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subota, 9. listopada 2010.

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ponedjeljak, 27. rujna 2010.

RIM introduces PlayBook -- the BlackBerry tablet

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Joshua Topolsky

posted Sep 27th 2010 4:29PM

Breaking News

Today at Research In Motion's annual BlackBerry Developer Conference, CEO Mike Lazaridisannounced the company's new tablet -- the PlayBook. The tablet will utilize an OS created by therecently acquired QNX (just as we'd heard previous to the announcement) called the BlackBerry Tablet OS which will offer full OpenGL and POSIX support alongside web standards such as HTML5 (which is all tied into RIM's new WebWorks SDK). Lazaridis was joined on stage by the company's founder, Dan Dodge, who said that "QNX is going to enable things that you have never seen before," and added that the PlayBook would be "an incredible gaming platform for publishers and the players." RIM also touted the PlayBook's ability to handle Flash content via Flash 10.1, as well as Adobe AIR apps. The new slate -- which Lazaridis described as "the first professional tablet" -- will sport a 7-inch, 1024 x 600, capacitive multitouch display, a Cortex A9-based, dual-core 1GHz CPU (the company calls it the "fastest tablet ever"), 1GB of RAM, and a 3 megapixel front-facing camera along with a 5 megapixel rear lens (and yes, there will be video conferencing). There was no mention of onboard storage capacity during the keynote, though the device we just spied in our eyes-on post is labeled "16GB" on its back. The PlayBook will be capable of 1080p HD video, and comes equipped with an HDMI port as well as a microUSB jack, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooh 2.1. The device clocks in at a svelte 5.1- by 7.6-inches, is only 0.4-inches thick, and weighs just 400g (or about 0.9 pounds).

In terms of interface, the OS looks like a mashup of webOS and the BlackBerry OS, even allowing for multitasking via what amounts to a "card" view. Interestingly, RIM and QNX boasted of the PlayBook's multimedia and gaming functions, but Mike Lazaridis also described the tablet as "an amplified view of what's already on your BlackBerry." That's due largely in part to a function of the tablet which allows you to siphon data off of your BlackBerry handset via Bluetooth tethering and display it on your PlayBook (a la the ill-fated Palm Foleo). While the PlayBook doesn't seem to rely on phone content alone, the press release from the company says that users can "use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data." RIM didn't hand out any solid launch dates beyond "early 2011," and of course, there was no mention of retail price. We've got a slew of content after the break, including the PlayBook spec rundown, the company's press release, and a full video of the device (and UI) in action -- so take a look!

BlackBerry PlayBook press shots

RIM introduces PlayBook -- the BlackBerry tablet

7-inch LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
1 GHz dual-core processor
1 GB RAM
Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
HDMI video output
Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
Ultra thin and portable:
Measures 5.1"x7.6"x0.4" (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

HTC Merge for Verizon gets snapped: another Android phone with Bing

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Nilay Patel

posted Sep 27th 2010 5:55PM

We're not sure exactly what Verizon is up to with these high-end Android phones that aren't Droids and feature Bing over Google, but it looks like the Fascinate is about to get a friend: BGR just got these snaps of the HTC ADR6235, which appears to be the Merge we've heard so much about, and the same dual-mode set we saw at the FCC. Nothing's confirmed specs-wise except a five megapixel camera, microSD slot, and SIM slot for global roaming, but we're still pretty sure this thing will basically be the CDMA version of the Desire Z / T-Mobile G2 and feature a Qualcomm MSM7630 processor with 4GB of onboard storage. And then there's that Bing logo on the homescreen -- we don't know how thoroughly it's integrated into Sense, but here's hoping it's better than what Samsung accomplished with TouchWiz on the Fascinate -- hardware this promising shouldn't be saddled with carrier-wrecked firmware.

BlackBerry PlayBook - Preview

Peter Thiel: We Would Be A Lot More Careful About Funding Facebook Today. But…

18 Comments

Leena Rao

Source:http://techcrunch.com

2 hours ago

Peter Thiel

made a really wise bet on Facebook as the social network’s first angel investor back in 2003. Of course, now Thiel’s foresight has paid off—the company is not only the biggest social network in the world but it is valued in the tens of billions. In fact, Thiel, who was being interviewed by Sarah Lacy, said today at TechCrunch Disrupt that Facebook’s $30 billion valuation is still undervalued. That’s something that FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit agreeswith as well.

But interestingly, Thiel told Lacy that looking back he would be a lot more careful about funding a Facebook-like idea today. In 2003, Thiel made a $500,000 angel investment in Facebook for 10.2 percent of the company. What he meant is that he would think twice about investing in Facebook again because there are not going be that many innovating companies coming from the web. He thinks that a lot of the current big guys, like Google and Yelp, will be at the forefront of innovation and that there’s not many game-changers emerging that will innovate on the web. He tells Lacy, “Yelp of cellphones will be Yelp, the Google of cellphones will be Google.”

But, Thiel of course is a strong believer in Facebook as one of its early investors and he clearly belives the company is worth more than its current valuation. And Thiel also said that Facebook’s CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is a product visionary that resembles Apple CEO Steve Jobs. As long as Zuckerberg stays at Facebook, the company will be about building new products.

Continuing live coverage can be found at our day one omnibus post. Don’t forget to tag your disrupt-related posts and media with #tcdisrupt!

RIM Unveils Tethered Tablet Called BlackBerry PlayBook

Source: http://www.wired.com

By Priya Ganapati
September 27, 2010 |
5:26 pm |
Categories: Tablets and E-Readers

SAN FRANCISCO — BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is jumping into the tablet arena with the ‘PlayBook,’ which will have a 7-inch screen and is designed for both consumers and business users.

“This is an ultra mobile, always on, ultra thin device,” Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of Research In Motion told attendees at the ongoing BlackBerry developer conference. “The first time you hold it, it just feels right and you want to take it everywhere you go.”

The BlackBerry PlayBook is 0.3 inches (9.7 mm) thick, making it thinner than the iPad’s 0.5 inches thickness.

It will include Wi-Fi but no 3G connectivity, making it a tablet that will have to be paired with BlackBerry phones for 3G internet access. RIM did not comment on whether the wireless tethering option will be available with other smartphones too. But it is promising 3G and 4G models in the future.

The device will have a high-resolution 1024 x 600 pixels wide screen display and will be lightweight at just 0.9 lbs, compared to the iPad’s 1.5 lbs.

The PlayBook will run on a 1 GHz dual-core processor and come with 1 GB RAM. It will also include two cameras: a 5 megapixel camera at the back, and a 3 megapixel front-facing camera. The PlayBook also has video recording capability.

The tablet will run QNX, an operating system from a company that Research In Motion bought last year. It will include a HDMI video output and a USB port.

RIM did not announce pricing or exact availability for the PlayBook. The device is expected to hit retail stores early next year.

BlackBerry’s PlayBook the latest challenger to Apple’s iPad, which launched in April. Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads so far, while rivals have been slow to meet the challenge. Dell and Samsung have announced their own tablets, though Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet has yet to hit the market. Meanwhile, Microsoft and HP have both canceled planned tablet projects.

RIM has one advantage: The BlackBerry platform is still the number one smartphone operating system because of the company’s strength with business users. Because the PlayBook is tied to the BlackBerry, that may give it a leg up on the market.

BlackBerry’s tablet also hopes to beat rivals by offering a rich web experience, multitasking, a speedy processor, and by attracting developers and publishers to the device.

The PlayBook will support full Flash 10.1, have hardware-accelerated video and 1080p HD video.

Lazaridis hopes the PlayBook will become a favorite among business users.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook, just like the BlackBerry smartphones, will become the enterprise standard,” he told developers.

The PlayBook will support multi-tasking and a native SDK (Software Developers Kit) will be available for the device.

“The PlayBook will be an incredible gaming platform for game designers and a great platform for publishers,” says Dan Dodge, the founder of QNX who is also being billed as the inventor of the PlayBook tablet. “We are giving everyone the full web experience on a very powerful platform.”

Nielsen: growth of digital music sales flat in 2010

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Donald Melanson

posted Sep 27th 2010 12:42PM

It's a bit early for the big music companies to start panicking, but it looks like the heyday of double-digit growth in digital music sales may now be behind us. That's according to market research firm Nielsen, at least, which found that sales in the US fell flat in 2010 after a 13 percent increase from 2008 to 2009, and a whopping 28 percent jump from 2007 to 2008. Nielsen is quick to point out, however, that it thinks this is a "plateau," and that it "doesn't mean that this digital consumption is going to drop significantly." It also still seems to be a different story outside of the US, with Nielsen reporting that digital music sales were up up 7 percent in Britain, 13 percent in Germany and 19 percent in France.

Reuters

Verizon Droid 2 R2-D2 Edition lands September 30 for $249

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Chris Ziegler

posted Sep 27th 2010 12:20PM

Breaking News

Just how badly do you want Star Wars branding on your Droid 2, eh? You'd better want it bad, because Verizon has just announced that it'll be charging $249 for the privilege of owning an R2-D2 Limited Edition -- with a $100 mail-in rebate on contract, which means that you'll actually be paying $350 up front. Then again, for that dinero you get not just the funky-looking phone but a Star Wars-themed dock and a box custom-designed to look like carbonite (Harrison Ford not included, we presume). You'll also get a variety of custom live wallpapers, sounds, photos, widgets, and a "binoculars app," which we imagine is some sort of digital zoom tool. Conspicuously missing is any sort of indication that this features the rumored 1.2GHz processor from the also-rumored Droid 2 World Edition, so the wait for that news continues. CTIA next week, perhaps.

On a related note, other Verizon customers with Android 2.1 (and higher) devices will be able to access a special Empire Strikes Back app and related content for a one-time charge of $2.99, which will include a trivia app to test your muster as a George Lucas fangirl or fanboy. Meanwhile, look for the phone to go live on this Thursday, September 30. Follow the break for the full press release and a couple more pics!

Show full PR text

Verizon

Microsoft hosting a press conference on October 11, we'll be there live!

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Vlad Savov

posted Sep 27th 2010 6:12AM

Breaking News

If you had any doubts about the most important date in your Windows Phone 7 calendar, you can now dismiss them. Microsoft has just gotten in touch to ask us very kindly to "save the date" October 11 for a 2PM London press conference (9AM ET for Americans) that will last all the way until 5.30PM. Unless Steve Ballmer's planning on reading the Iliad all that time, that sounds like there'll be hands-on opportunities with WP7 devices to us. Of course, there's nary a mention of any phones in the brief invite, but given the multiple sources nailing that exact date as Microsoft's European launch, we'd be shocked to see anything else. Either way, we're bringing our trusty liveblogging equipment and will keep you informed whatever happens.

WebOS 2.0 gets fresh round of screenshots; new Palm phones and Touchstone certified?

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Chris Ziegler

posted Sep 27th 2010 12:59AM

The name of certification firm TÜV Rheinland may not ring a bell, so allow us to jog your memory: these are the guys that outed the GSM versions of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus prior to their announcement earlier this year. Hence, the interwebs are paying pretty close attention this evening now that we've found US and Canadian certifications for Palm models P102UNA and P102EWW (first unearthed by homebrew hub WebOS Internals), which -- following Palm's typical model numbering convention -- would correspond to North American GSM and CDMA versions of some new device, respectively. To put things in perspective, the P101UNA was unearthed in the certification database on January 23rd and announced for AT&T on March 22nd, so we could reasonably still have a couple months' wait on these... or a couple days. No way of knowing yet how Palm plans to play this. There's also a listing for a new "inductive battery charger," which would certainly imply a new Touchstone -- which may or may not still bear the Touchstone name.

On a related note, we've received a slew of new webOS 2.0 screen shots -- and while some of them look familiar, our eyes were drawn to the sexy new "classic" and flip-style digital clocks. Important? Not necessarily, but sometimes it's the little touches that count. Hit up the gallery for the full show (and don't forget our first batch from a few weeks back, while you're at it).

Sharp announces Galapagos e-reading tablets: 5.5 and 10.8 inches, getting e-bookstore in December

Source: http://www.engadget.com

By Vlad Savov

posted Sep 27th 2010 3:53AM

Breaking News

Sharp has just taken the veils off its bold new e-reader devices, dubbing them both Galapagos in honor of the evolution the company believes they represent. The 5.5-inch Mobile version (pictured above) has a delightfully dense 1024 x 600 LCD screen, while its 10.8-inch Home sibling offers a very decent 1366 x 800. There's 802.11b/g WiFi on both, while the littler slate is also enriched with a navigational trackball. Sharp's emphasis here really seems to be on the cloud-based ecosystem it's creating for these "terminal" devices -- 30,000 newspapers, magazines and books have been lined up for its planned December launch and an "automatic scheduled delivery" facility will help you get at them as soon as the latest issue's ready for consumption. Sadly, we should note that this is specifically tailored to suit the Japanese market, which makes an international release seem somewhat unlikely. For a size comparison between the two tablets and the full press release, jump past the break.

Sharp Galapagos e-readers press images