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Atom-powered Android tablets, 16GB Motorola Xoom, Nokia X7: US Update
Nokia X7 exists: 3 UK confirms in their sneak peak video
Carphone Warehouse now taking HTC Flyer pre-orders: £599.99 no contract
Motorola Xoom to arrive in 16GB model, same power less coin
Celebrate your gaming roots with an iPhone 4 Super Famicom case circa 1993
Next round of Android Honeycomb tablets to be powered by Intel’s Atom processors
Samsung Galaxy S 2, Photoshop on the iPad and Motorola Xoom: Teatime Tech
Best iPhone apps: app of the day = Spout
Xoom-raider! 10 rock-solid reasons why Motorola’s Xoom is better than iPad 2
Photoshop on the iPad equals death to your mouse. Eek!

Atom-powered Android tablets, 16GB Motorola Xoom, Nokia X7: US Update

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 05:46 PM PDT

We're starting off your week with a serious dose of tech news. In today's US Update we uncover Intel's tablet roadmap — Atom-powered Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets inbound. There's confirmation of a 16GB Motorola Xoom tablet and even a video of the Nokia X7 leaked by 3 UK. This and more in your US Update.

Intel is working with Google to bring low-powered Atom chips, code-named Oak Trail, to the world of Android 3.0 Honeycomb. First the Google TV, then the Cr-48 laptops and now tablets, are smartphones next? If you're looking for the perfect iPhone 4 case and want to pay homage to your gaming roots we've got a Super Famicom case you have to see.

Want a Motorola Xoom, but can't stomach the current price tag? A 16GB model is coming to a carrier near you. For now we've confirmed Verizon Wireless is onboard for the states, but could we see a UK launch as well? The HTC Flyer is now available for pre-order at Carphone Warehouse. Is £599.99 sans contract too much for the 7-inch tablet?

Last in this morning is a video released by 3 UK of the Nokia X7. Any questions over whether Nokia had decided to terminate the prototype can officially be laid to rest. We've got your photos and the full spec sheet. That wraps up the latest and greatest in the world of tech news. As always I'm Nick Marshall and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Nokia X7 exists: 3 UK confirms in their sneak peak video

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 05:30 PM PDT

A short-lived video was released by UK provider Three this morning showing off the upcoming Nokia X7. Described as a N8 with four speakers, we've been able to track down what appears to be the official spec sheet. We've also wrangled in a few glamour shots to keep the Symbian fanatics at bay, let's begin.

We first caught wind of the Nokia X7-00 way back in November. A prototype of the handset made an appearance in a YouTube video. At that time we had no idea whether or not the X7 would see a retail release, today we have confirmation.

The X7 features a 4-inch multi-touch AMOLED display and runs Symbian 3 OS (with PR 2.0). Tucked beneath the display is an ARM 11 680 MHz processor with 3D Graphics hardware accelerator. The quad speakers remain intact, sporting Dolby Digital certifications and there's an 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p HD video recording as well. Connectivity options include GSM and 3G HSDPA. The usual location perks are also onboard, GPS with aGPS and a digital compass (magnetometer).

Although 3 UK made the video private, our friends at Nokia Saga were able to capture a few screen shots. We've thrown in the YouTube link below just in case the carrier decides to change its mind, but don't hold your breath.

YouTube via [Nokia Saga]

Carphone Warehouse now taking HTC Flyer pre-orders: £599.99 no contract

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 04:56 PM PDT

The world's most expensive seven-inch tablet might just be the HTC Flyer. Over at Carphone Warehouse pre-orders for the bite-sized tablet are underway, fetching £599.99 sans contract. With 3G and WiFi connectivity, a single-core 1.5GHz processor and 32GB of internal storage, is this Android Gingerbread tablet an expensive gamble?

If there's one thing we've learned using Android it's that updates are neither timely nor guaranteed. Short of rooting your device, the safest way to navigate Google's gauntlet is with a device sporting a vanilla Android kernel. The HTC Flyer, unfortunately, does not fit this bill since it uses the latest version of HTC's Sense UI atop Android 2.3.x Gingerbread. While an Android Honeycomb update is expected, £599.99 is a lot of money at stake for a pre-order.

Compared to the iPad 2, £599.99 for a 3G/WiFi 32GB HTC Flyer is not much more expensive than a similarly spec'd Apple tablet (+£20.99). For that reason alone, price-wise, the HTC Flyer looks to be a solid value if the capacity and included 3G radio meet your needs. The real question is whether the price will drop, much like the Motorola Xoom, following the early pre-order listing.

Is anyone else worried about the Android Honeycomb update for the HTC Flyer?

Pre-Order Now | Carphone Warehouse | £599.99 [via PhoneArena]

Motorola Xoom to arrive in 16GB model, same power less coin

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 04:36 PM PDT

Hoping to save some of your hard earned cash on your first Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet? A 16GB version of the Motorola Xoom is expected to debut at Verizon Wireless in the states. Is a second, GSM version also on tap for Europe and more specifically, the UK? Let's find out.

Truth be told, only Motorola knows what future lies ahead for the Xoom. However, our friends at droid-life has done the leg work for us and tracked down a screenshot taken from Verizon's device database, confirming a 16GB Xoom. This model, like Verizon's 32GB version, packs a CDMA radio and 4G LTE hardware. Pricing for the 16GB version is expected to be about $100 cheaper than the 32GB.

For those looking for the ultimate deal, a 16GB WiFi model priced in line with the iPad 2 would certainly be an attractive proposition. Unfortunately confirmation of a WiFi-only 16GB version remains to be seen. If Motorola released a 16GB WiFi only Xoom for less than an equally sized iPad 2, who else would pony down the cold hard cash?

For now, enjoy the UK release of the Motorola Xoom this week and keep your eyes peeled for our official Xoom review.

via AndroidGuys

Celebrate your gaming roots with an iPhone 4 Super Famicom case circa 1993

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 04:17 PM PDT

As iPhone 4 case enthusiasts we are pleased to present to you the Super Famicom iPhone 4 case. Inspired by the back of a Nintendo Super Famicom cartridge (SNES for those not keen to the Japanese gaming scene), this is a dream case for any 90s gamer. Surprisingly, the same wise words of advice on the cartridge hold true for the iPhone 4: do not store in extreme temperatures, do no immerse in water and do not clean with benzene, thinner, alcohol or other such solvents.

Dubbed the Cartridge N designed by Meteor, the Super Famicom inspired iPhone 4 case is only available online at the Japanese coverme.jp website. For those willing to take the plunge, it will be well worth the wait. Unfortunately, blowing on the Super Famicom cartridge case will not improve iPhone 4 reception. I'm in for one, who's with me?

Out Now | CoverMe | 34.68 GBP [via Akihabaranews]

Next round of Android Honeycomb tablets to be powered by Intel’s Atom processors

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 03:51 PM PDT

Intel and Google have set the stage for a shake up in the Android Honeycomb tablet scene. A report from PCWorld confirms Intel is working with Google to bring low-powered Atom chips, code-named Oak Trail, to the world of Honeycomb. With Intel's Atom chips powering the Google TV and Cr-48 laptops, tablets are the next logical progression.

ARM processors dominate the tablet and smartphone markets, featured in everything from the Galaxy Tab to the iPad. Oak Trail will have its sights set on capturing this market share, beginning first with tablets. It's clear that Andy Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering, does not believe "one size fits all", and plans support Android development across many devices platforms and architectures. With a strong history working alongside Google and Andy Rubin on its side, Intel looks poised for success.

Honeycomb will not be the only OS sporting Oak Trail. Approximately 35 tablets featuring the processor will become available this May from companies like Lenovo, Fujitsu and Samsung. Windows 7 and Meego will likely beat Honeycomb to the punch as the first to use the chip. There will be multiple screen sizes and configurations for Oak Trail tablets, one in particular is the single-core Atom Z670. This 1.5 GHz chip features Imagination's PowerVR SGX535 graphics core, also used in the original Apple iPad.

This week Intel is expected to showcase Oak Trail tablets at the Intel Developer Forum show in Beijing. The real question is whether the chips can compete in processing power and battery life when compared to nVidia's Tegra2 and Samsung's dual-core silicon.

via PCWorld

Samsung Galaxy S 2, Photoshop on the iPad and Motorola Xoom: Teatime Tech

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 10:55 AM PDT

It’s the end of Monday – congratulations, you’ve made it through the longest day of the week. If you’ve been in meetings all arvo, take a peek at what you missed here in our teatime tech roundup.

First up, let’s talk Android. We got the launch date for the phone we’ve all been waiting for, the Samsung Galaxy S 2, and it’s just a few weeks out. We also broke down the reasons why the Motorola Xoom is better than the iPad 2.

Speaking of tablets, we also got a look at Adobe’s plans for Photoshop on slates, and they’re nothing short of ambitious. In fact, they could very well kill off the mosue completely.

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

Best iPhone apps: app of the day = Spout

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 09:50 AM PDT

There are way too many iPhone Twitter clients but sometimes I see something that plays with Twitter in a more original way that gets my head turning.

Flipboard did it on the iPad by grabbing Twitter feeds and bundling them into a personalised magazine and Smartr did the same for the iPhone by making links far easier to read, scan and enjoy. Today’s best iPhone apps entrant is another intriguing approach to displaying tweets…

Spout turns your iPhone into a full screen Twitter viewer, making it perfect for folk who tend to dock their iPhone at their desk. New tweets hit the screen in large, beautifully drawn typography making it easy to scan your feed as tweets come into view.

The app uses a variety of transition animations and is great for using your iPhone as an extra, dedicated Twitter screen when your monitor is filled with more pressing things. Take a look at Spout in action below, along with some examples of recent tweets that popped up on my iPhone to illustrate it’s design smarts

Out now | £0.59 | iTunes

Xoom-raider! 10 rock-solid reasons why Motorola’s Xoom is better than iPad 2

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 07:40 AM PDT

The Motorola Xoom Android tablet goes on sale in the UK this week, bringing a first taste of Android Honeycomb at long last. Electricpig has been playing with one over the weekend and will be bringing you a full verdict tomorrow. But in the meantime, if you passed on the iPad 2 and have been waiting patiently for Honeycomb, here are ten cast-iron reasons your gamble has paid off…

Check out our best tablet top 5 now

1 It isn't enslaved by iTunes
It’s absurd that a device that is meant to redefine computing still has to be chained to a PC for updates. And you know what, iTunes is almost starting to look old-fashioned – it's laggy and bloated. Simply plug in the Motorola Xoom via micro USB, and you can copy across whatever files you like, or use the excellent, free and streamlined doubleTwist desktop app for iTunes-style syncing.

2. Praise the Lord, it’s got Flash
How the hell have Apple got away with this for so long? Without Flash, a large proportion of videos and websites pop up with a 'Haha, you're not in our gang' message and refuse to work properly. Ok, to be fair the situation is getting better, but it’s simply not an issue for the Xoom, which uses the latest Adobe Flash 10.2 plug-in to play any video you can find on the internet.

3. The keyboard is vastly superior
While Apple’s QWERTY touchscreen keyboard on the iPhone has still yet to be matched, the iPad's is a different story. On the iPad 2, it’s responsive enough but there’s no form of prediction to speed up your typing. The Motorola Xoom however uses an enlarged version of the stunning keyboard found in Android 2.3, which pops up with suggested words above as you type. Oh, and because it’s Android, you can install any other keyboard that takes your fancy too.

4. Notifications don't bring it to a grinding halt
Apple’s iOS notification system is certainly its Achilles’ heel, and it’s felt even more acutely on the iPad 2′s much larger screen. Whenever anything happens, it stops whatever you’re doing and throws a message in your face. By contrast, the Motorola Xoom’s notification set up is elegant. Instead of the pull down tray on Android phones, you have a small area in the bottom right hand corner where new messages like pop up. You can remove the pop up with a tap, open it, or just ignore it completely – point is, the choice is yours.

5. A HDMI cable won’t cost you a kidney
You can connect both an iPad 2 and a Motorola Xoom to your TV to play HD video back on the big screen – but the latter will cost significantly less to do so. Apple’s 30-pin port requires the company’s own Digital AV Adapter, which costs a full £35, where as the Xoom uses a regular micro HDMI cable, which can be had for just a few pounds online.

6. It’s a multitasking genius
We’re not going to get sucked into the argument about whether iOS multitasking is true multitasking or not – suffice to say it’s enough for most. But Apple could learn from Google in this respect still: we much prefer the live thumbnails you see when you pop the multitasking button on the Xoom. It’s just easier to see what lies beyond, where the iPad gives you impenetrable stock icons.

7. Somebody actually thought about the homescreen
The iPad 2 is a beautiful device, but every time we look at the home screen, we wince at all the real estate going to waste. Couldn’t you just have all those icons in one corner, and leave the rest for widgets? Android 3.0 on the Xoom lets you slap widgets, shortcuts and contacts anywhere you like on multiple homescreens, and leaves the list of apps for a separate menu screen you can summon on command.

8. You can upgrade the storage cheaply
How about some hot swappable storage space on your slate? While it’s not active right now (Motorola says a firmware update is coming), the Motorola Xoom sports a microSD slot, so you’ll be able to pop in cards of up to 32GB as you please. Of course, you can get the iPad 2 in flavours up to 64GB in size, but they cost a lot more – and you can’t switch it out at will.

9. Voice actions are built in
Apple’s voice command controls remain fairly limited, while Google vastly improved its voice options with Android 2.2 and up. They make even more sense on a tablet, which you’re more likely to be using in the comfort of your home, and you’ll prefer not to type on if possible. Telling the Xoom what to search for just makes perfect sense.

10. It's got a killer browser
Using the browser on the Motorola Xoom feels just like a refined Chrome on a computer. It’s fast, with tabs visible at the top instead of in a separate window a la Safari on iOS, voice controls are included and you can even open up an incognito tab to surf for, er, 'surprise birthday presents'.

Photoshop on the iPad equals death to your mouse. Eek!

Posted: 11 Apr 2011 07:14 AM PDT

Today saw the launch of Adobe’s new Photoshop iPad apps – yup, not one, but three new programs that harness the power of a multitouch screen along with your existing PC’s processing horsepower. While each is worthy of note on its own, taken as a whole they serve to underline an even bigger shift in computing: tablets aren’t going to kill your PC, they’re going to kill your mouse.

The three new Photoshop iPad apps, due out next month alongside a 5.5 update to Adobe’s Creative Suite on desktop computers on 3 May, are actually being branded as ‘companion apps’. With Photoshop on your computer and iPad in hand, you can use them to draw with up to five fingers at a time (The Eazel app), extend your screen and tools onto the iPad ( Adobe Nav) and mix up colours (Adobe Color Lava).

You can check out the apps in action here . They’re not minor upgrades on the feature-lacking Photoshop Express apps for iOS, they’re a new category of apps entirely. And they spell doom for your mouse: what’s the point of dragging and clicking, when you can use an input that’s wireless, fast, and lets you click two places at once?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in an interview in June 2010 that PCs ‘are going to be like trucks’, suggesting that they’re still necessary, but that most people will get around in cars – which he sees being iPads, or modern consumer tablets.

What he didn’t envision – or at least articulate at the time – is that the cars and the lorries would be combining to create something more powerful. A Megazord, if you’ll excuse the Power Rangers analogy.

This trio are just the start. Adobe has also rolled out an software development kit so that users can develop similar applications and more for iOS, Android tablets and the BlackBerry PlayBook too.

With third party developers able to join in and flex their coding muscles and creativity, how long before every other big creative software suite opts for this route? How long before Apple itself releases similar apps for Final Cut Studio, iMovie, Aperture and Logic Studio? No time at all, we suspect.

Made for Life

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast!

Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast!

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