Feb 16

Sony Ericsson to Release Two More Xperia Phones

Posted in: phone, sony, Today's Chili, xperia

 

xperia.JPGSony Ericsson announced from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that it will release two new Xperia phones besides the Xperia Play. The other two phone models are called Xperia Pro and Xperia Neo. Sony Ericsson made the debut in Barcelona, but Sony has not released the date when the phones will come out.

Both phones run pretty similarly with a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, Android 2.3 with Sony Timescape UI, and Adreno 205 GPU. Both the Neo and Pro have 4.2-inch screens along with a 8.1-megapixel cameras. The Pro will have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but, other than that, the two phones will be exactly the same.

I am not sure why Sony would create two phone models that are so much alike. Perhaps one would be released to the western part of the world, and, the other to the eastern part? Sony still seems to be tight lipped about this news. Only time will tell what Sony does next with these two phones.

Via AnandTech

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Feb 16

Verizon iPhone Sales Lacking – Report

Posted in: Apple, Today's Chili
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After years of waiting and countless studies outlining just how doomed AT&T would be if the news of a Verizon iPhone ever arrived, it turns out that maybe people weren’t all that excited, after all. According to some apparently leaked numbers, customers are buying Verizon iPhones by the boatload, as so many expected. 

Boy Genius Report offered up some less than impressive numbers from the Verizon iPhone’s first five days of availability. The numbers, which were culled from five “very prominent” Apple stores, showed that the Verizon version outsold its AT&T counterpart, but not really by all that much. The biggest disparity came, naturally, on the first day, when 909 Verizon iPhones were sold to AT&T’s 539. The gap shrinks pretty quickly from there. 
On day two, it’s Verizon 916, AT&T 680. Day three is 660 to 471, day four is 796 to 701, and day five is 711 to 618. Pre-orders, meanwhile, were apparently around 550,000. Those aren’t quite standing in line at the Apple Store for five days numbers.
Could it be that people are already fixated on the iPhone 5?
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Feb 16

Angry Birds Arriving in 3D, on Windows Phone 7

Posted in: Today's Chili, video games

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More news about the unstoppable force that is Angry Birds. Rovio, the company behind the obscenely popular mobile game, is working on new iterations of the title, including a 3D game and a version for Windows Phone 7–the latter of which will no doubt be highly in demand after the fruits of the Nokia/Microsoft deal begin appearing.

Rovio head Peter Vesterbacka confirmed in an interview that his company is indeed working on a 3D version of the title. “We’ve built a lot of 3D games before, it’s not like it’s a lot of learning in order to recreate the technology with Angry Birds,” he explained. Beyond that, Vesterbacka’s not offering a lot of information. Perhaps we’ll see the title on Nintendo’s upcoming glasses-free 3DS portable or one or more of the increasing number of 3D handsets and tablets, like LG’s Optimus 3D.

As for the WP7 version, Vesterbacka said that it’s “in the works.” Again, not much more information beyond that.

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Feb 15

HTC Announces Tablet, Facebook Phones

Posted in: tablets, Today's Chili

 

htc.JPGToday at Mobile World Congress, HTC unveiled two new Facebook based phones and a tablet, an odd change since the company’s statement last month that it wouldn’t be releasing a phone based on the popular social network. The phones are called Salsa and Chacha. HTC believes that the phones will give it an advantage in the battle against Apple and RIM. The Salsa has a full QWERTY keyboard, 3.4 inch screen, and runs on Google Android OS. The Chacha also runs on the Android OS, and, has a 2.6 inch touchscreen. 

The HTC tablet is called Flyer. It has a Sense UI, digital pen , 7 inch screen, and a Qualcomm 5 gigahertz processor. The Flyer also runs Android. 

For the last year, we have heard rumors about a Facebook phone-which Mark Zuckerberg always denied. These two phones appear to be the closest to an actual Facebook phone as you’ll be able to get.

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Feb 15

Angry Birds Rubber Balls, Flip Flops, Keychains, and More

Posted in: Tech Toys, Today's Chili

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Well, that didn’t take long. Last year, we saw Rovio’s first stabs at merchandising its absurdly popular mobile game Angry Birds. The company released a few small plushes based on game characters. Last month at CES, we showed you a new Angry Birds board game from Mattel, and now this week, it’s no holds barred, thanks for a merchandising company called Commonwealth.
After the jump, check out Angry Birds, rubber balls, flip-flops, blankets, beanbags, and more. 

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Feb 14

iPhone Nano Will Have No Built-in Memory – Rumor

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, Today's Chili

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More rumors about the rumored iPhone nano rumor. According to another rumor from more anonymous sources, the device, said to be due out this summer, will be completely devoid of built-in storage. In attempting to bring the cost of the device down, Apple has apparently stripped it of all manner of features, including one of the most pricey–flash memory.
Yep, if the rumor is to be believed, the new iPhone nano will be a cloud-only device, which perhaps goes a ways toward explaining those MobileMe updates that are said to also be coming this summer. We may also finally see the cloud-based fruits of Apple’s purchase (and subsequent shut down) of Lala.
One thing’s for sure, the carriers would no doubt love such a move–keeping users entirely dependent on streaming for, well, pretty much everything.
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Feb 14

Motorola Xoom & Droid Pro Coming To Europe

Posted in: droid, motorola, Today's Chili, xoom

 

motorola.JPGDuring the Mobile World Congress 2011, Motorola announced that the Android-based smartphone, Droid Pro and  Xoom tablet will hit European shores. Motorola did not share which phone service providers will be offering up the devices.

The Droid Plus runs  Android 2.2  and features 1GHz processor, 2GB internal memory with room up to 32GB memory card, QWERTY keyboard, and a touchscreen. The Xoom tablet runs Android 3.0, Honeycomb, and has similar specs as a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Via CNet

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Feb 14

iPhone Nano Coming in Summer – Rumor

Posted in: Apple, Today's Chili

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While most of the mobile world is busy covering the news out of Mobile World Congress this week in Barcelona, The Wall Street Journal is speaking to the usual gang of anonymous sources about the latest fuzzy rumor of an Apple product. This time out, it’s news that the company is readying the launch of a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone 4–we’re calling it the iPhone nano. Apple probably won’t, but it’s just easier that way, right?
According to the sources, the phone has actually been codenamed the N97. It will be roughly half the size of the iPhone 4 and fairly cheaper–the handset may even be free with carrier subsidies, if the leak is to be believed.
Also on the calendar for Summer–a “major revamp” to MobileMe, apparently. 

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Feb 14

Sony Xperia PlayStation Phone Coming to Verizon in Spring

Posted in: playstation, Sony Ericsson, Today's Chili, video games, xperia

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As promised, Sony Ericsson shed more light on its upcoming Xperia Play–the Android handset formerly (but actually, not really ever) known as the PlayStation Phone. The handset is getting the decidedly broad release date of spring 2011. 
Arguably even more interesting than than that vague release date is the fact that this eagerly awaited Gingerbread (Android 2.3) handset will be arriving on Verizon, and it appears to be an exclusive on that carrier in the US–at least at launch.
Need more specy goodness? Here you go: Snapdragon 1Ghz processor, graphical enhancements via the Andreno 205 processor, four inch screen, 5.0MP camera, 60fps playback. More info to follow, surely.
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Feb 11

Hitachi Announces iPhone-Beating Smartphone Screen

Posted in: Displays, droid, phone, Today's Chili

Apple’s 3.5-inch Retina Display is certainly sharp, but large-screen smartphones like the Droid X are missing out on all the 326 ppi goodness. Not if Hitachi has anything to say about it. The same display technology that powers the iPhone 4 is about to get super-sized.
The company has produced a 4.5 inch, 1280×720 (720p) display aimed directly at the smartphone market. Citing the number of people watching “high-definition video” and reading “photo-quality books” on phones as reasons for the increase in pixels, they plan to put them into production around October and show them off at the Society for Information Display in Los Angeles this summer.
At 329 pixels per inch, these displays slightly outpace the density of the iPhone’s screen while adding an inch to the size. Like Apple, Hitachi claims their new screen is “close to the limit of the human eye.” Not only is the resolution excellent, but the display will use IPS technology, which promises great color reproduction and viewing angles compared to other LCDs. If Hitachi sticks with their planned release date, you can expect smartphones this holiday season will come with quite a lot of pixels.

[via Boy Genius Report, Hitachi]

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