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US Update: app wars, greenpois0n, Nokia Microsoft plan b
Android Movie Studio: slice and dice video on Honeycomb tablets
Nokia Microsoft alliance plan b: discharge Stephen Elop
iPhone greenpois0n jailbreak leaves iBooks unreadable?
Intel Core i7-990X packs six cores of 3.73GHz Turbo Boost
Who has the most apps? Android 150,000 and iOS 350,000
Five Panasonic camcorders: waterproof handheld HD
Teatime Tech: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play hands on, new Toshiba tech and the best Android apps of the week
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: hands on with the PlayStation Phone
Nokia N8: How to make money selling your photos!

US Update: app wars, greenpois0n, Nokia Microsoft plan b

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 06:19 PM PST

We're two days into MWC 2011 and we've got more news than you could shake a stick at. As usual, yours truly is on night duty to bring you the latest and greatest in tech — better known as the US Update. In today's update we kicks things off with the current app totals for iOS and Android, follow up with the new Intel Core i7-990x, uncover the iBooks flaw in greenpois0n and more.

Apple and Google have released their app totals this morning. Still maintaining a sizable margin, iOS now offers over 350,000 apps. Android on the other hand, offers 150,000 — a considerable increase from just three months ago. Intel has released a new flagship processor, the Core i7-990X, packing six cores and 12 threads capable of 3.73 Turbo Boost. If you've got a need for speed this chip is for you.

Reports are coming in that greenpois0n iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak causes an error in the iBook application leaving DRM books unreadable. For now the solution is to use the PwnageTool from the iPhone Dev-Team. A group of young Nokia investors have crafted up their own plan of attack for Nokia's future. First on their agenda is to discharge newly appointed CEO Stephen Elop, read on for the rest.

Last up this morning is Android Movie Studio, a video editing application designed for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets. Google's Eric Schmidt showed off the app during his presentation at MWC 2011. We've got the scoop on the software.

That wraps up your daily dose of tech news from my side of the globe. As always I'm Nick Marshall saying over and out. I'll see you again tomorrow.

Android Movie Studio: slice and dice video on Honeycomb tablets

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 06:08 PM PST

Sure, iOS offers iMovie for on-the-go video editing, but tablets offer an advantage — screen real estate. Resolution aside, more space makes it easier to cut clips; Android Movie Studio hopes to transform the way we use that tablet. Unveiled by Eric Schmidt at MWC 2011 today, we've got the scoop on the upcoming video editing solution.

Inspired by the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, Google seems to embody the philosophy, "anything you can do, I can do better" when it comes to apps. Apple's iMovie app was a highly-anticipated release, however it still remains far from perfect even after several updates. Android Movie Studio hopes to get it right from the start.

Confirmed features are sparse at this point, but we can confirmed the app will offer the following: transitions, audio import, splicing, A/V timeline, multi-format export and sharing options. With YouTube in their hip pocket, Google is poised to develop serious integration with the video sharing site.

Android Movie Studio will appear on all Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets. Although the software has been developed specifically for Honeycomb tablets, we wouldn't be surprised to see a port to smartphones within days of launch.

via Androidpolice

Nokia Microsoft alliance plan b: discharge Stephen Elop

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 05:43 PM PST

A group of young Nokia investors have devised a Plan B for Nokia. Clearly outraged by the actions of Stephen Elop, the group has made their first order of business removing the former Microsoft exec from his duties as President and CEO of their company. Ready to hear what else they've planned?

After appointing a new CEO with an "international mobile industry background", the young Nokia investors would like to restructure the alliance with Microsoft as a "tactile exercise focused primarily at the North American market". Not a bad strategy, considering Nokia's dwindling presence in the states.

Next, MeeGo will be Nokia's primary smartphone platform — not Windows Phone 7. MeeGo will be used on Nokia smartphones and tablets, offering "superior experiences and applications than iOS and Android based competitor products". MeeGo R&D will be done in house and if necessary, cooperation with Intel will be suspended.

In order to battle iOS and Android, developers will be key. The group believes a developer strategy based on QT with a primary focus on MeeGo will solve that dilemma. Their logic is that developers will be able to make money by targeting the Symbian install based while simultaneously offering their best user experience on the MeeGo platform.

To keep the money rolling in, the group believes that Symbian lifespan should be increased to a minimum of five years. With dominant market share in Europe and Asia, Symbian profits will continue as the OS is targetted at mid-tier and feature phone segments.

There's plenty more to the Plan B, but those are the highlights. It's clear that Stephen Elop's reign has not been well received thus far — at least from the Nokia's die hard fan-base. However, sometimes change is good and if Windows Phone 7 will push the innovation and promote more powerful high-end handsets from the manufacturer, we'd be willing to live with the consequences. The cards have been dealt, iOS offers over 350,000 apps and Android 150,000. The time for change is now.

What do you think about Plan B? How would you change it?

via my-symbian

iPhone greenpois0n jailbreak leaves iBooks unreadable?

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:49 PM PST

Earlier today we showed you the rap by geoh0t, creator of the widely acclaimed iPhone jailbreak greenpois0n and more recently a PS3 jailbreak, now it looks like Apple is battling back. Reportedly, after installing greenpois0n to jailbreak an iPhone running iOS 4.2.1, DRM-protected e-books (via iBooks) are no longer readable.

Since iOS 4.0, iBooks DRM checks have been implemented by Apple. However, not until iOS 4.2.1 have the checks been triggered by jailbreaks. Jailbreaking an iPhone has always carried a risk and while technically legal, as ruled by the Library of Congress last year, ruining an iBooks collection can prove costly.

Now for the good news. The iPhone Dev-Team, creators of another iOS jailbreak "PwnageTool", have released an update which includes a workaround for iBooks DRM checks in iOS 4.2.1. Developed by comex and pushfix, the update is available now. As far as greenpois0n goes, for now there is no workaround, but rest assure our man geoh0t will come through in the clutch.

Word to the wise: If you currently depend on iBooks, it's probably best that you refrain from jailbreaking.

via arstechnica

Intel Core i7-990X packs six cores of 3.73GHz Turbo Boost

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 03:43 PM PST

If you love tech, you love the extreme. Enter, the new Intel Core i7-990X CPU, set to replace the company's current flagship processor, the Core i7-980X. Based on the 32nm manufacturing process, an unlocked multiplier and 12 MB of L3 cache, the Core i7-990X is every gamers' dream.

Sometimes tech giants love to make headlines. Surprisingly, the launch of the Intel i7-990X was rather silent. While understandable given the $999 price tag, we'd still expect a flagship processor to receive a little bit of face time from the manufacturer, but then again — electricpig.co.uk is your source of tech news.

Like the Core i7-980X it replaced, the i7-990X is built on Gulftown architecture with the 32 nm process, complete with 6 cores and 12 threads. Once available, the i7-980X will be completely phased out and the faster (3.46 GHz from 3.33 GHz) i7-990X will take the throne. With a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.73 GHz, nothing should stand in your way.

In related news, Intel is slashing prices on the LGA 1366 CPUs. As the Core i5-950 is phased out, the Core i7-960 has been reduced from $562 to $294 and the i7-970 dropped from $880 to $583. With all the news about the Sandy Bridge chipsets causing SATA ports to fail over time, it looks like Intel is showing some customer love this month.

Now that Core i7 LGA 1366 CPUs are dropping in price and we have the new i7-990X monster on the horizon, is now the perfect time to upgrade your trusty machine? As an avid gamer, I must say I am rather temped.

via AlienBabelTech

Who has the most apps? Android 150,000 and iOS 350,000

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 03:18 PM PST

The mobile OS gods have weighed in today with official app counts. In the lead by a considerable, albeit diminished margin, is OS with "over 350,000 apps" followed by Android with 150,000. With the tremendous number of tablets and smartphones announced during CES and MWC, how much longer until Android takes the crown?

Here's how the day played out. First, Apple released news of their new subscription model for content publishers. Packed within the press release was this conveniently placed tidbit, "the revolutionary App Store offers more than 350,000 apps to consumers in 90 countries, with more than 60,000 native iPad apps".

Later in the day Google fired back. John Lagerling, director of Android global Partnerships at Google, told reporters at MWC 2011, "there are 150,000 applications on the Android market, which is a huge growth only in the last few months". This number is considerably lower than the 200,000 applications claimed by James Brian of stockbiefings.com on December 31st.

Speculation over the number of available apps can finally be laid to rest. For now, Apple continues to offer the most applications for their more than 160 million iOS devices worldwide. With hundreds of thousands of Android devices being activated daily, combined with nearly every manufacturer in existence releasing an Android tablet — the war has only just begun.

Feel free to sound off about the numbers. Is Android's rise to application fame inevitable now that they've launched a web app store and finally began sorting the kinks in their armor?

via Yonhapnews | Apple

Five Panasonic camcorders: waterproof handheld HD

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 11:35 AM PST

Panasonic has launched not one, but five new rough and ready camcorders, for waterproof handheld shooting in HD, with some impressive stills specs thrown in to boot. Read on for more details, and more photos.

TA-20 and TA-2
The TA-20 only has half the megapixels of two other new camcorders in this list, but what it loses in sensor size, it gains in other ways. It is waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof. It looks a lot like an oversized, slightly flattened Bloggie camera, but that extra size means it has a hefty 3-inch touchscreen LCD. Not to be confused with the TA-20, the TA-2 (not pictured) is a softer version of its big brother. It has an 8MP sensor, but is not waterproof or shockproof. It still packs a 3 inch rotating touchscreen LCD.

WA-10
The WA-10 is the most impressive in the new line up (the blue/white and orange camcorders in the gallery). It has a rotating flip out 2.7-inch LCD, a 16MP sensor, 5x optical zoom and 12x advanced zoom for movie recording, plus, it’s waterproof up to 3m, making it perfect for beach holidays.

HX-DC10 and HX-DC1
The Panasonic HX-DC10 has full HD movie recording with a 16MP sensor for stills packed under the hood too. It has intelligent auto mode for point and shoot, and a 5x optical zoom, plus face detection. The HX-DC1 has full HD recording in HD format, a 14MP sensor for stills shooting, and a 3-inch LCD monitor.

Which new Panasonic camera tickles your fancy? Shout out in the comments if you want to hear more!

Teatime Tech: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play hands on, new Toshiba tech and the best Android apps of the week

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 10:33 AM PST

It’s the end of the working day, so pack up your things, then before you log off, read our roundup of all the afternoon’s top gadget news, right here in teatime tech.

We hit Toshiba’s big Spring launch event today, and checked out plenty of new gear. As well as a UK hands on with the Toshiba Android Honeycomb tablet, we spied its brand new super thin laptops, as well as the first TVs in the country to run Toshiba Places.

Over on the mobile side of things meanwhile, we got to grips with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play at Mobile World Congress, and rounded up the best Android apps of the week for your delectation.

Hungry for more headlines still? Bounce on over to the homepage and help yourself to them all as they break!

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: hands on with the PlayStation Phone

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 10:21 AM PST

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play has been leaked so heavily, handling one for the first time almost feels like meeting an old friend.

We’ve just got to grips with the Android 2.3 gaming machine – perhaps better known as the PlayStation Phone – at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and we’re surprised at just how slim it seems. The smooth curved back is like a cross between the Sony Ericsson Vivaz and the Google Nexus S, but the front is pure PSPgo – it looks nice but doesn’t feel as solid as a PSP proper.

We whizzed through a few games, and noticed Asphalt 6 loaded considerably quicker on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play than the LG Optimus 3D prototype we tried out yesterday. All the controls have been mapped properly, and we found you could hammer through all the menus just by tapping X as with a real PlayStation game – and the touchpads work great, even for driving games.

Honestly, we can’t say whether the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will prove a worthy endeavour (or purchase) until we see clear supoprt of some great game support. The foundations are definitely there though – Gameloft and others are onboard to tack PlayStation controls onto their top Android games, and you can bet we’ll be trying those out for you during the weeks to come. In the meantime, check out the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play hands on shots right here.

Nokia N8: How to make money selling your photos!

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST

If you read our Nokia N8 review last year, you’ll know we didn’t think much of its Symbian 3 software. But we certainly did love its 12 megapixel sensor on the back – quite simply, it’s the best cameraphone ever made. With that in mind, NokNok’s pulled together a clever guide showing you how you can actually make money with the snaps it takes, breaking down the post production software you need and even how to sell your pictures to image libraries.

Of course, these tips are just as valid with any other camera or top notch cameraphone, so even if you don’t have a Nokia N8, click through and have a peek!

(Via NokNok)

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Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast!

Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast!

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