Archives for April 2010

Winner of Last Weeks Nokia X6 Comes with Music Contest

It’s Monday morning and time now to announce the winner of our Nokia X6 “Comes with Music” contest. This contest was our first in quite a long time, but we plan on changing that now to start offering weekly contests, the next of which starts tonight where we are putting an LG Crystal mobile phone as the prize.

The winner of the Nokia X6 competition was chosen randomly from all Comments, RSS Readers, Facebook Fans and Twitter followers. The winner ended up coming from the Facebook group of fans and was Alexis who has been contacted to congratulate her on winning.

So, congratulations Alexis. Just follow the instructions in a message sent on Facebook and we’ll get the prize out to you in the next day or 2 (due to the bank holiday).

WordPress iPad App Launched

The WordPress App for the iPhone has been around for a while now. We hear today that WordPress for iPad has launched allowing wordpress bloggers to connect up to their blog from the iPad and edit/approve comments, create posts and create pages.

There isn’t much difference between the new iPad version vs the older iPhone version other than the iPad version makes a lot more use of the large screen allowing for easier editing of posts and content along with being able to see a column down the left side of the screen showing comments, posts and other interesting information.

When entering a post a large keyboard pops up allowing you to easily create the content you need. The ability to make links is also there. With the larger screen it actually looks like it will make the iPad version of WordPress usable. Right now for the Apple [AAPL] iPhone, the app is usable, but generally for approving comments and editing posts while out on the move. I personally wouldn’t use the iPhone version to create content for a site although the iPad version looks like it might be good enough to do just that. [Read more…]

Apple iPad Sales could reach 7.1 Million in 2010

This weekend will finally see the long awaited Apple iPad go on sale and sales estimates for 2010 are in the millions…7.1 million to be exact (according to iSuppli).

This is expected to be followed by 14.4 million during 2011 and with 20.1 million sales expecting to be reached during 2012 – How I wish I was an Apple [AAPL] shareholder right now!

With estimated sales like this, Apple will have successfully introduced the first ever mainstream tablet, however, Apple are unlikely to enjoy the vast lead they enjoyed when they launched the iPhone as the tablet market has some major competition expected to be launched in the near future which will test the longevity of the iPad craze. [Read more…]

iFixit investigate FCC iPad Internal Images

iFixit were quick off the mark and have analysed the FCC Apple iPad internal images in more depth than the average person it seems. The team have managed to extract the RAW files associated with the images which allowed them to essentially remove the blanks to reveal the real images behind including all the chip numbers associated with the chips.

The iPad model from Apple [AAPL] analysed by the FCC carries the internal name of #A1219. iFixit also point out that Apple had asked the FCC to keep this information covered up till August 17 this year. It’s not clear if the FCC didn’t realise the blanked out text could be fixed, or if they don’t really bow to Apple’s demands. Either way, all the info is there although in some cases a little hard to see due to low resolution shots. [Read more…]

Windows Phone 7 Drops the Series from it’s Name

According to a tweet from the official Microsoft [MSFT] twitter stream, we can now drop the Series from Windows Phone 7 Series by just calling it Windows Phone 7.

The original name was a bit of a mouthful and thankfully they have dropped the Series. However, it appears that nothing else has changed at all in that it’s just a slight name change and doesn’t indicate any changes to the mobile OS are coming in the future. Basically it was just a bad choice of names and it seems MS listened to the criticisms and complied.

The operating is still on target from what we hear to launch later on this year with a few manufacturers of phones showing interest and already creating hardware for the OS. [Read more…]

Apple iPad Insides Revealed Courtesy of FCC

Have you been wondering what the Apple iPad looks like inside? The FCC have taken one apart to make sure it clears their tests and have posted the images on-line. One thing to note here is that this FCC teardown is no where near as in depth when compared to the one iFixit will do tomorrow, but it’s still interesting to see what’s going on in there including how much actual space there is available even though it contains a massive set of batteries.

The picture above shows the back panel (the screen rests on top of this) whereby the two large brick shaped objects are the batteries that keep it powered for 10+ hours. You can also see the dock connector running across the batteries and see that it’s slightly unfastened from the bottom edge of the iPad.

One of the images below shows the main circuit board that contains the brains that run this thing… ie the A4 chip although specific chip numbers have been covered up I guess to protect their identity before the launch… again, iFixit no doubt will reveal all chip numbers associated with the iPad. [Read more…]

Google Optimises GMail for iPad and other Tablets

Google [GOOG] have announced that they have optimised their web services specifically for the Apple iPad [AAPL] that launches tomorrow.

The update to services such as GMail have been optimised to work on large screen mobile devices to give a better email experience. When visiting GMail from an iPhone for example, you just see a list of messages with buttons across the top to move around sections. The new iPad optimised version uses a two column approach where your messages can be scrolled through on the left of the screen and the message viewed on the right of the screen as pictured below.

The GMail app now uses a HTML5 web app that is also used on Android and the iPhone at the moment. [Read more…]

Canon EOS T2i / EOS 550D Reviewed at DPReview

Just a few days ago we came across a few sites that had done reviews of the Canon EOS T2i digital SLR camera. The T2i is also known as the EOS 550D and is Canon’s latest digital SLR camera to hit the market.

The camera it’s self is hard to categorise as it takes features of higher end cameras, puts them in the body of a 500D and comes in as as entry level camera but at a higher price.

DPReview have uploaded a massive review (I’m talking 30 pages long massive here) to give the full run down of what the camera can do and what it is capable of doing. [Read more…]

Flickr add HTML5 Video Playback

Flickr have announced that they have launched HTML5 video playback designed right now for those specifically who use the Apple iPad. The iPad, you’ll remember, doesn’t have flash video capabilities and from what we understand, it never will. Luckily for Apple [AAPL], unluckily for Adobe, it seems many of the major publishers are actually in the process of converting video over to the HTML5 standard that will allow the iPad to browse the news and photography sites without getting the small blue brick that indicates Flash is needed.

Flickr have designed their HTML5 videos to work on the iPad and bring the full browsing experience of flickr video and flickr photos to the iPad. [Read more…]

iPad Socks now Available

You might remember iPhone socks that are basically protective socks that you put your iPhone in. The same concept has now arrived for the Apple iPad called iPad Socks that are basically giant sock that you can slide your iPad into to keep it free of scratches.

The iPad Socks are available in a number of colours (nine to be exact) and have an iPad label sewed on to the side.

From the iPad Socks website….

Why?
Why would you buy an iPad Sock? Cause it’s the coolest most colorful protection for your iPad!
The knit socks provide a stylish, fun, and practical way to protect your iPad. Get them now!
Available in 9 fresh colors

[Read more…]

Microsoft filed a patent for Windows Phone 7 Series Panoramic UI

Microsoft [MSFT] announced Windows Phone 7 Series a few months back now which included a new panoramic user interface that could be used to scroll sideways around menus. It’s quite an impressive user interface that actually surprised a number of people as it actually looked good. Microsoft for the last 10 or more years have generally stuck to the same UI for mobile phones and for some reason, they came to a realisation with Windows Phone 7 Series and created something far better.

I think we can also safely say that Microsoft also think their interface is good too as they applied for a patent to protect the methodology and application of it back in summer of 2008. The patent will allow only Microsoft to use the interface and no others without permission… they have patented the whole thing by the way.

From what we understand, Microsoft are also patenting other things related to the Windows Phone 7 Series user interface and as of yet, we are not sure what else has been applied for and of course, we don’t know if the applications will get granted (ie, if they are unique etc…). [Read more…]

HTC Desire gets an OTA Firmware Update

If you are one of the lucky ones to get your hands on a HTC Desire in the last week or so since it launched, then you might be surprised to know that HTC are already pushing out an OTA update to it to install a new firmware. Once installed the phone will then run version 1.15.405.4.

HTC haven’t mentioned what is included in the update, but we suspect a couple of tweaks here and there to help the phone run smoothly.

HTC recommend that when you get the message informing you an update is ready that you either download the update over Wi-Fi, or have an unlimited data plan to avoid the cost of downloading the update. [Read more…]