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Sense 3.0, Fujitsu F-07c tablet, Android gaming: US Update
Id Software joins Epic Games: focused on iOS games
Apple high fives Verizon as iOS market share grows: Android still king of the castle
Microsoft beefs up future Windows Phone 7 hardware requirements
Fujitsu to give birth to F-07c: Symbian Windows 7 hybrid tablet?
HTC Sense 3.0 locked down to new HTC smartphones: EVO 3D, Sensation, Flyer
Five ways LA Noire will shock you
Tech Business: How to make a viral video, crowd funding and the best Windows Phone 7 apps
Best iPhone apps: app of the day = 3Frames
Spotify slashes free streaming, the Royal Wedding on iTunes and new Android tablets: Lunchtime Lowdown

Sense 3.0, Fujitsu F-07c tablet, Android gaming: US Update

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 06:13 PM PDT

Welcome to another morning edition of the US Update. I'll be your host Nick Marshall as we go on a little tech adventure, so sit back and relax. We've got the latest scoop on HTC's Sense 3.0 UI, a rumor of a Symbian Windows 7 hybrid tablet from Fujitsu and even an interview with Id Software co-founder John Carmack explaining why developing for Android is not as profitable as iOS.

According to HTC, by way of their official Twitter account, only its newest devices will be able to support the upcoming UI. This means unless you ride the mobile superhighway with the HTC Flyer, HTC EVO 3D or HTC Sensation, you're journey will not include Sense 3.0. A new rumor has surfaced surrounding the F-07c tablet, a slate created by Fujitsu, destined for release on Japanese carrier Docomo. Are we headed for a dual-booting Windows 7/Symbian tablet future?

At Microsoft's MIX11 conference, details on upcoming Windows Phone hardware requirements were leaked. One of the first changes in Windows Phone hardware will be the elimination of the HVGA chassis spec, WVGA (800×480 pixels) will be the gold standard from here on out. A new smartphone market share report has been released, this time by Millennial Media — the largest independent mobile ad network. According to their March data, iOS has taken the lead back from Android, ready to hear the full scoop?

Last up this morning is a very interesting interview with Id Software co-founder John Carmack. In an interview with Mobiledia's Margaret Rock, Mr. Carmack said that developing on Android is not as profitable as iOS and that few Android gamers would pay $20 per title. That wraps up the latest and greatest in the world of tech news, until tomorrow.

Id Software joins Epic Games: focused on iOS games

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 06:00 PM PDT

Apparently Id Software co-founder John Carmack hasn't seen our list of Android app millionaires. In an interview with Mobiledia's Margaret Rock, Mr. Carmack said that developing on Android is not as profitable as iOS and that few Android gamers would pay $20 per title. Android users, brace yourselves this might get a little uncomfortable.

Let the record show John Carmack is no Apple fan boy, in fact he's actually hedged his bets in the mobile game space by reconsidering Android development every six months. He's also hired an Android developer to be the company's resident "Android guy". Unfortunately Mr. Carmack says that employee will probably end up working on iOS development.

“You’re just not making money in the Android space as you are in the iOS space.” – John Carmack

With "Wolfeinstein", "Doom" and most recently "Rage" under his belt, John Carmack is a veteran in the gaming scene. Whether or not you agree with his decision, at the end of the day quality games require serious investment, both in code and design. The market may change as Google (hopefully) tightens the reigns on Android customization, but for now the iOS App Store records 83 percent of all mobile software sales.

via Mobiledia

Apple high fives Verizon as iOS market share grows: Android still king of the castle

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 05:33 PM PDT

The latest smartphone market share report has hit the web compliments of Millennial Media, the largest independent mobile ad network. In their report dubbed 'Smartphone OS Mix', the company has made some very interesting findings. One in particular is effect of the Verizon iPhone, a device which it believes accounted for 8.2 percent of US iPhone impressions in March.

There's certainly a difference between device activations, sales and ad impressions. Google, when speaking of Android devices, focuses the former while today's report highlights the latter. Nonetheless, the 'Smartphone OS Mix' reflects actual ad impressions on smartphones and for a company like Google, whose earnings rely heavily on ad revenue, these details are prevalent.

During the month of March, Apple was the leading device manufacturer on Millennial Media's network, representing 32 percent of the top 15 manufacturers impression share for the month, an increase of 14 percent month over month. iPhone impressions grew 17 percent while iPad impressions grew just 7 percent. Overall iOS impressions grew 29 percent, compared to 23 percent for Android. The end result was iOS returned back into the app revenue lead, a title held by Android since January 2011.

via CNN Money

Microsoft beefs up future Windows Phone 7 hardware requirements

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Next generation Windows Phone 7 hardware will face heightened scrutiny according to slides released by Microsoft at the company's annual MIX convention. In a slide titled "Hardware Foundation", we get our first glimpse at what it takes to play with the big boys of Windows Phone. Unless your smartphone packs a WVGA resolution display, sadly your smartphone will not be coming along for the ride.

According to Winrumors, Microsoft has been working closely with hardware vendors to support Qualcomm's new system-on-a-chip (SoC) MSM7x30 chipset. One of the first changes in Windows Phone hardware will be the elimination of the HVGA chassis spec, WVGA (800×480 pixels) will be the gold standard from here on out. This display will also need to be capacitive touch, with four or more contact points.

Sensors for all future Windows Phone hardware will include a-GPS, an accelerometer, compass, light, proximity and gyro. Each device will need at least 256MB of RAM, 8GB of Flash and cameras must be 5-megapixel or higher. Going back to the MSM7x30 chipset, Microsoft requires will require an 800 MHz processor or higher.

It looks like the next wave of Windows Phone hardware will be well equipped to compete with the likes of Android and iOS. Now that we've seen IE9 hardware acceleration best both competitors in a speed test video, the next step for Microsoft is a smooth roll out of Mango later this year. Stay tuned as we bring you more coverage from MIX11 throughout the week.

via WinRumors

Fujitsu to give birth to F-07c: Symbian Windows 7 hybrid tablet?

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 04:41 PM PDT

Since the paradigm shift in the smartphone market when Nokia and Microsoft joined forces, much of what future lay ahead remains a mystery. That is, until this afternoon when Akihabara News broke a rumor surrounding the F-07c tablet, a slate created by Fujitsu, destined for release on Japanese carrier Docomo. Are we headed for a dual-booting Windows 7/Symbian tablet future?

Let's begin with the rumor. The purported F-07c tablet will feature a 4-inch WSVGA resolution display running an Intel Atom processor (likely Oak Trail). Inside will be 32GB of solid-state storage (SSD) which will come pre-loaded with both Windows 7 (desktop OS, not WP7) and Symbian. For now, we only have the source and the alleged photo of the device in question (pictured above).

Had we heard this rumor a year ago, before Nokia and Microsoft's interests aligned we probably would have laughed. However, given the current condition of Microsoft's foray into the tablet market, the F-07c dual-booting Windows 7 and Symbian seems possible. We wouldn't go so far as to bet the farm, but if this device does in fact launch, remember you heard it here first.

Coming Soon | Fujitsu F-07c | [via Akihabara News]

HTC Sense 3.0 locked down to new HTC smartphones: EVO 3D, Sensation, Flyer

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 04:22 PM PDT

If you were hoping to land HTC's latest UI, Sense 3.0, on your circa 2010 or early 2011 HTC smartphone we've got a bit of bad news. According to HTC, by way of their official Twitter account, only its newest devices will be able to support the upcoming UI. Due to new hardware requirements, specific to Sense 3.0, Desire HD owners will not be boarding the flight to version 3.0.

First, a bit of backstory leading up to this afternoon's announcement. There have been no official details of what hardware requirements may pertain to Sense 3.0. Also, Twitter is by no means the end all be all of news and more specifically, official announcements. With that being said, today's news did come directly from HTC as a response to a Desire HD owner hoping to get an ETA on a Sense 3.0 update.

The response read as follows, "Hi Tom – due to Sense’s hardware requirements, only our newest devices (Flyer, EVO 3D, Sensation) will be able to support it."

Until we hear otherwise, plan on only the three aforementioned devices landing Sense 3.0. In the event that more devices are added to the list, we can celebrate together — sound good?

via HTC [Unwired View]

Five ways LA Noire will shock you

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 09:55 AM PDT

LA Noire, Rockstar Games’ crime thriller heading to consoles next month, is not what you expect. If you were hoping for Grand Theft Auto meets James Ellroy, think again: this is an adventure game like none the controversial games publisher has ever tried before. We got hands on with the title today at Rockstar’s London HQ and uncovered some surprising facts about it – read on and see the evidence.

This isn’t Grand Theft Auto Confidential
While we proclaimed 2010′s Red Dead Redemption a masterpiece, there was no doubt it followed a tried and tested formula, from the sandbox world to the radar and shooting and mission mechanics of every Grand Theft Auto title since 2001. LA Noire, developed by the Austrialian Team Bondi, may use roughly the same controls, but that’s where the similarities end. This is a game about being methodical, checking out every clue, and pursuing every avenue when questioning suspects. That means no multiplayer either: this is a solo affair, and though there are numerous ways to solve a case, it does mean replay value may be low.

Sounds mundane? It’s not. Team Bondi has crafted a beautiful, sun scorched world of smoking dames, rich red carpets and barren storm drains, and the four missions we’ve either seen or played have proved to be gripping tales all on their own. There’s an overarching narrative that joins them together, and Rockstar’s keeping mum on it, but it may well involve the famous, (real life) unsolved Black Dahlia murder, which is referenced repeatedly in the game.

Check out our best PS3 games Top 5 now

You can’t die
Well, that’s not quite true. There are brief shooting sections which play a tad like GTA (though your health regenerates, Call of Duty style), and it’s perfectly possible to fall off a building to your death. But for the most part, you won’t be punished for choosing the wrong question or making an accusation: instead, new opportunities to present themselves, or you make have to take a more circumlocutory route to solving the crime.

In the mission we played today, The Silk Stocking Murder, we failed to pick up on the lies one suspect gave us, missing out on a clue to head straight to a food market where the victim was last seen. We got there eventually, but not until we checked out another lead, a bar across the road – and beat the murdered woman’s estranged husband unconscious for trying to escape arrest.

There’s graphic nudity
Sure, there was the odd stray penis flapping in the wind in Grand Theft Auto 4, and even a clothed sex scene in Red Dead Redemption, but LA Noire hits you with brutal images and no tongue in cheek. On more than one mission, you’ll be presented with the battered, bloodied corpse of a naked woman, bludgeoned or hacked to death – one victim baking in the midday sun even has flies buzzing around. That’s not all, either – you have to expect individual parts of the body, including the head, arms and torso for evidence. Grim.

See the best Xbox games here

You can’t just run over pedestrians anymore
There have been quite a few changes since we last checked out LA Noire – the force/accuse options when interrogating suspects have been simplified to Truth, Doubt and Lie, which does make things a lot more obvious. One thing that’s still up in the air however is what becomes of you, an LAPD detective, should you accidentally flatten someone under your cop car.

A Rockstar spokesperson today told us that it had yet to be decided, but that there likely would be some sort of repercussion for squashing citizens: either a reprimand from your partner, or even in-game consequences. We’ll find out closer to launch when we get our hands on a review disc – but it’s certainly a change from Niko’s drive-as-the-crow-flies approach to sidewalks.

There’s an option to make the game easier
Originally, Rockstar planned to let you adjust the difficulty of LA Noire on the fly from the start menu, with different police ranks assigned to how obvious you wanted clues and interrogations to be. The company has since abandoned this approach: instead, the game starts off as tricky as it’ll ever be, and as you judge people’s responses correctly (or find landmarks, encouraging you to explore the city) you earn intuition points. You can have a maximum of five at any one time, and these can be used to remove question options, reveal all the crime scenes, or even show what options other gamers connected to the Rockstar Games Social Club went for, Ask The Audience style. It’s a nice approach since the gameplay no longer revolves around go-here-kill-people.

LA Noire is out on Xbox 360 and PS3 on 20 May 2011.

Tech Business: How to make a viral video, crowd funding and the best Windows Phone 7 apps

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 09:47 AM PDT

It’s been a bumper week at our sister site BizGene, with news, tips and tricks a plenty for all you enterprising types. Read on for the finest picks right here in our tech business roundup.

Our very own editorial director Mike Cooper put up an Angry Birds cake video for his son’s sixth birthday just a few weeks ago – and it blew up. When Mike posted the video, little did he think that it would lead to over five million video views, and phone calls from news crews all over the work desperate to know how he did it, and why? In two short interviews Mike tells you everything there is to know about creating a viral video that’s even more impressive than the Lynx advert and much less irritating than an Angry Frog.

Elsewhere on BizGene there’s some expert guidance from e-commerce gurus Actinic on how to make the best online store, with tons of tips on how to make sure that customers keep coming back for more. They take a look at the top 10 apps for Windows Phone 7 phones, and if you’ve got a great idea, but lack the funds to develop it, they look at ways of crowd funding your idea to success on the online version of Dragons’ Den Crowdcube. Enough chit chat though, tuck in.

How the YouTube viral favourite Angry Birds playable cake video was made

Make your fortune and create an online store to rival Amazon

Crowd funding is the new Dragons’ Den

The top 10 must have Windows Phone 7 apps

Hate Government rules and regulations? This is your chance to help get rid of them forever

Best iPhone apps: app of the day = 3Frames

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 09:45 AM PDT

Some of our best iPhone apps choices are highly practically (see Nebulous Notes), others aren’t. Today’s entry is 3Frames which sits firmly in the second camp. It’s a curious photography app that allows you to make short clips that you can turn into animated gif files. It grabs a burst of pictures then produces a nicely jerky finished product.

We’re especially taken with the UI design of the app which uses short animated gifs itself to create a consistent experienced (saving a file gets you an animation of someone twiddling their thumbs). 3Frames is a totally bizarre app but will easily provide you with way more than £1.79 worth of entertainment. You can see one of the .gifs we made in the app after the jump…

Out now | £1.79 | iTunes

Spotify slashes free streaming, the Royal Wedding on iTunes and new Android tablets: Lunchtime Lowdown

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 05:06 AM PDT

Another morning, another bevy of headlines to tuck into. We’ve got some bad news to relate regarding online music, as well as some exciting tablet titbits: read on for it all in the lunchtime lowdown.

First up, let’s talk online. Spotify dropped a bombshell today announcing it was slashing streaming time in half for all free users of its service, not just Open users. We also kicked off our campaign to stop the royal family from getting to number one on iTunes: will you help us?

Elsewhere in gadgetry, we heard that Intel is making a play to get into the Android tablet space – can it take on the likes of ARM and its licensees?

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