.

HP has updated its TouchSmart line up with the TouchSmart 610 and TouchSmart 9300. Both PCs are powered by Windows 7 Touch and feature 23-inch LED-backlit displays. You can even tilt the displays 60 degrees, providing the perfect touchscreen environment.

Last up this morning is news on the Nokia E7, the companies latest business flagship device. According to Nokia, the E7 is now shipping worldwide — bringing the months of delays to an end.

That wraps up the daily tech news from my side of the pond. As always I'm Nick Marshall and I'll be back tomorrow dealing your morning dose of gadgetry. Until tomorrow, Nick.

At last, Nokia E7 starts shipping

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 06:00 PM PST

Nokia E7 fans around the world can rejoice, hadset shipments begin today! Nearly as thin as the N8, the E7 packs a four-row keyboard and the largest AMOLED display of any Sybmian phone to date. If your love for Symbian remains strong, but you need a hardware keyboard — look no further.

The delays that plagued Nokia's flagship business smartphone are of little concern today. As shipment notifications roll out globally, the E7 will soon become the Symbian handset of choice for millions. Like the Nokia N8, the E7 is available in dark grey, silver-white, blue, green and orange.

Highlights of the E7 include the four inch AMOLED display with ClearBlack technology, an eight megapixel camera with dual LED flash, HDMI output (with adapter), 16GB of on-board storage plus USB-on-the-go for USB memory stick expansion, 10.2 Mbps HDSPA and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi.

Shipping Now | Nokia

HP TouchSmart 610 and 9300 PCs lean back

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 05:00 PM PST

HP is looking to make another play at Apple's iMac with two new, reclining touchscreen PCs, the TouchSmart 610 consumer PC and TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PC. Both touchscreen desktops feature 60-degrees reclining displays and are powered by Windows 7 Touch.

The TouchSmart 610 and 9300 feature 23-inch LED-backlit displays that recline 60 degrees. In order to remain usable, HP has optimized the screens for wide viewing angles — a likely indicator of IPS panel technology. The same technology Apple uses on its iMacs and Cinema displays.

The consumer-orientated TouchSmart 610 can be configured with either Intel or AMD processors and up to 16GB of RAM. Other features include a 1TB hard drive, Blu-ray drive and a 1.3 megapixel web cam for video chatting. The TouchSmart 610 will begin shipping in two days, on February 8th for $899.

At the other end of the spectrum is the enterprise-friendly TouchSmart 9300 which includes Intel Sandy bridge processors. With a focus on performance, the 9300 offers an optional 160GB solid state drive (SSD) and a 2.0 megapixel camera. Possibly due to the Sandy Bridge flaw, HP expects the TouchSmart 9300 to ship in May so there's plenty of time for Intel to sort out the kinks.

According to James Mouton, senior vice president, Desktop Organization, Personal Systems Group, HP, "the latest generation is no exception with a new design that makes it easier and more comfortable to use, and it allows businesses to integrate the TouchSmart where convenience, space constraints and appearance matter."

February 8 | HP | $899 and up

Motorola Xoom coming February 24th, start saving

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 04:17 PM PST

The world's first Android Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola Xoom, has been outed by the upcoming Best Buy circular. Contained within the print ad were both the release date, February 24, and the price, $799.

Granted, the Motorola Xoom information from the Best Buy circular is oriented at the Verizon Wireless customers in the US, but it may be indicative of pricing when it lands in the UK. If the purported $799 price holds true, the Motorola Xoom will debut $70 more expensive than the 32GB iPad WiFi + 3G model.

The key difference (other than features) being, a data is required for the Motorola Xoom's WiFi functionality, according to the advertisement. New and existing iPad 3G users in the US can purchase Apple's tablet without a data plan, then add or remove the feature as needed. There are currently two options for At&t 3G iPad users, a 250MB or 2GB per month plan, priced $14.99/month and $25.00/month respectively.

The Motorola Xoom on the other hand is a Verizon Wireless exclusive and requires a one month minimum data plan sign-up at purchase. There are four monthly data plans for the Xoom: 1 GB for $20/month, 3GB for $35/month, 5GB for $50/month or 10GB for $80/month. When you factor in the one month data plan requirement, the Xoom becomes $829.99 out the door (before taxes) even if you only intend on using it as a WiFi device, thereafter.

On Febrary 24 when the Motorola Xoom goes on sale at Best Buy in the US, it will be very interesting to see how consumers respond. With the iPad 2 release approaching, WiFi only users will have a tough pill to swallow when considering spending $499 for a 16GB iPad 2 or $799 for a WiFi/3G/4G upgradable Motorola Xoom.

Coming Soon | Motorola | $799

Kyocera Echo: the world’s first dual-touchscreen smartphone

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 03:53 PM PST

Today, at Sprint's press event in New York City in a joint announcement with Kyocera, the two companies unveiled the Kyocera Echo. Dubbed "the world's first dual-touchscreen smartphone", the Android 2.2-powered Kyocera Echo looks to take aim at the Samsung Continuum and bring the manufacturer back into the North American spotlight.

The event started with magician David Blane trapped inside a glass plated cell filled with 1000 gallons of water. The spectacle culminated with Sprint revealing what it "had up its sleeve" — the Kyocera Echo. The Echo is an entirely new take on the dual-screen environment, allowing separate tasks on separate screens. Additionally, you can have one app spread across both screens.

At the heart of the smartphone is Android 2.2 and a pivotable steel hinge. In total, the Kyocera Echo offers 4.7 inches of combined viewing area. Independently, each screen measures 3.5 inches diagonally. Unlike previous attempts at dual-screen phones, the Echo uses an extremely slim bezel, making the transition seamless.

The possibilities of the dual screens can be seen in everything from web browsing to the custom YouTube app. You can run two entirely independent web browsers, one on each screen, then click a video and drag it between screens to engage full screen video playback. During the demonstration, Facebook and Twitter were used simultaneously on the two displays, but the true highlight was gaming.

Clearly inspired by the Nintendo DS, gaming on the Kyocera Echo will open new doors to developers. Kyocera is including a spare battery with every Echo and a charger that allows yo to charge the device and the spare at the same time. Also, you can charge the device on the fly. The smartphone will be available for $199 this Spring with the traditional two-year service requirement after applicable rebates. A UK release of the Kyocera Echo is unknown at this point, but we're awaiting a response from the manufacturer.

Photos of today’s event provided by androidcentral.com

Coming Soon | Sprint | $199

New MacBook Pros landing Friday, March 11

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 02:34 PM PST

In the market for a new MacBook Pro, but having trouble finding inventory? Don't fret, a new line of MacBook Pros are expected very soon, with Best Buy's inventory system showing March 11th. Here's the scoop on next month's MacBook Pro refresh.

Over the past month many readers have noticed that it has become increasingly difficult to track down certain current-generation MacBook Pros. These reports were corroborated by Japanese website Macotakarta, which also heard MacBook Pro inventory levels were low, claiming reseller availability is now in the two to three week range.

Today, new images obtained by 9to5Mac were leaked of from Best Buy's inventory system, revealing an availability date of March 11. Traditionally, Best Buy's dates have been a few days off so this could be either the announcement date or the date they'll have units in stock.

As far as pricing, the new MacBook Pros look like they'll follow the current pricing structure. The new entry-level MacBook Pro will start at $1199 USD, matching the current generation 13 inch MBP.

For features, the introduction of Sandy Bridge processors at CES 2011 has excited the Mac community. With last week's Sandy Bridge flaw confirmed by Intel, certainty that new MacBook Pros would feature the new chips remains very much in question. Even without Sandy Bridge, the new MacBook Pros could tap into the full quad-core capabilities of the mobile Core i7 processor, instead of using the dual-core chips.

There's also the wild success of the new MacBook Air. Building on the successful iPad has proven to be a smart move, will we see flash-based memory extend to the new MacBook Pro line up? For now there's many question we hope to have answered. If Apple quietly upgrades the MacBook Pro line up without a press event, expect only minor boosts in processing speed.

Coming Soon | Apple | TBD

Teatime Tech: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Last.fm charges and the best Android tablet top 5

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 09:57 AM PST

It’s the end of the working day, so let’s recap everything that’s happened, here in our teatime tech news rundown.

First up, let’s talk Android. It’s the talk of tech town this afternoon, with rumours suggesting that an Android 2.4 update is on the way – and soon. O2 meanwhile ‘fessed up, confirming it would be stocking the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, and we rounded up our best Android tablet top five.

Online meanwhile, Last.fm announced plans for a mobile subscription service, while we spied a hilarious LittleBigPlanet 2 video starring, er, Dappy.

Still want more news? Roll on over to the homepage and help yourself to it alla s it breaks!

N-Dubz invade LittleBigPlanet 2: video

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 09:01 AM PST

We do like LittleBigPlanet 2. Unfortunately, Dappy, fresh from ruining Windows Phone 7 for us, is on hand with the rest of N-Dubz to desecrate the game, with a music video made entirely using Media Molecule’s adorable engine. Sackboy’s even wearing his daft wooly hat. Read on to see the video.

This official, Sony stamped video, directed by N-Dubz and music video director Henry Schofield, is meant to show off LittleBigPlanet 2’s creative capabilities – of which it has many – although we can’t help but feel the fact that it clearly hasn’t been put together using the in-game tools available to PS3 owners misses the point a little.

Read our LittleBigPlanet 2 review now

But hey! If you like N-Dubz, you can enjoy this cute video of Sackboy going “Nah-nah-nye”, and if you don’t, you can think about how easy it would be to stick pins in a puppet version of the North London rapper. We’re easy.

Last.fm to go the way of Spotify: subscription fees incoming

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 08:05 AM PST

Last.fm will be adding Spotify-style subscriptions to its mobile service, meaning that you’ll need to cough up to listen via any other device apart from your computer.

Folks outside of the UK, Germany and the US have already been paying a subscription fee for these services since March 2009, and today means we’ll be coughing up on these shores for Last.fm streaming on the go too.

To get Last.fm streaming through your mobile or tablet, you’ll now need to pay £3, which is less than a third of the price of a Spotify monthly subscription, but doesn’t give you on demand streaming like Spotify does.

The new fees will be coming on 15 February to both iPhone and Android apps, and other mobile devices.

Will you pay for Last.fm? Shout out in the comments!

[via paidContent:UK]

Viewsonic promises Android 2.4 device next week

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 07:33 AM PST

After a leak from Viewsonic earlier today that Android 2.4 will be arriving in April, and will still be called Android Gingerbread, Viewsonic has also revealed that it will be showing off an Android 2.4 device next week at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona. Viewsonic will be launching a mystery device that runs Android 2.4, the update to Android 2.3, which adds support for dual core apps from Android Honeycomb.