AfterDawn: Tech news

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AfterDawn: News

Verizon adds YouTube and Internet Radio to FiOS TV

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Apr 2010 4:51

Verizon adds YouTube and Internet Radio to FiOS TV Verizon has announced that FiOS TV users can now stream YouTube and Internet Radio directly from their displays, using their remote controls or smartphone.

Subscribers can access the music and video sharing site via Media Manager, which is now available to all FiOS TV owners, instead of just DVR customers.

"Adding YouTube and Internet Radio to FiOS TV further expands our customers' digital home-entertainment world by giving them access to an unprecedented amount of online content on the biggest screen in their home – their TV,"
adds Shawn Strickland, vice president of consumer strategy for Verizon. "When customers connect their homes to our all-fiber network, their TV and Internet worlds seamlessly come together to create experiences cable can't deliver. We are working with some of the most popular companies on the Web to create a high-quality, engaging Internet-to-TV experience that will only grow richer with time."

Users can even use their Motorola Droid phone as a remote control if they download a free "Mobile Remote" app from the Android Market.

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AfterDawn: News

Video Daily: RIM BlackBerry OS 6 in action

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Apr 2010 12:27

Video Daily: RIM BlackBerry OS 6 in action Research In Motion has shown off their upcoming BlackBerry OS 6 today, which improves on most of the past OS features, with much improved touch support.

Th new browser has tab switching, favorites, multi-touch, using WebKit. The tabs have transparent overlay.

There is an updated media player, one that looks much more like the cover-flow used by Apple in the iPhone.

BGR adds: "RIM has finally implemented system-wide kinetic scrolling with rubberbanding. This makes the experience a bit more fluid when scrolling through lists, web pages, emails, and the like. There is also multitouch system-wide, from the web browser to the photos application, and yes, pinch to zoom is in there."

Overall, the OS looks more modern, with the messaging/email inbox's looking much cleaner and updated. Thumbnails are larger and clearer so users can see where the messages they are receiving originated from (Twitter, email, text, Facebook, etc)

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AfterDawn: News

USB drive has built-in PIN keypad

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Apr 2010 11:55

USB drive has built-in PIN keypad LOK-IT has unveiled their latest Secure Flash Drive, a portable drive with a full PIN keypad.

There are two versions available, one with a five-key PIN, or a second with ten keys. Both drives use 256-bit AES encryption and remain encrypted until the correct PIN code is typed in.

The drives can be used in Windows, Mac or Linux computers.

Anyone trying to brute force hack the PIN number will be stopped in their tracks, as after ten failed attempts the drive must be reformatted.

There are 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities available.

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AfterDawn: News

Nook outsells Kindle, iPad outsells both?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Apr 2010 11:12

Nook outsells Kindle, iPad outsells both? According to a new DigiTimes report, the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader outsold the Amazon Kindle, although both were outsold by the Apple iPad.

Mingchi Kuo, analyst at Digitimes, says manufacturers shipped more Nooks than Kindles, with the Nook accounting for 53 percent of all e-readers shipped to the U.S. for the month of March 2010.

That being said, shipped units does not always lead to sold units (speak to Palm about that), but it still appears that Nook devices are selling well and demand remains high.

Overall, global e-reader shipments for the Q1 2010 were 1.43 million units.

Although the iPad is not considered solely an e-reader, the device outsold both the Kindle and the Nook, with 750,000 units already sold in the U.S.




AfterDawn: News

Slim Xbox 360, new Metal Gear Solid for 360 to be revealed at E3?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Apr 2010 10:45

Slim Xbox 360, new Metal Gear Solid for 360 to be revealed at E3? SurferGirl, known for her pretty spot-on predictions regarding Microsoft and the Xbox 360 has put a blog post this week with two main highlights.

She says Microsoft will be revealing a Slim Xbox 360 bundled with Natal at one of their press conferences during the upcoming E3 event.

Additionally, the updated console will be getting a new logo, and all Slim models will also be in a black colorway, including Natal. The underlying feeling is that most HDTV owners own glossy black televisions, and a white Natal would not fit in.

The second highlight of the post is SurferGirl saying that an Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid is coming, and will work with Natal.

You can read the post here: SurferGirl Strikes Back




AfterDawn: News

New PS3 internals should make the hardware profitable

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Apr 2010 12:49

New PS3 internals should make the hardware profitable PlayStation University is reporting today that Sony's latest PlayStation 3 hardware updates should help the console finally become profitable without the aid of software sales.

The new motherboard of the Slim units have an improved RSX GPU, one that uses about 15 percent less power, and almost completely eliminates the possibility of the 'yellow light of death'.

There has not been a breakdown completed yet of the new hardware, but the original Slim PS3 was said to bring the console to almost breakeven in terms of profitability so the new GPU should likely make the hardware profitable for the first time since the console's launch in 2006.

The new RSX GPU is 40nm, an update from the larger, less efficient 65nm version seen in all past models.

Adding to the efficiency, the new Slim unit features two 128MB XDR RAM chips instead of four 64MB chips, a new cooling assembly, as well as a lighter power supply.




AfterDawn: News

RLSLOG taken offline after complaint from UMG

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Apr 2010 11:31

RLSLOG taken offline after complaint from UMG RLSLOG, the most popular torrent release news site, has been taken down this week after its hosting company received a takedown request from Universal Music Group.

The site says it is moving to a new host, as it does not, and will not ever host copyrighted material.

Regulars of the site were greeted with this message: "RLSLOG.net was suspended by its German hosting company after removal request from law firm representing Universal Music, although we never hosted any files or copyrighted data on our server. Our site is strictly informative."

TF interviewed the founder of the site that said the site was not given any prior notice before being taken down, and apologized for the downtime.

Last year Google took action to filter some of RLSLOG'S pages from its search engine results, after complaints were filed by copyright holders.




AfterDawn: News

Avatar Blu-ray smashes all sales records

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Apr 2010 11:07

Avatar Blu-ray smashes all sales records The world's highest grossing movie of all-time, the blockbuster Avatar, has now also become the fastest-selling Blu-ray disc of all-time, selling 2.7 million units in just four days.

The previous record holder was the blockbuster The Dark Knight, which has sold 2.5 million discs in 18 months.

Avatar, on DVD and Blu-ray has already sold upwards of 7 million units, putting it on pace to become the best-selling title of the decade.

20th Century Fox, the distributor behind the film says cumulative first day sales were 3.2 million, with 2 million coming from DVD sales and the rest from Blu-ray. In recent memory, the Dark Knight launched with 2.7 million units (2.1 million on DVD) and Twilight: New Moon saw 4 million units sold in its first two days. Avatar's two-day number was around 5.5 million.

Says James Finn of Fox, via Deadline: "Grocery and drug stores sold more Avatar [2D] in one day than they sold of The Dark Knight during its entire life on shelves. This shows that the audience for the home entertainment release far out weighs the fan boy base. It's a cultural phenomenon…again. Employees and customers alike are dressing up as Na'vis in stores around the country, and this is a home entertainment release like no other."

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AfterDawn: News

Android Market hits new milestone, 50,000 apps

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Apr 2010 10:34

Android Market hits new milestone, 50,000 apps After just 18 months, the Android Market has hit its latest milestone, 50,000 apps available in the marketplace.

The company reported in December 2009 that it the store had reached 16,000 apps.

By mid-March 2010, the store had doubled its apps available to 30,000.

The stats site AndroLib says the breakdown of the 50,000 apps, in terms of free vs. paid, is 59 percent to 41 percent, the closest number is recent memory.

In comparison, the Apple App Store hit 50,000 in 12 months, and now sits at around 190,000.

Adds Asad Rafi of Android Spin: "With this rapid increase in the number of applications with in such a short time period, it will only a matter of time before the Android market will cross 100,000 application mark."

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AfterDawn: News

Google tells Verizon users to buy HTC Incredible over Nexus One

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Apr 2010 10:17

Google tells Verizon users to buy HTC Incredible over Nexus One Although Google promised the Nexus One smartphone for Verizon when it launched the device, the search giant has changed its stance today, instead telling Verizon subscribers to instead purchase the HTC Incredible, if they want a high-end Android device.

As posted earlier today in the official Google phones portal, instead of saying to buy the Nexus One for Verizon in the spring, it now reads: "For Verizon's network, you can buy the Droid Incredible by HTC."

When asked for an elaboration on the word change, Google added the following: "We won't be selling a Nexus One with Verizon, and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem. Verizon Wireless customers who want an Android phone with the power of the Nexus One can get the Droid Incredible by HTC."

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AfterDawn: News

Vodafone to sell Google Nexus One in UK starting next week

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Apr 2010 9:59

Vodafone to sell Google Nexus One in UK starting next week The Google Nexus One will go on sale in the UK via Vodafone starting on April 30th, reads a press release from the companies, with the "superphone" available for as cheap as free depending on the contract.

Vodafone is the first carrier in the EU to offer the phone, and they will offer the device for free if you sign up for a two-year contract at £35 a month.

Unlike in the U.S., where the phone is only available online, Vodafone will make the smartphone available in stores and online, with direct support for both types of purchase.

Owners get up to 1GB of data with their plans, as well as a free 1GB of data at "premium BT Openzone hotspots" around the nations. Wi-Fi is unlimited.

The Nexus One has a 3.7″ AMOLED 480x800 WVGA display, a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 5MP camera with autofocus and flash, 512MB RAM and ROM, a microSD slot and noise suppression.




AfterDawn: News

Sony discontinues floppy disks in Japan

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Apr 2010 11:30

Sony discontinues floppy disks in Japan Sony has announced this weekend that they will be discontinuing all sales of the 3.5-inch floppy disc in Japan starting in 2011, effectively killing off the three decade old disk type.

The company helped pioneer the disk in 1981, introducing the technology that year and then starting to sell the discs in 1983.

At its height in the year 2000, Sony shipped 47 million disks, but that number has progressively fallen, reaching just 8.5 million in 2009. However, that also begs the question, why were so many floppies shipped even in 2009 and who is still using them?

Sony holds 70 percent of the Japanese market share for the disks, compared to around 40 percent globally.

The company cited lack of demand as the main reasoning behind the decision, given the cheap prices of much smaller and higher capacity devices, like USB flash drives.




AfterDawn: News

Palm Pixi now free with contract through Sprint

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Apr 2010 10:29

Palm Pixi now free with contract through Sprint Sprint has dropped the price of the Palm Pixi to free with a two-year contract, the final price drop on a phone that Sprint has struggled to sell.

So far, the deal is only online, so if you are looking to test the phone before buying you will have to hit a retail store, then go home and buy it online to get the discount.

The story behind the price drop is much larger.

Palm has put itself up for sale in a last-ditch effort to avoid possible imminent bankruptcy, and potential suitors keep dwindling.

Just last week, Michael Abbott, their software and services chief, resigned, and the company had to pay large bonuses to keep some other key employees on.




AfterDawn: News

Prototype iPod Touch models with cameras hit eBay

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Apr 2010 9:51

Prototype iPod Touch models with cameras hit eBay Two prototypes of upcoming iPod Touch models hit eBay this weekend, each sporting cameras and development team tags.

The first prototype was marked with DVT-1 and the second, predictably with DVT-2, with one holding an 'Apple Development Team' label.

The prototypes were running an OS that only the hardware team gets to test when the phones are in development. The apps pictured are special diagnostic and testing apps.

The auctions were quickly taken down, but the pics were saved.

The latest "leak" follows the highly publicized revealing of the upcoming "iPhone 4G/HD," after developer Gray Powell left the device in a bar.

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AfterDawn: News

Instructions for installing Android on older iPhones released

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Apr 2010 7:18

Instructions for installing Android on older iPhones released Last week, iPhone Dev Team member "planetbeing" released a video today showing off a huge accomplishment, the Android OS running on a first-gen iPhone.

The hack has been in development for months, and is still in alpha stages. So far the phone only works on the 2G model, with 3G happening likely in the near future. The 3GS, is a whole different ball game, however.

After being hacked, the iPhone can run both Android and the iPhone OS, in a "Bootcamp"-esque way, allowing for the boot of multiple OS on one Apple device.

Today, Androidalot has released instructions and a video on how to run the hack yourself, if you have a iPhone 2G just laying around.

The instructions are here: HOW TO: Install Android On An iPhone 2G

The video is here:

Guide to Installing Android on iPhone 2G from AndroidALot on Vimeo.

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