Hasta La Gadget!

Announced early September, the Satellite U925t, a Sony Vaio Duo like ultrabook powered by a Core i5 Ivy Bridge is now making its debut in Japan under the Dynabook series. While Toshiba did not gave any specific price and specification details on this Japanese version of the Satellite U925t is schedule to hit Japanese stores within a few month with identical specs as its North American cousin.

Announced last august, Sony new Windows 8 Ultrabook is in the flesh a great little device! Sure we did not have much time to play with this little convertible but first impressions are just great. The Vaio DUO is indeed light, comes with a stunning 11.6” screen with a mate finish making it ideal both in and outside packed in a sturdy body… Yep I can’t wait to get this little baby in hands to try!

Model
VAIOTM Duo

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-3517U, Intel® Core™ i5-3317U or Intel® …

Apple had a bad situation on their hands when it became apparent over the past week that their new non-Google “Maps” app appeared to fall short of expectations, but Tim Cook took this situation today and flipped it on its head entirely. It’s not that Cook apologized for the situation – the situation being that Apple Maps (without Google) isn’t as perfect as they wanted it to be – it’s that inside this apology, he encouraged users to use other products while they remain patient for Apple Maps to improve. Tim Cook took a situation where Apple could easily have said “just chill out” to the public and said instead, in so many words, “we’re confident enough in our own product that we’ll literally tell you to use other solutions while we prove to you that you’ll want to return to us when the time is right” – this is rare in the tech industry.

The full apology can be found in our other post from earlier today called “Apple CEO Tim Cook apologizes for Apple Maps fiasco”, but the most important bit can be found here. In one line, Cook takes iOS 6 users down a road containing maps from all of Apple’s new Maps’ main competitors. He even tells users to use Google Maps in a browser.

“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.” – Tim Cook

It’s absolutely unimportant at this very moment if any other company would have done the same or even if Apple would have done the same in the past. Apple has right this moment entered a new age in which they don’t just create products that compete only with their past products – notice their advertisements that don’t mention the competition – they’ve officially encouraged their competitors to make products that will help them move into the future.

Of course if you think Apple made it this far on it’s own, you’re sorely mistaken. Apple has always relied on their friends AND their competitors to create an ecosystem in which they’ll thrive. I leave you with this undeniably awesome, lighthearted vision from all the way back in 1983 – the Apple Software Dating Game. See what you make of it!

Tim Cook’s Maps apology a massive display of power is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you have an urge to always know what your close friends and family members are up to, then Foursquare has the remedy. The popular social network has announced the availability of its new “Always On” option which allows you to receive continuous check-ins from a selected list of people — even if you have notifications disabled. This slick new feature gives you the flexibility to create a list of VIPs that you’d like to keep tabs on opposed to receiving a play by play of everyone else’s weekend excursion. For now, the toggle can only be found on Foursquare’s website, but we wouldn’t be surprised if this toggle headed to the company’s cadre of apps in the near future. The Android app specifically just received a new update that brings back the nearby friends check-in filter users lost in the upgrade to 5.0 (iOS and BlackBerry saw it return in August) plus a “social history” that shows if your friends have visited a location and how many times, as well as a redesigned me card.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Mobile

Foursquare’s ‘Always On’ feature tracks your VIPs near or far, Android app regains nearby check-in filter originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 04:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic announced this morning two new PND that are schedule for a mid October launch.
The first model, the CN-SG520 Series, or “Navi Journey” is a compact 5” PND with a 272×480 screen that comes with the support of SD and SDHC cards as well as being compatible with MP3 and WMA files. This very ordinary PND is however Panasonic first “Global” PND that will be perfect for travellers. Indeed and while still be very limited the CN-SG520 can be upgraded to features the Map of several cities …