Motorola RAZR Developer Edition gives you an unloackable bootloader in exchange for any warranty

News

  • January 30, 2012 at 11:39 am

0

Motorola RAZR Developer Edition front and back

So what do you do after you’ve released a slightly modified version of a popular smartphone that adds just 1.8mm to its waistline but practically doubles battery life? The answer here is, you re-release the original device as a Developer Edition.

The story is that Motorola has just announced a new variant of its skinny RAZR handset, the Motorola RAZR XT910 Developer Edition. The device is identical to the original GSM Motorola RAZR but has an unlocked bootloader, making it easier to load custom ROMs and generally mod the device. The original RAZR, as most other Motorola devices, is locked down. There is a caveat however, and that is, these developer devices come without any warranty, which is a bit cruel if you ask us; after all, yes you can screw up the software and brick your phone but Motorola should still be liable for hardware faults.
continue reading

Vintage camera: we love these old Asahi Pentax commercials (video)

News

  • January 29, 2012 at 5:48 pm

0

Asahi Pentax 35mm SLR camera commercial

It was 1957 when the Asahi Optical Company had introduced a new 35mm film SLR camera, the Pentax. It was Japan’s first single-lens reflex camera and it became an instant success. In fact, it was so successful that its control layout became the standard for 35mm SLR cameras and its design inspired countless others. The camera maker even decided to change its name to match the name of the camera which had put in on the map — Pentax.
continue reading

All black ‘inverted’ Google Apps for Android 4.0 make you cool, can save you battery

News

  • January 29, 2012 at 9:43 am

1

Inverted all black Google apps

Feeling like black is your thing? A themer, going by the name travp624, has posted all black versions of a number of stock Google applications. The inverted apps have a requirement that you should be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and have been tested on version 4.0.3 and up. The available inverted apps are: Google+, Gmail, Email, Market Google Talk, Contacts, Calendar, Google Voice, Google Music and MMS. They will sure look cool on an all-black device like the Galaxy Nexus.
continue reading

MicroOLED 0.61-inch OLED panel has a 1280×1024 resolution, looking to find it’s way into a lucky camera’s EVF

News

  • January 29, 2012 at 6:22 am

0

MicroOLED 0.61-inch 5,400k dot 1280x1024 resolution OLED panel

Last year we were pretty excited with the new Sony OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF), which we tested on the Sony A65 camera, and can also be found in the Sony A77 and NEX-7.

The 0.5-inch ECX331A XGA (1024×768 RGB) 2,400k dot Sony OLED panel found in the above cameras, had at the time the highest resolution and pixel density of any commercial microdisplay. The benefit is that it provides an incredibly clear image, finally challenging optical viewfinders.

We’ve been championing electronic viewfinders as the future replacement to optical viewfinders in cameras, for some time now, because they offer certain clear advantages. First of all you can do away with the typical reflex mirror used to reflect part of the oncoming light from your lens to the pentaprism in optical viewfinders; as a result, you get more light onto your sensor and a more compact camera – see mirrorless cameras.

An EVF can also be more informative and customizable, with overlay information, and because you are effectively always looking at what the camera CMOS sensor is seeing, you have an exact live preview of what you will be shooting when you press the shutter button.

Until recently however, EVFs generally sucked, you had a pixelated image with a lot of lag and usually bad color reproduction and poor contrast.
continue reading

Northrop Grumman X-47B US Navy unmanned aircraft is a prelude to our robotic armies

News

  • January 28, 2012 at 4:16 pm

0

Northrop Grumman X-47B US Navy unmanned aircraft in flight top

We guess whoever is in control of weapons development in the US Navy doesn’t watch too many sci-fi movies. Our future robot overlords will probably be calling the Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned aircraft their great-great-grandfather, but we have to admit that it looks really, really badass.

The X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) (or combat drone), which had its first test flight in 2011. It’s being developed by Northrop Grumman for the US Navy under a project aiming to develop a carrier-based stealth unmanned aircraft. The X-47B has a full weapons bay with a potential payload of 4,500 pounds, though it doesn’t carry any weapons currently. The unmanned aircraft is not flown by remote control but rather flies on a pre-programmed mission using its on-board computer — yeah it’s a great idea to give them brains. Here’s what Northrop Grumman had to say:
continue reading

55-inch LG OLED 3D TV panel hitting mass production in July 2012, to be released by year-end

News

  • January 28, 2012 at 7:52 am

0

LG 55-inch OLED 3D TV

We first saw LG’s 55-inch OLED 3D TV as CES and with the company’s promise of a down-to-earth price for the largest OLED TV yet, our interest peaked. We’ve been waiting for alternative technologies to really challenge LCD and Plasma TVs, and while OLED panels hold a lot of promise, we’ve only seen extremely expensive and small-screened OLED TVs.

The company wasn’t forthcoming on too many details on the set. We know that the 55-inch LG OLED TV uses 4-color pixel technology (RGBW) for more natural colors and that it’s super thin and light at just 4mm thick and weighing 7.5kg (16.5lbs). Initial information point to a fourth quarter release at a yet undetermined price.
continue reading

Sony Xperia Glass concept phone bests the Xperia S design

News

  • January 28, 2012 at 6:39 am

0

Sony Xperia Glass fan concept phone

Sony introduced two new and very good looking Android smartphones at CES this month, namely the Xperia Ion and the Xperia S.

The Xperia S (as you can see below) features a transparent acrylic strip along the bottom half of the device, which houses three touch-sensitive buttons and is also part of the smartphone’s antenna design.
continue reading

Samsung Exynos 5250 dual-core 2Ghz SoC coming in Q2 2012, could be dating a tablet at MWC

News

  • January 27, 2012 at 5:37 pm

0

Samsung Exynos 5250 SoC

There is huge war raging behind the scenes on which chip will power the next generation of mobile devices. We have increasing demands from our smartphones and tablets and system-on-a-chip (SoC) manufacturers have to find ways of multiplying processing power, pushing more pixels on higher resolution screens while staying as power-frugal as possible. Samsung SoCs are a force to be reckoned with and last year’s Exynos 4210, found in the Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Galaxy Note and Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, literally crushed all other chips in benchmarks.

We heard of Samsung’s next generation Exynos 5250 SoC last November, and during its latest earnings call, Samsung said that it has already begun sampling to manufacturers and the 5250 will go into mass production in Q2 this year.
continue reading

Thanks for listening: HTC to concentrate on a small number of high-end smartphones for 2012

News

  • January 26, 2012 at 1:48 pm

0

HTC EVO 3D mural video

HTC launched so many devices during 2011 that we’ve lost count. Even trying to cover each and every release from a tech blog’s perspective has become an impossible task, so we can’t imagine how the average person can keep track. As an example, HTC had launched three different variations of the Sensation (Sensation, Sensation XE and Sensation XL) in a space of just a few months.

When we were tackling the company’s Q4 2011 results, we went to HTC’s defense, and we suggested that the company should focus on a limited number of devices, following the lead of the most successful smartphone manufacturer, Apple. We’re glad HTC is now coming on the same page.
continue reading

Olympus claims title of best-selling mirrorless camera manufacturer for 2011 in Japan

News

  • January 26, 2012 at 6:17 am

0

Olympus new PEN cameras: E-P3, E-PL3 and E-PM1

Embattled Olympus didn’t have such a bad year after all. The Japanese camera manufacturer has just claimed top position for the mirrorless camera category in the 2012 BCN Award.

The BCN Ranking pulls in point-of-sale data from a number of major Japanese electronic stores, including online stores like Amazon Japan, and once a year hands-out awards based on the number of actual sales. Olympus has moved ahead of both Sony and Panasonic, capturing more than a third of the market with sales numbering 36.6% of total. Panasonic has the number two spot with 29.3% of sales.
continue reading

NASA Suomi NPP satellite takes some awesome pictures of our lovely planet

News

  • January 25, 2012 at 2:57 pm

0

NASA 64-megapixel photo of the earth

NASA’s Suomi NPP (which stands for National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project) Earth-observing satellite was launched into orbit in October 2011. As the name suggests, the satellite is tasked with onlooking upon humanity’s home planet. It’s part of a project with which NASA will be collecting data to increase our understanding on long-term climate change and improve weather forecasts.

A key instrument on the satellite it the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS and it’s with that instrument that this amazing 64-megapixel (8,000 x 8,000 resolution) image of the Earth was taken.
continue reading

LG CX2 ‘Optimus 3D 2’ 4.3-inch 3D Android smartphone leaked in press renders

News

  • January 24, 2012 at 3:32 pm

0

LG CX2 'Optimus 3D 2' Android smartphone

Though we admit we are not completely sold on 3D phones, we’re always interested to see what the next generation will bring. Last year was dominated by two 3D phones the HTC EVO 3D and the LG Optimus 3D. Following the leaked LG X3 quad-core monster-phone, the latest leaked handset for LG’s 2012 lineup is a new 3D smartphone codenamed CX2 or as we’ll be calling it, the Optimus 3D 2.

Similar to the original Optimus 3D it will have a stereoscopic glasses-free 4.3-inch display, however instead of only relying on 3D content, this new LG 3D Android smartphone will be able to do a 2D to 3D conversion on the fly. The device is rumored to be running on a new TI OMAP 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It will has dual 5-megapixel rear cameras capable of shooting in 3D and a 1.3-megapixels front camera.
continue reading

PSA: Yes the Droid Razr Maxx is still confirmed for January 26th and $299 on Verizon

News

  • January 24, 2012 at 1:04 pm

0

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx Android smartphone

We first saw the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx during this year’s CES in Las Vegas. The updated version of the skinny Droid Rarz has a bumped up the battery of 3,300mAh battery from 1,780mAh, while staying just 8.9mm thick from the original’s 7.1mm.

You can check out our initial coverage here and here. To recap, it’s a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD (960 x 540) screened device with a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear and 1.3-megapixel front cameras. It has some rugged credentials, bearing to a Kevlar back and splashproof coating.
continue reading