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Angry Birds for Windows Phone, Fring for iPad, LG Optimus 3D: US Update
Nokia 700 Zeta leaks offers a glimpse of Symbian Belle, Anna’s successor
LG Optimus 3D lands this Friday at select Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy stores
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D saves game data to the 3DS cartridge, permanently
Google Chromebook giveaway: Last chance to win, and a few more clues!
2011 MacBook Airs will launch mid-July, updated Mac Minis and Mac Pros to follow
Fring for iPad brings group video calls to the big screen
Angry Birds for Windows Phone debuts, productivity now in jeopardy
Virgin Media TiVo iPad app outed: Five secrets revealed
Google+, an automated driving centre and the Orange Monte Carlo revealed: Lunchtime Lowdown

Angry Birds for Windows Phone, Fring for iPad, LG Optimus 3D: US Update

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 09:45 AM PDT

A full serving of tech news is on tap this morning in your daily US Update. We've got the lastest on Angry Birds for Windows Phone, the release of Fring for iPad, 2011 MacBook Air rumors, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, an early LG Optimus 3D release and the Nokia 700 Zeta. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

The bird, bird, bird is the word. Angry Birds is now available for Windows Phone 7 in two flavors: paid and free. The free version is capped at just a few levels so you'll need to buy the full version if you plan on feeding your pig killing, bird smashing addiction.

Fring for iPad is now available for free in the App Store. The launch includes support for four-way video calls and works over your choice of 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi connections. The 2011 MacBook Air is slated for a July 15th release. New sources believe the launch will tie into the release of OS X Lion just days before the company's earnings call on July 19th.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D suffers from the same ill-fated feature as Monkey Ball 3D; game data is saved directly to the cartridge. Unfortunately there's no way to rid the game of the skill points and mission scores so don't plan on buying a used copy once available. The LG Optimus 3D hits the UK on Tuesday, July 7th. Carphone Warehouse has decided to offer an early release, available only in-store at 20 locations (plus four Best Buys). Take a look at the list.

Last up this morning is a Symbian leak. The Nokia 700 Zeta has been photographed and spec'd by our friends at GsmArena. Are you ready for a Symbian smartphone that tops the iPhone 4's Retina display? That wraps up the latest and greatest in the world of tech news. As always I'm Nick Marshall and I'll see you tomorrow.

Nokia 700 Zeta leaks offers a glimpse of Symbian Belle, Anna’s successor

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:26 AM PDT

Still consumed with Nokia information overload following the Nokia N9 and Sea Ray coverage over the past week? Take a deep breath, we've just been tipped to shots of the Nokia 700 "Zeta", a likely replacement to the C6-01. This Symbian smartphone runs Belle, Anna's successor, and comes filled to the brim with high-end specs.

Powering the Nokia 700 is a 1 GHz processor and an iPhone shattering 3.2-inch nHD resolution AMOLED display. At just 10mm thick and a weight of 80 grams, the 700 Zeta is without a doubt a much needed upgrade in Symbian hardware. A 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and NFC support round out feature set.

In addition to the photos of the Nokia 700 Zeta, a spec sheet has highlighted three other Symbian smartphones: 701 Helon, 600 Cindy and 500 Fate. Helen is the more powerful device, touting an 8-megapixel camera and 3.5-inch ClearBlack display. Cindy, like the 700 Zeta, features a 5-megapixel camera and 3.2-inch AMOLED display. The last device, Fate, is actually the Nokia N5.

via Engadget

LG Optimus 3D lands this Friday at select Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy stores

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:25 AM PDT

Can't wait until July 7 to get your hands on the LG Optimus 3D, the 3D smartphone that promises to obliterate the competition with its DDR2 memory? Carphone Warehouse has announced a list of 20 Carphone stores and four Best Buy stores that'll begin selling the stereoscopic slayer this Friday.

The limited in-store launch of the LG Optimus 3D will precede web-based sales still scheduled for Tuesday, July 7. So long as you live near one of the 24 stores listed below, you'll be able to claim your Optimus 3D in person in less than 48 hours.

Carphone Warehouse locations: Sheffield (Meadowhall), Manchester (Arndale Centre), Leeds (White Rose SC), Manchester (Trafford Ctr Unit 28), Glasgow (Unit 41 Braehead), Glasgow (Silverburn SC), Birmingham (146 New Street), Cardiff (St Davids SC), Oxford, Milton Keynes, Luton (U77-79 Arndale Centre), Oxford Street (272-274), Oxford St (Centre Point), Thurrock (Lakeside 244), Croydon (124 Whitgift Ctr), Brighton (Churchill Sq), Southampton (Above Bar)
High Wycombe (Eden SC), White City (Westfield SC), Ealing (Broadway),

Best Buy locations: Hayes, Bristol, Nottingham, Rotherham

Now, how many of you will be heading out Friday morning to earn bragging rights as one of the first to own the LG Optimus 3D? If you're on the fence, stay tuned as we're currently working on our official Optimus 3D review.

via What Mobile

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D saves game data to the 3DS cartridge, permanently

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:47 AM PDT

According to both Capcom and the instruction manual, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, was never meant for the secondhand market. In the US, video game rental company GameFly has classified the title as "Not Rentable". Unlike other 3DS titles, Mercenaries 3D saves game data directly to the cartridge, carrying over all skill points and mission scores.

The secondhand game market for The Mercenaries 3D was dealt a death blow yesterday. Capcom confirmed game data was saved to the cartridge and that "secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision." In Japan where the game debuted June 2nd, shops are selling used copies for as low as 500 yen (£3.87).

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is not the first title to sandbag the secondhand market. Monkey Ball 3D suffered a similar fate, forcing game data to be saved to the cartridge instead of the 2GB of internal memory or SDHC card slot. Let's just hope these two titles are isolated cases and other major players don't follow suit.

Why do you think Capcom opted to save game data to the cartridge? Do they have it out for the secondhand market and game rental companies or did game restrictions force their hand into cartridge-only saves?

via ThisIsMyNext

Google Chromebook giveaway: Last chance to win, and a few more clues!

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:18 AM PDT

Last week, we offered you the chance to win a Google Chromebook to call your own, in partnership with the search giant. All you had to do was crack a fiendish puzzle. Two crafty folk have solved the riddle already, but there’s still one more up for grabs. So, we’re giving you a few more clues. Read on to enter!

All you have to do is head over to the puzzle page here and try and solve it. Google’s making things a little bit easier for you though with a couple more clues:

• Think of the colours in the Google logo – are they all there?
• Puzzle Hint: Follow the missing colors to find a natural sequence of six points
• Puzzle Hint: There are two six-point sequences that in total use all twelve points

We’ll announce the winners soon. Good luck!

Click here to enter

2011 MacBook Airs will launch mid-July, updated Mac Minis and Mac Pros to follow

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 06:45 AM PDT

The mid-2011 Mac refresh is now slate for July, somewhere around the July 14th mark. With Apple's financial results conference call scheduled for 19th, Apple is expected to release the new line up just days in advance of speaking with investors. Your Sandy Bridge flavored MacBook Air is just weeks away.

Cosmetically the 2011 MacBook Air should only differ slightly from the 2010 model — replacing its Mini Display port with Thunderbolt. Internally, Apple will choose from three of Intel's new lower power Core i5 and i7 processors ranging in speed from 1.7 to 1.8 GHz. Unlike the 2011 MacBook Pro refresh, all chips will use two cores.

At the high end, Apple may use the Core i7-2677M, a two core chip running at 1.8 GHz with turbo boosts up to 2.9GHz, 4MB cache and 17 watts of power. At the low end is the Core i5-2557M, a two core 1.7 GHz chip capable of 2.7 GHz turbo bursts, with 3MB cache and using 17 watts of power.

The mid-2011 MacBook Air refresh will coincide with the release of OS X Lion (version 10.7), According to 9to5Mac, updated Sandy Bridge Mac Minis and new Mac Pro towers will follow the MacBook Air refresh later in the month. July is quickly becoming the month of all things Apple. New MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros and OS X Lion — not too shabby if you ask us.

via 9to5Mac

Fring for iPad brings group video calls to the big screen

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:58 AM PDT

With the impending release of Skype for iPad, the battle for top honors among tablet video messaging clients is officially heating up. Fring for iPad promises to leave Facetime in its wake, offering up to four way video chats over 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi.

Whether you use iOS, Android or Symbian, Fring video calling support is plentiful. Instead of cramming four video calls onto your smartphone, the company hopes you'll take the conversation to Apple's iPad. 9.7-inches is worlds apart from a 4-inch smartphone display.

Fring for iPad is now available free in the Apple App Store. Given last week's leaked video of Skype for iPad there's no telling how long Fring will hold the keys to the tablet video calling castle. For now its reign is secure.

Out Now | App Store | Free

Angry Birds for Windows Phone debuts, productivity now in jeopardy

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:25 AM PDT

There's no escaping the birds and snickering pigs. In its latest endeavor, Rovio has brought its now classic title, Angry Birds, to Windows Phone 7. Like iOS and Android, there's a paid and free version to fit any budget. Is there any platform left for Rovio to conquer?

The launch of Angry Birds for Windows Phone has been a long time in the making. After Windows, Facebook and even Roku received the feathery treatment, doubts were raised over a WP release. Thankfully that day has come.

If you decide to opt for the free version of Angry Birds only the first few levels are free. After you breeze through these simple challenges you'll need to pony up £2.49 ($2.99 in the US) for the full game. A fair price for a lifetime of bird crushing, pig killing addiction, we reckon.

Out Now | Windows Phone | £1.86 ($2.99)

Virgin Media TiVo iPad app outed: Five secrets revealed

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 04:45 AM PDT

Telly fanatics, start your engines: a Virgin Media TiVo iPad app is on the way. The company’s just outed this lone press pic to tease it, and isn’t talking features or a release date yet, but we’ve pulled out a magnifying glass and scoured it for clues. Here’s what to expect from it.

Click the image below for the full size pic in a new window.

Watch TV live on the iPad
The Virgin Media TiVo iPad app looks like it won’t just be a remote: between the Watch Now icon visible and the TV and On Demand icons just above the EPG, we’d wager you’ll be able to watch both live TV channels and on-demand programming on the iPad itself. Whether you’ll be able to do this outside of your home network (abroad on hotel Wi-Fi, say) remains to be seen.

Control all your DVRs from the touchscreen
See the “Bedroom DVR” icon in a drop down menu in the top left? We suspect you’ll be able to toggle between all your Virgin Media set top boxes in your home, or the TiVo ones at any rate.

Remote functions
See the remote control icon in the top right? As well as acting as an EPG, it would appear the Virgin Media TiVo iPad app lets you use it as an alternative remote. Presumably, tapping that will bring up all the controls of the remote.

Share your shows
Oh yay. The prerequisite “share” button is present in this image, suggesting you’ll be able to tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter exactly what you’re watching. Friendly tip: don’t do it. That’s called spam.

Buy links built in?
We’re quite intrigued by the “Get from” button. Could that link to iTunes to buy a movie or TV show in question for download? Or maybe to Amazon for the box set? Fingers crossed we’ll find out soon.

Google+, an automated driving centre and the Orange Monte Carlo revealed: Lunchtime Lowdown

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 04:40 AM PDT

It’s the mid-way point of the working week, so let’s stop and take stock of all that’s happened so far in tech, shall we? Read on for our round up of all the morning’s news, here in the lunchtime lowdown.

Let’s talk Google first. The search giant made a big play against Facebook with the social Google+ service: but is it the company’s last throw of the dice? On the Android side of things meanwhile, the ZTE Skate emerged as the UK-bound Orange Monte Carlo – we can’t wait.

Elsewhere in mobile, RIM is rumoured to be canning a larger version of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, while details emerged about future Windows Phone updates beyond Mango.

Finally, we got a gawp at a driving centre that can drive itself – be sure to check out the ingenious idea.

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