Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
We mentioned yesterday that Android 3.0 was ported over to a rooted Nook Color. We hear today that the Android 3.0 download is now available.
The Honeycomb port needs to run from an SD card and the developer who managed to port it over has managed to get several functions working on the device. [Read more…]
Microsoft has confirmed that a problem exists with the Yahoo! Mail app on Windows Phone 7. The problem is that the application uses 25 times more data than it should whilst loading up and retrieving emails. For those who often use WiFi, it might not be a huge problem, but for those on 3G, it could be quietly eating away at a lot of your data allowance each month.
The problem was found by Rafael over at Windows Phone Secrets who managed to check IMAP packets being sent. By using a script to strip out encryption, he was able to find that the Yahoo mail server doesn’t respond correctly to FETCH requests which in turn, increases traffic actually needed by a hefty 25 times. He goes on to say that problems also exist separately to this in that the WiFi has a habit of sometimes disconnecting and quietly switching users to 3G when they expect to be on Wireless. [Read more…]
Google said recently that Android 3.0 was designed specifically for tablet form factors only. For those running smartphones, the current versions fall in to the 2.x range, specifically 2.3 if you have new enough hardware.
Ice Cream Sandwich is the next Smartphone version which is expected to launch in the next 4 to 5 months. This new version is expected to fall in the 2.X version.
Something interesting has been found in the Android 3.0 SDK though which hints at 3.0 also being compatible with smartphones. The emulator used in the SDK can actually be set to a lower resolution to match a smartphone screen sized resolution. [Read more…]
This will certainly have the news sites talking today. It appears that the Sony Reader app for iOS was not approved by Apple. Sony spoke to the Times and basically said that its app was blocked by Apple because it allows in app purchases to be made from a different company. If true, it seems that Apple wants all content to be sold through the iTunes store rather from the Sony eBook store.
What we don’t understand at the moment is what will happen to apps like the Amazon Kindle app, Nook and other apps that allow you to connect up and sync content from a 3rd party location. Will Apple ban these? Perhaps Sony isn’t telling us the full reasons why the app was banned, and maybe they tried to do something different to what Kindle and Nook apps do to get content. [Read more…]
You probably know that the PlayBook from RIM is a device that can, in some ways, work alone. But for the corporate email type stuff, the device actually needs to be tethered to a BlackBerry smartphone to function correctly.
Up until this video (embedded below) was released, many were just taking a guess at exactly how the connection between the two devices would work. Thankfully, we now know exactly what to expect.
What we see in the video is the PlayBook connected wirelessly up to a BlackBerry Torch and with that connection, the PlayBook is able to check email and edit what is on the BlackBerry. However, the data is just on loan so to speak, as when the connection is broken, the emails are removed from the PlayBook and cannot be accessed until a connection is restored. [Read more…]
Microsoft has added some instructions to its website which show how to troubleshoot problems while updating Windows Phone 7.
The article covers a bunch of things such as how to work the Zune software and how to connect up a Windows Phone 7 device to your Windows PC. It also covers the Windows Phone 7 connector software that has been designed to run on the Mac. [Read more…]
When the NookColor was launched a few months back, it showed great potential as a cheap Android tablet. This was mainly due to it being rooted. You see, it runs the Android operating system and out of the box, it boots up to the Nook app which in turn, keeps Android in the background.
After rooting it, you can boot the tablet in to Android and then launch the Nook App as and when needed to read books. [Read more…]
Rovio has announced the launch of Angry Birds Rio. The new app will be launching in March on various phones and tablets.
Angry Birds Rio is also launching as a movie the month after with the game following along with the story line. As the name suggests, this version is based in Rio. [Read more…]
Google is holding an event this Wednesday (Feb 2nd) to officially launch the Google Android 3.0 OS AKA Honeycomb.
The event is being held at the Google headquarters in Mountain View this Wednesday. It’s invite only, so don’t show up if you haven’t received an invitation. [Read more…]
We’ve heard a couple of times about RFID arriving on the iPhone 5 and the iPad 2. This information has been further strengthened by a new Apple job listing that requests a payment platform expert in RFID.
RFID is similar to NFC (near field communications) in that it can be used to wirelessly transmit data over a very short distance. In turn, the iPhone 5 or other device with NFC built in can then be used as a mobile e-wallet to pay for items whilst out shopping. [Read more…]
Quarter 4 of 2010 saw Android beat Symbian as the fastest selling smartphone platform in that quarter. In total, 32.9 million Android handsets were shifted the last quarter of last year. Symbian saw 31 million handsets being shifted.
Although that’s very interesting as it is, what makes it even more amazing is that Q3 saw Android with 20.3 million which shows over a 10 million increase in to quarter 4. Compare that to Symbian, they went from 29.9m which shows just over 1 million in growth. [Read more…]
Those of you who own a Google Nexus S that has random reboot problems, Google has provided an update saying that a fix will be available in the next two weeks.
Google will push out an OTA (over the air) update to Nexus S devices as explained by Ry Guy on a Google Mobile Help Thread.
Hello again everyone,
The initial results of our tests look very promising. At this rate we will most likely be rolling out an OTA to resolve this issue within one to two weeks. We really appreciate your patience as we do our final verifications on this fix before sending it out.
-Ry Guy
