iPad 2 Case is Smaller: Original iPad Wont Fit

We’ve been hearing that the new iPad 2 will be a bit smaller than the original although it will still retain the same 9.7 inch screen. This of course means that the relatively fat bezel will actually be made smaller.

Some possible proof may have been found to indicate how much smaller the new iPad 2 will be and from what we see, it wont be by a huge amount although it will be a tad thinner too.

MIC Gadget managed to get hold of a real iPad 2 case that has a camera hole in the back as well as being slightly smaller and thinner. Apparently, the case seen in the embedded video below is a case that has held a real iPad 2 and not just a mockup model like previously seen. [Read more…]

Apple iPhone 5 to Get Improved Battery Life

The next generation iPhone, iPad and iPod touch could see a boost in battery life, thanks to some work being done by Apple. The company has filed a patent to which they describe a battery with a higher cell density. The patent is entitled “Increasing Energy Density in Rechargeable Lithium Battery Cells” and attempts to slightly alter how the battery works. [Read more…]

Nokia to Give Developers free WP7 Device

Nokia has sent out an email to members of the Launchpad, letting them know that they will be getting a free E7 and a Windows Phone 7 device when available.

Launchpad is Nokia’s mobile app development program that normally has a price tag of 300 per year. It’s actually free for the first year. Nokia need to approve companies and developers in to the program and once there, when the devices are available, they’ll be shipped out. [Read more…]

Windows Phone 7 Connect App Launched – Syncs With iTunes on Mac

Microsoft has launched a new app in the Mac App Store called Windows Phone 7 Connector. The latest update now allows connection of a WP7 smartphone to the Mac so that it can sync with an iTunes library.

As well as being able to sync music, photos can also be syncronised along with video from the iPhoto App on Mac computers. [Read more…]

Android Ice Cream Smartphones Leaked in Dell Roadmap

The roadmap for smartphones built by Dell has leaked, thanks to WPCentral.

What we learn is that several new devices will be launching this year, and to add to that roadmap, we see that two of them will be running a new version of Google Android that hasn’t been formally announced just yet. That is Android Ice Cream. [Read more…]

FlexT9 Virtual Keyboard for Android Launches

The FlexT9 is a virtual keyboard for Android smartphones. It has four ways to input data in to the phone which includes voice input powered by Dragon.

The four input methods include Speak: which allows you to say something along the lines of “text fred: whatever you want to say”. This function is said to be reliable.

The next input is Trace: that appears to be very similar to how Swype works in that you trace your finger over the keys. Next it’s the Write method that allows you to scribble letters and numbers down that are recognised and converted to text. Finally, you have the regular tap type keyboard where you can enter text the usual way. [Read more…]

HTC Flyer Pre-Order Pages Go Up at Amazon – €669

The HTC Flyer was first announced a few days ago at Mobile World Congress. The Flyer is a 7 inch tablet that when launched, will run the Android 2.4 Gingerbread operating system.

We now see that Amazon in Germany now has the tablet listed along with a price tag of 669.99. This price includes 19% VAT that is applicable to purchases in the said country. When converting the price to US without tax, it comes in at $755 which isn’t cheap although not far off other tablets that are launching around the same time. [Read more…]

Apple Takes 60 Percent of Global Touch Panel Capacity

Reports indicate that Apple has managed to secure 60 percent of the global touch screen capacity and in turn, could possibly create shortages for the rest of the industry.

If the reports are correct, it appears that Apple is spending a large amount of cash to get the screens at the best price possible, much like they did with flash memory a few years ago. [Read more…]

Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 Coming Soon

Rovio Mobile has confirmed that the popular Angry Birds will be arriving on the Windows Phone 7 platform. No specific release dates have been provided for the WP7 version of the game although Rovio confirmed that they are “working on it”.

You might remember that when Windows Phone 7 was launched, a Rovio/Angry birds logo was seen on the home screen of the device. This caused problems for Rovio in that they didn’t authorise the use of it. However, they have confirmed that this is in the past now and that development of the game is running smoothly. [Read more…]

Dell Streak 10 Will Run Android 3.0 Honeycomb At Launch

Dell has confirmed that when the Dell Streak 10 tablet launches, it will run the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. What we also learn is that Dell intend to use a degree of the same hardware that will also run a Windows OS.

For tablets, it’s Android Honeycomb and Windows, and we have customers with a preference for either one. We can create platforms that share a great degree of hardware commonality that can run both — or either — operating system, and we don’t see any other options that are worthy of consideration.

[Read more…]

Apple Subscriptions Launch at the App Store

As expected, Apple [AAPL] has now launched subscriptions on the App Store. The new subscriptions service allows publishers of content on the app store to set up a regular automated billing cycle of weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly. The system will use the regular Apple billing system that is already used in the app store. By doing this, it makes it easy for the user to see all subscriptions on a single location and then cancel, edit billing frequency and make other changes when needed.

For content providers, Steve Jobs has explained exactly how the revenue model works between publisher and Apple: [Read more…]

HTC Incredible S, Wildfire S and Desire S Made Official

As well as announcing the HTC Flyer tablet as well as the ChaCha and Salsa smartphones, HTC has announced three other smartphones called the HTC Incredible S, HTC Wildfire S and the HTC Desire S.

The HTC Incredible S is pictured above and is a GSM device designed for the European market. It has an 8 megapixel camera on the back. The screen measures 4 inches and is a WVGA Super LCD screen. A front facing VGA camera is also included on the Incredible S. This particular smartphone will also be made available in Q2 although we see it will come with Android 2.2 rather than 2.4 like the other devices mentioned earlier. HTC does promise an update to 2.4 shortly after the phone launches. [Read more…]