Mar 03

Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX543MP2 really is faster, better, stronger (video)

Posted in: Games, gaming, hands-on, mobile, processor, smartphone, Today's Chili, video

You may have heard of the PowerVR SGX543MP — you know, the GPU behind Sony’s NGP and possibly on its way to the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 — but chances are, you’ve yet to see it working up close. Well, feast your graphics-hungry eyes on this: that’s Futuremark’s Tai Chi benchmark running on a tellingly sheathed device at GDC 2011, working the MP2 (dual-core) iteration of the processor, and that fine smartphone to its right is the Nexus S, sporting the PowerVR SGX540 you’ve come to know and love. As you can tell, Imagination Technologies’ promises of 4X the performance aren’t just baseless boasts — the lady on the left moves with grace and fluidity, while her counterpart on the right is all sorts of herky-jerky. Think that’s fast? Check out what the GPU can do with two more cores.

Sean Hollister contributed to this report.

Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX543MP2 really is faster, better, stronger (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
Mar 02

Wireless Carriers Sued Over Text Messages

Posted in: cellphone, General, lawsuit, mobile, Today's Chili

This article was written on May 22, 2008 by CyberNet.

text messages.pngOne of the big complaints many people have always had with cell-phone providers over the years is that they like to charge on both ends, meaning they charge you for outgoing and incoming calls. Now we know not all providers do this because some do offer free incoming calls, but a majority of the providers out there, at least the ones we know of, still do this. The practice of charging on both ends also transfered to SMS messages once that became an option which leaves people forced to pay for incoming SMS messages that they have absolutely no control over. For someone who doesn’t have an SMS plan and gets charged for each message received, this can get pretty frustrating. Is it fair for cell phone companies to be able to charge consumers for something that they have no control over?

People in Mississippi don’t think its fair and they’re doing something about it. In a class-action lawsuit naming AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, Cellular South, and Virgin Mobile, they say that carriers are unfairly charging customers for received text messages when they don’t provide the option to turn text messaging off. As part of the lawsuit, they say that people should be ‘entitled to relief from the unauthorized charges, wrongful collection, and unjust enrichment.”

So do these people have a chance at winning this lawsuit? We think they just might. Carriers should either offer the option to turn off text messages (without disabling other data features) or charge customers only for the messages they send out. With incoming phone calls, at least the subscriber has the choice of whether or not to answer the phone call. With text messaging, there is no option…

Source: Engadget

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:


No Comments | Tags:
Mar 01

One-Third of Growunups Play Mobile Games

Posted in: Games, mobile, Today's Chili, video games

toy fair 2011 angry birds pig.jpg

The revolution will be downloaded. And it will involve plants. And zombies. And pissed off little birds being slingshotted at pigs. According to a recent study, more than a third of adults in the US and UK have fessed up to playing mobile games.

The mobile platform has eclipsed both PC and console gaming, in terms of populatiry amongst adults. Not surprisingly, the majority of the games being played by this ever-increasing demographic fall squarely into the casual category. The survey, incidentally, was commissioned by PopCap Games, the publisher behind the popular (casual) Plants vs. Zombies.

More than half of the 2,425 people studied copped to having had played a game on their phone. Thirty-three percent admitted to having played one in the past month. The number, not surprisingly, was considerable higher amongst smartphone owners, with 83 percent having had played a game on their handset in the past week.

No Comments | Tags:
Feb 22

Opera Mobile 9.5 Just What the Doctor Ordered

Posted in: mobile, Opera, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on February 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

Opera Mobile 9.5 Opera Mobile 9.5 was just announced with a compelling set of features. But don’t confuse Opera Mobile, which costs $24, with the free Opera Mini. The difference is that Opera Mini is geared for small-screen mobile devices such as cellphones, whereas Opera Mobile works on smartphones running Windows Mobile.

After looking at the Opera Mobile 9.5 screenshot pictured to the right you’ll quickly notice that it takes some cues from the iPhone. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. The iPhone was one of the first devices that really showed us that our browsing experience doesn’t have to be compromised simply because we’re using a mobile device.

I give Opera a lot of credit though because they made sure to fix some of the biggest complaints that I’ve heard with Safari running on the iPhone. With Opera Mobile 9.5 you can save a website to the device for offline access, store passwords so that they don’t have to be typed over and over again, and even copy text! What might be even more important, however, is the compatibility Opera Mobile has with Flash Lite. Yep, you can get all of the YouTube videos without needing an external application.

Here’s a look at some of the other useful features you’ll find in Opera Mobile 9.5:

  • Intuitive user interface
  • Tabbed browsing
  • Improved text wrap
  • Page overview, zooming and panning
  • Landscape mode
  • Call phone number from Web page
  • Send link as SMS/MMS
  • Send image as SMS/MMS
  • Small Screen Rendering
  • Web address input auto-completion
  • History and bookmarks
  • Opera Widgets

If you really want to see how it all works checkout this video put together by Opera:

[via jkOnTheRun]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:


No Comments | Tags: ,
Feb 17

MapQuest for Android brings free turn-by-turn navigation, OpenStreetMap support to Google lovers

Posted in: Android, android market, AndroidMarket, app, europe, free, Google, gps, mobile, Software, Today's Chili

Oh, sure — iOS had it first, but the Android flavor of MapQuest’s mobile app has OpenStreetMaps. How d’ya like those apples ? The aforesaid app has just found its way into the Android Market, and as with the iPhone version, it’s 100 percent free to download. Unlike most other alternatives, this one provides gratis voice guidance / turn-by-turn navigation, voice search, a map toolbar, walking / driving directions, live traffic flow information and a couple of “major” new adds. Those are OpenStreetMap (OSM) data — useful for allowing consumers to use the app internationally — as well as the ability to directly report errors onto the map. Check out the source link to learn more, and head on over to the Market (if you’re rocking v1.6 and up) to get your download on. Happy trails, as they say.

Continue reading MapQuest for Android brings free turn-by-turn navigation, OpenStreetMap support to Google lovers

MapQuest for Android brings free turn-by-turn navigation, OpenStreetMap support to Google lovers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroid Market  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Feb 14

Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon

Posted in: Android, app, cellphone, mobile, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, netflix, qualcomm, snapdragon, streaming, streaming video, StreamingVideo, Today's Chili, watch instantly, WatchInstantly

Qualcomm has apparently figured out what it takes to get Netflix on Android, announcing “future devices” with its Snapdragon mobile processors (like the LG Revolution) will meet all of the DRM requirements for Watch Instantly. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to bode well for your existing Android device, but at least future phones won’t have to look on Windows Phone 7 and iOS with envy. Besides a turnkey package for manufacturers to support Netflix in their devices, it also promises plenty of dedicated decoding power to enhance battery life and improve picture quality which can be observed as it demos the Netflix app (hope they brought their own proxy) at Mobile World Congress this week.

Continue reading Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon

Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink VentureBeat  |  sourceQualcomm  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , ,
Feb 13

Mobile World Congress Tablet/Smartphone Smorgasbord [Cellphones]

Posted in: Apple, cellphones, mobile, Phones, rumors, samsung, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson, tablets, Today's Chili, top, xperia

Gaming phones! Bigger tablets! Galaxy S reboots and a sneaky, perfectly-timed mini iPhone rumor to throw water on the whole thing! Today was a day of mobile/tablet news, dear readers, and it’s all here. More »

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Feb 13

Mobile World Congress Tablet/Smartphone Smorgasbord [Roundups]

Posted in: Apple, cellphones, mobile, Phones, rumors, samsung, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson, tablets, Today's Chili, top, xperia

Gaming phones! Bigger tablets! Galaxy S reboots and a sneaky, perfectly-timed mini iPhone rumor to throw water on the whole thing! Today was a day of mobile/tablet news, dear readers, and it’s all here. More »

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Feb 11

Verizon Set to Purchase Alltel for $28.1 Billion

Posted in: General, mobile, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

verizon merge with alltel.pngVerizon Wireless is about to make a pretty big purchase which will give them a pretty big title. According to Reuters, Verizon Wireless is all set to purchase Alltel Corp. (another mobile service provider) for $28.1 billion dollars. Once this purchase is complete, Verizon will take over AT&T’s spot as the largest player in the U.S. mobile market in terms of subscribers. As it stands, AT&T currently has 71 million subscribers but the combined Verizon and Alltel would have 80 million subscribers.

The actual price that Verizon is paying for Alltel is $5.9 billion, however Verizon will be taking on Alltel’s debt of $22.2 billion which means this deal is worth the aforementioned $28.1 billion dollars. According to Verizon, they hope to have the deal completed before the end of the year assuming they don’t run into any problems. A consumer rights group is already throwing up the red flags saying that this deal, “raises serious questions for consumers that will have to be addressed through antitrust analysis.”

Gigi Sohn who is the president of Public knowledge, a consumer rights group voiced her concern over the deal and said,

If the deal goes through, Verizon and AT&T will have 150 million of the nation’s 260 million mobile customers. With Sprint in a weakened condition, this deal will speed the unfortunate trend of giving consumers fewer, rather than more, choices in telecommunications services, while giving a few companies more control over the lives of consumers.”

After reading her concerns, does the public have reason to be concerned? What do you think?

Copyright © 2011 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:


No Comments
Feb 10

Skype for iPhone upgrade lets it videocall Skype for TV, if you actually want to

Posted in: Apple, hdtv, ios, iPhone, LG, mobile, Panasonic, samsung, skype, sony, Today's Chili, TV, vizio

There’s a new update out for Skype on iOS devices today that which expands the new videocalling compatibility to “a wider selection of Skype clients and devices” by adding the h.264 compatibility necessary to chat with any Skype for TV clients. That’s available on certain LG, Panasonic and Samsung HDTVs right now, while Sony and Vizio have both announced it will be in some of their new HDTVs coming out later this year. The ability to call mobile devices seems to give a big edge to Skype over other living room videochat setups from Cisco, Logitech or Microsoft’s Kinect, but even with a compatible (& pricey)camera in hand, good luck finding someone out enjoying the world who wants to chat while you’re chilling on the couch.

Skype for iPhone upgrade lets it videocall Skype for TV, if you actually want to originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9to5Mac  |  sourceiTunes, Skype  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: