Review: LG's Voyager for Verizon

The Voyager has been out for a week now and already I have seen more than a few in the wild. After a few hours of playing with one there is no doubt this is going to be the hottest phone during the holiday season.

The first impression of the Voyager was great. The size of it is perfect. Whether you hold it in a closed position and type on the touchscreen for a message or open it and type one out two handed, it feels very sturdy but not bulky. The major problem I had with the LG EnV was how it didn't seem to feel good when using. The outer screen which is entirely touch has a pretty good reaction, especially after you get used to it. What I liked most about it was whatever it lacks in sensitivity to the iPhone it makes up by having a sort of tactile feedback. The little vibrations that let you know the tap was registered is very helpful. The touchscreen, like the iPhone's also has a very nice scrolling feature where simply waving your finger down or up will navigate.

The only real drawbacks (on the design side) is with the full QWERTY keyboard on the inside. The keyboard is not very one hand friendly, but with a T9 outer screen this is barely a problem. The other gripe was with the location of the Space bar. There is no central space bar instead there are two located on both bottom sides of the QWERTY.

The 2 megapixel camera is pretty decent and even takes ok pics in low lighting. It offers multiple fonts and it seems that having a data plan is a must as the VZ Navigator uses data. If you can ignore the Verizon user interface which has been crippling their phones then this should be a strong consideration for you. The photos basically speak for themselves.

4/5 Stars.

Information on the Blackberry 9000 series

The Boy Genius Report which has been chirping a lot about a rumored 9000 series from RIM has finally gotten some substantiated information. And it is juicy. Sporting an iPhone like 480 x 320 screen it seems that there won't be the keypad that has made Blackberries a staple of the business community. It seems a bit odd that Research In Motion would take such a drastic route, but who cares this thing looks amazing.

Aside from the massive screen the 9000 series is expected to have it also is going to have an Intel processor that clocks in a bit faster than the iPhone. Two of the most important feautures also include WiFi and GPS. One feauture BGR didn't seem to know about was if the Blackberry OS would be drastically revamped, which it seems it would have to be given the size of the screen. With the possibility of a 3.2 megapixel camera we want one, yesterday.

Check out the full report BGR has been waiting all year to break. http://www.boygeniusreport.com

Update to Mobile Google Maps

Yesterday Google modified the hybrid feature on the full version of Google Maps, today Google updated their Mobile Maps app to include a somewhat new layout and a few features. The feature of most note would be the "My Location" option which works on phones that are unfortunate enough to not have built in GPS. The My Location feature uses cell towers to approximate your location, not quite GPS but it works pretty well. With a range of 500 meters to 5000 meters, depending on how dense the area is. So if you are lost in Wichita trying to find your brother-in-laws this may not help, but it is fun at the least. Oh and it won't eat your battery nearly as much as GPS will. If you have a Blackberry, a Nokia S60, or a WinMo device check out http://www.google.com/gmm.

Google's GDrive is almost ALive

The Wall Street Journal has recently reported that Google's mildly talked about online storeage system, GDrive, may be poised to become public in the next few months. This will excite some, if the storeage capacity comes up big. Google is likely to offer both free and paid services when GDrive is announced, which will match up well with its three main competitors. The names of these competitors shouldn't surprise you with Microsoft's SkyDrive, AOL's Xdrive and Apple's iDisk.

Google has been slamming all competition when introducing new products, and GDrive will likely it the mark again. Likely having a search function for uploaded files the largest factor will be how much space Google will make available. Skydrive, Microsoft's offering was just upped to 1GB of storeage for free, and offers no paid service while Apple's iDisk allows for 10GB of space if you fork over $99/year. This is a rare situation in which Microsoft is actually ahead of Google, however when it comes to size it seems Microsoft, unless they up their storeage capacity, may once again be made to look like kids at a cocktail party.

[via WSJ.com]

PayPal workaround for Apple Store

If you have ever tried to use your PayPal account to purchase the newest iPod then you know the Apple Store doesn't accept PayPal. Well now PayPal has made it possible. They have set up a method that creates a virtual Mastercard number that is linked to your PayPal account.

Simply go to PayPal, select 'Mac User?' and pick the Secure Card option. This will generate the CVMC, card number, and everything else you will need to get your tax-free Apple Store holiday frenzy on. Ohhh Yeeeeaaaah.

[via TUAW.com]

Verizon opens Network to "Any app, Any device"

This may or may not be a monumental announcement. In early 2008 Verizon says it plans on allowing devices that fit he minimum standards will be allowed to operate over its cherished network. Of course they haven't said what these minimum standards will be. Their President Lowell McAdam has created a $20 million lab that will validate the devices/apps. Mr. McAdam sees this as a watershed event in the 20 some years wireless systems have been operating. Verizon is not a partner of the Open Handset Alliance, Google's Android operation that bears a resemblance to this announcement.

This is certainly something to keep your eyes on, but until it is deployed and can be tested it will be hard to say if Mr. McAdam is accurate.

[via Verizon]

ZML.com: Movie downloads on the cheap

This may not be the most legal site out there. They are currently able to continue their business thanks to a very vague Russian copyright law. If Piratebay.org is too illegal for you and iTunes too expensive, then ZML.com might be for you. Curently you can download movies from a range of $1.99 - $4.99 which is fantastic.

If semi-legal is your thing and you don't mind throwing your Visa around somewhat nefarious sites, check out ZML.com and begin downloading DiVX encoded movies from The Godfather to The Simpsons Movie. ZML may not last long though, so get it while you can.

Pirate Bay: Still not afraid of Governments, Lawyers or Anyone else

We at Technofilic by no means agree with pirating software, but that doesn't mean we, like most Torrent users, haven't sat around in awe as The Pirate Bay thumbs its nose at everyone from Microsoft's legal team to Apple's. Back a few months ago TPB had their headquarters raided and several servers taken. With no evidence found against them it is no surpise they aren't too worried.

They should however worry that there seems to be no end in sight to the constant legal investigations of them. The newest charges about to be filed before the end of the year are of "facilitating copyright infringement". We just hope The Pirate Bay rakes in enough money to keep on facilitating while they fight a few neverending legal battles. Check out ArsTechnica.com for more information.

FCC Ok's Motorola Z6c worldphone for Verizon

It has bee slim-pickens if you are a world traveller and have somehow decided to stay loyal to the "In Network". Verizon seems to have been recently realizing this and have been making an earnest attempt at getting a few phones that work beyond the confines of North America. This newest creation has two separate GSM bands for when you find yourself in Asia or Europe. It of course also has a band for CDMA for regular old U.S. usage. Dissing MediaFLO, but packing the now standard 2.0 megapixel camera, a QVGA screen and slider form factor, we like the way it looks.

A few more questions we have may be answered soon, especially whether or not the Z6c will be available before the holidays.

[via EngadgetMobile.com]

FCC checks out the Blackberry Pearl 8120

Here is the first photo, from the FCC showing T-Mobile's new prize; the 8120. Nearly identical twins of it's parent the 8310 (Blackberry Pearl). The major difference seems to be the inclusion of WiFi which makes this one of the more cherished of RIM's creations. For more info on this device check out Technofilic's initial post on the 8120.
http://technofilic.blogspot.com/2007/11/fcc-t-mobile-first-to-get-wifi-equipped.html

[via FCC.com]

Black Friday deals continue to leak: AT&T

A week ago Technofilic reported on T-Mobile's fantastic Black Friday deal - http://technofilic.blogspot.com/2007/11/t-mobile-does-something-unprecedented.html. Now it seems AT&T has decided it needed to play ball and has gotten in on the fun. They are offering 50% off all phones (other than the one you want, iPhone). Despite not being able to get your fanboy on, you can get in on some other great deals:

Motorola RAZR 2 - $149
Blackberry Curve - $99
Pantech Duo - $99
Samsung a737 - $24.99
Sony Ericson w580i - $24.99

So after you wake up from a turkey and pie based coma, if you feel so inclined to get your handset fix on, stop by an AT&T retailer.

Motorola loves Taiwan

This year has not been the best year for Motorola. After over exposing their prize product, the RAZR, to the market and releasing every possible shade of chrome at prices from $400 to free, Moto really needed a hit. Their RAZR 2 has been available for months now, and has not sliced through the competition. Instead they have slipped to to #3 in the world in handset sales, letting Samsung take their spot behind Nokia.

They may not be as concerned with the world market as they ar with Taiwan, where they announced they would be taking bold steps to escape the #4 spot for handsets. Their plan over the next year is to release 20-30 new phones in that relatively small country. That is roughly two phones per month (or more). Besides making us want to move to Taiwan, maybe Motorola is trying to beat HTC in its home market and create a worldwide surge back to a MotoWorld ?

Good luck Motorola, just don't forget about the rest of the world.

Introducing miShare

This little device is pretty useful. It does what many iPod owners have wanted to do since they first envied a track on someone elses iPod, copy a track, picture, or movie in a seemless fashion over to their own iPod. And it does exactly that. However it is not the quickest process. The Linux powered device allows you to select the item you want to transfer and at 500K/sec you won't have to wait too long.

It is available for preorder in a week and will ship a few weeks later. Check out more photos over at Engadget.

[via Engadget.com]

The new Chocolate: LG Venus

Yesterday it was Verizon's LG Voyager, and today it's the LG Venus. Upgrades of both the EnV and Chocolate, LG has become the handset maker of choice for Verizon. It has been an early Christmas for Engadget receiving both in the passed two days.

Hop on over to Engadget and see their unboxing. This phone looks flawless, despite a lackluster Verizon interface.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/photos/hands-on-with-the-lg-venus/

Earthlink bails on municipal WiFi

For some time now Earthlink has seen municipal WiFi projects as a great way to get into markets which they did not have a strong foothold. Recently they have begun to withdraw most involvement in such projects after coming to a realization that profits would not be seen for some time.

Stating that investing anymore time or capital in municipal WiFi projects is inconsistent Earthlink's goals when in comes to increasing shareholder value. They had been hinting at such a move since the beginning of the year as one of their more costly ventures, Philidelphia, had not panned out as they had hoped it would. Following the higher-than-expected costs for nodes in Philly, Earthlink ran into a few problems in Chicago and Houston, leading them to basically give up.

Apparently the entire Municipal Wireless business model has been sputtering. Even in tech/venture capital rich Silicon Valley there is nearly no desire to begin such investments. However Corpus Christi, Texas has managed a very efficient wireless system. It just might be too soon, but keep your fingers crossed.

[via http://www.ArsTechnica.com]

Oh yeah, The LG Voyager gets explored

The lucky bastards over at Engadget have gotten their hands on the LG Voyager. We have given you the specs on the successor to the wildly popular EnV and now we have some actual perspective on this gem. Not available for another week or so for the average person, Engadget has made our decision easier. For the post on specs check out http://technofilic.blogspot.com/2007/11/verizon-opens-pre-order-for-venus-and.html and for all the specifics from how well the keyboard works to the feedback on the outer touchscreen check out http://www.engadget.com.

Amazon's infamous Kindle, ebook reader

Recently, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos officially announced the Kindle ebook reader. The man who made his second fortune selling a classic item in a new way is trying his hand at it again. This time he will have to convince the masses that dissing their paper and adopting a PDA-like device is a good idea. The biggest problem he will face is the price. At a whopping $399 it may be a tough sell.

The Kindle is however, somewhat feature rich. It sports a 600 x 800 pixel screen measuring 6" diagonally, for starters. It weighs 10 grams and sports an awkward keyboard at the bottom that we don't see a need for. The best features that haven't been mentioned are its' EVDO connection for domestic downloading, and it's free. Amazon has factored in the EVDO data rates into the $399 price. It has no ability to send data but you can email .doc, HTML and most picture formats to the Kindle specific email address. Other features include Dictionary and Wikipedia access for those troublesome words or a deeper understanding. Without playing around with one we at Technofilic don't know what to think. The Kindle may be a little ahead of its time if it intends to make kindling out of paperbacks. More info and photos ar available over at Ars Technica.

http://www.arstechnica.com

FCC: T-Mobile first to get WiFi equipped Blackberry Pearl ?

A close look at some very recently released FCC documents shows that a new Pearl, the 8120 will soon be released sporting WiFi and a UMA client. The UMA client leads us to believe that this will be a T-Mobile release. This is good news for those of you who recently got the short end of the stick when you bought the Sidekick Slide. This new Blackberry will have the regular host of specs including a microSD slot, GPS and 3.55mm headphone jack. What you won't get is 3G becuase of well, T-Mo, but who needs it when you have a very cheap data plan and WiFi ?

[via FCC]

Leopard outsells Vista in China

In such a large market such as China, change like this not something to balk at. During the month of October, sales of operating systems in China were a bit different than they usually are. With Apple's Leopard earning 60% of the market and Vista only holding 30%. This may sound more astonishing than it in actuality. When you consider the fact that Leopard was just released compared to Vista being released months ago, the new product hype must have played a large part. Another factor is price. In China the price of Vista is a mind blowing $274, while Leopard will cost you a reasonable $130.
Despite all of the evidence there is one fact you cannot ignore. Apple is growing at a very fast pace in one of the largest growth markets around, and if you knew what was good for you would go buy it.

NASDAQ: AAPL

[via BoyGeniusReport.com]

ADrive: The best free online storage option

No other sites can really compare to the new service ADrive in storage capacity. After signing up, they allow you a whopping 50 GB of free online storage space. The only shortfall are the speeds which are not gonna have you dissing your hard drive anytime soon. When uploading a test file we got speeds ranging from 100KB/s to 200KB/s which is ok if your intentions are to add a large amount of smallish files to your space, but would prove to be a bit cumbersome when dealing with larger files. It is however free and at the moment only features a web-based format for uploading files. ADrive's "Coming Soon" page says it intends on creating a desktop based drag and drop app for adding files, but there is no mention as to how soon. They also intend on adding Premium Account options for those who need more than 50GB.

While this is not a complete back up system it is a very viable option for storing those important files. Keep an eye on them because all they need is a speed upgrade and a system for adding entire directories and they are the new king of the block.

Diss that EDGE data plan for your iPhone

The people over at TUAW.com have discovered something that may make you a very happy person. Now you can save $240 a year off that expensive iPhone plan by dropping the EDGE data plan. This is great news for those of you who are consistantly using WiFi and do not mind losing the visual voicemail service. Just jump on over to manage your account and remove that data plan. Regardless, this is a great option to be made available to the masses.

[via TUAW.com]

iPods now capable of DRM free video thanks to RealPlayer

Thanks to the guys over at RealPlayer we are now able to use a source other than iTunes for our iPod video desires. After spending half a year in beta, for $40 you can now buy the RealPlayer Plus package. It is in beta still for Mac users but now it seems that our iTunes DRM limitations have finally been lifted. Hop on over to http://www.realplayer.com/ and start downloading your little heart out.

[via RealPlayer]

Google Notebook goes mobile

Google may not have created a single stand alone app for all their services (yet) but they have been getting close. Over the past year or so they have been regularly adding to their mobile suite. With a very healthy Google Docs, Google Calendar, GMail, Google Maps. Yesterday they made it one step closer by releasing one more mobile site. Google Notes for mobile www.google.com/notebook/m is a very helpful and convenient platform for writing and storing thoughts while on the go. One of the best features is how perfectly the notes syncs with your Google account. It is one of Google's simpler web apps but it a nice addition. Let us know what you think.

Ultraportable PC running OS X

So, the possibility of an ultraportable Macbook leaked earlier this week and it seems some enterprising techie took it upon himself to jump the gun. Modding $399 Eee PC and installing Leopard sounds great. It actually is not too difficult either, requiring not much more than a PC ready version of OS X (found in BitTorrent land) and a desire to thumb your nose at The Man.

[via Gizmodo]

The NSA is watching, listening and reading everything

If you are still a bit hazy as to what the NSA does, after you read this there won't be any question. Whistle-blower Mike Klein recently said that he witnessed and help set up a secret NSA room at an AT&T switching center in San Francisco. While that in itself is not that disconcerting, what he said he noticed while wiring the room was that the equipment being installed was unable to do the specific filtering tasks the government claimed it wanted to do. Instead of filtering, Mr. Klein claims the only capabilities the equipment had was of sending duplicates of all Web, e-mail, and phone activity. This is all probably not news, just a friendly reminder to think twice about the government. There is some real scary stuff over at DailyTech: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9620 Check it out.

Samsung's newest 8 megapixel sensor

Samsung has taken over a bit of Motorola's marketshare in the past year and become the world's second largest handset maker. Motorola used to be the biggest innovator in miniture technology, making the RAZR and jump starting the slim phone craze. The 3 megapixel sensor is slowly becoming standard fair, but if Samsung has anything to say they intend on jumping directly to 8 megapixels.

According to Samsung they have done this without sacrificing any bulk in the process. This is great news if they can manage to get the price down. Maybe you will wake up one day soon and the next new phone will have the ability to take the photos your fancy camera can.

Bell Canada and the HTC Touch for $149

The HTC Touch is a fantastic phone and we are jealous of the people up north for continually getting mind boggling plans. Signing a 3 year contract will get you a Touch for only $149 or $400 off contract. That alone is a good deal but the real motivation is the T-Mobile like price of $7 for unlimited web and e-mail access. I have never wanted to live in Canada more. This will no doubt start a lot of buzz for Bell Canada, and a lot of contract signing. Check out Bell Canada's website fo more info.

Alltel anounces Parental Controls

Incase this loser Chad didn't bother you enough, beginning in February 2008, the number 5 wireless company in the U.S. Alltel, will begin offering a system for filtering content downloaded on their handsets. In an effort to keep your little one from viewing naughty pics and vids on their mobile device, they will be the first north amerian company to do this.

Alltel's Parental Controls will be customizable via a web interface and will have the ability to filter out innaprpriate web sites. It does seem that provocative MMS' will be allowed though so fret not!

Gold remote control for morons

Look at the picture above...does that look like $55,000 in technology? Hell no. It seems that either people are a hell of a lot dumber than you think or a hell of a lot richer. You may have seen universal remotes with price tags in the $1500 range before, but this is out of hand. Not only does this not have a tactile feedback touch screen, like a remote worth five figures should have, it cannot even turn on your microwave.

In fact this remote, designed for those of you customizing your uber yacht, seems to have one major feature: gold. If you are made of money and have a little brain go grab one of these, I bet they look swell next to a $50,000 ashtray.

Oh yeah, it will be available this December from Lantic Systems, a Danish company. Here is the link; http://www.bornrich.org/entry/worlds-most-expensive-remote-control-in-pure-gold/

T-Mobile does something unprecedented

Most companies are offering great deals on Black Friday but T-Mobile is doing something that makes them seem downright desperate. They are offering a free flight to one of ten different cities (New York City, Boston, Atlanta, LA, Las Vegas, DC, Miami, Orlando, Dallas) if you sign up for a new contract with a myFaves plan. Typically this would only be an offer made to new customers, however this deal is for both new and existing customers and is not only on just Black Friday, it extends from Nov. 23-25. So if you have been about to make the switch to T-Mo or are due to re-up your contract, get in line at a T-Mobile store right after you eat your turkey.

[via BoyGeniusReport.com]

New HTC phone given OK by FCC

Thanks to the guys over at PhoneScoop.com for this one. Apparently HTC has finally decided to give the CDMA folks some lovin'. This Smartphone is going to look something like Sprint's Centro (Palm Treo 500v).
Here are some specs:

- A Landscape QVGA screen
- WiFi
- EVDO
- Bluetooth
- 2 megapixel camera
- QWERTY keyboard
- microSD

Thanks to the FCC documents we know that this will be on Verizon. Another bit of good news is that it will be fitted with a 'very large battery'. That is really good news, just hope it has a somewhat sleak design. Codenamed Iris there is no information yet on when it will be announced or available but knowing Verizon it probably won't be until Q2 of next year at the earliest.

Cable Companies vs. The FCC

Ever wonder why you cannot have 'a la carte' packages when you fork over money to cable companies ? Well the answer is the FCC. Back in 1984 the FCC passed a de-rugulaltion initiative and since then the Cable companies have had free reign to steal our money, however their was a provision left in. I don't want to pay for CMT, EWTN or even BET but under the current arrangement we have no choice. Kevin Martin, Chairman of the FCC has recently been grumbling about possible real change under a non-utilized provision of US law called the 70/70 rule.

The 70/70 rule allows for serious intervention by the FCC if two situations are met. The provision states:

"at such time that cable systems operating 36 or more activated channels are available to 70 percent of households in the United States and are subscribed to by 70 percent of households to which they are available, the Commission may promulgate any additional rules necessary to provide diversity of information sources."

What is currently up in the air are if both 70 percent thresholds have been met. Mr. Martin is a strong proponent of the 'a la carte' system mainly because of its parent friendly. He also has a good relationship with the telecom companies and if this 70/70 standard is met, then he will like look for regulation Finally more options, the U.S. May be finally looking like more of a free market. Much more on this story from ArsTechnica.com check this link: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071113-fcc-wants-to-regulate-cable-could-force-a-la-carte-on-industry.html

Sprint's new Motorola Q

I guess changing the way they handle ETF's, their policy on upgrades for current users, and overall customer satisfaction is weighing heavily on Sprint. First they release a promo photo of the new Motorola Q device but instead of having Windows Mobile as the OS in the photo it has Palm's rusty OS. Putting the online blogosphere into a tizzy and momentarily having everyone a bit confused. Well now the graphic designers (with too much freedom) have fixed the apparent mistake. Strangley they have named the smartphone the Motorola Q2, which makes sense it is the big brother of the orginal Q, but many leaks have namd this the Q9c. The Q9m came out for Verizon, the Q9h has since been released for AT&T and with the Q9c being in the pipeline for Sprint (and Verizon) why is it called the Q2. All will be forgiven Sprint if you will just release whatever the hell it is called already.

PS3 to support DiVX

This seems to be more of an announcement than anything else. On the heels of Microsoft announcing that the Xbox 360 would soon be given playback of DiVX and Xvid formats, Sony has jumped in and tried to beat them to it. It is important to note that most media centers have already adapted the DiVX media format. It doesn't make us any less excited though. The newest Development Kit will give developers the tools it takes to implement this nearly standard format into their games.

[via Sony]

The Sidekick Slide's major flaw

It seems that Motorola is really losing it. Earlier this year they slipped to number 3 headset after Samsung stole some of their marketshare. Following that with a lackluster response to the RAZR 2 and it would seem unimagineable that when given a possible homerun opportunity by creating a new Sidekick device they could screw it up. Well they seem to have done so. Moto did manage to make the typically bulky Sidekick device into a more trimmed down device, but they did not test it enough. The Slide is a decent Sidekick phone and would no doubt garner a lot of T-Mo customers but a major flaw found by one such customer and seems to be a part of each handset (and not isolated) has been exposed.

The flaw in question comes when activating the Slide mechanism. Apparently when you repeatedly slide the screen up and down it develops a nasty little habit of hard resetting. Considering the slide function is a major selling point, this is a bit more than unsettling. The culprit as Boy Genius Report found is a fraction of looseness in the battery compartment. To be fair this only occured at a small percentage of attempts and took more than 15 consecutive slides, but with thousands of these out in the world that's a lot of hard resets.

[via BoyGeniusReport.com]

Microsoft to acquire Musiwave

Openwave, the company that makes the web browser that is probably on your non-smartphone just sold Musiwave. They had acquired Musiwave is 2005 for $120 million and now have flipped it to Microsoft. Musiwave is a mobile music distribution company/platform and will be a nice addition to Microsoft's WinMo platform and the Zune. Windows Mobile, currently in a fierce fight with Nokia's Symbian OS. Buying Musiwave is an attempt by Microsoft to to integrate more into the European market where they have been embattled in regulatory hell. Musiwave is based in Paris and will help Microsoft get more involved in Europe where there is no doubt going to be strong moves made by the iPhone and eventually by Google's Android.

Helio Ocean $99, Unlimited Plan $99

Recently Technofilic reported that Helio would be restructuring with help from SD Telecom http://technofilic.blogspot.com/2007/11/helio-not-down-for-count-yet.html Well it seems that it has begun to show in the form of Helio lowering it's plans across the board. A refurbished Ocean will cost you only $99, which is a significant discount from the $295 they run new. If you don't mind having a used Ocean then their unlimited voice plans for $99 is also pretty nice. This will definitely get some customers looking their way and will hopefully pull this innovative MVNO out of the red and into the black.

Check out Helio.com for more information.

Ultraportable Macbook coming in January

The long rumored addition by Apple to it's blooming laptop business is coming in January at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. It makes sense since Apple's laptops are already sleak designs. Aspects of the new mini Macbooks are just speculation for the time being. The people over at Apple Insider have it on good authority that they are likely include a 13" screen, a pretty decent size. An SSD, NAND drive in order to prolong battery power and reduce the moving parts, but also end up raising the price a bit. The size is supposed to be 50% thinner and lighter, mainly due to the removal of the optical drive. An LED is also expected to backlight the laptops.

No word on if the design will be dramatically differ with Steve Jobs' new baby, guess we have to sit and wait until more rumors/spyshots or the announement in January.

Not

Google releases SDK for Android

The Open Handset Alliance is becoming more of a reality. One week after being announced Android now has legs. The Software Developers Kit will help programmers create that killer ware for the mobile OS. The SDK will run on most systems and 10.4.8 and higher for OSX. Despite not even being released yet, Android is getting a considerable amount of attention which will likely translate into a massive wave of software. The OHA also said it will provide $10 million for the software that ends up creating the most buzz. Not too shabby.

[via BoyGeniusReport.com]

The HTC Touch Cruise

HTC is extremely happy with the success they have had with the HTC Touch and HTC Touch Dual. Because of this they have decided to create yet another installment of their franchise. GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 and that pretty cool TouchFlo screen UI is just part of what this powerhouse rocks. The guys over at CoolSmartphone have gotten their hands on one and have some video to prove it. Which you definitely need to check out. A bit of redesign to the outside and a some polishing to the WM6 OS on the inside are basically all the updates, but these Touch's look better and better every month.

HTC's constant innovation in the touchscreen market is further proof that they plan on making it a serious part of future design. This is one of the best 2.8" touchscreen phones around and will be available from HTC and at retailers later this month.

Check out: http://www.coolsmartphone.com/news3630.htm for the video and more info.

Sony is tired of Blu-Ray, HD DVD fight

CEO Howard Stringer is about as tired as we are when it comes to the fight over who controls the next media format. The thing is, he started it and now there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. He admits that over the past few months it has basically come down to perception of who is winning since the sales numbers are so similar.

Paramount recently jumping ship from Blu-Ray to HD DVD and the European market favoring HD DVD has taken a bite out of what appeared to be a substantial lead by Blu-Ray. Sony had gotten Blockbuster on their side and with booming sales of the PS3 there were more Blu-Ray players out there, now it seems to have evened out making it very difficult for customers to decide.

Not to say I told you so, but maybe if Sony and Toshiba had held hands in the first place Sony wouldn't be facing a possible BetaMax situation for the second time in three decades. This seems to be primed to continue on into 2009 unless something happens (like say, the pornography industry stepping in like they did for VHS).

[via arstechnica.com]

Gnarliest PMP of the Year: DVB-700 by Yung Fun

This almost looks like a concept device from the 1980's but instead it's the latest from Yung Fun. It really is great the freedom that design firms are given in the Asian markets and also unfortunate that this gem will (probably) never make it to the U.S.

Rocking a very distinct handle (did you notice) this personal media player sports a 7" screen and supports MPEG-2 formats for playback of audio and video. It measures 8.25 x 5.5 x 1.125 and weighs in at a heavy 1 kg. Also features speakers, AV output, and a remote control. What a fantastic gift for this holiday season.

[via mobilewhack.com]

Nokia's N810 Internet tablet

This thing is pretty damn amazing. It covers almost all the bases, all it needs is a cellular antenna. Luckily for HTC it doesn't. It can make calls via Skype though so if you are insistent on using this as your primary phone device you can figure something out. Along with WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 4.15" WVGA screen, browsing the web on Nokia's Mozilla based browser with Adobe Flash 9 plug-in will be a great experience. The VGA camera, miniSD, microSD, and up to 2 GB of on-board storage make this thing extremely powerful. It also has a TI OMAP 400 mHz processor is no slouch either.

The N810 has 4 hours of battery with the display on and LAN active and 10 hours when playing just music. It has a slide-out QWERTY and still manages to be a nearly anorexic .55" thin. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack and can support almost all forms of media. Coming out in a week or so at a price of $480. I am excited to see one of these things in action.

NBC Direct...not worth the hype

NBC's system for allowing viewers to rewatch or catch up on missed episodes, NBC Direct, is apparently a piece of junk. Of course don't take it from us but here is some info on the system. You need to have the newest security update on the newest Internet Explorer in order to get the content. The material offered is only 7 days old or newer and once downloaded, the clock starts and 48 hours later your episode of Heroes or Bionic Woman explodes.

NBC Direct also failed to make it portable media so we aren't sure why you would want to use it, but oh yeah it's free so we will shut up.

[via http://gizmodo.com]

Steve Ballmer: Afraid of nothing

It seems that instead of innovating, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer just thumbs his nose at industry heavyweights. On the eve of the iPhone launch Ballmer said to an audience how silly all the hype was. Explaining how he thinks that having his operating system in the majority of the worlds Smartphones and PPC's is a far better business model than Apple's iPhone having a percent or so of the market.

Well now with Google's Android becoming a reality you may be wondering what the Ballmer has to say about it ? Fret not the big mouthed CEO is not shy. Stevie B says Android is "just a bunch of words on paper." He may be true but it is also a few million words on something called the internet which Google seems to own right now. Apparently he isn't totally brain dead he does admit, "In the realm of search specifically, Google would lead."

There may not be any phones running Android and it's that there isn't even a Developers Kit yet but maybe M$ shouldn't be so arrogant, they may find themselves slipping into IBM obscurity. Maybe not quite, but WinMo is nothing to brag about.

Helio, not down for the count yet

Six weeks back the MVNO Helio, makers of the Ocean and Fin announced they were "restructuring". Although they said it was not a result of slow growth, in the MVNO world it can never be good news. Both of it's parents SK Telecom and Earthlink had said they would inject $100 million for development and marketing. Now it seems that Earthlink is jumping ship leaving SK Telecom to monitor the situation. SKT must see something in Helio cause Earthink's share was not cheap, $70 million on top of the $100 million. We are cheering for you Helio.

[via MobileTechNews.com]

RIM vs. LG - You have got to be kidding

RIM is no stranger to lawsuits but this one is kind of bizarre. The company known for the Blackberry Enterprise system and being business friendly is suing LG, the company known for trendy phones, music and CDMA affiliation.

What could these two possibly have against each other. A name of course. Blackberry does not like LG using the words 'Black', 'Blue' or 'Berry'. The real problems arose from a few LG headsets named 'Blueberry' and 'Strawberry'. RIM is asking that all the phones made bearing those words be destroyed. RIM, take a deep breath, please.

Criminals beware, secure may not be secure !

If you thought you could hide your nefarious activities by signing up with one of the numerous "secure" email account sites, such as Hushmail, then you are wrong. Take the case of Tyler Strumbo who just got busted in a large DEA sting posed against him in the much publicized nationwide effort to stop steroid distribution. Mr. Strumbo had been for the past year selling large quantities of steroids over classified ads and making a decent income from it.

Mr. Strumbo however did not keep a legit job on the side and the IRS and other feds got involved. Tyler was smart enough to use a e-mail service that would hide his illicit business deals and contacts the Hushmail service. After setting him up by making buys of the roids and tracing a UPS mailbox to his name, they swooped in and grabbed him and in the process got access to his e-mail.

Hushmail, to their credit does admit that if you use their web-based email system it is less secure, by way of Hushmail themselves having your password and being liable to a federal subpoena. Mr. Strumbo would have only had to have maintained using his Hushmail Java applet and the evidence would have been much thinner. Instead the feds have a whopping 12 CDs worth of e-mail, Ouch!