Archive for category News

Aava Mobile reveals Virta 2 smartphone development kit, we go hands-on

When we met with Finnish startup Aava Mobile today, they pulled out the same old prototype phone… then, to our great surprise, dropped a brand-new device right alongside to show us how their Moorestown-based ambitions have grown. This is the Virta 2 reference design, which will ship to developers soon, with the same basic hardware inside but a few important tweaks. First of all, you'll note that's MeeGo on this screen, not the droid we were looking for, but that's because the deve……

For full content    click here

DIY Internet Chess Table makes online matches suddenly awesome (video)

Computerized chess has been around for at least a few centuries now (okay, so maybe “score” is more accurate), but if you thought an IBM supercomputer dominating one of the planet's brightest humans was gnarly, have a gander at this. One determined modder has whipped up what may very well be the most impressive way to engage in online chess ever, as the DIY Internet Chess Table turns an on-screen opponent into an on-table opponent. Put simply (or as simply as possible), the multitouch table……

For full content    click here

TAG Heuer Merediist GMT keeps your Monte Carlo arrivals on time

For all its luxurious sapphire crystal glass and genuine alligator skin, the TAG Heuer Meridiist has always struggled to keep up with the times — but don't expect that two megapixel camera or 1.9-inch QVGA screen to change in the handset's latest iteration. No, the Merediist GMT's only new feature is — you guessed it — to literally keep track of Greenwich Mean Time. “Switch between home time and destination time,” a flashy new ad teases, as a pair of (presumably) filthy rich indi……

For full content    click here

Motorola XT502 with Android 2.1 gets teased in China, out-KIRFs itself

Oh China, you tease us with much love and KIRFness, except this time it's actually a real phone — or is it? Even the tipster of this Motorola XT502 says it's a bit “shanzhai,” but at least we know it really exists. Leaving that thought aside, this Android 2.1 phone rocks some mid-range features: 3.2-inch screen (no word on display type), trackball, touch function keys, physical call buttons, micro-USB port, microSD expansion, 1,230mAh battery, and five-megapixel camera with button and ……

For full content    click here

Mario live wallpaper for Android: better than a Tanooki Suit in the summer

Seriously, words cannot describe how incredibly entertained we are by this Mario Live wallpaper for Android 2.1 and above devices. All across the home and locked screen, our favorite Italian faux-plumber protagonist runs through randomly-generated levels across various themes like outside, underground, and castle. It's very customizable, allowing you to change the level's difficulty, see the alternate paths Mario's AI has plotted, and rendering the background (all at a cost to CPUs ……

For full content    click here

iPad arcade cabinet brings April Fools' joke to life (video)

Nope, this isn't the first iPad mod you'll have seen, but it's likely to be the biggest crowd pleaser yet. Inspired by the iCade cabinet — an April Fools' joke that had most of us asking where we could buy one — this really real arcade cabinet integrates Apple's slate, hooks it up to a set of old school controls, and lets users go to town with such old timer classics as Mr. Do! It's still in prototype form, hence the boxy exterior, but the action on screen is looking a……

For full content    click here

iPhone 3G, iOS 4, and you — what's missing (spoiler: multitasking)

While iOS 4 is delivering on every promise for the iPhone 3GS users out there, as we were all told up front, the iPhone 3G would be missing some of those touted new features. Granted, we knew such disparities would exist but were never given the finer details. Now that the final build is percolating through the internet, we decided to take a look at what features are and aren't working on the earlier year's model.

What's there

Folders
Threaded mail
iTunes playlist cre……

For full content    click here

Nintendo 3DS will launch 'in all major markets' by March 2011, design still being tweaked

When Nintendo of Japan first announced the 3DS (think: way back in March), it promised a release of the portable by the fiscal year ending March 2011. Given the DS and DSi's six-month global rollout window, however, we weren't sure if that applied to the world or just the company's backyard — sure, we've heard rumors of a UK release in October, but nothing's been confirmed. Cue Nintendo of America's president Reggie Fils-Aime to give a definitive answer: “The one thing,……

For full content    click here

WSJ: RIM testing Blackberry tablet for potential release by year's end

We're not sure why the Wall Street Journal just posted up a piece talking about BlackBerry OS 6.0 and the Bold 9800 QWERTY slider as though we haven't been running leaked pictures and videos of them for months now, but whatever — the story also apparently confirms RIM's Foleo-like tablet plans and says the device could be out by the end of the year. Sounds like RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis decided the tablet market is a little clearer than he's been letting on. As we've……

For full content    click here

More Droid 2, Droid X details surface in leaked commercials

We've already gotten a pretty good look at both the Droid 2 and Droid X and some of their purported specs, and it looks like we can now fill in a few more gaps thanks to a set of leaked slides for some new Droid commercials. The most interesting of the lot is the slide / script for a Droid 2 commercial pictured above, which not only confirms an expectedly sci-fi-themed ad for the phone (Gattaca-esque, to be specific), but Exchange support and a 1GHz processor (not 750MHz, as previously rumo……

For full content    click here