All signs point to the fact that Sharp is one of the manufacturers of the next iPhone display. In fact, the phone might even use Sharp’s new IGZO technology. But if Wall Street Journal’s reports that Sharp has halted production of the displays due to problems are true, you might wanna be among the first to preorder the iPhone 5 (or next iPhone, or iPhone 6, or whatever), as supply could be short when it first releases. More »
Sometimes getting lost in the maze-like sprawl of the Messe can turn up unexpected surprises. In this case, we chanced upon Sony’s Xperia sola hiding in plain sight at Sparhandy’s booth. The petite Android handset, formerly codenamed “Pepper”, was officially announced earlier this spring and even crept up in FCC filings. But until now, we’d never had quality hands-on time with the 3.7-inch Gingerbread device. For its diminutive size, the wee phone sports a 854 x 480 LCD display powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine, a dual-core CPU clocked at 1GHz, 5-megapixel rear shooter and NFC functionality for Smart Tag use.
As you might expect, the sola fits quite nicely into the palm of your hand, though its tiny screen can pose an issue for those with larger digits. And speaking of touch navigation, this Sony phone separates itself from the rest of the Xperia pack with the inclusion of floating touch technology — much like the Galaxy Note 2. What’s that? Well, turns out this device can detect your finger’s presence up to 20mm away from the screen, allowing users to highlight links, but only from within the browser. Apart from that neat touch, which in practice, is a bit awkward to properly use, the phone functions exactly as it should for the low-to-mid range it occupies. Performance is appreciably quick and pages loaded up in the browser in just about 30 seconds time.
There’s still no word on whether the sola will ever make it stateside, but if you’re keen to see that hovering functionality in action, head past the break for a video demo and check out our gallery below.
Gallery: Sony Xperia Sola hands-on
Mat Smith contributed to this report.
Continue reading Sony Xperia sola: a pint-sized Android handset with floating touch (hands-on)
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Sony Xperia sola: a pint-sized Android handset with floating touch (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I don’t know why but I always want to have the fastest components in my computer that I can find. It’s not like I can drag race my computer against the guy across the street in some sort of grudge match, but I still have this unnatural desire for the fastest computer hardware around. Western Digital has unveiled a new external hard drive that really speaks to the computer geek in me.
The drive is called the My Book Velociraptor Duo and it packs a pair of 10,000 RPM 1 TB hard drives. That gives you data access speeds similar to what you’d find in an external hard drive with SSDs inside while getting 2 TB of total capacity. The speed isn’t only from the 10000 RPM internal drives either.
Western Digital also fits the external storage device with a pair of Thunderbolt ports. The company says that the external storage device is capable of real-world data transfer rates of up to 400 MB/s. The dual Thunderbolt ports allow you to daisy chain other devices to get even more storage. The system also supports RAID 0 and RAID 1. All this performance isn’t cheap, though – the Velociriraptor Duo lists for a penny less than $900(USD), though it’s likely to retail for a little bit less.
So there is probably an iPad Mini of some sort coming next month. But while what it will look like is still anyone’s guess, we may have just gotten a pretty big clue about its insides—and they’re more familiar than you might think. More »
The FCC currently decides on concerns of wireless spectrum concentration on a case-by-case basis: what’s acceptable in one deal might be forbidden in another. That inconsistency can be maddening to carriers and advocacy groups alike, which is why FCC Chairman Juilus Genachowski is reportedly on the cusp of distributing an order to review the process. Talking to The Hill, an official at the agency claims that the review would ask for input on creating a universal standard that would apply to all deals, hopefully providing “clarity and predictability” for any company making a spectrum grab. The order could be distributed to the FCC’s commissioners next week and voted on next month, although there’s no sign of an impending revolution — it’s just a call for opinions, after all. Regardless, the two sides of the spectrum debate already like the idea, as it could both prevent complaints by carriers of ambush regulation as well as toughen up rules that critics say hands too large a slice of the airwaves to the incumbents.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
FCC seen reviewing rules for carrier spectrum sales, might try one-size-fits-all model originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple Stores are apparently running low on 27-inch iMacs, fueling the rumor that an update is coming soon. More »
In the US, the e-book price fixing scandal appears to be winding towards its inevitable conclusion. Many of the publishers settled with the DOJ right off the bat, and now the states themselves have gotten three publishing houses to cough up $69 million in their own agreement. (Of course, Apple, Macmillan and Penguin have all decided to go the trial route, but we’ll have to wait till next year to see how that plays out.) In Europe, the battle is still raging on, but Reuters is reporting that the accused are offering concessions in a bid to put the antitrust allegations behind them. The only name missing from the list is Penguin, which may or may not be part of the plea deal. Not all the details of the proposals have been revealed yet, and there’s no guarantee the commission will accept them. The heart of the settlement, however, would involve allowing Amazon to sell e-books at a discounted price for two years. Would cheaper Kindle books be good, clean fun for the whole family? Sure, but it certainly pales in comparison to the potential penalties if Apple and their publishing partners go to trial.
Filed under: Apple
Apple and publishers offer deal to put price fixing scandal behind them in EU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Been wondering what your gaming options will be when you first take a new Windows 8 PC or Windows RT tablet out of the box? Microsoft has confirmed today that its first wave of Xbox titles (as they’re now known) for the OS will include 40 games, 29 of which come from Microsoft Studios. Those include quite a few familiar titles like Angry Birds (and Angry Birds Space), Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, as well as the old mainstays like Solitaire, Minesweeper and Mahjong — anyone hoping for the likes of a Halo or Gears of War title are out of luck for now, though. As we’d heard previously, all Xbox games will be accessible from within the pre-installed Games app, and they’ll each boast most of the Xbox Live features you’d expect, including achievements and leaderboards. You can find the full list after the break, and Microsoft promises that more will be added “through holiday and beyond.”
Continue reading Microsoft confirms first wave of Xbox games for Windows 8
Microsoft confirms first wave of Xbox games for Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
If you’ve had your eyes on the new Samsung Galaxy Note II, or have been pining for the Samsung Galaxy Camera, they just got a little more appealing. Dropbox will be offering a free 50GB account to anyone who buys either of those devices. More »
Ah, the next-gen iPhone. What more can we say? Almost sadly, we already know the screen will be bigger, the connecting port is smaller, and the design will be drastically different, with a two-tone metal casing. And yet, we still haven’t seen one of these bad boys fully assembled. We’ve seen parts — boy have we seen parts!
But with two weeks left until the official announcement, this is the first assembled handset we’ve seen, and it’s smiling for pics alongside the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, no less!
Now, as with any “leak,” this could be a forgery. The folks at Digi.it.sohu first posted the pics, and then the less-than-reliable Nowhereelse.fr kindly watermarked them and re-posted.
After a close inspection, the assembly does look pretty janky. Maybe these tech enthused bloggers tried to assemble the components they had on their own, iFixit-style. Or maybe they Photoshopped the pictures entirely.
That’s not the point. The point is that, whether the pictures themselves are real or not, this is just about what the next iPhone is going to look like, if the bevy of rumors we’ve heard prove true. No, we’re still not sure about NFC, and Apple no doubt has something up its sleeve that hasn’t quite leaked yet, but as far as aesthetics go, I would say this is what you should expect.
Two weeks, people.
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