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We’d already heard the rumours of when we could expect it, but now O2 has confirmed both pricing and an October release date for the long-awaited Palm Pre.

Previously touted as coming “in time for Christmas”, O2 has now announced it’ll be thankfully quite a bit before, hitting shelves on 16 October exclusive to the network. Continue reading…

Vodafone’s newly announced social media apps and services platform, Vodafone 360,brings two new phones with it. The Samsung H1 and Samsung M1 are two touchscreen temptresses and will carry the Vodafone 360 logo.
Though Vodafone 360 will work with loads of devices, the Samsung handsets will fully integrate the new service. Continue reading…

Vodafone’s obviously been looking at all that lovely social media stuff on the HTC Hero and the Motorola DEXT. The networks’s just launched its own suite of social media services called Vodafone 360. 
Vodafone 360 is its own specially created interface mashing together info from Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Twitter, Google Talk and more right into your contacts book. Continue reading…

LG today has officially revealed its next Chocolate phone LG BL40. The fourth handset of the Black Label Series boasts a 4.0-inch wide screen high-definition LCD with an 800 by 345 pixel resolution, enable 21:9 aspect ratio support for video viewing. The 4.0-inch display also features a Dual Screen UI that can efficiently display two different types of content simultaneously. Continue reading…

Nokia 6760

The Nokia 6760 Slide is a messaging device with a slide-out QWERTY keypad. Designed for typing, users can keep their status and tweets up-to-date on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The handset can also access to popular email and instant messaging services including Google Talk and Windows Live. Push email is available through Nokia Messaging. Setting up an existing email is simple — only the email address and password are required. Push email is available through Nokia Messaging and instant messaging offers access to Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger. Built-in A-GPS with Nokia Maps offers 3D landmarks and terrain maps. Additional functions include a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 3.2-megapixel camera and support for up to 8GB of storage with microSD cards (2GB card included). Continue reading…

Time Inc., which publishes Sports Illustrated, home of the famed Swimsuit Issue juggernaut, announced today that one day after launch its “SI Swimsuit 2009″ iPhone app is the number-one paid lifestyle application in Apple’s App Store.

The app, developed by Acton, Massachusetts-based Azuki Systems, retails at $2.99 and is the first one by Sports Illustrated. It offers photos and video of 20 models, as well as a calendar feature that allows users to apply photos for each month and track schedules and scores for six sports teams.

Funnily enough, the top three apps in the paid Lifestyle category, for now at least, are SI’s Swimsuit app, Ajnag’s “Cannibis” app (which helps you locate medicinal marijuana collectives), and Digital Outcrop’s “Mixologist – 7900 Drink & Cocktail Recipes.” I guess this says a lot about who’s currently cruising the Lifestyle category for iPhone entertainment.

But the Swimsuit app has enjoyed a swift ascent to the top rung—a Time Inc. spokesperson said the app shot to number six within hours, then went to number two, then hit number one by its first full day in the app store.

Time to update your Pre, Palm’s just released webOS 1.1.0. Quite a bit of changes here, but most importantly, the patch notes say that it “resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (8.2.1)” — that issue, of course, being a blockade put in place by Apple just one week ago. Oh yeah, it’s on. In addition, we’ve got emoticons and Exchange support now, and its 31st app, NFL Mobile Live for watching games and audio from the device. There’s also talk of a new gesture, swiping left to right to move forward through web pages, but really it’s no different that scrolling the browser up in landscape mode. Everything else is pretty boring by comparison — looks like that leaked update list was dead on. So when should we expect to see iTunes 8.2.2, eh Apple?

Here are a few things we’ve noticed after playing with the update for a little bit:

• Scrolling through long lists (like contacts) seems improved. We’re seeing a lot less loading, and only the occasional hiccup.
• Push email now seems to actively delete (and represent the count properly) in the background.
• Folder orders for IMAP Gmail accounts are now correct. Previous versions of the software had them totally out of whack.
• The email alert sound is different — softer.
• App load times seem a bit snappier. In fact, the whole device feels a little snappier.
• Maybe we’re crazy, but there seems to be a new animation for the drop-down menus.

Download it here

Is social media turning into one of the main reasons for purchasing trendy, fashionable and tech products these days? How dependent are we becoming on social media channels when it comes to purchasing decisions? Is it fair to solely depend on social media channels such as Youtube in order to decide whether to purchase a certain product or its competitor?

I somewhat feel nostalgic for the good old days when all we needed was a couple or more simple radio or TV ads in order to make purchasing decisions of either cheap or expensive products and services. Back then, things were too easy and so much less burdened with the complications of having many choices and competing ads yearning for our attention!

Yet again, at those times, we were “ignorant” customers, unaware of all the ins and outs of advertising and the tricks and games of marketing! As we stepped into the world wide web and Web 2.0 at a later stage, purchasing decisions became harder, nevertheless, more conscious!

Depending on Social Media:

After watching the Blackberry Storm vs. the iPhone 3G ad campaigns, and as I eagerly listened to Jon Rettinger’s comparison and analysis of the two products, trying to decide which device to purchase. Right then and there, it struck me: What would I have done without Youtube? How could I have made the “right” decision about this particular purchase if I didn’t have this complete analysis of the features each of those phones had?

In a way, I feel that we are growing dependent on social media in many decisions that effect us on a personal level: the money we spend, the people we meet and the things we discuss. Social media channels have not only developed into a medium for two-way interactive communication and entertainment, they are turning into influencers and some sort of decision makers! Continue reading…

UK-based online retailer Expansys has revealed the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 (previously known as the ‘Rachel’) ahead of any official announcement from the company, and thrown in detailed specifications too.

The big news is that the X3 will be packing Google’s Android operating system, although the familiar 9-paned 3D interface from the first Xperia will be gracing the home screen. In fact, here’s a cool video of the new interface – and we must say, it’s mighty impressive.

The specs sheet on Expansys says the X3 will be sporting a 4-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 800×400 pixels, although a few sites say that the unusual aspect ratio probably means it’ll be more like 852×420 pixels. Hey, as long as it’s over 800 pixels, we aren’t complaining. Continue reading…

If you’re one of those unfortunate Pre users that updated to iTunes 8.2.1 without seeing our warning, there are two options. You could either downgrade to iTunes 8.2, or use one of these alternative apps and future-proof yourself.

The problem with downloading to iTunes 8.2 from 8.2.1 is that isn’t quite as straightforward as replacing the iTunes app. You have to replace some other support files. The easier way is to use one of these four options. And, you have the freedom to update iTunes to any future version without worrying about whether or not it’ll mess up Pre syncing.

1) doubleTwist, by DVD Jon. [Download]

doubleTwist lets you access your iTunes Library in that you can see all the music and playlists (even smart ones) you’ve already established. Once you connect your Pre in USB mode, all you have to do is drag playlists or individual songs over to the Pre to have it sync. There’s no library view, as in you can’t drill down into artists, so you should organize your songs into playlists you want to sync inside iTunes first.

The downside of this method is that there’s no progress bar so you can’t see how much of your sync is done. The syncing process also isn’t foolproof, and froze on me mid-sync. But it does have the ability to import YouTube videos, which is kinda awesome. And, it doesn’t support the actual playlist function on the Pre, so your songs are going to be in one big pile. (You can sift through Artists, Albums, and Genres, of course.) Continue reading…

Aging systems can’t pinpoint some users when they need help the most

Nearly all modern cell phones can transmit your location, but not all 911 centers can use the information.

Donnie and Sharon Leutjen and their 15-year-old granddaughter, Taron Leutjen, were found June 9. They had been shot to death, and their bodies had lain in their home in Cole Camp, Mo., for about two days.

Authorities know approximately when the Leutjens were shot because they got a 911 call on the night of June 7.

On the tape of the call — which investigators examined after the worried inquiries of someone who knew the family led to the bodies’ discovery — “one of the male voices was directing Sharon Leutjen to sit down (and) put her arms behind her,” the sheriff’s office in Benton County, in central Missouri, said in court documents.

“At least two threats to shoot her and the other two victims” could be heard, the sheriff’s office said.

So why didn’t deputies rush to the scene as soon as they got the call?

They couldn’t. They didn’t know where it came from. Whoever made the call used a cell phone, and Benton County’s technology isn’t advanced enough to take advantage of location services that are standard features of nearly all cell phones sold today. Continue reading…

Intel is working on a top secret project called Medfield. The name was leaked by one of the engineers working in their Austin office. Intel is also working on ‘Moorestown’ which is an Atom-like processor that has two chips and is supposed to consume even less power than Atom chips do.

Intel is changing its direction and is looking towards the consumer electronics and mobile phone market. With Intel’s stock down by 31 per cent in the last 12 months, they are trying hard to break into this sector and excel.

Now warethe Moorestown processor aren’t small enough to fit into mobile phones, that’s where ‘Medfield’ comes in.

The thought behind this new shift is that with evolving technologies, mobile phones are now able to do what computers can. Intel already makes around US $2 billion a year from embedded chips present in medical devices, cars and other such devices. But now they plan to spread Medfield to all consumer electronics ranging from mobile phones to MP3 players even to household appliances.

However, don’t expect this any time soon, as Medfield is scheduled sometime in 2011. It’s a longwait, but we’re already imagining the possibilities – mobile phones that perform as well as a laptop anymore?

Microsoft's My Phone

With technology playing a crucial role in today’s world, the Mobile, the PC and the web have become inseparable. However, the biggest fear that perhaps haunts any mobile user today is not the loss of his hi-tech cell but the valuable data! To help solve this issue, Microsoft launched its My Phone service that enables users to automatically backup contacts, photos, video, calender, text messages and more from their phone to a password-protected Web-based service, is now an open beta. With automatic syncing and backup capabilities for all contacts, appoinments, text messages and Other information, My Phone keeps all things up-to-date and easily restores them should the user lose or upgrade their phone. Continue reading…

Nokia 6600 New Look

Just the name 6600 brings back memories of days gone by, when the egg-like phone was the hottest new device in town. Ever since its launch, the phone had quickly gained immense popularity. It was perhaps the first precursor of a smartphone that anyone had seen. So naturally when Nokia recently announced the return of the good old dependable handset in a new avatar 6600i, I was quite excited. It better match up to its older cousin was my first thought. In the looks department, it passes muster. On first look, the phone looks quite stunning-thanks to the brushed steel body it sports. The black version doesn’t look that good though. The phone’s got nice contours and a slide out keypad. The desgin has that simplistic, yet elegent appeal that makes it more stylish than other flashy models. With a 5 MP camera with 8x zoom and dual-LED flash, the phone is designed for imaging and sharing. It is supposed to be manufacturer’s smallest 5 MP slider offering. Continue reading…