Panasonic Lumix GX1 Micro Four Thirds camera teased in official videos

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  • November 6, 2011 at 3:29 am

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Panasonic Lumix GX1 MFT camera in hand

Panasonic has just released a number of teaser videos for its upcoming GF1 successor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera. We first broke the news of the GX1 in October and the company’s, now official promotional video, confirms our initial specifications.

The Panasonic GX1 will have a 16-megapixel sensor, probably the same as the Panasonic G3, and a new Venus engine. It will offer a super fast 0.09 second contrast auto-focus. The main screen is a 3-inch LCD with a 460k pixel resolution, and as we guessed, it will be a touchscreen for touch autofocus, similar to other recent Panasonic offerings.

There will be a new external electronic viewfinder (EVF) with 1,440k dots (against a paltry 202k of the original LVF1) and it will be offered in silver and black. While we weren’t too excited when we first saw the all black boxy design of the GX1, it looks way sexier in the official video with the silver metal body and oversized black handgrip.

In the video, which you’ll find after the break, the GX1 is paired with the new X series lens, the collapsible power zoom LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm. There is also another video after the break showing a movie shot using the GX1 with a new miniature / time lapse effect, similar to the Panasonic LX5‘s miniature effect.
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Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD (a.k.a. Nozomi) LT26i images leaked: 720p display and 1.5GHz dual-core processor

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  • November 5, 2011 at 4:13 pm

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD (Nozomi)

Although information is still sketchy, images of a new Android smartphone, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD (a.k.a. Nozomi), pegged as the Xperia Arc successor, have leaked over at iAndroid. The smartphone with model number LT26i, is sporting a 1280×720 (720p) resolution with a retina worthy 320dpi (dots-per-inch) pixel density, similar to the just announced HTC Rezound, with a 4.3-inch display.

The Nozomi or Xperia Arc HD is rumored to run on a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor with 1GB of RAM. The Quadrant benchmark score in the pictures is 1,840; this is relatively low for such a processor, but would show how tasking it is for the GPU to drive the 720p resolution. Besides that, from the images we can see front and rear cameras and Xperia branding, while there is a white LED row at the back of the phone.

As with all current Android smartphones, this one is running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, though Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich might catch up with the Xperia Arc HD before it is finally released, making it the first smartphone by Sony Ericsson to run the latest and greatest version of Android. Besides, remember that 720p is the native resolution for Android 4.0.

More pictures after the break.
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Nook Color price to drop to $199, getting update with Hulu Plus and more music services

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  • November 4, 2011 at 5:34 pm

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B&N Nook Color charging on a stack of books

Yesterday we brought you the news on Barnes & Noble’s upcoming tablet, the Nook Tablet, which will retail for $249. It only makes sense that the previous generation Nook Color, which currently retails for the same price, will see a price drop. B&N is planning to cut the Nook Color’s price by $50 to $199. It will also be getting a software update, version 1.4, with Hulu Plus and additional music streaming services from Rhapsody, MOG and Grooveshark with free trials — Pandora is already included with the NC.

We are still doubtful that it will have much success even at the discounted price, since the Amazon Kindle Fire will also retail for $199, while the more capable Nook Tablet is only $50 more. You can check out our Nook Tablet vs. Kindle Fire and the original Nook Color vs. Kindle Fire comparisons. In any case, it’s good news for existing Nook Color owners who will be getting more from their e-Reader/tablet soon. Even better, you can grab yourself a Nook Color for free, just by entering our simple giveaway.
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Sony starts selling its ‘magical’ OLED panels, coming to a camera EVF or head-mounted display near you — hopefully

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  • November 4, 2011 at 12:42 pm

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Sony OLED panels ECX331A and ECX332A

Sony has just reminded us of its recent accomplishments in organic EL display technology and, well, just how awesome its duo of small OLED displays is. Sony had announced its pair of high resolution OLED panels back in late August, which have since found their way into the company’s latest digital cameras and 3D head mounted display.

First you have the 0.5-inch ECX331A XGA (1024×768) panel, which has taken its place in electronic viewfinders (EVFs) and is one of the major selling points of the Sony A77 and A65 DSLT cameras and the NEX-7 mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. The slightly larger, 0.7-inch ECX322A 720p HD (1280×720) can be found in the equally exciting Sony HMZ-T1 OLED 3D head-mounted display.

What’s so special about these OLED panels? Well, they offer a wide color gamut (90% of NTSC), high 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and fast 0.01ms response time, with 200 cd/m2 brightness. More importantly they pack an insane amount of pixels in a small area.

To put things into perspective, the 0.5″ ECX331A with a resolution of 1024×768 (RGB) has a pixel pitch of just 9.9μm. In comparison, the iPhone 4S with a 3.5″ 960×640 resolution retina display has a pixel pitch of 77.1μm. In layman terms, pixel pitch measures the size of a pixel; the smaller it is the harder it will be for your eyes to distinguish between them and the sharper and more lifelike the image. That means that each individual pixel (made up of three subpixels, Red, Green and Blue) on Sony’s OLED panel is almost 8 times smaller than that of the iPhone 4S display. This makes them ideal for applications where you need a compact design and you would put your eyes very close to the display, such as EVFs and head-mounted displays.
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B&N Nook Tablet vs. Amazon Kindle Fire comparison

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  • November 3, 2011 at 7:13 pm

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Amazon Kindle Fire vs. Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

Barnes & Noble is preparing its own 7-inch budget and book/magazine-centric Nook Tablet to rival the Amazon Kindle Fire. Where the Nook Color was lacking, the Nook Tablet has more than made up for it. On one hand, the Nook Tablet, has a faster processor than the Kindle fire, it’s lighter, has double the RAM and on-board storage and can take microSD cards. On the other hand Amazon has a huge cloud presence and a bigger library in terms of content — books, music, movies. The Amazon Appstore also has a bigger selection of apps. Confused? Well, we’ve got all the details for both devices for you in a handy comparison chart, which you’ll find after the break. You might also want to check our initial Kindle Fire vs. Nook Color comparison.
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Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet leaked; Nook Color successor to take on the Kindle Fire

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  • November 3, 2011 at 6:52 pm

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B&N Nook Tablet leak

So, remember the event that Barnes & Noble has scheduled for this coming Monday the 7th? Remember, when we were talking about a Nook Color successor to take on the Amazon Kindle Fire? Well, information on B&N’s new tablet/e-Reader has leaked ahead of the event, and we have it here for you.

The new device from B&N will simply be called the ‘Nook Tablet’. As you can see, it’s very similar in appearance to the Nook Color; but what you can’t see is that it’s thinner, at 0.48 inches (from 0.5 inches for the NC) and lighter at 14.1 oz (from 15.8 ounces). The Nook Tablet is getting a much needed processor upgrade, with a new 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4 processor, 1GB of RAM (double that of the Kindle Fire) and 16GB of built-in storage (again double the Fire’s capacity). You will be able to expand storage through the microSD card slot, something the Fire is missing.
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Android heroes: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. HTC Rezound vs. Motorola Droid RAZR

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  • November 3, 2011 at 6:10 pm

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Android heroes: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. HTC Rezound vs. Motorola Droid RAZR

Three major Android manufacturers, Samsung, HTC and Motorola, have all recently announced their big-screened flagship handsets, just in time for the holiday season. Now that everybody’s cards are on the table, we take another look, comparing the 4.65-inch Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich bearing Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the rugged and super-slim 4.3-inch Motorola Droid RAZR and the Beats Audio sporting and retina busting 720p 4.3-inch HTC Rezound. If you are an Android fan, it’s never been harder to choose a new smartphone, hopefully our handy comparison, which is after the break, will help you make up your mind.
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Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus tablet uses Exynos SoC, is now shipping from Amazon

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  • November 3, 2011 at 4:23 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

Android handheld devices with dual-core processors are a dime a dozen (or so to speak) nowadays. But not many run on Samsung’s Exynos system on a chip (SoC). There’s the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone and well now there’s the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus tablet. So what’s so special about Exynos? Well, pitted against the competing dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3, NVIDIA Tegra 2 and TI OMAP 4 SoCs, the Samsung Exynos comes out as king. It’s got both serious processing and graphics chopping jaws, as was clearly demonstrated by some serious benchmark performance from the SGS II.

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus packs a dual-core 1.2GHz Exynos processor, a 7-inch 1024×600 resolution display (unfortunately it’s not AMOLED) with a 3-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras. The tablet runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb and was supposed to appear on U.S. retail channels on November 13th. Well Amazon US seems to have jumped the gun a bit and is already shipping the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus for the advertised price of $400. You are well warned now, if you were looking to grab yourself a skinny little performing tab.
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HTC Rezound 4.3-inch 720p HD screen Android smartphone announced for Verizon Wireless 4G LTE (pictures, specs, video)

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  • November 3, 2011 at 3:12 pm

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HTC Rezound 4.3-inch 720p HD screen Android smartphone with Beats by Dr. Dre

The HTC Rezound (a.k.a. HTC Vigor) is finally official. HTC has announced its new flagship Android smartphone, heading to Verizon Wireless’ speedy 4G LTE network, at a press event in New York. As it was previously rumored, the Rezound sports a 4.3-inch screen at a 1280×720 HD resolution, that’s a retina display worthy pixel density. It will run on a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It’s a Beats branded device, and comes with a matching set of Beats by Dr. Dre earbuds and a Beats sound profile that will make you music sound oh-so sweet.

The device will obviously come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and HTC’s Sense 3.5 at launch, with an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update coming early next year. The HTC Rezound will be offered coming Novermber 14th for $299.99 on a two-year commitment.

The Rezound comes with an 8-megapixel f/2.2 28mm wide-angle lens back camera with dual LED flash and a 2-megapixel front camera and will be capable of shooting 1080p video. You will also be able to charge the 1620mAh battery (oh why doesn’t HTC include bigger batteries) wirelessly on the optional dock. The HTC Rezound measures 129 x 65.5 x 13.65 mm.

You might want to check out how the Rezound holds up to the rest of the Android heroes, the Motorola RAZR and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, in our concise comparison.

More pictures and full specs after the break.
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Motorola Xoom 2 10.1-inch and Xoom 2 Media Edition 8.2-inch Android tablets announced with UK and Ireland mid-November release date (specs, pictures, video)

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  • November 3, 2011 at 10:30 am

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Motorola XOOM 2 10.1-inch Android tablet - Home screen, front

Motorola has officially announced the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition Android tablets. We can’t say we are surprised here, as the two tablets have been long-rumored. The Motorola Xoom 2 is a business-centric 10.1-inch HD display tablet running Android 3.2 Honeycomb (obviously no Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at launch as this is a Galaxy Nexus exclusive). It measures 253.9 mm x 173.6 mm x 8.8 mm and weights 599g (1.32lbs) – 100g lighter than the original Xoom.

The Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition, shrinks down to an 8.2-inch HD panel measuring 39mm x 216mm x 8.99 mm and weighing 386g (0.85lbs). Otherwise, in terms of specifications the two tablets are similar. Both run on 1.2GHz dual-core processors with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. They have a Gorilla Glass displays and a splash-guard coating, something we’ve recently seen on the Motorola RAZR, to protect them against accidental spills.

Motorola claims that the Xoom 2 Media Edition will be easier to hold because of the smaller footprint, while it has a wide 178-degree viewing angle. Graphics performance is also mentioned to be 20% better than the original Xoom. The Xoom 2 also comes with a host of business centric applications and Motorola will be offering a stylus as an accessory.

There is no word yet on U.S. availability, but the two tablets will be available in the UK and Ireland mid-November. The Xoom 2 with initially retail for £325+VAT ($520) and £299+VAT ($480) for the Xoom 2 Media Edition. Motorola has confirmed that the two tablets will eventually be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich shortly after Google provides the code to Motorola.

Full specs, pictures and video after the break.
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Zinio digital magazine app is now available for webOS and the HP TouchPad

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  • November 3, 2011 at 3:34 am

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HP TouchPad app drawer

The, now-defunct, HP TouchPad‘s utility just went up a notch, as the Zinio magazine reader app has now been released for webOS. Zinio is a popular digital magazine newsstand application, offering a truly huge and varied collection of popular and niche magazines. Zinio has been available so far for the iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows PCs. You can buy digital subscriptions or single issues and your library automatically syncs between devices.

I can’t think of a better use for the TouchPad than to be able to automatically download and read all your favorite magazines. We were pretty up-front on our view of the ephemeral use of the paper and ink invested in printed magazines, in our Nook Color review, and Zinio might just be the killer app for the TouchPad. Only negative is that Zinio’s prices are a bit on the high side.

You can now download Zinio on your TouchPad from the app catalog. Note that some users are reporting issues with syncing their existing libraries to the TouchPad, however this is the first release for webOS, hopefully the folks at Zinio will iron out any kinks quickly.
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Tweephone is the analog lover’s Twitter client

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  • November 2, 2011 at 3:58 am

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Tweephone rotary phone Twitter client

It’s one of those concepts that had to be created, the marriage of an analogue rotary phone with a tweeter client. Ladies and gentlemen we present to you the Tweephone. The brainchild of UP Digital Bureau and the creation of Unteleported tech agency. Running on an Arduino platform, it translates dial turns to characters. You only have to pick-up the handset and go through the arduous, but ultimately rewarding, task of dialing each letter of your allotted 140-character limit. For example to get an ‘a’ you would have to dial ‘2’ once, and to get an ‘f’ you need to dial ‘3’ three times. The Tweephone displays tweets, as you ‘spin them’ on a very fashionable alphanumeric liquid crystal display. To send the tweet you just hang-up the phone.

You can find a lovely video of the Tweephone after the break. Oh and could someone, please, please send us a tweet using the Tweephone!
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Android Market 3.3.11 update brings update over Wi-Fi only, auto-update apps default

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  • November 2, 2011 at 3:14 am

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Android Market 3.3.11 update

A new version of the Android Market is making the rounds, now automatically updating on select handsets, version 3.3.11. Although there are minor visual changes such as a new Market icon, more prominent star ratings, large apps have a small ‘Wi-Fi’ icon, a microphone for voice input on Market search and other interface tweaks, most major changes involve giving you more control. You can now choose to auto-update apps as a default, previously you had to select auto-update for each application, and there is an option to ‘update over Wi-Fi only’, which is a welcome addition if you want to avoid eating up your monthly data plan allocation just for downloading another Angry Birds update. Finally you can select to automatically add shortcuts for downloaded applications to your homescreen (like in Android Honeycomb).

If you are the impatient type you can download the Market .apk file (after the break) and try it out for yourself, or play it safe and wait for your device to autoupdate. Mind you, that this file doesn’t behave well with Honeycomb tablets. If you do install the file below, go to Settings > Applications > Manage Apps > Market and select ‘clear data’ if the Market is misbehaving.
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Verizon bound HTC Rezound (a.k.a. Vigor) pre-production model shown-off in hands-on video

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  • October 31, 2011 at 1:43 pm

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HTC Rezound hands-on

We’re expecting HTC and Verizon to announce the HTC Rezound (a.k.a. HTC Vigor) any day now. A lucky tester, has made a video of a pre-production model of the Rezound and has, of-course, posted it for all of us to see. The 4.3-inch, red-themed, Android smartphone shown-off here, carries both the Verzion and 4G LTE logos. The tester confirms all the specs that we originally reported. That is, that the HTC Rezound will run on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, feature a retina busting 1280×720 HD resolution, have 1GB of RAM with an 8MP back and 2MP front cameras. It’s running Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and HTC’s Sense 3.5.

The Rezound is going head-to-head with some pretty heavy competition from Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and Motorola’s RAZR, all of which are also expected to appear on Verizon. You might wanna check our nifty comparison of the three handsets, if you are on the fence on a new Android smartphone. Oh and the video is after the break.
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