tech.W Symbian and Mobile News Wapain.Net

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Vista's Aero interface blamed for truncated battery life
2007-05-07 00:00:00
Considering just how many copies of Windows Vista that Microsoft has moved, it's not too surprising that a few (potentially rightful) whiners are calling the new operating system out for glaring issues. Not too long after users were complaining over sluggish file movements and bogus ads, it seems that the Aero Glass interface is the latest target of concern. Reportedly, the battery life of laptops is being diminished by having the eye candy cranked up, all while Microsoft claims that the OS touts "improved power management capabilities." Of course, Core Duo users cried this same river when trading more horsepower for minutes, but engineers from HP and Lenovo have actually concocted their own power settings after finding the canned options unsuitable. Still, it seems to make perfect sense that flipping on a glitzy interface that obviously requires more juice to run correctly would negatively impact the battery life, but until we start strapping potent fuel cells into our p...
More About: Life , Battery , Face , Interface , Cate

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra reviewed
2007-05-03 00:00:00
NVIDIA has only just taken the wraps off its new top-end GeForce 8800 Ultra card but the folks at bit-tech have already managed to get their eager hands on one, and have provided their usual in-depth review for anyone in need of a bit more info before dropping $800+ on the card. Not surprisingly, the card simply blew through all their benchmarks, which proved to be enough for bit-tech to declare the 8800 Ultra the "fastest graphics card on the planet." Less clear, however, is if that bump in performance is worth the hefty premium the card demands over the still-impressive GeForce 8800 GTX (especially an overclocked one). Those considering the card still have a bit more time to ponder that last point though, as it won't be available to the public 'till May 15th.
More About: View , Geforce

Altec Lansing starts shipping the iMV712 "mini-theater system"
2007-05-03 00:00:00
We caught a glimpse of Altec Lansing 's iMV712 audio / video iPod superdock during CES, but they haven't been available until today. Looking like the unholy love child of the ubiquitous iM3 and a portable DVD player, Altec's new top-of-the-line speaker dock sports an 8.5-inch "high-resolution" LCD, a universal iPod dock, a remote control, a "stage" for non-iPod MP3 players, and two 3-inch drivers backed up by a 4-inch subwoofer. While that screen seems a little superfluous -- it doesn't show cover art or anything during audio playback and we're not quite certain where you'd watch movies on it (kitchens? prison cells?) -- at $350 this bad boy's a no-brainer over, say, the iPod Hi-Fi.
More About: System , Theater , Mini , Shipping

More Software Searching on Nokia's International Sites
2007-05-03 00:00:00
This past weekend I spent time again checking out software available on Nokia's Hong Kong site.  As before, I came across some cool new apps, but this time they did in fact have one available for the N95.    Animated SMS by Zensis is a cool application that turns smiley codes into graphics.  Once installed, if someone sends you an sms with the smiley code it will show up in your inbox as an animated smiley! When creating an Animated SMS you can do so right from your Message folder.  Another great feature of the app is that you can send animations as a text instead of mms. Now the bad part is that this app is only for use on Nokia handsets from Hong Kong.  You will receive an error message when trying to send a message, but it won't prevent you from sending it. According to the developers site, they are trying to introduce Animated SMS to other countries but for now only phones from Nokia Hong Kong and Macau can use it. Animated SMS is available for N...
More About: Software , International , Sites , Soft , More

Sony Ericsson K810 shipping this week
2007-05-02 00:00:00
If your friendly local importer hasn't come through on getting you a K810 yet, fret not: Sony Style should be shipping the latest Cybershot-branded handset later this week (in Hong Kong, anyway). With an image stabilized autofocus 3.2 megapixel cam, the K810 certainly seems worthy of the Cybershot name it bears. UMTS 2100 doesn't hurt, either, and its predecessor -- the K800 -- is commonly considering one of the better handsets to have ever come out of Sony Ericsson , so it seems like this one'll sell pretty briskly. The jury's still out on the unusual keyboard, though. Send in your thoughts once the phone fairy drops the K810 off at your doors, k?[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]
More About: Shipping , Week

The Vodafone-branded LG KU580
2007-05-02 00:00:00
We thought the Chocolate was falling out of favor to make room for Shine, but LG apparently has at least a little more sweetness left up its sleeves. This here KU580 comes complete with Voda fone branding and flips the portrait screen of the KU800 and its stablemates on its side while offering up QVGA resolution. Features are said to include UMTS 2100, a 2 megapixel camera (meh), microSD expansion (it better!), front-facing secondary VGA cam for video calling, Bluetooth 2.0, FM radio, and 45MB of integrated memory, all to complement the typical Chocolate design elements that we've come to love / hate. Any love, Verizon?[Via Slashphone]
More About: Brand , The V

Amosu coats Sony Ericsson W880i in 24 karats of happiness
2007-05-02 00:00:00
If you find the thickness of a Vertu positively offensive -- but the Sony Ericsson W880i isn't quite exclusive enough for you -- might we recommend a golden rendition of the same? A phone customization outfit, Amosu, is offering said golden W880i for a mere £569 (about $1135). The catch? Turns out the handset is merely plated in the precious stuff, which means you're really not getting a heck of a lot of gold for the surcharge. Finding a yellow Ai any other way is gonna be a challenge, though, so spend the dinero if you must.[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog and E24.se]
More About: Coats , Happiness

HP cooking Santa Rosa into Compaq 6510b and 6710b laptops
2007-05-02 00:00:00
We've already seen the AMD versions of HP's new Compaq business laptops, the 6515b and 6715b, but now, thanks to a couple of leaked maintenance manuals, we've got word of Intel Santa Rosa versions of those two models: the 6510b and 6710b. Just like their AMD brethren, both models come with a WWAN option, and the main difference between the two is the 14.1-inch WXGA screen in the 6510b and 15.4-inch WXGA or WSXGA+ screens in the 6710b. Processors range from the 1.8GHz T7100 to the 2.4GHz T7700, and both stick to Intel GM965 integrated graphics. Both laptops can be specced pretty much any way you can imagine, and can come with anything from Vista Business to SuSe Linux pre-installed. No word on price or availability, but with all sorts of Santa Rosa -tops getting ready to launch, it shouldn't be much longer of a wait.[Via Notebook Italia]Read - HP Compaq 6510b manual (Warning: PDF link)Read - HP Compaq 6710b manual (Warning: PDF link)
More About: Cooking , Laptops

Sony announces PSP Go!Cam for PAL regions
2007-05-02 00:00:00
No real surprises here -- except for how long it took Sony to kick this thing out the door -- but European PSP owners will finally be able to join their Japanese brethren in playing with the much-anticipated PSP camera peripheral now known as the Go!Cam. The €50 (~$68) cam will hit PAL regions on May 16th bundled with the so-called Go!Edit software package, and though we doubt it's as full-featured as the apps shipping with the PlayStation Eye, it sounds like your basic editing and enhancement functions are taken care of. No word yet on a US launch -- we'd expect an announcement to follow quite soon -- but since we almost forgot this darn thing existed in the first place, we look at any release at all as nothing short of a complete and total victory. [Via DCemu]
More About: Regions , Gion , Anno

Aluratek's 10.5-inch ADMPF110 digiframe does HD movies, too
2007-04-30 00:00:00
Since the medium-sized digiframe market is getting so crowded these days, it's leaving manufacturers with little choice but to spruce up their offerings or get left in the crowd. Thankfully for us all, Aluratek has decided to bolster its stance by throwing down a 10.5-inch digital photo frame that not only sports a sleek, classy design, but also ups the ante in the specs department. The 1,024 x 768 resolution seen here has definitely made an appearance on another (albeit larger) frame before, but it touts 256MB of built-in memory, USB 2.0, compatibility with CF, MS, SD, MMC, and xD flash cards, and support for JPEG, Motion JPEG, AVI, and MP3 file formats. Additionally, a bundled wireless remote allows you to control the still / video slideshows from afar, and the audio output enables users to crank things on the home stereo whilst utilizing the integrated display. Best of all, the pricetag isn't one to balk at, as the $199 Aluratek is asking for here isn't too greedy at all when ...
More About: Movies , Digi , Inch , Frame , Rate

Nokia 8600 "Luna" in the wild
2007-04-30 00:00:00
Nokia can position this thing as a lower-end sibling to the 8800 if they so choose, but we've gotta be honest, this thing is shaping up nicely -- as in, "we'd rather have this one" nicely. These here are the first live shots we've spied of the rumored 8600 "Luna ," a slider with a trick translucent cover and a shape that roughly mimics the older (and allegedly more expensive) 8800. For one thing, having S40 on here in its very latest incarnation is a huge boost to its lust factor, and the huge display doesn't hurt either. Let's hope the Carphone Warehouse has its wits about it and it really will be launching before too long, shall we?[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]
More About: Nokia , Wild

Google "dual-face" concept phone pics
2007-04-29 00:00:00
Very little to say here but wow, this is one handsome-looking handset. The gents at dogorgod.com created this beautiful render of what they think the well-rumored Google device could potentially look like. We're in love with the softkeys on this thing -- very handy idea having context-sensitive keys that could change up depending on the current application or perhaps even for notification of incoming messages, calls and the like. Also note that there is a screen on the front and back (a la Samsung UpStage) but larger and more useful -- we could see this being ideal for having messaging open one one side and your browser running on the other. We're not quite sure what those tubes are for though, perhaps batteries? Even if this likely not even close to the mark, we're really digging this dead-solid effort.[Via Themes Central]  
More About: Phone , Face , Once , Concept

Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-S800 point-and-shoot sports 6x optical zoom
2007-04-29 00:00:00
While it may be getting tougher to not only smuggle a decent digicam into a decent concert, but to get even remotely close to the action, it's good to see a few camera manufacturers cranking up the optical zooming abilities of their point-and-shoots. Sony's latest Cyber -shot DSC-S800 proudly joins the currently-lacking clan, and features an 8.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD, ISO rating up to 1250, metallic frame (backside snapped after the break), 2.5-inch LCD monitor, Direct Playback mode, 54MB of internal memory, MSPro / MSDuo compatibility, and the reported ability to handle 390 shots before calling it quits. Moreover, users can enjoy the two-centimeter macro mode, 16:9 playback, PictBridge support, and variety of on-screen language choices, but the Motion JPEG video mode isn't apt to cause any gleeful celebrations. Of course, any Americans who were already working their credit card out of the wallet can stop right there, as this sucka won't be available until May at the earliest, ...
More About: Sports , Optical , Zoom , Shot

Team Osaka shows off RoboCup entrants
2007-04-29 00:00:00
This year's Robo Cup is still a few months away but entrants are already getting a chance to size up some of the competition, with Team Osaka unveiling its roster of players this week in Japan. As you can see in the videos on the site linked below, the bots are definitely built to impress, able to make diving saves and kick the ball better than many of their human counterparts, although they don't appear to have quite mastered the head-butt just yet. From the looks of it, the VisiON 4G robot will make up the majority of the team, with the larger Vstone810 bot apparently playing the role of enforcer. The bots aren't spending all their time on the pitch, however, with them also available to do your bidding at a cost of ¥1,000,000 or more (over $8,300) for the VisiON 4G and "several million" Yen for the Vstone810.[Via Impress]
More About: Ants , Tran

Nokia N76 now shipping in "key markets"
2007-04-29 00:00:00
When we say "key markets," we naturally mean that the US is left squarely out of the equation (can't you almost feel the bitterness in our voice here?). Alas, folks in parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East can now get their hands on the slimmest -- and arguably most attractive -- device in Nokia 's multimedia-centric Nseries range, the N76. Furthermore, buyers in a handful of European countries will be given a voucher to download five "pre-selected" tracks by the band Travis from MSN's music store; according to the VP of Brand Entertainment for Sony BMG Europe, Travis' "target audience" fits well with Nokia N76 buyers (who knew?), so the promotion should work out swimmingly. Prices are set by Nokia's regional distributors, but we'd expect interested folk to pay somewhere in $500 range for the privilege of owning the slimmest Nokia flip on the block.[Via MobileBurn]
More About: Markets , Shipping , Mark , Ship

Motorola rolls out gold MOTOKRZR K1
2007-04-29 00:00:00
Ah yes, it seems Motorola now has the Midas touch. To convince us that the KRZR still has some life in it, they've bumped out a limited edition champagne-gold KRZR K1 -- in Hong Kong, anyway. Like the KRZR Fire or PRODUCT (RED) versions, nothing seems to have been changed here -- it's only been prettified to appeal to a different market (in this case, the we-love-gold set). Before you jump out of your seat to hit the shops, be warned that this handset is apparently exclusive to Hong Kong and ties into a deal with Sa Sa Cosmetics to the tune of a 5 percent discount and free gold nail polish. The basket is definitely empty as far as details of release date, pricing, and carriers, but we will undoubtedly get some more info in the near term.[Via Slashphone]
More About: Gold

Nokia N75 finally launches on AT&T
2007-04-27 00:00:00
Hard to believe the day's finally come, but that thing you're looking at is actually Nokia 's long, long, freaking long-delayed N75 3G Symbian smartphone. Here. As in, here in America, on AT&T. You don't really need us to tell you what it is (ok, well, if you do: it's got a 2 megapixel camera, PlaysForSure support, Bluetooth, and plenty of media and messaging apps), but you'll be stoked to learn the media-centric flip will run you just $200 (with rebate and 2-year). Grats, AT&T, we were starting to think you didn't have it in you to launch a friggin 3G Symbian phone.[via Boy Genius Report]
More About: Final , Launch , Finally , Fina

GSM Association gets everyone together for phone e-wallets
2007-04-27 00:00:00
With services like NTT DoCoMo's FeliCa-based Osaifu-Keitai in Japan and Mifare deployed through much of Europe, perhaps one of the last great hurdles to widespread acceptance of phone-based e-wallets is a lack of standardization. Either that, or most people don't feel the need to pay for things by tapping their phone on various devices, but we digress; the point is that the GSM Association has now taken up the cause of getting everyone on the same page with its global "Pay-Buy Mobile" initiative. We really mean global, too -- among a slew of carriers, AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, and KTF are on board, representing the US, Japan, Europe, and South Korea, respectively, and the manufacturer camp counts Nokia, Samsung, and LG as its members. The first Pay-Buy Mobile trials are schedule to kick off this October, a schedule that is probably helped along by the availability of existing software and chips from Sony and NXP and the GSMA's pledge to build off financial institu...
More About: Phone , Together , Gets , Ever

Solo's bus stop ad enables life-size chatting with strangers
2007-04-27 00:00:00
Hot on the heels of Nokia's own bus stop gimmick comes none other than Solo , which has erected a clever display on a number of waiting areas to allow perfect strangers to yap it up on giant mobiles. The interactive billboards each sport a larger-than-usual flip phone, which allows curious onlookers to mash an enlarged walkie talkie button and get on the horn with a faraway stranger. The active two-way radio setup was reportedly installed in transit shelters in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary, and the system supposedly connects users in the different cities to one another when a conversation is initiated. Unfortunately, Engadget HQ doesn't happen to reside in the land of the Canucks, so for our brethren in the north, why not stop on by and give a shout to a fellow Canadian, eh?[Via Core77]
More About: Life , Anger , Stop , Strange

Black on black: Xbox 360 Elite vs PS3, which is more 1337?
2007-04-27 00:00:00
Mirror, mirror on the wall, which black high def console is the 1337est of them all? We know some people were bummed that the Xbox 360 didn't get to compete in the 2006 Engadget Awards with the PS3 and Wii (hey, it was launched in 2005!), but now's your chance to square off the two most expensive game consoles around. So who's gonna take it, Sony's piano black PlayStation 3, or Microsoft's matte black Xbox 360 Elite?
More About: Black , Lite , More

Sony announces PlayStation Eye webcam for PS3
2007-04-27 00:00:00
Well it may not be the high-definition EyeToy HD IP webcam that gamers had been hoping for, but Sony has finally announced the (first?) official EyeToy for PS3, called simply the PlayStation Eye. With an array of four microphones, two zoom levels, and capture rate as high as 120fps, the Eye promises to deliver unprecedented cam-enhanced gameplay, although the VGA video resolution (and that's at 'only' 60fps) will probably nonetheless be a disappointment to some. Bundled in with the not-yet-priced package will be EyeCreate editing software, which allows users to add different effects to their content as well as record footage using time-lapse and slow-mo settings, among others. No word yet on other specs (still shot res?) or compatible games, either, but we imagine that a lot more info will trickle out as the Eye's planned summer release date grows nearer.
More About: Playstation , Webcam , Lays

Samsung shows off ultra slim SPH-W2700
2007-04-26 00:00:00
Samsung unveiled its ultra thin, ultra cool, and ultra white HSDPA enabled Anycall SPH-W2700 yesterday; and while it is not radically new and fresh (think Sony Ericsson Z800, check that rotating camera), it has a certain beautiful aura about it. Features include a 2.3 inch TFT LCD (which if true to Samsung form, will be gorgeous), a 0.8 inch external OLED display, triple-band GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz plus 2100 MHz in the 3G department (le sigh). While we're sure it'll never hit on these shores, we can stare and adore from afar -- sadly, from very very afar. [Via Mobilewhack]
More About: Samsung , Ultra , Slim

Keepin' it real fake, part LV: Nokia N95 gets cloned
2007-04-26 00:00:00
We love Tuesday, and even more so when said day includes a couple knockoffs of the ever-so-hot Nokia N95. The Nokia-N95 and MB1500 (pictured top and bottom respectively) eschew sliding action for the traditional candybar format, a touchscreen (complete with that ever-present set of fixed icons on the lower part of the screen), forward-facing camera, and various other specs that we can't make out from the pics. The MB1500, however, has a rear camera that claims to be a Carl Zeiss 5 megapixel piece with autofocus and appears to be running something resembling Windows Mobile 6 (the doubt factor on both those points is at an all-time high over here at Engadget central). These handsets looks fairly legit, and judging by the real N95's popularity, we can expect a few more iterations like this, the highest form of flattery, in the coming months.Read - Nokia-N95Read - MB1500
More About: Fake , Real , Keep , Gets

Sony Ericsson P700i in the wild
2007-04-26 00:00:00
We're finally starting to see real pics of the P700i trickle in from out on the interweb -- good thing, too, as we were seriously considering a moratorium on this madness -- and it seems the lads at mobilecowboys.nl got their hands on some pretty decent pics of the new UIQ 3 device. Lo and behold, one even features a "system" screen which lists the device name as "P700i." The word from the gents who had a chance to play with it is that it has a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, triple band 900 / 1800 / 1900 with UMTS (this seems rather non-North American to us), WiFi, jogdial, touchscreen, and 160MB of internal storage. Of course, until it gets launched any of this could well change, and as usual we will be posting those updates here.Read - Pics of the P700iRead - More pics of the P700i
More About: Sony Ericsson , Sony , Ericsson , Wild , Sony-Ericsson

Windows Mobile "dumbphone" -- sans Microsoft
2007-04-26 00:00:00
We're hardly amazed anymore when a cheesy handset knock-off shows up somewhere in the world -- although there are cool fakes sometime. Amazingly crafty and deft at spelling incompetence at the same time, this ripoff of the entire Windows Mobile software / handset thing got us chuckling wildly. The "Microsoft Window" handset (yes, no "s") has a 3 inch QVGA screen, stereo speakers and is a very decent 17mm thick. Those are respectable stats, but the word "touchscreen" in half upper-case and half lower-case right above the d-pad kinda destroyed this facsimile's street cred to the trained eye. Since this "Window" handset has a 2 megapixel cam and opening / closing screens ripped directly from Windows XP, we're still left dumbfounded on which actual homebrew mobile OS possesses this thing.[Via gearfuse]
More About: Windows Mobile , Soft

Samsung rolls out Bluetooth-equipped "PAVV Cannes" plasma TV
2007-04-26 00:00:00
It looks like Samsung has managed to squeeze a bit more than buzzwords into its "Cannes " line of plasma TVs, with the company adding some Bluetooth functionality to its new 50-inch model (the SPD-50P91FHD). According to Samsung, that makes this the world's first Bluetooth certified TV, letting you getting some additional use out of your wireless headset and printer (among other peripherals). The TV itself also looks to be impressive enough, boasting a full 1080p resolution and packing ACAP support for some two-way data broadcasting. Like the other sets in the line, this one's exclusive to the Korean market for the time being, where it'll set you back 4,300,000 won, or about $4,640.[Via AVING]
More About: Plasma , Roll

Hitachi gets its one terabyte Deskstar 7K1000 drives out the door
2007-04-26 00:00:00
We already crunched the numbers: 1TB is a lot. And if you've got $399 to blow, it can be all yours, with Hitachi saying Desk star 7K1000 shipments have reached "critical mass" this month, after starting out scarce in March. We're guessing if you need one terabyte of data, in a 3.5-inch enclosure, spinning at 7,200 RPM and hooked up to your computer / RAID / iPod, you know who you are, so we won't spend any more time extolling the 7K1000's virtues -- quit your drooling and buy, buy, buy!
More About: Gets , Door , Tera

Meet LG's KS10: their S60 HSDPA slider with Google
2007-04-24 00:00:00
Looks like the first of LG's phones with Googl e -- not Google Phones -- just peaked out from under the velvet cloth. Meet the LG-KS10, a WCDMA/HSDPA slider bringing a full-blown Symbian OS. We're talking 2.4-inch LCD, 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and multimedia playback when this pup hits Italy in April and the rest of Europe and South East Asia before the year is up. Come to think of it, this is the same "Joy" S60 slider we saw back in October sporting a full xHTML browser and microSD expansion.
More About: Slide , Slider

Transcend joins the party, intros 32GB SSD drive
2007-04-24 00:00:00
Shortly after releasing a 16GB SSD for ExpressCard slots, Trans cend is joining SanDisk and TDK (among others) in the cost-effective 32GB arena. The company's 32GB 2.5-inch IDE solid state disc sports a "tough outer metal case," anti-shock features, "no moving parts," and the lower power consumption we've come to expect from these guys. The drive clocks in at just 7.4-millimeters thick and even touts built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) functionality that purportedly "ensures highly reliable data transfer and increases your systems energy efficiency." Unfortunately, the firm hasn't divulged details just yet around pricing, but we do know that an 8GB (TS8GSSD25) and 16GB (TS16GSSD25) flavor will be sitting alongside the 32GB TS32GSSD25 right about now.[Via PCLaunches]
More About: Party , Drive , Join , Part

Hybrid Tech building an electric Mini Cooper, will charge a bundle
2007-04-24 00:00:00
Those crafty kids at Hybrid Tech nologies aren't just busy stuffing ridiculous amounts of power into teeny-tiny Mullen GT bodies, they've also set their sights on a more consumer friendly car: the Mini Cooper. Unfortunately, while electric Mini doesn't reach the six figures range like its L1X-75 counterpart, it'll still cost you $59,000 -- a full $40k more than a base Mini costs in its native gas version. The car is rated at about 120-160 miles in range from its lithium polymer batteries, and takes five hours to charge. The desire to build electric cars "that don't look like electric cars" is quite commendable, we just look forward to the day when it doesn't cost so dang much.[Via Autoblog]
More About: Building , Charge