MOBODOJO » Headline Roundup

Palm Pre & webOS Info Round-Up

Tyler Regas — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:17:42 +0000

I poked around for a while and dug up a load of stuff about Palm’s Pre and webOS. Various bits of info have been updated and I even watched the developer intro video. Most of this coverage is from our pals over at PalmInfoCenter, so add them to your regular rounds. First up, PIC has a wrap-up of the coverage at Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain. There’s also a 26 minute video of the Pre from PreCommunity.com. PC.C also captured video of a demo of Google Maps on the Pre. Word is that Sprint Nextel will be the Pre’s exclusive retailer throughout 2009, which seemed to goose Palm stock values. Last I heard, Palm’s stock value has remained higher based on investor confidence in Palm’s plans. If you’ve been pining after the webOS and can’t wait to get a Pre, then look to TealOS to bring some of those features to Palm OS 5.x devices like the Centro. If you would like to know how much time you’ll be spending using TealOS, then Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, can’t tell you when the Pre will ship, either. You’ll just have to wait and see like the rest of us. If that weren’t bad enough, certain celebs are getting some real hands-on time with the Pre. Finally, here’s that webOS developer video link. its an hour long, so grab a drink and your reading glasses.

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Headline Hijinx: Catching Up

Tyler Regas — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:53:19 +0000

Just because I’ve not been posting doesn’t mean there are new things to gawk at. I’ve had little time to stay caught up, so here’s a few of the items on the scene these from recent weeks which I meant to post about. If you are a Mac user and you love Microsoft Office’s ability to automatically save documents when a crash occurs, but wish it was more of a global feature for all of your apps, your wish has come true in the form of EverSave. Oh, and its free, so please donate. Toshiba has jumped into the mobile phone game rather significantly with their new TG01 which sports a 4.1″ display and a 1GHz Motorola Snapdragon CPU. If the tease isn’t enough, there are some videos of the interface, but I think they need to work on it a bit more as there are some touch issues and (around 3:10 into the video) gaming doesn’t look easy. Garmin and Asus are getting into the handset game, too, making touchscreen phones now officially look like the second coming of the netbook. Feh.

Samsung has a new touchphone coming in the shape of the i8910, dubbed the Acme (weird) and will reportedly come in 8GB and 16GB models. Asus is apparently working on a fugly tablet version of their Eee PC line by cramming a very small screen into a very large case. I’m honestly not clear on why people are so hot for this thing. I’m not sure I get LG’s QWERTY Card thing which was caught in the FCC by Engadget, but apparently you can use it to remotely control your phone in your pocket. Hmm. If you feel that you’ve been shortsheeted on Sony VAIO P coverage, The Giz is going to make it up to you. Click on this link. Finally, if you really very badly want a RIM Blackberry Storm but aren’t flush with cash, check out Amazon which is selling it for US$99. Hmm… That’s US$400 worth of discounts. Does that mean its not as good as RIM would like everyone to believe?

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Headline Roundup!

Tyler Regas — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:57:56 +0000

Let’s just say that I’ve not had a lot of time lately to update the site as regularly as I would prefer. To make up for it, I’m going to cram some stuff in here I’ve been collecting for a while now. First up, the State Senate of California has voted to allow drivers to stick GPS devices on their windshield. Neat. In political news, George W. has decreed that US citizens can now send mobile phones to Cubans in an effort to see how serious Castro Part Deux is in applying reforms. Russell Davies apparently painted the lid of his MacBook Pro with chalkboard paint, making it into a surface suitable for notes and reminders. No, there’s no ledge to put chalk or erasers. If your outhouse is an inconvenient distance away from your main house, check out HDCom’s new wi-fi bridge which can traverse up to 5 miles. Personal time may never be the same again and only for US$318. Mark Shuttleworth’s Ubuntu will be offering a Netbook Remix soon, cramming the friendly Linux onto Eee PCs and its kind. AMD is going to fight Intel’s Centrino platform with its new Puma platform. Slavering over the idea of some real mobile gaming on the iPhone? Get ready for even more kick ass mobile gaming goodness when the iControlPad hits the scene. That be some sweet, sweet nerd pr0n.

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ASUS Eee PC 900, LG Displays, MSI Wind

Tyler Regas — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:59:08 +0000

Some tidbits for you to chew on: NotebookReview claims that ASUS has informed them that the ASUS Eee PC 900 will be available in Linux and Windows XP versions starting May 12th in the US. Prices will supposedly start at US$549.

Word on the street is that LG is starting to produce 16:9 and 16:10 ratio displays for low priced laptops. DigiTimes is suggesting that these displays will be snapped up by Acer, HP, and Asustek. The displays will be available in 8.9″, 9.4″, and 10.1″ formats for OEMs.

Finally, Electronista is reporting that they have more details on MSI’s competitor to the ASUS Eee PC line dubbed Wind. The small lappies will ship with 1.0-1.6GHz CPUs and a claimed battery life of up to 7 hours. There are no details on whether the MSI Wind will be available in the US.

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A Few Stray Tidbits

Tyler Regas — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:13:06 +0000

Its been very slow, so I thought I’d punch up the doldrums with some little bits of news. First up, right on the heels of the Novell rumor nee announcement comes Sybase announcing that its releasing an early, official version of its iAnywhere software for the iPhone. Only its not software. Its a web app and it will only do mail. Hmm. Is it just me, or does it look like a giant, chubby baby is giving the demo in the picture?

In other iPhone news, StatCounter.com has announced that the iPhone is number 2 for web usage in Europe, 2nd only to Nokia. In the US, iPhone web usage far outstrips Nokia usage. Of course, StatCounter is only measuring hits on the sites which they monitor, which they claim is about 2 million. They also mentioned desktop browser usage, seeing Firefox usage encroaching on Internet Explorer’s dominance. Statistics were gathered on 371 million page views from December 2007 to March 2008.

Electronista seems to think they have information that Dell will be getting back into the handheld market, only one year after they canceled the Axim product line. Apparently, Acer’s purchase of E-TEN has something to do with it.

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Headlines For Friday, December 21st, 2007

Tyler Regas — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 23:25:08 +0000

Yet another week to rack up on the ol’ scoreboard, and we have 10 more days before the New Year. That means we only have this and one more Weekly Roundup to file for 2007. Wow, and what a year its been! Apple’s kicking ass, Microsoft’s blowing chunks, and the Linux camp is starting to make a dent in the fears of administrators. I’m sure 2008 will also be a hoot, if any of the recent rumors can hold any water.

First up, Apple Insider has rolled out a claimed exclusive (how anything can be exclusive these days, I have no idea) regarding the strong possibility that Apple is jumping into the ultra-portable space. Via claimed close-knit ties to credible sources and whatnot, Apple is apparently eyeing the “Silverthorne” chip, a 45nm ULV processor which Intel has developed for Ultra-mobile Computers and MIDs, or Mobile Intertube Devices.

Now for last-minute stoopid gift idears: A Hello Kitty! USB mini aquarium. A Snoopy themed 15″ laptop for a mere US$2,799, and it comes especially underpowered! Have a dog that poops in the house? Well, now you can avoid having to pick it up and make yourself a local pariah for one low cost. DesignMobel has a new iPod dock, and no, soft is not slang for cool. Finally, season’s wipings! This dock is decidedly smaller and far less tasteful.

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Headlines For Friday, December 14th, 2007

Tyler Regas — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:19:02 +0000

Well, we’ve pushed through another week of news. Obama is gaining in the polls thanks to a little shove from Oprah, Ike Turner died after having finally winning another Grammy for his last album of traditional Blues songs, Waterboarding has been declared illegal, the iPhone is Time Magazine’s technology of the year, and Nintendo is instituting a “Raincheck” program to mitigate Wii shortages.

What about NBC moving its shows over to SanDisk’s new Fanfare service which works with their new TakeTV device. Personally, I don’t understand SanDisk’s market. Sure, they have the second largest chunk of the DAP market behind Apple’s 75%, but that’s only 11%, and so what if they make taking your TV shows with you easy. Ever heard of TiVoToGo or SlingBox?

Toshiba has announced their new Super Charge battery technology, dubbed SCiB for Super Charge Ion Battery, which they say can recover 90% of its capacity in 5 minutes. Wow! The problem is that its currently only for industrial use, but Toshiba says that they are eyeing the electrical car and portable computer markets.