all the speculation and rumors, they have finally managed to launch a device that is not only phenomenal and extraordinary, but beautiful in design and powerful at it's core. They call it the iPad.
As predicted and previewed, the iPadOS shares its core with the iPhoneOS and does almost everything that the iPhone does. Good thing is that it runs all the 140,000 iPhone apps (in standard, and full-screen mode) and can also be used in landscape and portrait modes thanks to the accelerometer on board.
For the specs of the device, we have a 9.7 inch IPS multitouch display along with a 1GHz in-house processor chip by Apple. Comes in 16GB, 32GB to 64GB and boasts a battery-time of up to 10 hours in active mode and up to a month in standby-mode.
A UX designer named Dustin Curtis has posted photos of what he claims to be the real Apple Tablet sitting on top of a Macbook Pro. The images were posted on his Posterous blog.
While it's hard to debate over whether this is the real thing or not, here is what Dustin has to say about it:
I have reason to believe these are real, and that the person who took/released them purposefully manipulated the reflections to add doubt about their authenticity.
The photos, though quite realistic and appealing, still do not convince us into believing that it is the "real thing" by Apple. However, this could also be the photos of an early Apple Tablet prototype or probably Dustin had a lot of free time at hands to play with Photoshop and some 3D tools. Only a day more to go and we shall come to know all about it first-hand by Apple at the Special Event on Jan. 27 at the Yerba Buena Arts Center.
Slowly but surely, HTC's latest trifecta of handsets is making its way westwards. After appearing on Amazon's Deutsche hub with a pre-order value of €519 ($707), the Desire has now reached the UK with an even steeper £528 ($795) price and an estimated arrival time of April 1. Let's just hope this pattern doesn't continue or we'll be looking at a four-figure sticker when this thing comes all the way Stateside. The HTC Legend is also slated for an April 1 delivery and carries a price of £400 ($602), while the HD Mini will straggle a tiny bit with an April 14 launch and a palatable £369 ($556) price. All are without contractual obligations, so it'll be interesting to see what incentives carriers can come up with to get us to jump on board.
Let's face it: anything that a human can do a robot can do better. Whether it's teaching our youngsters, giving physical therapy to our oldsters, or reading bedtime stories, robots are coming out on top. Researchers at Osaka University have developed two new devices recently called M3-neony and M3-synchy ("M3″ stands for "man-made man," while "neony" refers to the word neonate, and "synchy" to synchronized communication). The former is essentially a baby simulator that will be used to test machine learning software designed to shed some light on fine motor skill development. It is equipped with a pair of CMOS cameras for sight and microphones for hearing, gyro and accelerometer sensors, and tactile sensors. And it can crawl! The latter robot was developed to study communication through use with object recognition, speech recognition, and speech synthesis software. On the hardware end, this guy sports a head-mounted CCD camera, two microphones, a speaker, and fifteen LEDs (for making the robot blush). Needless to say, these are both very adorable -- so much so, in fact, that we might not even notice if they weaponize themselves. Let's just say the future just got a little cuter. And a little deadlier. Video after the break.
Details on Microsoft's Pink phones seem to be leaking all over the place this week, and we just got a huge piece of the puzzle: an extremely reliable source just told us the two Sharp-made devices will launch exclusively on Verizon, with a possible street date of April 20th. We've also got two more photos of the Pure and Turtle -- which are legit, as far as we can tell -- and some info on the Pink ad campaign, which will indeed be targeted at teens and twentysomethings and centered around that "truly madly deeply" line Microsoft employees have been tossing around lately. (Sort of explains that 4/20 launch date, right?) Whether any of this is good enough to overcome the fact that Pink seems to be a limited featurephone platform launching into a world of cheap smartphones remains to be seen, but this thing is definitely happening. New pic of the Turtle after the break.
Update: We've just heard that Pink will be coming to Vodafone internationally as well -- which explains why we've heard of both CDMA and GSM variants of the two devices.
Acer has rolled into CeBIT with a few all-new systems, but it's also taken the opportunity to introduce some updates to its existing models, including six new revisions to its Aspire and TravelMate lines. Leading things off are the high(ish)-end Aspire 8942 and Aspire 5942, which pack 18.4 and 15.6-inch displays, your choice of the latest 2010 Core processors, an integrated TV tuner, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 1.2TB of storage (courtesy of to 640GB drives), and some niceties like a multitouch trackpad, and a CineSurround sound system with a "Tuba CineBass" booster. It's joined by the TravelMate 8372 Timeline series, which is itself available in 13.3-, 14-, and 15.6-inch varieties with Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, and the 15.6-inch Acer TravelMate 6594, which packs a Core i5 or i7 processor and ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics. Rounding out the standard laptops are are the 17.3-inch Acer TravelMate 7740 and 15.6-inch 5740, which come equipped with Core i3 or i5 processors, up to 8GB of RAM, and either integrated or ATI Radeon HD5470 graphics.
As if that wasn't enough, Acer has also introduced the new 11.6-inch Aspire One 752 netbook, which actually packs a Celeron ULV processor instead of the usual Atom, and the Aspire Predator G7750 gaming PC, which finishes things off in a suitably over-the-top fashion with a Core i7 Extreme Edition processor, liquid cooling, dual LAN connectivity, swappable hard drive bays, and support for Acer's GD245HQ 3D monitor. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look at some of the offerings.
In the market for AV gear that "Works with iPhone?" Looks like Pioneer's trusty old VSX-1019AH (with its built-in iPod dock) just got a formidable ally in the form of the VSX-1020-K. This bad boy not only packs in the features you expect from an AV receiver (including connections for HD video, HD audio, wireless and analog components, 1080p video conversion and upscaling, support for 3D video and more) but the company throws in a free custom iPhone / iPod touch app for exploring your inner audiophile -- and getting your room to sound just so in the process. Up for pre-order now at Amazon for $549. Screenshots and further details after the break.
Product Features
"Works with iPhone" certification (with free custom Pioneer iPhone app, downloaded separately) and front USB connectivity provide iPod, touch, and iPhone users ultimate plug-and-play integration of their Apple products with their home theater
Simple connectivity of high-performance HD video, HD audio, portable, internet, wireless, and analog components makes this Pioneer receiver the ultimate A/V control center
The latest version of HDMI inputs and outputs provide more HD connectivity options with "future-proof" 3-D capability
1080p video conversion and upscaling ensures the highest quality video from any source--even "legacy" analog and lower-resolution digital video sources
High-Power Discrete Transistor (HPDT) multi-channel amplifiers and proprietary Pioneer room calibration technology combine to ensure best-in-class home theater and music reproduction in any home
