Archives for December 2010

iPad Mini Rumors Resurface

Although Steve Jobs said there was no chance a smaller 7 inch iPad would be built, the rumors still wont die. We now hear from Reuters who cite an Asian manufacturing source who says a smaller, half sized iPad is currently being manufactured.

There aren’t any other rumors to accompany this one other than the source indicating that this particular model will sit right between the iPod touch and the regular iPad. Some features we can predict if this rumor ends up being true is that it will have a higher res screen as well as a couple of cameras one of which for FaceTime calls. [Read more…]

Angry Birds Seasons for WebOS Download Now Available

Angry Birds Seasons is now available for those running a Palm Pre or Palm Pixi. The app can be downloaded from the App Catalog and costs $1.99.

The game works just like it does on the iPhone in that the Christmas levels work on an advent calendar system that allows you to progress 1 level per day with a count right up to Christmas day. [Read more…]

iPhone Infinity Blade is Fastest Grossing iOS App

Infinity Blade for iOS devices launched last week on December 9th. Already it has become the fastest selling app beating the record that “Cut the Rope” had set a few months previously.

In terms of numbers, 271,424 people downloaded the game in the first 3 days. The game is priced at $5.99 which means it has grossed $1,625,829.76 at that point on December 12 when the 271K downloads had been captured. [Read more…]

Chrome OS Laptop Video Hid MENSA Puzzle – Solver gets Cr-48

Last week we posted a video of a bunch of new Google Chrome OS laptops being destroyed in various ways. To most people the message they would have got is that Chome OS is cloud based and you just get another Chrome OS device to carry on from where you left off.

Sylvain Zimmer had other ideas though. 2:24 in to the video an equation can be seen on a chalkboard in the background. Zimmer spent the whole day solving the puzzle which somehow equates to 19 16 05 05 04 01 14 04 04 05 19 20 18 15 25 when broken up and in his words, any geek could figure out that this says speedanddestroy. Entering those three words on the end of a goo.gl URL it took him to a page which told him he was the first to find the particular page and that because of this he could have a free Cr-48 laptop sent to him. [Read more…]

Google Latitude for iPhone Goes Live

The Google Latitude app for iPhone and other iOS devices is now available in the app store. The app first appeared last week but was quickly removed. This time it’s here to stay from what we understand.

What the Google Latitude app does is lets you track where your friends are on a map. When logged in to the system and when it’s enabled, your position on the globe is made available to your friends so that you can see who is where. [Read more…]

EVO Shift 4G Keyboard Pictured

Back in November, a picture of the HTC EVO Shift 4G was spotted. That time, it was just the device front with the screen and 4 buttons below the screen.

We now see a picture of the same device but with the QWERTY keyboard out. The Shift 4G does have a case, so we don’t see exactly what it looks like, but we get a good idea of what’s new and different about this model. [Read more…]

Google Maps 5.0 Demoed on the Nexus S

Google [GOOG] has posted a video demo of Google Maps 5.0 running on the Android 2.3 Nexus S smartphone.

The new version of Maps brings a few new features to Android devices which includes the ability to navigate in 3D around various cities around the world. The video embedded below shows how that works and what kind of frame rate is achieve which I have to say is quite impressive. [Read more…]

Apple Drops iOS Jailbreak Detection

Apple [AAPL] has quietly dropped an API in iOS that is used to detect if the iPhone has been jailbroken.

The iOS jailbreak detection API was first added when iOS 4.0 was launched in June of this year. In the latest version that was released a couple of weeks back, iOS 4.2.1, the API is either now disabled or completely removed. [Read more…]

Nexus S UK Pre-Orders Now Available

The Google Nexus S release date is almost here for the US and UK. For those of us here in the UK, we can now pre-order the Nexus S.

Pre-orders are now being taken at Carphone Warehouse where both contract and PAYG options are available. As for pricing, the Nexus S off-contract (PAYG) is £549.95. On contract, pricing is free for the phone on all plans £35/month or more and at the moment, £35/month is the cheapest plan. [Read more…]

iPad Available at BestBuy.com

BestBuy.com in the US is now selling the Apple iPad. Prior to this weekend, you could only reserve an iPad at BestBuy and then pick it up instore.

All six models of the iPad are available at the moment with each of them having free shipping. The price is slightly higher for some reason, only 99 cents higher, but if you can’t or don’t want to get one direct from Apple, then you now have another choice. [Read more…]

YouTube 2.1 for Android Released

Google [GOOG] has launched version 2.1 of the YouTube app for Android based smartphones. This new version takes YouTube out of the Android build allowing the app to be updated when needed rather than updated each time Android increases a version.

The new app also brings a number of new features such as in-page playback, posting comments, subscription updates as well as a full screen UI.

The aim of YouTube 2.1 for Android is to mirror the desktop version on smartphones. [Read more…]

Google Instant for Mobile Launched Globally

Google [GOOG] has announced that Google Instant for Mobile has now been rolled out to 40 countries and that the service now works in 28 different languages.

Google Instant was launched just over a month ago and allows users to type and see changing results being built as they type a keyword. Google indicate that this improves user experience by making it quicker to search. Originally the service was available to users logged in to the desktop. Recently the desktop version moved to all users who are logged in or not, and now has begun arriving on smartphones. [Read more…]