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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

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Palm Pre 2 vs. HP Pre 3: what's changed?

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:25 AM PST

The Veer may be the cutest of the bunch, but Pre 3 has clearly taken the reigns as HP's top-of-the-line smartphone from the Palm Pre 2, and it's managed to do so while hanging onto the same portrait QWERTY slider form factor and most of the industrial design cues. So, under the hood, what's really changed? Quite a bit, turns out -- so follow the break for a line-by-line breakdown.

Palm Pre 2

 HP Pre 3
Dimensions 59.6 x 100.7 x 16.9mm 64 x 111 x 16mm
Processor 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8x55
RAM 512MB 512MB
Display 3.1-inch 480 x 320 3.58-inch 800 x 480
Storage 16GB 8GB or 16GB
Cellular radio GSM / HSDPA or CDMA GSM / HSPA+ and CDMA
WiFi 802.11b/g 802.11b/g/n (dual-band)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR 2.1 + EDR
Gyroscope No No
Accelerometer Yes Yes
Touch-to-share capability No Yes
Battery capacity 1,150mAh 1,230mAh

HP Touchstone Touch-to-Share lets devices swap URLs, 'Exhibition' mode added for phones

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:12 AM PST

So, HP is extending "Touchstone" to mean more than "that heavy, slanted magnet thing that my Pre always slips off of." For starters, the TouchPad has a Touchstone charging dock -- it's not magnetic, but at least you don't have to worry about plugging the thing in, and it's particularly suited to working with a keyboard. But that's not the real magic. HP has enabled its three new webOS devices (The TouchPad, Veer, and Pre 3) to communicate over Touchstone. You simply place your phone on top of the TouchPad, as illustrated, and whatever you're viewing on the phone pops up in the tablet's browser. We're not sure how this works bi-directionally, but HP mentions both scenarios, so hopefully it shouldn't be that difficult to configure the URL to come from the tablet and land on the phone. Naturally, there should be a lot more "Continuous Client"-style uses for this tech in the future, but we'd say URL pushing is a good start. Finally, the old-fashioned Touchstone is going to work with the Veer and Pre 3, which will now be sent into an "Exhibition" mode when docked. The mode allows the phone to display photos or upcoming appointments, depending on the user's particular level of sentimentality.

Time inks deal with HP to bring magazine subscriptions to the TouchPad

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:10 AM PST

Time Inc. has been trying to work out a deal on tablet magazine subscriptions for some time now, and it's just made a fairly big move in that direction with the help of HP. It confirmed at its event today that it has teamed up with the publisher to offer subscriptions to some of its magazines on the TouchPad when it launches this summer. That will apparently include Sports Illustrated, Time and People initially, with Fortune and other Time Inc. titles to follow further on down the road, according to AdWeek. Still no word on pricing, but HP promises they'll deliver an "immersive reading" experience.

HP's TouchPad shipping with webOS 3.0, Veer and Pre 3 with webOS 2.2

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST

Palm HP didn't bother mentioning the webOS versions during its 'Think Beyond' event today, but based on a little fine print on the outfit's official Touchstone portal, we've learned that the TouchPad will ship with webOS 3.0 (a heretofore unheard of build), while the Veer and Pre 3 will get going with webOS 2.2. That said, the incredible Tap-to-Share functionality that'll enable these slates and phones to converse with one another will also support "webOS 2.2 or higher" on the phones, suggesting that an update could be in the waiting. We'll keep you updated as we hear more.

Follow along with HP's announcements right here in our ongoing liveblog!

RIP, Palm: 1992 - 2011

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:44 AM PST

HP has plenty of great new stuff to announce in the phone and tablet space today, but something is notably absent: the Palm brand. It appears to be a casualty of this acquisition and subsequent "scale," and while the brand might not mean much to the modern smartphone consumer, it will be sorely missed by those of us who have been looking to Palm (in all its various forms) for handheld innovation for roughly two decades. HP is keeping the webOS brand around, however, so there's that -- and hopefully nobody will notice when we prefix it with an under-the-breath Palm when we're feeling a little sentimental.

HP's 9.7-inch TouchPad: webOS 3.0 tablet with 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon, coming this summer

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:36 AM PST

There she is, the HP TouchPad. It's the webOS slate we've been yearning for ever since probing (then) Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein on our first-ever Engadget Show, but sadly, it looks as if HP has yanked any and all Palm labeling from the final product. Introduced today in San Francisco as part of a newfangled webOS triumvirate, the TouchPad (previously known by Topaz) is shaped almost exactly like the iPad. It tips the scales at 1.6 pounds and measures 13.7mm thick, which is somewhat of a downer for those already put off by the heft found in Apple's slate. As we'd heard last month, HP's shipping this one with its own Beats audio engine, Touch-to-Share (a feature that lets users easily transfer a website, document, song, text or call from the phone to the tablet -- or vice versa -- simply by tapping the two devices together) and a huge reliance on the cloud. Also of note, Jon just mentioned that this is only the "first in the webOS TouchPad family," hinting that the Opal may be just around the bend.

Other specifications include webOS 3.0, "true multitasking," Touch-to-share, instant-on productivity, a 9.7-inch display (1024 x 768 screen resolution), a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU (!), inbuilt gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and 16GB / 32GB of internal storage space. There's also a front-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam, support for video calling, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, A-GPS (3G model only), "twice the memory of a Pre 2" and a set of stereo speakers. Rubenstein claims that this here tablet is "screaming fast," and the software UI we're seeing looks downright luscious. There's a new paneled email application a Growl-like pop-up notification system, plenty of cal / email integration courtesy of HP Synergy, a slick virtual keyboard, VPN support, wireless printing as well as Google Docs, QuickOffice, Dropbox and Box.net compatibility. One of the killer features that can't be found on a competing tablet right now is this one's ability to talk to the Pre 3 -- so long as there's a Touchstone involved, one can have their Pre 3 and TouchPad communicate, even piping over notifications and texts from the phone onto the slate. It's a brilliant idea, and we're obviously amped to see just how well it's implemented.

Over on the accessories front, there's a case / stand (which includes a handy flip-out kickstand for desk use), a wireless keyboard (yeah, this one!) and a new Touchstone dock that enables all of the wireless communication magic between webOS devices. If you're curious about specific models, the first out of the gate will be a WiFi only version, with 3G and 4G variants to follow suit in due time. As for the all-important pricing and availability? "Coming this summer," with pricing to be determined "at a later date." Bah, humbug!

Update: Video after the break!
HP Touchpad

HP TouchPad press shots


Follow along with HP's announcements right here in our ongoing liveblog!

Show full PR text
HP TouchPad Brings webOS to the Big Screen

First webOS tablet works the way you do, introduces fun, mobile productivity on larger scale

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HP (NYSE: HPQ) today enlarged the HP webOS world with the first webOS slate – the HP TouchPad – the breakthrough webOS user interface fully realized in the tablet experience.(1)

"Today we're embarking on a new era of webOS with the goal of linking a wide family of HP products through the best mobile experience available"

With its vibrant 9.7-inch diagonal flush capacitive multitouch display, virtual keyboard, instant-on access, support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 beta in the browser and access to thousands of webOS applications,(2) TouchPad works the way you do and is designed not just for fun but for mobile productivity. It's ideal for anyone who wants the benefits of the amazing webOS platform on a much bigger scale.

TouchPad is one of the products HP announced today to introduce a unique experience for customers around connected mobility, offering a unified experience for the first time across a variety of devices. It's one of the building blocks in HP's vision to seamlessly connect all your worlds through the power of HP webOS.

"Today we're embarking on a new era of webOS with the goal of linking a wide family of HP products through the best mobile experience available," said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. "The flexibility of the webOS platform makes it ideal for creating a range of innovative devices that work together to keep you better connected to your world."

Designed to be used alone or as a digital companion to your webOS phone, TouchPad connects you and your devices through the elegant webOS experience. Never miss an important call or SMS message – they can be answered and viewed right on your TouchPad.(3,4) Plus, HP's exclusive new touch-to-share feature will let you simply touch an enabled webOS phone to your TouchPad to share web URLs.(1,5)

With the HP Synergy feature, you simply have to sign in to your Facebook®, Google, Microsoft® Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo!® accounts and your contacts, calendar and email automatically populate your TouchPad.(6)

TouchPad works the way you do

The TouchPad user interface is a visual representation of your workspace, so you can manage your workflow in a naturally intuitive way that's easy and fun. The power of webOS true multitasking lets you have multiple applications running at the same time. webOS shows you your activities in the form of cards, not a sea of application icons on numerous home screens.

This helps you do all the things you want to do, all at once, so you can listen to music, update your status on Facebook, read email and chat on IM at the same time.(4,7) As you launch new activities, webOS will automatically group related cards – for example, an email and an associated web page – together in a card stack, so you can easily track all related items together.(6)

TouchPad also features a webOS communication suite powered by HP Synergy that keeps you connected and creative, making all of your communications simpler, richer and in your control. It's a complete solution, including email, instant messaging, contacts, calendar, videos and a front-facing camera for video calling.(6) Connected photo albums make it easy to share and view your pictures directly from popular services such as Facebook, Snapfish and Photobucket. It works seamlessly with TouchPad's user interface for a natural and efficient experience.

Around the house or on the go

TouchPad offers a great internet experience around the house or on the go, so you can manage your busy life, be productive wherever you are and stay connected with work, friends, family and social networks. It keeps you connected anywhere there's Wi-Fi for easy access to the web and entertainment.(8)

At home, whether you're watching TV, relaxing on the sofa, at the kitchen table or in bed, you can check in with friends, surf the web, play games or read a book, magazine or newspaper.(2) Amazon.com today announced that it will launch a free Kindle app for HP webOS tailored for TouchPad that will give you access to more than 810,000 titles from Amazon's Kindle Store. You also can subscribe to popular magazine titles, such as Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and People, and download movies and TV shows through the HP Movie Store. The TouchPad music app lets you transfer and play all your favorites from your personal music collection,(9) with amazing sound quality by Beats Audio™. You can start an email, create a message, update your status, search your favorite websites – all before you've even opened an application. Whenever you want to do something on your TouchPad, Just Type.

Buy and sell on Amazon.com, do your banking, buy movie tickets from Fandango or check the news. Whether your thing is Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, IM, video calling or email, TouchPad brings it all together with thousands of available webOS applications and the convenience and power of HP Synergy for integrated contacts and calendar to keep your busy life on track.(6)

It's great for road trips, on a plane, while commuting, in public places, while visiting friends and on vacation. It's easy to pack, has a long-lasting battery and integrated GPS (3G only), and posting vacation photos is a snap.(1,10)

Mobile productivity

When productivity is key, TouchPad makes an excellent companion. You can read and write email, view your work and personal inboxes together, or easily toggle between them. Integrated messaging conveniently combines all your text messages, picture messages and IM conversations with one person into a single view, and you can connect through SMS, Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! Messenger.(4)

TouchPad's virtual full QWERTY keyboard includes a number row, which reduces keyboard switching, making typing easy and fast. It powers on instantly and brings you back to exactly where you left off, whether you were in the middle of composing an email, playing a game or browsing a web page. With webOS true multitasking, it's like you never left.

For maximum productivity, HP is working with Quickoffice to include the Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite, which lets you view and edit documents, such as Microsoft Word and Excel. It also comes with VPN support to connect to corporate networks.

With its 1.3-megapixel front-facing webcam, TouchPad offers video calling capability.(11) It's also compatible with HP's industry-leading printing solutions, so you can wirelessly print documents, photos and emails to compatible wireless and networked HP printers.(12)

TouchPad has built-in HP Touchstone technology for easy charging, so it's compatible out of the box with the HP Touchstone for TouchPad (sold separately), and you can charge in either portrait or landscape mode, even without removing the TouchPad case (sold separately). The webOS Exhibition feature lets you run applications designed specifically for Touchstone. Set your TouchPad on Touchstone and Exhibition launches automatically, showing you anything from today's agenda to a slideshow of your photos.(13)

TouchPad is one of three webOS products announced today (see separate announcements for HP Veer and HP Pre3). Each product plays a distinct role in the growing webOS family, designed to meet the varying needs of customers in a rapidly evolving mobile landscape.

Availability

HP TouchPad is scheduled to be available in the summer. Exact pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

HP TouchPad features and specs

* HP webOS
* High-speed connectivity(1)
* Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2-GHz processor
* 9.7-inch diagonal XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 1,024 x 768 resolution display
* The option of either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage(14)
* High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content(1)
* Wireless connectivity:
o Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication(1)
o A-GPS (3G only)(10)
o Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
* Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, and a 3.5 mm headset/headphone/microphone jack
o Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audio
o Front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for live video calling(11)
* Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)(6)
* Robust messaging support(4)
* Light sensor, accelerometer, compass (magnetometer) and gyroscope
* Rechargeable 6,300 mAh (typical) battery
* Micro-USB (Charging and PC Connect) with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
* Built-in HP Touchstone technology for easy charging (HP Touchstone for TouchPad sold separately) and HP touch-to-share to share web addresses between TouchPad and compatible webOS phones(5)
* Dimensions: 190 mm x 242 mm x 13.7 mm (7.48 inches x 9.53 inches x .54 inches)
* Weight: approximately 740 g (1.6 pounds)

More information about HP TouchPad is available at www.palm.com/TouchPad.

The HP Pre 3: 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU, 3.6-inch WVGA, coming this summer (video)

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:32 AM PST

The first Pre breathed new life into Palm. The Pre 2, on the other hand, didn't exactly have the same luster and longevity. Here's to a decidedly Palm-less round three. The QWERTY slider with the all-too-familiar form factor has a 3.6-inch 800 x 480 display (a marked improvement over past Pres), 5 megapixel camera with AF and LED flash, 720p HD video, a front-facing camera for video calling, mobile hotspot, and webOS 2.2. Under the hood? A Qualcomm MSM 8x55 CPU running at 1.4GHz (!), 802.11a/b/g/n 5GHz, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, a 1230 mAh battery, HSPA+ and EVDO Rev A -- yep, it's a world phone -- and the same RAM as the Pre 2 (that's 512MB DRAM). It'll be Touchstone compatible, naturally, and will switch to Exhibition mode when docked to show pictures and upcoming appointments. There's some interesting synergy going on where the TouchPad tablet can take Pre 3's phone calls, and just touching the two devices together will let you share URLs (aptly titled touch-to-share). This one's gonna keep you waiting, though -- availability is this summer with both 8GB and 16GB storage options.
HP Pre 3

HP Pre 3 press shots

Developing. Check out our liveblog of HP / Palm's "Think Beyond" webOS event, and news on the HP Veer and HP TouchPad!

Show full PR text
HP Pre3 Introduces the New Look of Business for the 24-hour Life

Bigger and better touchscreen, more processing power and all-new keyboard deliver professional productivity and personal connectivity

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 9, 2011


For professionals who require powerful mobile productivity with an eye on personal connectivity, HP today announced the versatile HP Pre3 smartphone running HP webOS.

With a large 3.58-inch touchscreen, fast 1.4-GHz processor and a full slide-out keyboard, Pre3 is a multitasking professional workhorse that's perfectly balanced for speed and serious fun.

Pre3 is one of the products HP announced today to introduce a unique experience for customers around connected mobility. It's one of the building blocks in HP's vision to seamlessly connect all your worlds through the power of HP webOS.

"In the suite of webOS products we're introducing today, Pre3 is our premier phone, designed for the speed of business," said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. "It enables professionals to accomplish more of their important workday tasks while easily keeping their fingers on the pulse of their personal lives."

Pre3 is the ideal smartphone for multitasking professionals who rely on advanced messaging and voice capabilities to stay connected with all aspects of their busy lives.(1) With a slim design and high-capacity battery,(2) it is comfortable to carry and use all day. The phone's fast performance and large, high-resolution display accentuate the unique webOS experience for both professional and personal use.

The portrait layout enables optimal readability for email, attachments and web, and the new vertical slide-out keyboard – the widest and largest keyboard on any webOS phone to date – helps ensure quick and comfortable error-free typing. It's ideal for heavy email and messaging needs, web browsing, enjoying multimedia and for staying in touch with business and social circles.(1,3)

For professionals who demand more than productivity

With an array of features that are critical for professionals balancing work and personal use – including the speed of 3G and Wi-Fi,(1) a comfortable keyboard for typing and a large vivid touchscreen – Pre3 offers the best of both worlds on the powerful HP webOS platform:

Business-class email – Pre3 offers business-class email and encrypted data storage to protect critical information and supports industry-standard VPN to connect to corporate networks. You can read and write email with ease, view your email accounts together or easily toggle between them.(1,3)
More ways to connect – With the HP Synergy feature, you just have to sign in to your Facebook®, Google, Microsoft® Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo!® accounts. Your information – email, contacts, calendars – automatically populates your phone and stays updated so it's always at your fingertips.(3) Integrated messaging conveniently combines all your text messages, picture messages and IM conversations with one person into a single view, and you can connect through SMS, MMS, Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! Messenger.
The whole web – Pre3's high-performance web browser offers support for HTML5 features and Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content on the phone's big, vivid display.(1)
Video calling – Pre3 has a front-facing camera, a great speaker and noise cancellation for a state-of-the-art video calling experience.(1,4)
True Multitasking – webOS works the way you do. Begin an email, pause to answer a call, check your calendar, send a text, then switch back to your email without closing anything. Pre3 lets you easily manage multiple open applications and notifications using natural touch gestures. Whether you're planning a meeting or a night on the town, webOS keeps related items together so managing multiple tasks is easy.(5)
Just Type – Start an email, create a message, update your status and search your favorite websites – all before you've even opened an app. Because webOS works the way you do, whenever you want to do something on your Pre3 – whether it's emailing, texting, searching or almost anything – just type.
Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite – HP is working with Quickoffice to include the Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite, which offers support for viewing Microsoft Office Word and Excel and provides integration with a variety of services, including Google Docs and Box.net.
Touch-to-share – With HP's new and exclusive touch-to-share feature, you'll be able to simply tap your Pre3 phone to the new HP TouchPad to share web addresses between devices.(6)
GPS – Get where you need to be with built-in GPS on Pre3. Apps such as Fandango and OpenTable work with GPS to pinpoint your exact location, get directions, find nearby places of interest and provide turn-by-turn directions.(7)
Apps to keep you connected – The webOS App Catalog features thousands of apps for fast and easy access to all the things you need to keep your day moving, such as weather, news, hotel and restaurant reviews and reservations, flight info and games.(8) Mobile social networking apps such as Facebook and Twitter allow you to stay connected throughout your hectic day and update your status and upload pictures in real time.
HP mobile hotspot – Pre3 also supports the HP mobile hotspot, enabling your phone to act as a mobile Wi-Fi router so you can share wireless internet connectivity with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including the new HP TouchPad, as well as notebooks, gaming devices and portable media players.(9)
Pre3 is compatible out of the box with HP Touchstone (sold separately). The webOS Exhibition feature lets you run apps designed specifically for HP Touchstone – showing you anything from today's agenda to a slideshow of your photos – turning charge time into useful time.(10)

Pre3 is one of three webOS products announced today (see separate announcements for HP Veer and HP TouchPad). Each product plays a distinct role in the growing webOS family, designed to meet the varying needs of customers in a rapidly evolving mobile landscape.

Availability

The HP Pre3 smartphone is scheduled to be available in the summer. Exact pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

HP Pre3 features and specs
HP webOS
High-speed connectivity(1)
Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8x55 1.4-GHz processor
3.58-inch multitouch screen with a vibrant, 24-bit color, 480 x 800 resolution display
Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
Redesigned vertical slide-out QWERTY keyboard with backlight
8 or 16 gigabytes (GB) of internal storage(11)
High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content(1)
Wireless connectivity:
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication(1)
Integrated GPS (and A-GPS)(7)
Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
Wi-Fi router functionality for up to five devices using HP mobile hotspot(9)
Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
Rear-facing autofocus camera with flash, HD camcorder (capable up to 720p video recording)
Front-facing VGA fixed-focus camera for live video calling(4)
Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)(3)
Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)(12)
Proximity sensor, light sensor, accelerometer and compass
Removable, rechargeable 1,230 mAh battery
USB mass storage mode to transfer media and other files quickly between desktop and device
Ringer switch, which easily silences the ringer with one touch
Compatible with HP Touchstone (sold separately)
Dimensions: 111 mm x 64 mm x 16 mm (4.37 inches x 2.52 inches x .63 inches)
Weight: 156 grams (5.5 ounces)
More information about HP Pre3 is available at www.palm.com/Pre3.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com/.

(1) Within wireless coverage area only. Actual speeds may vary. Email, mobile number and related information required for setup and activation. Required data services sold separately; unlimited plan recommended and may be required. Not all web content may be available.

(2) Talk, standby and usage times are approximate and depend on the network configuration, the usage pattern of an individual user and the configuration of the handheld. Use of some internal wireless capabilities and backlight will significantly decrease battery run time.

(3) Within wireless coverage area only. Microsoft Exchange email, contacts and calendars available for ActiveSync only; requires Microsoft Outlook using Exchange Server 2003 with SP2, Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2010.

(4) Check with carrier for video calling availability and restrictions.

(5) Performance varies bases on actual usage.

(6) Requires TouchPad with webOS 3.0 and Pre3 or Veer with webOS 2.2 or higher, both products having same HP webOS Account. Viewing URL web page content requires data connection via Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

(7) Within wireless coverage area only. Voice-activated, as-you-go, turn-by-turn directions sold separately.

(8) Third-party software available separately. Within wireless coverage area only. Requires data services at additional cost. Availability will vary by region.

(9) The mobile hotspot application requires a special data plan and is separate from the smartphone data feature. While HP mobile hotspot is active, on-device applications will continue to work and will use the same data plan as the mobile hotspot. Mobile hotspot data usage may incur additional charges. Check with carrier for plan details.

(10) Displayed preferences require user setup.

(11) 8 GB or 16 GB maximum storage. User-available memory subject to change based on system software and application usage.

(12) Within wireless coverage area only. SMS, MMS and IM require data services at additional cost. Availability of IM functionality may vary by carrier.

Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Microsoft is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies. Bluetooth is a trademark owned by its proprietor and used by Hewlett-Packard Company under license. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. Google is a trademark of Google, Inc. LinkedIn and the LinkedIn logo are registered trademarks of LinkedIn Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Yahoo! is a trademark of Yahoo! Inc.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance, features, available applications or market share relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP's businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the achievement of expected operational and financial results; and other risks that are described in HP's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2010. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

The HP Veer: smallest smartphone in the webOS stable, 2.6-inch display, coming this spring

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:31 AM PST

You wanted a small smartphone? Well, you've got it in HP's Veer, the very first webOS-based device to bear the HP name alone without Palm's alongside. It's also the first phone to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7230 processor at 800MHz. Other headline specs include a 2.6-inch 320 x 400 display, 5 megapixel EDoF camera, HSPA+ support, 8GB of storage, an accelerometer, proximity and light sensors (as usual), Touchstone compatibility, and mobile hotspot support. It's genuinely cute -- but keyboard usability will be a big question that we'll need to have answered when the phone is released this spring. No word on carriers yet, and pricing is set to be decided upon "at a later date."

Update: Added the full press release and a demonstration video after the break!

Developing. Check out our liveblog of HP / Palm's "Think Beyond" webOS event!
HP Veer

HP Veer press shots


Show full PR text
HP Veer Packs Big Smartphone Experience into Powerfully Small Package

Smallest HP webOS phone offers powerful features without the extra size
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 9, 2011

For anyone who wants a smartphone that packs the features they crave without the extra size they don't, HP today introduced the powerfully small HP Veer smartphone running HP webOS.

Veer is one of the products HP announced today to introduce a unique experience for customers around connected mobility. It's one of the building blocks in HP's vision to seamlessly connect all your worlds through the power of HP webOS.

Veer is the smallest webOS phone to date – the size of a credit card and no thicker than a deck of cards – yet it offers the higher-end features of a smartphone, such as easy messaging and access to apps, social networks and the web, including support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 beta in the browser for access to rich, Flash-based web content.(1)

It has a full slide-out keyboard, vivid touchscreen and access to thousands of webOS apps(2) in a surprisingly small, modern package that fits easily into a pocket or purse. It's everything a smartphone should be, but in a smarter size.

"While much of the industry is trending toward larger and larger devices, we believe there's also a whole lot of room for thinking small," said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. "Veer bridges the gap for a new generation of smartphone users, proving they really can have it all without sacrificing the size they want."

Less is more

At just 54.5 mm x 84.0 mm x 15.1 mm and only 103 grams, Veer touts an 800-MHz processor; a vivid 2.57-inch glass display; full slide-out keyboard; 8 gigabytes (GB) of internal user storage; a high-performance browser with full access to the web,(1) including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta; Wi-Fi(1); integrated GPS(3); robust messaging support(4); and multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, and a 5-megapixel camera.

Veer also includes HP Synergy, which is exclusive to webOS devices. Synergy brings together information from multiple sources across the web automatically, so the information you need is all in one place.(5) In one incredibly small design powered by HP webOS, Veer gives you many features per square inch:

* More than just text – With Veer, messaging means more than just text.(4) Integrated messaging conveniently combines all your text messages, picture messages and IM conversations with one person into a single view. You can read and write email with ease and view your email accounts together or easily toggle between them.
* More ways to connect – Sign in to your Facebook®, Google, Microsoft® Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo!® accounts and the HP Synergy feature automatically populates your information on your phone.(5) Mobile social networking apps such as those for Facebook and Twitter allow you to stay connected, update your status and upload pictures in real time.(1) The webOS App Catalog features thousands of apps for fast and easy access to all the things you need from the web, including games, weather, movie info, news, recipes – you name it.(2)
* More than just search – With Just Type, whatever you want to do on your phone – searching the web, texting, updating your status or almost anything – all you have to do is start typing and Veer takes you there.(1,4)
* More apps open – Veer lets you keep multiple websites and apps open at the same time and easily switch between them with just a swipe of your finger. Pause a game, read a text message, check your calendar, reply to the text, then switch back to the game without closing anything.(1,6)
* More ways to get where you want to be – Veer lets you get directions, find points of interest or discover fun things to do on the go. Built-in GPS turns your phone into your personal navigation system, and apps such as Fandango and OpenTable work with GPS to pinpoint your exact location, get directions, find places of interest around you and provide turn-by-turn directions.(3)
* More power to you – With HP Touchstone (sold separately), Veer gives you a unique and innovative way to charge your phone. Simply place your phone on the dock and it charges automatically; there's nothing to plug in. And the new Exhibition feature lets you run apps designed specifically for Touchstone. Set your phone on Touchstone, and Exhibition launches automatically, showing you anything from today's calendar to a slideshow of your photos.(7) Veer also supports the HP mobile hotspot, enabling your phone to act as a mobile Wi-Fi router so you can share wireless internet connectivity with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including the new HP TouchPad, as well as notebooks, gaming devices and portable media players.(8)

Veer is one of three webOS products announced today (see separate announcements for HP Pre3 and HP TouchPad). Each product plays a distinct role in the growing webOS family, designed to meet the varying needs of customers in a rapidly evolving mobile landscape.

Availability

The HP Veer smartphone is scheduled to be available in the early spring. Exact pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

HP Veer features and specs

* HP webOS
* High-speed connectivity(1)
* Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7230 800-MHz processor
* 2.57-inch multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 320 x 400 resolution display
* Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
* Full slide-out QWERTY keyboard
* 8 GB of internal storage(9)
* High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content(1)
* Wireless connectivity:
o Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication(1)
o Integrated GPS(3)
o Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
o Wi-Fi router functionality for up to five devices using HP mobile hotspot(8)
* Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, a 5-megapixel camera with geotagging and 3.5 mm stereo headphone adapter
* Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)(5)
* Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)(4)
* Proximity sensor, light sensor and accelerometer
* Rechargeable 910 mAh battery
* USB mass storage mode to transfer your media and other files quickly between desktop and device
* Ringer switch, which easily silences the ringer with one touch
* Compatible with HP Touchstone (sold separately)
* Tri-band UMTS, quad-band GSM/EDGE world phone(10)
* Dimensions: 54.5 mm x 84.0 mm x 15.1 mm (2.1 inches x 3.3 inches x 0.6 inches)
* Weight: 103 grams (3.6 ounces)

More information about HP Veer is available at www.palm.com/Veer.

Live from HP / Palm's 'Think Beyond' webOS event!

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 08:32 AM PST



11:33AM "I'd like to invite Steven McArthur up, our SVP of applications and services."

11:32AM Jon is back out.

11:32AM That got intense.


11:32AM "So I changed my speech because Dr. Paul was so incredible... bottom line is that our conduit for emotion is sound... when we make a record there's a feel and a sound to it. So we've been working with HP and developed a hardware / software solution. I can tell you that HP's laptops actually feel the way the music feels in the studio to us. So I want to thank Todd and everyone at HP. Thank you."


11:31AM "So what does the CE industry need right now? We know the dirty little secret... they need differentiation." He's really getting deep here.



11:30AM "We went on a mission to fix sound and make it great in the HP Envy. We worked for 8 to 10 months with Dre and myself with engineers, Will I Am, Kanye West, Bono... we had all these guys listen to it. We have a million laptops with Beats Audio."

11:29AM "I said we have to fix this. I watch musicians playing music and making music on PCs, and I said, this is unacceptable. I kept talking and Todd said 'shut up... I agree with you.'" Ha!

11:28AM "But about two years ago, I met Todd, and I said I can't do anything with these headphones... the music is getting squashed. Paul McCartney can remaster the Beatles, but when you play it through a Dell laptop, it sounds like crap."


11:27AM "We record our music in 24 bit... the record industry downgrades that to 16 bit, then ships it to iTunes and digital services. Why? I don't know. But we're changing our pipes to 24 bit, and other people are... Apple has been working with us on it and they're great."



11:26AM "We're working on anything from the files, to the PC, from headphones and speakers... right to the consumer."

11:26AM "We're trying to fix the degradation of music through the digital music. That's what's happening on a massive scale."



11:26AM "If I had known I was going to follow Dr. Paul Jacobs, I would have brought Dr. Dre." Ha!




11:25AM Wow. Jimmy is really seriously styling.

11:25AM "The TouchPad is also the only tablet to support Beats by Dr. Dre technology. I'm thrilled to welcome Jimmy Iovine to talk about beats." Ha! Jimmy is out.


11:24AM And Dr. Paul is off! And Jon is back!

11:24AM HP... no offense to Dr. Paul, but why did you bring him out at the tail end here? It's a little... uh... dry.

11:22AM Okay, we do love Qualcomm and everything... but when do we get our hands on some of these things?


11:21AM "This combination of webOS and Qualcomm allows HP to deliver the full web and multimedia experience with sleek and elegant hardware designs. What you see in the Veer and Pre 3 and the TouchPad, these are our latest innovations."

11:20AM "Let's talk a little about these HP webOS devices, and our collaboration."

11:20AM "The focus is on power efficiency. That's what mobile demands. These aren't off the shelf ARM cores."

11:19AM "Todd talked about HP's mission to give consumers effortless access to their content... that requires a lot of powerful, enabling technologies. When you support a variety of devices, you need a variety of options. Our Snapdragon is a family of chips."

11:17AM Dr. Jacobs is listing off the many products their chips power. It's many. Many many.

11:17AM "You look at these products... they're proof that the future is wide open when it comes to growth and opportunities in the mobile space. We're very happy that HP chose us for this first wave of HP webOS devices. When you have the scale of HP, you can work with anyone -- and they chose to work with us."


11:16AM "Is that great stuff!?" He seems pumped up.


11:15AM Dr. Paul Jacobs from Qualcomm is out.

11:15AM "We're working with some great partners here. Qualcomm, for instance. Snapdragon CPUs power each of these products."


11:15AM Jon is back. "A WiFi version of HP's TouchPad will be available in the summer, followed by 3G and 4G versions."


11:13AM Okay -- Jeff just mentioned Skyping in people on the device... we're pretty sure.



11:13AM "Hey all, sorry I couldn't be there... we've been partners with HP for about 10 years. Now here's the HP TouchPad... it feels like HP has hit it out of the park."


11:12AM "DreamWorks titles will be available at launch. Here's Jeffery Katzenberg had to say about the TouchPad."

11:12AM "As you'd expect, we've been keeping a tight grip on our test units, but we did let some partners have them. DreamWorks, for instance..."




11:11AM Touch to share... we heard about this. Literally touching!

11:11AM Really cool idea.

11:11AM Wow. So he took his Pre and tapped it against the TouchPad, and the site bounced from the TouchPad to the phone!







11:10AM "I'm not taking my TouchPad, but I am taking my Pre 3 to dinner. When we put these together, we can make magic happen."

11:09AM "I need to do one last thing, I need to figure out where I'm going to dinner." Just Type for searching email. This all feels so intuitive.


11:08AM "You're having way too much fun... take a few minutes and wrap it up." Ha! Pretty smooth, however. Obviously over WiFi.



11:08AM And, we have a video call.



11:07AM Ha! A call just came in from Jon... "Hey, let's switch to video."



11:07AM Page turn animations. People love those!


11:07AM Brand new Kindle app for webOS. Looks quite nice so far.

11:06AM "Our customers will have options on how to subscribe and purchase this content. We're working with partners like Time, but we're also making this a great platform for reading books by partnering with Amazon for Kindle."






11:05AM "Here's a recent issue of Sports Illustrated." Full magazine experience here.

11:05AM "It's not just about immersive gaming... it's about immersive reading too."


11:05AM A flight simulator... not bad looking. "If I'm about to crash... I can flip back to the card view." Apparently this app was done only with a few days of work.





11:04AM "Let's see an example of some Open GL gaming."

11:03AM "No we've seen some of the core webOS apps. I want to show you what our devs are building on webOS."


11:03AM "Let's not forget that printer. The proof is in the pudding... there you go."


11:03AM "This is seamless integration with social networking."


11:02AM Nice, Facebook comments from within the photo, and you can respond.

11:02AM "Here are my Facebook photos. My wife loves this, she wants to put it on the fridge. At HP we know a few things about printing. We now can support wireless printing to almost all of the devices we've shipped over the last few years."





11:02AM The new app integrates cloud photo services as if they were photo albums on the device.




11:01AM Taking a look at the photos app right now. Totally redesigned.

11:00AM Really nice integration. Very fluid. Some cheers for that.






11:00AM Just Type in action... which now includes posts to Twitter.

10:59AM "This sounds like a nice day, some dinner with friends, I need to let the world know how I feel -- I need to Tweet this." Ha!

10:59AM "In order to type something like this on other devices, I would have to switch about four times, but not here."





10:58AM Great keyboard clicking sound.

10:58AM "We all have different sized hands..." You can change the size of the virtual keyboard. That's a nice touch.


10:58AM "Our messaging app is special -- it integrates all of your services in one app."


10:57AM "While I was browsing, I saw some people were trying to get ahold of me. Notifications in webOS are unobtrusive." This is nice, they're kept up top in the status bar, and appear in a dropdown. Somewhat of a desktop paradigm which works perfectly.




10:56AM Browsing looks solid -- very faithful recreations compared with the desktop versions.


10:56AM "Let's go to another page... maybe some cooking ideas..."


10:55AM "My daughter likes Kung-Fu Panda... someone sent me an email about the sequel. Here's a Flash video..." Wow, nice and smooth playback of fullscreen streaming Flash content.


10:55AM Small jab there.

10:55AM "Multitasking was not an afterthought, it was a design principal from day one."

10:54AM This is what webOS was born to do.

10:54AM We have to admit, the multitasking looks amazing here. Would make using a tablet roughly a million times easier.




10:53AM "As you can see, I get too much email. I want to delete several of these at once. We added multi-select." Ah ha -- you touch the gesture area and multiple messages. Finally!


10:52AM The email app looks almost identical to iOS.

10:52AM Ah, but you can drag over a third pane to see accounts. Interesting.


10:52AM You drag a handle in the corner of your email window to reveal your list of messages. Interesting step, but seems odd. Should be revealed off the bat.



10:51AM "Let me show you an app that we spend a lot of time in -- email."

10:51AM "This is true multitasking."

10:50AM "Now if only I had Jon's Black AmEx card I could buy that diamond..." Ha!

10:50AM "Here's my to-do list... since I'll be away on Valentine's Day again, my gift better be good." Laughs. "I thought, a diamond."



10:50AM Actually, looks like notifications appear on the status bar up top, then hide themselves.







10:49AM New paneled photos application.




10:48AM Cards and animation looks pretty smooth on the TouchPad.


10:48AM "Let's look at what makes webOS so special." Well this is special.



10:48AM "The TouchPad and Pre 3 talk to each other. I can get my texts here, and I can also do phone calls on my TouchPad."






10:47AM "I have a TouchPad in my hands. As Jon pointed out, the hardware is beautiful. I think I just got a text... I could go to my Pre... but I don't have to." Oh!

10:47AM "Okay, that's one, it's time to relax. I like to drop my phone on my desk. Drop it on the Touchstone. It switched into Exhibition mode. It's my photo frame, or shows my upcoming appointments. Once I'm home, I want to use my new HP TouchPad."




10:46AM Boy the keyboard looks spacious.

10:46AM "I'm going to Mobile World Congress, I need to confirm my flight. I take out my Pre 3."





10:45AM "Here's a scenario... I'm coming home after a long day of work. That's my home."


10:45AM "Today is very exciting for all of us at HP. Let's dive deeper and see how these products work."

10:44AM Sachin Kansal is out to demo the device.

10:44AM It's demo time!

10:44AM "Using Touchstone our devices can share information wirelessly... more on that in a minute." Hmm...




10:44AM Accessories: case / stand, keyboard (the one we scooped recently!) -- a new Touchstone dock.





10:43AM QuickOffice, Google Docs, Dropbox, and Box.net compatibility. VPN, video calling, wireless printing.

10:42AM Virtual keyboard is here -- looks very clean. Nothing shocking thus far.




10:42AM webOS accounts work in tandem on the phones and the TouchPad -- just log in and it populates your info.




10:41AM Front-facing 1.3MP camera



10:41AM Notifications are shown like Growl pop ups in the corner.

10:41AM New paneled email application, very similar to iOS.

10:40AM Cards are here, and grouped in Stacks, just as you'd expect.




10:40AM Ouch... "Some of the work in the industry shows we have a lot of fans of webOS." Sting, RIM!




10:40AM "The TouchPad is screaming fast."

10:40AM Using the newest Snapdragon -- dual core 1.2GHz CPU

10:39AM 16GB or 32GB of storage, twice the RAM of the Pre 2

10:39AM WiFi 802.11b/g/n -- Bluetooth 2.1


10:39AM Video calling, Beats audio

10:39AM 9.7 inch display, 1024 x 768


10:38AM Weighs a little over a pound and a half, 13mm thick


10:38AM "This is the first in the webOS TouchPad family. For the first time webOS is on a device that lets the intuitive nature shine through."






10:38AM Yep -- looks a lot like those renders we saw!

10:37AM Huge applause.

10:37AM "This is the HP TouchPad."

10:37AM "With the Veer and Pre 3, HP is bringing innovation to customers. When we first developed webOS, we designed it to run on a variety of devices, but we've only done smartphones so far -- today that changes."



10:36AM "We've taken our Touchstone technology even further. When you set down your device, Exhibition mode automatically launches."




10:36AM "This phone is built for serious speed, and serious fun... available this Summer." Eek -- that's a long wait!



10:35AM Qualcomm CPU running at 1.4GHz!

10:35AM Two version -- HSPA+ and EVDO Rev A world phone -- 8GB or 16GB. RAM is the same as Pre 2.


10:35AM 5-megapixel camera and forward facing camera

10:35AM Yes.

10:35AM 3.6-inch 800 x 480 display

10:34AM Full touchscreen plus hardware keyboard.



10:34AM "Finally a phone you can use for business that you don't want to leave at work."





10:34AM "Meet the Pre 3." Cheers!

10:34AM "As I said before, customers want a device that works for them. They want a device that makes it easy to do email, calls, browse the web... and they wonder why that's so much to ask... we're introducing a smartphone for professionals..."







10:33AM The Veer is available in early spring.

10:33AM "Never before has a smartphone done so much, and felt so little."

10:32AM First to use Snapdragon 7230 processor

10:32AM HSPA+, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, 8GB storage, RAM is equal to the Pre 2

10:32AM It's got 8GB of storage and the same memory as the Pre 2.

10:32AM The HP Veer.

10:32AM "This is the HP Veer." It's tiny!














10:30AM "Our latest release of webOS is 2.1 -- it gives users tons of great new features. So far we've delivered 5 devices, including the Pre 2, available for pre order from Verizon tomorrow."








10:29AM "Yesterday, Laptop Magazine voted us the champion of the OS Bowl." Cheers and laughs for that.

10:28AM "We have a lot of stuff to show you today. It's been a little over two years since we introduced the Palm Pre." Jon is going down the list of praise for webOS and their devices. We got a shout out!



10:27AM "With HP, we can now scale webOS globally. As most of you know, one of our developments is Synergy -- it merges your data from across the cloud and brings it together in an easy way. If info changes in the cloud, it's automatically updated in your phone. Now HP is bringing that to more products that help you connect."




10:26AM "Thanks Todd -- and thanks everyone. Welcome -- it's great to see you all here. It's great to be doing this event in SF. And it's great to be presenting as part of HP."




10:25AM Jon is out!

10:25AM "What I first saw what webOS could do across devices... it's an experience I'll never forget. You see it and know with certainty that progress is happening. And with that, it's my pleasure to invite on stage a leader who's gotten us here today -- please welcome Jon Rubinstein."

10:25AM "We start with unique and differentiated tech. It's going to thrill, engage, and excite devs and consumers alike."

10:24AM "This work is precisely the place we're focusing on delivering value. By seamlessly connecting that content and those devices."



10:24AM "But no one, before today, has developed a solution that works between these devices. A solution that gives you effortless access to that digital universe."

10:23AM "Let's look at this market. Very few of you own just one device. Maybe three or four. We've seen an explosion in services and web content that we consume. We have more and more people accessing more and more content. That's a lot of mores."





10:22AM "When Jon and I had our first conversation, I was convinced we could do that."

10:22AM "More than half a century ago David Packard said the reason for a company to exist is to make a contribution."


10:22AM "We've embraced the webOS dev community. We keep the tools in the garage -- unlocked."

10:21AM "What we've focused on is how we bring the scale. Since acquiring Palm, we've added hundreds of engineers. Adding to an already amazing team, led by Jon Rubinstein."


10:21AM "I think the most conservative estimates for the connected device market is low. We're in the early stages of a market that's going to continue to grow in size, importance, and relevance for years to come."



10:20AM "In the last 60 seconds, we shipped 120 PCs, printers... not bad."





10:20AM Todd is talking about how HP can deliver innovation at scale.

10:19AM Having some internet issues here...

10:19AM "We have a history of firsts. We have a tradition of creating firsts."








10:16AM "Good morning. Welcome to SF. Friends, guests, everybody. So I'd like you to think back to that moment in time when you experienced something for the first time."


10:16AM Todd Bradley is out!

10:16AM Lights are down... here we go!


10:13AM Also lots of people from the Palm developer community. Here's hoping the event pays off their patience.

10:12AM The tech industry is out in force for this event. Lots and lots of familiar faces here. No one is missing it.

10:11AM Okay. More LCD Soundsystem. They're just kind of playing the record now.


10:09AM So the event is a little late. We're not going to hold it against them.


10:08AM There's something very interesting happening under a cloth to the right of the stage. Wonder what it could be?

10:07AM More LCD Soundsystem.


10:01AM Really good vibe here. Everyone seems super excited about what is in store. I don't think there's any doubt that the industry would like to see this group do something new and interesting. We certainly would -- and we know this team is capable of it. No pressure guys.

9:59AM As in none.

9:59AM We're guessing there's a not so subtle message here. Also of note, not really any Palm logos on anything anywhere. At all.

9:59AM And we're inside! LCD Soundsystem is on, "I Can Change" -- nice touch!
9:33AM We're going to go angle for a good seat. Stay tuned!


9:31AM We're inside the venue and waiting in a holding area just outside of where the main event will take place. It looks like there's a curtained-off hands-on area behind us, so expect to see some real action later. There's a bit of 90's-ish triphop on the sound system, and everything is very colorfully lit. Fun!
We're inside and things are getting underway -- the event officially starts at the times below. Read along after the break to see what's happening right now!

07:00AM - Hawaii
10:00AM - Pacific
11:00AM - Mountain
12:00PM - Central
01:00PM - Eastern
06:00PM - London
07:00PM - Paris
09:00PM - Moscow
11:30PM - Mumbai
03:00AM - Tokyo (February 10th)
05:00AM - Sydney (February 10th)

Palm Pre 2 up for pre-order tomorrow on Verizon Wireless

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 08:28 AM PST

Here at HP's 'Think Beyond' webOS event, Jon Rubinstein just announced that the Pre 2 will be available to pre-order tomorrow on Verizon Wireless, right in line with what rumors had suggested. You know, just in case you aren't interested in the Pre 3 that was just announced.

Follow along with HP's announcements right here in our ongoing liveblog!

AT&T rolling out unlimited calling to any mobile number

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 08:21 AM PST

Following a trend started by Sprint back in 2009, AT&T has just announced that it'll start offering its customers unlimited calling to any mobile number in the US, regardless of carrier, starting tomorrow (currently, only AT&T numbers qualify). There are a few catches, of course: you've got to sign up, you need to be on the company's unlimited messaging plan, and you need to on a "qualifying" Nation or FamilyTalk plan. Unlimited messaging runs $20 for individuals and $30 on family plans, so the perk isn't exactly free -- but for many, it should take a big load off the minute bucket. Follow the break for the full press release.
Show full PR text
AT&T Introduces Unlimited Calling to Any Mobile Number

New Feature Offers AT&T Wireless Customers Unlimited Calling to Any Mobile Number

Dallas, Texas, February 09, 2011

Go ahead and dial up those digits--no matter which wireless network you're calling. AT&T* today announced customers can enjoy unlimited mobile calling to any mobile number in America. Unlimited Mobile to Any Mobile is available to AT&T customers with an unlimited messaging plan and a qualifying voice plan**.

Beginning Thursday, Mobile to Any Mobile will be available to new and existing AT&T customers with a qualifying voice plan who subscribe to unlimited messaging plans. Existing customers with an unlimited messaging plan can activate Mobile to Any Mobile by visiting www.att.com/anymobile. The URL will be available beginning Thursday.

"Mobile to Any Mobile is an exciting offer that will keep our customers connected to the people they want to talk to, when they want to talk to them, without the hassle of watching minutes," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We're giving customers more options and even better value. And when you include Rollover Minutes, a benefit available exclusively from AT&T that lets customers keep their unused minutes for all domestic calls, including to landline numbers, it's clear that AT&T offers the most flexibility in the industry."

Unlimited messaging is available for $20 per month on an individual plan and $30 per month for a FamilyTalk Plan, which allows for up to five lines.

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit http://www.att.com/.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

**Mobile to Any Mobile Calling - Available only with select Nation and FamilyTalk plans. Direct calls to & direct calls received from US mobile numbers only. Rollover Minutes: Unused Anytime Mins expire after the 12th billing period. Night & Weekend & Mobile to Mobile mins do not roll over.

WebOS-based Veer, Pre 3 and TouchPad leaked on HP's site, likely on sale today

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:58 AM PST

Whoa, Nelly! With HP's highly touted press event just hours from commencing, it looks as if the web admins are testing the waters with what's about to go down. On HP's Home & Home Office shopping page, there's a drop-down under "Deals & Offers" that quite clearly reveals the outfit's planned triumvirate: the HP Veer (a name HP filed a trademark for back in December), Pre 3 and TouchPad. Those are slated to bring webOS in "S, M and L" flavors, though it's unclear whether the Veer or Pre 3 will be the smallest. HP has managed to yank the teaser from its US portal, though it still looks live internationally. There's no guarantee that any of this will ship momentarily but seriously, why list something like this if all three weren't going to be on sale by sundown? Here's hoping!

Palm TouchPad leaked: 1.5 pounds, 13mm thick, and just moments from official

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:39 AM PST

According to PreCentral, Palm's forthcoming tablet -- which we suspect will be officially revealed in just a few hours -- will be dubbed TouchPad. They were able to sneak in and hear a few details during the event preparation session, enabling them to confirm that it'll weigh 1.5 pounds and measure 13mm thick (just as we'd heard). If those figures sound familiar, it's because a fledgling startup in Cupertino just so happens to have a slate that aligns exactly to those very specifications. Keep it locked right here for our impending liveblog -- we'll be bringing you the blow by blow as it goes down today in San Francisco.

Update: Robert Scoble seems to have let loose a bit of information as well, confirming that a 10-inch slate is indeed on the docket, as well as "the smallest little phone" he has ever seen. And before you think that's a positive attribute, he also mentions it being too small to be taken seriously, and definitely not as "a competitor for the iPhone or Android." Ouch. Guess we'll have to see for ourselves as the day develops.

Update 2: Oh, boy! The HP Veer, Pre 3 and TouchPad just leaked on HP's official site. We're cautiously optimistic that all these will be on sale later today.

IBM's Mira supercomputer does ten petaflops with ease, inches us closer to exascale-class computing

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:23 AM PST

Say hello to the Blue Gene/Q, or if you're looking for something a bit less intimidating, "Mira." That's IBM's latest and greatest concoction, a ten-petaflop supercomputer capable of running programs at ten quadrillion calculations a second. Hard to say who'd win between Mira and Watson, of course, but there's absolutely no question who'd come out on top if Mira were pitted against her predecessor Intrepid (hint: Mira's 20x faster). To put this all in perspective, IBM's chiming in with this:
"If every man, woman and child in the United States performed one calculation each second, it would take them almost a year to do as many calculations as Mira will do in one second."
Mira's next stop is at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, where it'll be used to tackle 16 projects in particular that were drawn from a pool of proposals to gain access to her capabilities. We're told that these include a range of initiatives -- from reducing energy inefficiencies in transportation and developing advanced engine designs to spurring advances in energy technologies -- and in time, it could lead to exascale-class computers "that will be faster than petascale-class computers by a factor of a thousand." And here we are getting excited about a 5GHz Core i7.
Show full PR text
Argonne National Laboratory Selects IBM Supercomputer to Advance Research

Based on next generation IBM Blue Gene, the 10 petaflop "Mira" supercomputer will fuel national innovation

WASHINGTON - 08 Feb 2011: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory will use IBM's next-generation Blue Gene supercomputer to enable significant advances in areas such as designing ultra-efficient electric car batteries, understanding global climate change and exploring the evolution of our universe.

The 10-petaflop IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer, named "Mira", will be operational in 2012 and made available to scientists from industry, academia and government research facilities around the world.

"Computation and supercomputing are critical to solving some of our greatest scientific challenges, like advancing clean energy and understanding the Earth's climate," said Rick Stevens, associate laboratory director for computing, environment and life sciences at Argonne National Laboratory. "Argonne's new IBM supercomputer will help address the critical demand for complex modeling and simulation capabilities, which are essential to improving our economic prosperity and global competitiveness."

Argonne to use IBM Blue Gene/Q

Argonne National Laboratory will use IBM's next-generation Blue Gene/Q supercomputer to stoke economic growth and improve U.S. competitiveness for such challenges as designing electric car batteries, understanding climate change and exploring the evolution of the universe. The 10 petaflop system, named "Mira", will be twice as fast as today's fastest supercomputer, providing a strong science and technology engine that will fuel national innovation. Argonne is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's oldest and largest labs for science and engineering research, located some 20 minutes outside Chicago, IL (Feature Photo Service).

Argonne's current supercomputer, Intrepid, is an IBM Blue Gene/P machine capable of producing over 500 trillion calculations a second. Mira will be 20 times faster, running programs at 10 quadrillion calculations a second. If every man, woman and child in the United States performed one calculation each second, it would take them almost a year to do as many calculations as Mira will do in one second.

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) is already working with potential users as part of the "Early Science Program," a program designed to get researchers working on the most effective ways to leverage the computer's power as soon as it is installed.

Argonne and DOE have selected 16 projects from a pool of proposals, in a wide variety of disciplines that will be the first to gain access to Mira's capabilities. These span a diverse range of projects from reducing energy inefficiencies in transportation and developing advanced engine designs to spurring advances in energy technologies. The progress made during the Early Science Program should enable researchers to quickly leverage Mira's computational capability to reach their science goals soon after it is deployed.

Argonne anticipates that the new supercomputer will be one of the fastest and most energy efficient supercomputers in the world after its construction and installation are complete thanks to a combination of innovative new chip designs and extremely efficient water cooling. Last year, the ALCF won an Environmental Sustainability (EStar) award for the innovative energy efficient cooling it designed for its current system, and Argonne researchers anticipate that Mira will be significantly more power friendly.

Argonne also envisions Mira as a stepping stone to exascale-class computers that will be faster than petascale-class computers by a factor of a thousand. Exascale computing has the potential to address a class of highly complex workloads that have been beyond our reach, not just due to their sheer size, but because of their inherent uncertainties and unpredictability -- challenges like understanding the impacts of regional climate change and the design of safe nuclear reactors.

Mira will offer an opportunity for scientists to become more familiar with the capabilities an exascale machine will offer and the programming changes it will require. For example, scientists will have to scale their current computer codes to more than 750,000 individual computing cores, providing them preliminary experience on how scalability might be achieved on an exascale-class system with 100s of millions of cores.

Once Mira is online, the DOE's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) and the ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC) programs will award blocks of computing time via a peer-reviewed, competitive process to researchers who are working on scientific challenges that are best addressed by the capabilities of high-performance supercomputers.

Blue Gene is one of 100 Icons of Progress in IBM's 100 year history because it is a radical departure from the supercomputers of its time, consuming only a fraction of the energy and floor space. The system is part of a collaboration between Argonne, IBM and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Blue Gene's speed and expandability have enabled industry and the scientific community to address a wide range of complex problems and make more informed decisions.

BlackBerry PlayBook coming to Verizon too?

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 06:58 AM PST

BlackBerry PlayBook coming to Verizon too?
News that the PlayBook would be at least initially available only on Sprint surely elicited some mixed reactions -- hooray for WiMAX but locking your tablet to a single carrier is never any fun. Now Skatter Tech has uncovered a curious page that previously allowed people to join a sort of early-access program for a PlayBook on VZW. The page certainly looks official enough, and the ownership of the site -- a marketing agency that works for both RIM and Verizon -- also makes a compelling case. Of course, it could just be a fantasy dreamed up by this agency of its two clients working together, but we'll go ahead and hold out hope for a provider-agnostic PlayBook -- maybe even one with LTE.

Google's Vic Gundotra on Nokia: 'Two turkeys do not make an Eagle' (updated)

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 06:24 AM PST

Well, well. Just after Nokia CEO Stephan Elop's "burning platform" memo leaked out and prompted intense speculation that Nokia would start building Windows Phone 7 handsets, Google's Vic Gundotra tweeted "Two turkeys do not make an Eagle" prefaced with a #feb11 hashtag -- the same day as Nokia's Capital Markets Day event in London. That's some pretty serious trash talk, and we'd say it pretty much takes an Android tie-up off the table -- we doubt anyone from Google would run around calling Nokia a "turkey" if they were actually partners. Then again, Vic could just be talking about some extremely disturbing genetic engineering research he plans to unveil on Friday -- really, anything is possible with Google.

Update: Oh snap. We were just reminded that there's some serious history behind "two turkeys do not make an eagle" -- it's what former Nokia VP Anssi Vanjoki said in 2005 about BenQ buying Siemens's failing handset business. (Ouch.) Of course, Vanjoki also just said that using Android is like peeing in your pants for warmth, so we suppose Gundotra's been waiting for some payback -- although his timing's a little off, since Vanjoki just made a very public exit from Nokia after being denied the CEO job, Still, though -- is any burn sweeter than the obscure European handset business history burn? We don't think so. [Thanks, Seth]

Editorial: Engadget on Nokia's Friday announcement

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 05:54 AM PST

No matter how you measure it -- be it in terms of smartphone market share, consumer mindshare, review scores, or profits -- Nokia is in trouble. Even its CEO seems to think so. As such, everyone from professional analysts to the humble blogger with a WordPress account has chimed in with advice for Nokia's new chief, Stephen Elop, a Canadian-born ex-Microsoftie who will present his plan to return the proud Finnish company to supreme financial dominance at Friday's annual Capital Market Day shindig. And while Nokia might not have any significant presence in the US market, that doesn't mean that your Engadget editors don't have a few strong opinions to share ahead of Friday's big announcements. Click through the break for the full read and then toss in your own two cents in the comments below. With any luck, we'll make enough money to build, catalyze and/or join a competitive ecosystem all our own.

Thomas:

It's my belief that factual rumors and hopeful fictions spawned of frustration, spurred by Elop's "build, catalyze and/or join a competitive ecosystem" remark and subsequently leaked "burning platform" memo, have combined over the last few weeks to create a mega-rumor that has Nokia switching to Windows Phone 7. I find it very hard to believe that Nokia will purge its MeeGo or Symbian operating systems in favor of something else. As a Symbian replacement, Windows Phone 7 certainly doesn't scale downward to support Nokia's goal of "smartphone democratization." And I don't see any outward deceleration of Nokia's efforts related to MeeGo. Besides, any meaningful move to another OS would slow, not accelerate, Nokia's return to smartphone dominance (and large profit margins) when taking into account the radical shift this would create for Nokia services and its Qt developer community. If anything, and this is a serious stretch to my imagination, I could see Nokia using Windows Phone 7 as stop-gap solution until MeeGo has had a chance to mature -- something that might be beneficial to both Microsoft (globally) and Nokia (in the US) in the near term.

On Friday, I see Nokia announcing a reorganization and other concrete steps that will accelerate MeeGo's replacement of Symbian at the top of its product portfolio, perhaps with ecosystem support from Microsoft and others. When I say support, I mean something big, similar in size to Sony's recently announced PlayStation Suite for Android. Or imagine how something like the ability to run Android apps on MeeGo devices could catalyze adoption of the fledgling Nokia platform. Regardless of what's announced, it's worth remembering that Nokia is still profitable and smartphone adoption is in its infancy when looking at the global marketplace (most people still use dumb or featurephones). As I've said before, Nokia shouldn't abandon its strategy of owning the OS, hardware, and services in order to become just another OEM. It won't find riches battling the likes of HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG trying to differentiate rectangular touchscreen slabs running a commodity OS -- it still has time to innovate. Besides, all that R&D spending has to pay off eventually.


Chris:

Nokia, understandably, has a reputation as a very stubborn company. It's an easy attitude to take when you're on top -- and Nokia's been on top for a very, very long time, having jumped out to an early lead in the smartphone race at a time when many other companies still saw PDAs and cellphones as separate products. I've been following Nokia closely during my five years here at Engadget, and though rumors of platform switches have come up every so often, I've never seen it quite like this. It's feeling legitimate (and justified) in a way that it never has before. What's more, I think that even the most devout Nokia users have started admitting that the company needs to fundamentally rethink how it's going about its business.

Of course, it was pretty clear from the outset that Stephen Elop was brought in to clean the proverbial house -- and the leaked memo from earlier this week suggests he's well on his way to doing exactly that. Though I think it's inevitable that the company will be joining forces with an outside platform, I'm genuinely confused as to how it's going to play out: outdated or not, Nokia is very strongly associated with its software DNA, and there's plenty of DNA remaining that can be refreshed and brought up to 2011 standards. Android might allow that, while Windows Phone 7 -- in its present form, at least -- would not. I'm also conflicted as to how Nokia graciously exits either of its existing smartphone platforms: Symbian, for all its flaws and obsolete ways, still dominates a number of markets and seems to have long-term viability as a low-end play, while MeeGo has never even had a chance to get off the ground. It'd be terribly embarrassing for both Nokia and Intel if Espoo were to bow out without contributing even a single product to the market.

In light of all that uncertainty, I'm as fascinated and spellbound by Nokia right now as I have been in several years. It sounds like Elop recognizes the problems from top to bottom -- but let's be honest, that's the easy part. Now he has to execute on a game plan against some extremely fierce and battle-tested competitors.


Myriam:

As a long-time Nokia user and fan, I've been quite critical of the company for several years. Starting with the 5800 XpressMusic experiment, and continuing on with the N97 disaster, Nokia has continually missed the mark in creating phones that truly compete with the iPhone and with Android devices. More recently, the N900 missed the mark in terms of hardware, and the N8 in terms of software. In addition, Ovi never lived up to its promise of becoming the Nokia ecosystem. Sure, Nokia still sells loads of low and mid-range phones the world over, and Qt is a compelling cross-platform development environment, but what happened to the company that owned the smartphone market and dominated the high end? What happened to the Nokia that defined the idea of convergence, and executed it with the N95? I asked that question a little over two years ago in this editorial, and I continue to ask that question in the podcast today.

For a while now I've been suggesting that Nokia make Android phones -- blasphemy, I know. But in a market where carriers run the show (like the US) and high-end devices running iOS and Android (and now also Windows Phone 7) are sold locked / subsidized and own the high-end mindshare (both in terms of users and developers), Symbian no longer stands a chance, and Meego faces incredible odds (just look at WebOS). With the iPhone and IOS, Apple is the only manufacturer with an integrated ecosystem (hardware, software, services) that is successful. Google and Microsoft both rely on multiple manufacturers to design and build hardware, while providing the software and services. Nokia still makes incredible hardware -- attractive, solid, high-quality, and feature rich. Just look at the N8 with its phenomenal 12 megapixel camera and pentaband 3G radio. Why not leverage someone else's more successful software and services to penetrate the market via the carriers, and rebuild a reputation at the high-end?

Then along comes Stephen Elop, hired to clean house and take no prisoners, but save the burning platform -- a monumental task for sure. Microsoft launches Windows Phone 7 with arguably mixed reception from consumers, but with decent manufacturer and carrier support, and favorable reception from the tech community. Unlike Google with Android, which swallows everything like a black hole, and Apple with iOS, which shines almighty like a blinding light, Nokia, just like Microsoft, needs to re-invent itself in mobile, and needs help. And there you have it, high-end Nokia hardware running Microsoft software and services -- a strange match but a great opportunity for both companies. I'm not sure this union will take place, but I want to believe, because I still have a lot of hope for Nokia, and lot of respect for Windows Phone 7. Call me crazy, but let's see what happens Friday, and maybe I will eat my words.

Vlad:

I sit here with a Nokia C5, C6-01, N8, and E7 in front of me. If I never had to turn them on, you'd have a pretty easy time convincing me that Nokia's doing just fine. The C5 is small, simple and uncomplicated, the C6-01 adds some sheen for the style-conscious, and the two top-tier devices feel like premium slabs of well engineered hardware. The problem, as we all know by now, lies within. Symbian is under assault by the far more accessible and touchscreen-friendly Android, which, to make matters worse, is now starting to filter through into lower-priced devices. That, in a nutshell of bitterness and missed opportunities, is Stephen Elop's "burning platform."

The option to just abandon the Symbian ship and leap atop the Android vessel is appealing, but seems logistically impossible. Nokia has spent far too long working on a hardware proposition that disregards the specs race and focuses on efficient use of resources. If Nokia were to leap into the Android wars, it'd do so without any market advantage beyond its widespread brand recognition and consumer goodwill, and would flounder against the likes of Samsung with its exclusive Super AMOLED displays and Hummingbird processors.

That leaves only Windows Phone 7 and MeeGo as alternatives to Symbian. I've nothing against MeeGo, it looks like a highly promising OS, but let's not forget that it's not out yet and the blueprint for a great platform isn't worth much when your current one is burning down. Nokia needs to keep up with the competition, no matter how big its market share may be today. So, really and truly, the decision about what to do isn't all that hard. You either launch your MeeGo armada and show us naysayers who the daddy of the mobile world is, or swallow your pride, make the necessary internal adjustments, and join the Windows Phone 7 party. WP7 is just the sort of nascent OS, with little spec differentiation between handset makers, that Nokia could latch on to and make its own -- just by brutalizing every other manufacturer in terms of build quality and construction materials, two of Nokia's undoubted strengths.

What we know with absolute certainty is that this Friday will be a milestone day for Nokia, whether it chooses to break off from its current course of action or stick with it. Stephen Elop has expressed a most sincere wish to shake up the company and my own expectation is that what's left of its former leadership will already be freshening up their résumés and LinkedIn profiles. The reason for this overhaul of staff isn't due to incompetence, in my opinion, but a simple conflict of opinion as to where Nokia's supposed to be headed. In other words, if you're going to keep the current strategy going, you might as well keep the people that believe in it. So Nokia's going to change and the first step is being taken on Friday. Only question is, in what direction?

Sony announces A700 replacement, the A77, will ship this year

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 05:34 AM PST

Sony announces A700 replacement, the A77, will ship this year
We've been hearing rumors about a mystical, magical A700 replacement since last year, and now Sony's gone ahead and made things more official. The teaser image shows a transparent case, but the bigger news here is the transparent mirror, the same as found last year on the A55 and A33. This allows for advanced, real-time autofocus while capturing stills or HD video. Behind that mirror will be an Exmor CMOS sensor and, while Sony isn't saying how many pixels it'll be packing, expectations are that it will fall in the 20 megapixel range. Sony has also announced a new battery grip and a new flash for the camera though details are slim on those as well. All are slated to ship "later this year," giving you plenty of time to make room in your camera bag -- and maybe your budget.

Item-level RFIDs get support from big retailers, track your every purchase

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 05:13 AM PST

Toilets, cows, and Germans have all been tagged by RFIDs, but according to a new study, it's footwear and fashion that top the demand for radio-enabled tracking. In a report released yesterday, ABI Research said more than three-quarters of a billion RFID tags will be used in global apparel markets in 2011, with retailers like Walmart, Macy's, and JC Penney leading the way. Item-level tracking isn't new -- in fact we saw something similar in 2006 -- but with the likes of Walmart on board, the system is expected to grow as much as 60 percent in the next three years. The study suggests inventory and security as driving factors in the adoption of RFIDs, but we've got our suspicions. And anyway, we don't want anyone to know how much we spent on that Material Girl leopard print shrug -- not even a machine.

Acer debuts GN245HQ monitor with HDMI 3D support from NVIDIA

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:51 AM PST

Acer's already rolled out a few 3D-capable monitors (among other products), but none quite like it's new GN245HQ model, which the company notes is the "first 3D monitor in the world" to support NVIDIA's HDMI 3D solution. That means you'll be able to view 3D content from a connected set-top box or Blu-ray player in addition to a PC connected via DVI-DL, and do so with the included active shutter glasses that work in conjunction with the monitor's built-in IR emitter. As for the monitor itself, you'll get the usual 1920 x 1080 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, along with a 2ms response time, a pair of built-in 2W speakers, and LED backlighting that uses two lamps instead of four for a promised 68% savings in power consumption. No official word on a US release just yet, but you can look for this one to hit the UK in mid-March for £419.99 (or about $675).
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Acer GN245HQ - first 3D monitor in the world to support the HDMI® 3D solution from NVIDIA®

London, 8th February 2010 – Acer, always at the forefront in offering technologically advanced solutions, now presents the GN245HQ, the first 3D monitor in the world to support the HDMI® 3D solution from NVIDIA®, enabling users to fully appreciate the array of possibilities brought by the stereoscopic technology.

Offering powerful and exciting graphics as well as top-notch technology, the GN245HQ 3D monitor is particularly well suited for gaming and enjoying movies: the perfect solution for tech-savvy users and gaming enthusiasts.

Acer's new combines Full HD 3D imagery via HDMI 3D or DVI-DL (dual link) connectivity with NVIDIA 3D vision, setting the standard for enhanced 3D multimedia, literally projecting the user into the action for a sensation of full immersion.

This effective yet simple solution is ideal for enhanced home entertainment. With the included NVIDIA® 3D glasses, featuring advanced active shutter 3D technology, combined with the monitor's built-in IR emitter, you can enjoy your favorite movies or games with your friends, as multiple pair of glasses can be used simultaneously.

What's more, with the integrated IR emitter and HDMI® 3D connectivity, the GN245HQ display breaks free from the PC and lets you enjoy 3D TV broadcasting via a set-top box, the best in 3D movies via Blu-ray Disc player, stunning pictures from a 3D camera, and immersive 3D games using a HDMI 3D game console.

This monitor is also ready to let you experience and appreciate new ways of learning that are more compelling and fun, with applications that will literally transport you in the middle of an archaeological site, around the universe or inside the human body.

But enhanced 3D technology is not enough to sum up the GN245HQ. This monitors packs high-end features, to ensure the best viewing experience: an unmatched 100 million:1 contrast ratio for stunning picture quality; Full HD resolution (1920x1080) perfect for 1080p Full HD applications; a spacious 60cm (23.6") LED backlit panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio, ideal to watch movies with the same immersive splendour of a theatre screen; a 120Hz refresh rate, essential for creating the 3D effect and a response time of just 2ms, the utmost in reactivity for real-time gaming.

While offering impressive visuals, the GN245HQ is also a striking sight. A futuristic style with clean, severe lines and sharply angled surfaces underlined its strong character. The elaborate design of the base conveys speed and performance evoking today's fast paced videogames. The power button blends seamlessly with the eye-catching bezel, highlighting the care in designing even the tiniest detail.

The GN245HQ falls under Acer's range of EcoDisplays. Making all efforts to reduce our footprint on the environment is the responsibility of everyone today. This is why Acer is committed to developing monitors with an energy saving design, that are mercury free and made of easily recyclable materials. To ensure lower power consumption white LED backlighting technology was adopted, replacing the four lamp design with two lamps, for up to 68% power saving. In addition, LED lamps are mercury-free and safer for the environment whilst delivering better performance. Acer 3D monitors meet stringent industry standards and are compliant with RoHS (the EU directive restricting the usage of hazardous substances) and ENERGY STAR® requirements. Lower energy consumption not only helps reducing costs but also preserves resources and the environment for future generations. Plus, packaging is kept to the minimum and made of recyclable materials.

The Acer GN245HQ display is supplied with a 2 year C&R warranty and will be available from mid March with a SRRP of £419.99 inc Vat

European Union's 'One charger for all' starts sampling, coming this year

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:26 AM PST


It was way back in summer of 2009 that Nokia, Apple, RIM, and the rest of the mobile world agreed to make micro-USB the connector around which all future European chargers would be built. Since then, most of those companies have transitioned their hardware to micro-USB without further prompting, but the European Union is still pushing ahead with a universally compatible charger standard to make sure everything is nice and harmonized. The details of what's expected of these chargers were published in December and now the first samples of the new hardware have been produced. The EU expects all manufacturers to have chargers adhering to the new guidelines by the end of 2011 -- and if you're wondering about how Apple, one of the signatories to this agreement, will handle it, there's a note to say that adapters will be allowed on phones without a micro-USB port. Full press release after the break.
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IP/11/136

Brussels, 8 February 2011

Manufacturers deliver the common mobile phone charger

Have you ever been annoyed for not being able to borrow a friend's or a colleague's mobile phone charger because it wasn't compatible with your phone? This era is coming to an end. A common charger compatible with mobile phones of all brands is the simple idea that the Commission has been pushing for many years. Thanks to the cooperation between fourteen companies and the European Commission the solution is there: onechargerforall.eu. New technical standards for data-enabled mobile phones were published on 29 December 2010. Today, Vice President Antonio Tajani receives a sample of a compatible common charger from Bridget Cosgrave, Director-General of DIGITALEUROPE, the largest Association of European digital technology industry.

"I welcome the roll out of new chargers for mobile phones based on the new EU standard. This is genuine good news for the European consumer. Now we await the arrival of the new charger and compatible mobile phones on the shelves. I urge industry to speed up their introduction in the market to enable citizens throughout the EU to enjoy the advantages of a common charger as soon as possible" said European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship.

Today marks the start of an implementation process triggered by the European Commission. The support of the Commission has enabled manufacturers to deliver this benefit to European consumers in a relatively short period of time. The EU has achieved the common charging solution using a common-sense approach that benefits everyone - without the need for any new regulation. The European Commission will work with industry so that European consumers can profit from the initiative as soon as possible.

The publication of the standards in December 2010 means that mobile phone manufacturers can now proceed with required design and testing changes for chargers ensuring compatible phones are safe and interoperable. Compatible data-enabled mobile telephones of different brands can now operate with the same common charger – a big step forward for mobile phone users. The fourteen manufacturers have agreed to introduce the new common mobile phone chargers onto the European market in the course of 2011.

The common charger is a tangible proof of how standardisation can facilitate the life of Europeans. Standardisation is one of the key elements that the Commission promotes to untap the potential of the Single Market, as put forward in the Annual Growth Survey of January 2011.

Background

Incompatibility of mobile phone chargers causes not only inconveniences for users, but is also an important environmental issue in the European Union. Mobile phone users who wish to replace their mobile phones are often required to purchase a new charger, regardless of the condition of the existing one.

Following a request from the European Commission, fourteen major mobile phone manufacturers agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to harmonise chargers for data-enabled mobile phones sold in the EU. The MoU signatory companies include Apple, Emblaze Mobile, Huawei Technologies, LGE, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, TCT Mobile (ALCATEL mobile phones), Texas Instruments and Atmel.

Following a mandate from the European Commission, the European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI issued the harmonised standards to be adhered to by data-enabled mobile phones compatible with the new common charger as of 2011. The common charger solution is based in the Micro-USB connector technology. For phones that do not have a Micro-USB interface an adapter is allowed under the Memorandum of Understanding.

The agreement covers data-enabled mobile phones, i.e. those that can be plugged into a computer to exchange for example pictures, files and music. Data-enabled mobile phones are already predominant on the market. So called smartphones are a segment of data-enabled mobile phones.

MetroPCS LTE Samsung Galaxy Indulge available this week, we go hands-on

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:00 AM PST

As you may have gleaned from the small leak last night, Samsung's MetroPCS LTE phone isn't called the Forte as we may have previously thought, but the rest of the information we've been hearing about the phone for the last few weeks (thank you, FCC and Flickr!) was pretty dead on. Officially called the Galaxy Indulge, the 3.5-inch, Android 2.2 smartphone isn't quite as well spec'd as the rest of the Galaxy S line up -- most notably it doesn't have that stunning 4-inch AMOLED screen (TFT LCD here, folks) -- but it packs a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, 3 megapixel camera, 1500mAH battery, and some fast LTE speeds. As for the latter, the slider will naturally be backwards compatible with MetroPCS' CDMA network and the carrier will be offering two monthly plans, both of which include unlimited talk and texting -- the $50 plan buys you 1GB of data and the $60 version all the gigabytes you can eat. Combine one of those with the $399 sans-contract-price of the phone itself and it's not a bad deal.

That said, compared to the other LTE or just general 4G phones we've seen of late, the Indulge feels rather cheap. Don't be fooled by its rather Epic 4G looks -- the .6-inch thick phone just feels overly plastic in hand (it makes those plastic squeaking noises) and the keyboard just can't compare to Epic's slightly raised keys. However, what it lacks in rigidity it makes up for in speed -- we consistently got 3.1Mbps down and 3.3Mbps in our Manhattan apartment and saw it loading sites and apps faster than our Droid 2 Global. On the software end, there aren't many surprises -- it runs Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 and comes with a few of MetroPCS' preloaded apps, including an Iron Man 2 app that actually includes the whole movie. We're not sure you'd want to watch the entire thing on the low-contrast HVGA screen, but it's always an option if you decide to, you know, indulge. (Sorry, we had to!) The handset will be hitting shelves (or websites) later this week making it the first available LTE smartphone in the US -- but in the meantime, hit the break for the full press release and a short hands-on video.
MetroPCS Samsung Galaxy Indulge hands-on


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METROPCS AND SAMSUNG MOBILE UNVEIL THE SAMSUNG GALAXY INDULGE, THE WORLD'S FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE 4G LTE ANDROID SMARTPHONE

Consumers can have it all – apps, entertainment and organization tools with lightning fast speeds – at about half the price of other 4G smartphone service plans

DALLAS– February 9, 2011 - MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS), the nation's leading provider of unlimited, no annual contract, flat-rate wireless service, and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the number one mobile phone provider in the U.S. 1, today introduced the world's first commercially available 4GLTE enabled AndroidTM smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy IndulgeTM.

At about half the cost of other 4G smartphone service plans today, consumers can truly have it all with MetroPCS' $50 and $60 4GLTE smartphone service plans, which include all applicable taxes and regulatory fees. MetroPCS is delivering this unmatched value with unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE Web page browsing, along with data access to streaming audio, video and gaming content, downloads and Android applications.

"Our commitment to offering premium, feature-rich smartphones was once again fulfilled today with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Indulge, which will allow consumers to experience the vast benefits of both MetroPCS' 4GLTE services and the Android operating system," said Roger D. Linquist, president, CEO and chairman of MetroPCS. "Mobile consumers no longer have to choose between low cost service and high-end Android handsets. Instead, they can truly have it all by being able to select from a full spectrum of feature and smartphones paired with 4GLTE services at an unmatched value."

Powered by Android 2.2 (Froyo), the Galaxy Indulge is the perfect smartphone for those who want to manage every aspect of their lives from a mobile device. MetroPCS' 4GLTE service delivers lightning fast Web page browsing and also allows customers to watch and listen to exclusive entertainment and multimedia content from their favorite shows through the MetroSTUDIO application. Quick access to the Android MarketTM provides more than 100,000 applications to consumers' fingertips and Android's intuitive user interface with Samsung TouchWiz enhancements makes customizing the device's home screens simple and easy. The Galaxy Indulge's combination touch screen/QWERTY keyboard means consumers can send messages via e-mail, SMS or social media channels through whichever input method they choose.

"The Galaxy Indulge integrates two of Samsung's core product investments; the Android platform and bringing powerful and intuitive 4G-enabled devices to the U.S. market," said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung Mobile. "The Galaxy Indulge is loaded with the speed of the Android OS, true mobile broadband connectivity and a 1GHz processor with rich multimedia features for premium movie and TV content."

The Galaxy Indulge provides complete access to Google Mobile services, including Google SearchTM, Google MapsTM, GmailTM and YouTubeTM. This sleek smartphone features a 3 megapixel camera and camcorder with auto-focus, music player, Stereo Bluetooth® capabilities and expandable memory storage up to 32GB. Additionally, the Galaxy Indulge includes a 4GB microSDTM card, preloaded with the action film "IRONMAN 2," produced by Paramount Pictures2.

The Samsung Galaxy Indulge is the second LTE-enabled mobile phone offered by MetroPCS, following the Samsung Craft TM which was introduced in late 2010. The Galaxy Indulge will be available in MetroPCS stores and online later this week with a suggested retail price of $399 plus tax.

Visit www.metropcs.com for store location information or to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Indulge online and sign up for service plans. To find out more information on the Samsung Galaxy Indulge, please visit www.samsungwireless.com or www.samsungusanews.com.

For more information, please visit: Details on rate plans and service features: www.metropcs.com/plans MetroPCS Terms and Conditions of Service: www.metropcs.com/privacy/terms.aspx Press resources: www.metropcs.com/presscenter Follow MetroPCS on Twitter: www.twitter.com/metropcs Become a fan of MetroPCS on Facebook: www.facebook.com/metropcs View MetroPCS' latest videos: www.YouTube.com/metropcs
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About MetroPCS Communications, Inc.
Dallas-based MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) is a provider of unlimited wireless communications service for a flat-rate with no annual contract. MetroPCS is the fifth largest facilities- based wireless carrier in the United States based on number of subscribers served. With Metro USA, MetroPCS customers can use their services in areas throughout the United States covering a population of over 280 million people. As of December 31, 2010, MetroPCS had over 8.1 million subscribers. For more information please visit www.metropcs.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements, including those pertaining to 4G LTE services and networks, availability of service and handsets, service plan offerings, and rates/pricing, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are based upon MetroPCS management's experience in the industry, as well as its perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate under the circumstances as of the date of this press release unless specified as of some earlier date. Actual financial results, performance or results of operations may differ materially from forward- looking statement expressed in this release.
MetroPCS related brands, product names, company names, trademarks, service marks, images, symbols, copyrighted material, and other intellectual property are the exclusive properties of MetroPCS Wireless, Inc. and its subsidiaries, parent companies, and affiliates. Copyright ©2010 MetroPCS Wireless, Inc. All rights reserved.
Other brands, product names, company names, trademark and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

About Samsung Telecommunications America
Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsungwireless.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of US$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 188,000 people in 185 offices across 65 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
1Number one mobile phone provider in the U.S. claim for Samsung Mobile based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Q3 2010 U.S. Market Share Handset Shipments Reports.
2 IRONMAN 2 copyright © 2009 Paramount Pictures. IRONMAN 2 and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Android is a trademark of Google, Inc.

Nokia kills N9-00, its first MeeGo handset?

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 03:22 AM PST

We've been hearing this one for awhile now, primarily around the Twitterverse thanks to Eldar Murtazin. Now Reuters has jumped in with a couple of sources close to the company claiming that Nokia has ended development of its first MeeGo handset, presumably the device pictured above. It's not all bad news though. Reuters tosses in a bullet claiming that the next MeeGo device could be unveiled this week, meaning Nokia's highly anticipated event on Friday or even at Mobile World Congress next week. Of course, Nokia has never gone official with any handset, only saying that the first MeeGo device will be a 2011 event (after missing the planned 2010 launch). So really, this is a lot like saying something that didn't exist still doesn't exist. Nevertheless, it jibes with what we've heard that the N9-00 QWERTY slider (aka, RM-680 codename "Dali"), leaked with gusto back in August, has been scrapped as a consumer device with all emphasis now on releasing the N9-01 touchscreen slate, dubbed "Lankku" (Finnish for "plank" or "board") internally. Just another reason for "Nokia CEO" to continue trending on Twitter. No, really.

[Thanks, Tuomas]

No more Adamo: Dell discontinues gorgeous but underpowered laptop

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 03:13 AM PST

You had to know this day was coming. After aggressively discounting the Adamo 13 over the holidays and then again in the new year, Dell has finally given up on its eye-grabbing ultraportable and is instead focusing on getting you to buy its new gear. The Adamo's biggest hurdle to overcome has always been its wonky price-to-performance ratio, but we admit we're going to miss its ostentatiously thin design and high-minded aesthetics. You've got to hope Dell has something equally sharp-looking on its future roadmap, but don't despair if all you're after is an Adamo -- you should still be able to grab one for a bargain price at Dell's refurb outlet.

[Thanks, Daniel]

iTunes stays on top of growing internet movie business in 2010, but 2011 could be very different

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 02:44 AM PST

While much of the news lately has surrounded subscription internet movie and TV services the video on-demand market was up nearly 40% last year and is expected to keep growing. According to stats from IHS Screen Digest, video revenue for the Apple iTunes store grew 60 percent last year, but saw its overall market share shrink from from 74.4 to 64.5 percent. This is mostly explained as a side affect of the Kinect driving up Microsoft Xbox 360 sales at the end of last year and introducing its Zune store to a new market of families looking for digital entertainment. The up and comer to watch for 2011 appears to be the Wal-mart/Vudu combo, currently fourth in line behind Sony but poised to grow by showing up on more devices and increasing its promotional efforts. Of course, as NewTeeVee points out, the ultimate wild card in all of this is the launch of Ultraviolet buy-once/watch-anywhere DRM later this year (without support from Apple or Disney) and the effect it could have by causing consumers to see digital downloads as a viable option instead of the fragmented mess they are now -- good luck with that.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Flash Player 10.2 sheds beta label, improves efficiency with Stage Video playback

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 02:15 AM PST

Should you be one of those (sensible) people who don't use software until all the Greek letters are removed from its name, we've got some happy news for you. Adobe's Flash Player 10.2 has just exited beta testing and is now available for download to Windows, Mac and Linux computers. Its biggest new feature is the Stage Video API, which promises to drastically reduce the processor load of playing back high-res video. It'll need to be enabled by content-providing sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Brightcove -- all of whom are already on the job -- but once that's done, Adobe says 1080p playback will cost you no more than 15 percent of your CPU cycles. Other new additions include a single-monitor full screen option for multi-display rigs, allowing you to max out a Flash video on one panel while keeping the others free, IE9 hardware acceleration support, and some nifty sub-pixel text rendering enhancements to make our web lives marginally nicer to look at. Hit the source to get your download on.

Update: Flash Player 10.2 also marks Adobe's discontinuation of support for PowerPC-based Macs and Microsoft's Windows 2000 OS. So if you're still rocking some finely aged gear, you'll have to just content yourself with the awesomeness of 10.1.
Show full PR text
Flash Player 10.2 is Here: Available Now for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Today, we're launching Flash Player 10.2 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. We're especially excited that this release introduces Stage Video, a full hardware accelerated video pipeline for best-in-class, beautiful video across platforms and browsers. Additionally, this version of Flash Player offers all the new capabilities previewed in our beta release, like custom native mouse cursors, multiple monitor full-screen support, Internet Explorer 9 hardware accelerated rendering support, and enhanced sub-pixel rendering for superior text readability.

In The City That Knows How, A History of Moving Images

Here in San Francisco, we've had a bit of tradition around changing how folks see the world with images. In the 1870s, a San Francisco photographer named Eadweard Muybridge captured some of the earliest motion pictures. In 1927, Philo Farnsworth transmitted the first electronic television image in his laboratory on 202 Green Street.

And way back in 2002, a small team in San Francisco introduced video in Flash Player, bringing seamless video to 9 in 10 connected computers – allowing video to become an integral part of the web. Three years ago, that team introduced H.264 video to over 93 percent of users, bringing immersive high quality video to more people than ever. Flash Player has helped create a beautiful web that moves and connects. Flash Player 10.2 continues that tradition by introducing Stage Video: smoother, more efficient, more beautiful HD video for the web.

Bringing Beautiful Video to the Stage

Stage Video lets websites take advantage of full hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline. This builds on the H.264 hardware accelerated decoding in Flash Player 10.1. Stage Video hardware acceleration means that Flash Player can play even higher quality video while using dramatically less processing power, giving users a better experience, greater performance, and longer battery life. In our testing across supported systems, we've found it's up to 34 times more efficient.

Put another way, Flash Player using Stage Video can effortlessly play beautiful 1080p HD video with just 1-15% CPU usage on a common Mac or Windows computer* – working across platforms and browsers, it will enable the best video experience for the most people. Many millions of additional PCs, from netbooks to desktops, can now become slick HD home theaters on the web.

Note that Stage Video performance gains might not be visible right away. Websites and content providers will first need to update their video players before users experience Stage Video playback with Flash Player 10.2 on their sites. For developers, this typically means updating a SWF player file. However, no changes are needed to existing video libraries or infrastructure, and websites just continue to leverage Flash Player benefits including unmatched reach, advanced streaming capabilities, DVR-like playback control, rich interactivity, content protection, and consistency. Since adoption of new Flash Player releases is accelerating, websites can expect that many of the over 1 billion people with Flash Player will be ready to benefit from Stage Video in Flash Player 10.2 soon.

Companies like Vimeo, Brightcove, Epix, and YouTube have already started work to enable support for Stage Video to deliver amazing video playback experiences. You'll be seeing them enable Stage Video performance in the near future. And you can try examples of Stage Video today after upgrading to Flash Player 10.2. Tens of thousands of sites will be enabled by the Brightcove player, and Jeff Whatcott at Brightcove explains, "Brightcove is continually innovating to deliver great video experiences. We have been blown away by the performance and efficiency of Stage Video and we are truly excited to be working so closely with Adobe to bring this breakthrough technology to customers." And Ryan Hefner at Vimeo notes, "Since Vimeo's users upload a lot of high-definition content, being that HD is the default quality for videos viewed on our site, the decision to take advantage of Stage Video in Flash Player 10.2 was a no brainer. We love to keep up on the latest technologies, and if those technologies also enhance the user experience for our users then it's a win-win." Folks that want to deliver gorgeous, smooth HD video to more people than ever have reason to be excited, and more and more sites will enable Stage Video in the coming months.

Additional New Capabilities in Flash Player 10.2

Along with the new Stage Video architecture, we're adding features in Flash Player 10.2 to enable even more polished experiences.

* Video at its best is immersive, so Flash Player allows you jump to true full screen playback with one click. With multiple display full screen support in Flash Player 10.2, you can now easily watch your favorite videos in true full screen on one display while you multitask on another and get some work done (or not).
* Added support for custom native mouse cursors lets designers and developers create their own static or animated cursors with silky smooth responsiveness, enabling richer game and application interfaces.
* New sub-pixel text rendering enhancements leverage Adobe typography research to further enhance text readability, especially for complex character-based languages.
* Support is included for the GPU rendering technology in Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer 9 browser.

Today and the Future

You can install Flash Player 10.2 today. We encourage everyone, developers and users, to try it out and let us know what you think. And hang tight for exciting mobile updates. We'll be providing more information about the next Flash Platform runtimes – Flash Player and AIR – on phone and tablet devices at Mobile World Congress next week. We're thrilled about today's launch, and we hope you enjoy it.

Tom Nguyen
Product Manager, Flash Platform Runtimes

* For example, using Flash Player 10.2 with Stage Video hardware acceleration, we've tested a Mac Mini released two years ago and a low-powered GPU-enabled Windows netbook playing smooth full HD 1080p video using less than 8% of the CPU; more powerful computers use even less.

Robot buys a scone in a coffee shop, that's all you really need to know (video)

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:44 AM PST

Robots. Constructed by man to make our lives easier and provide opportunities for sloth that might not have arisen otherwise. One resident of Mountain View, California decided that commanding his Anybot to fetch a scone from Red Rock Coffee was a good use of the $15,000 telepresence automaton. And here we thought bot proliferation would either freak us out or engineer mankind's demise -- turns out it'll just add a few more folks in line while we wait to order our next cup of joe.

BBC iPlayer app coming to Android as well as iPad by the end of this week

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 12:59 AM PST

The British Broadcasting Corporation has made its iPlayer app plans that extra bit more official by announcing that iPad- and Android-specific versions of its software will be arriving by the end of this week. The iPlayer is a free TV catchup service hosting the best and most popular (those two being almost mutually exclusive categories) from the BBC's catalog of recent programming, and the new native apps promise to bring that to your portable device in a touchscreen-optimized format with a "simple and intuitive design." The finishing touches are being applied right now and the apps should be with us before the week is through, but the real cause for excitement is that the BBC plans to take the iPlayer out for an international walk, which will likely rely on such platform-specific apps for distribution and the collection of subscription fees. Then we can all watch Question Time together, yay!

P.S. - Take note, Android users, that you'll need to have Froyo and Flash Player 10.1 installed on your phone or tablet in order to partake in the new app. Sort of a one step forward, one step back maneuver.

[Thanks, Jules]

HTC's 7-inch Android 2.3 tablet with new Sense UI still rumored for March

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 12:34 AM PST

So far it seems like everyone but HTC has made an official tablet announcement in these early days of 2011. As such, we're reliant upon the rumor mills for every scrap of information we can get. So lean in close because the Chinese language Economic Daily has something to share. In a piece largely written about Pegatron, Economic Daily claims that HTC's 7-inch Android 2.3 tablet will ship in late Q1 (read: March, as we've heard earlier) with a new version of the HTC Sense UI. Our guess, is that HTC wants to get a tablet on the market now, rather than wait to customize Android 3.0 and have the Motorola Xoom and friends gobble up all the market share. The paper does mention two Android 3.0 tablets from HTC scheduled for 2011. Unfortunately, there's no word of the rumored "Flyer" brand name or whether those Honeycomb tablets will get the Sense treatment or not (we're guessing they will). Nevertheless, the Mobile World Congress event kicking off next week would be the perfect opportunity to make it all official, don't you think?

Marvel Versus Fighting Pad features micro-switch thumb pad, art direction courtesy of a 12 year old boy

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:53 PM PST

PDP, known in the gaming biz for everything from PlayStation Move accessories to heart-shaped guitar-ish (and garish) controllers, has really pulled out all the stops with its latest. The Marvel Versus Fighting Pad is a wired joypad that sports micro-switches for the thumb stick and six front-facing buttons, which is what you get on most arcade consoles (and what you don't get on cheaper controllers, so theoretically this should be rather nice). Available February 14, this bad boy will set you back $40. Right now only an Xbox 360 model is planned, but if it sells well they will also be bringing it to the PS3. And yes, that is a panel from an actual Marvel comic slathered all over the thing. PR, Video after the break.


Show full PR text
MARVEL'S SUPER HEROES AND SUPER VILLAINS BATTLE ACROSS SPECIAL EDITION GAME CONTROLLER FROM PERFORMANCE DESIGNED PRODUCTS

Special Marvel-Themed Version of PDP's Patented Versus Fighting Pad Available in February

LOS ANGELES, CA – February 7, 2011 – Performance Designed Products LLC ("PDP"), a worldwide leader in the videogame accessory market, today announced the limited edition Marvel Edition Versus Fighting Pad for the Xbox 360. This new game pad has been designed specifically to appeal to both fighting gamers and fans of Marvel comics, with high-quality parts, unique design and explosive artwork taken from the pages of one of Marvel's biggest events of 2010: Siege. The Marvel Edition Versus Fighting Pad will be available at retail and on PDP.com for a suggested retail price of $39.99 beginning February 14, 2011.

"In the last few years, fighting games have re-emerged as an incredibly popular genre in the console gaming world, with a dedicated, serious audience that demands high-quality tools," said Tom Roberts, chief technical officer, Performance Designed Products. "We have designed the Versus Fighting Pad to be the ultimate game pad for fighting-game players while reflecting the super heroics of Marvel in this special-edition controller."

PDP has joined with Marvel to create the Marvel Edition Versus Fighting Pad, a patented, wired six-button controller specifically designed for AAA fighting games on the Xbox 360. As players would expect from an actual arcade machine, high quality micro-switch activators have been used for the thumb stick, which has been custom designed and constructed to feel like an arcade joystick but with the more comfortable and compact feel of a thumb pad.

The Marvel Edition Versus Fighting Pad buttons have been placed in the expected six-button configuration on the face of the pad to give the user true arcade feel and accuracy when playing fighting games. The thumb stick has a rubberized, over-tooled cap while the pad itself has a satin grip finish, which means that the controller moves exactly as players demand without slipping out of their hands.

Players can order the Marvel Edition Versus Fighting Pad from http://www.pdp.com

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play may be headed to Verizon

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:49 PM PST

If you're looking for reasons not to jump on the Verizon iPhone bandwagon, here's a pretty compelling, albeit unconfirmed, one: the Xperia Play may be headed to Big Red as well. In comparing Sony Ericsson's thumb-friendly Android handset to the iPhone 4, Wirefly has listed VZW as the carrier for the Play. This is the first we've really heard of a US provider for the phone, though we'd hardly be surprised if Sony Ericsson opts to spam it out to all four major networks. It did as much in the UK, where every single operator will try to sell you one in April, and we don't see why that strategy should change on US soil. The Xperia Play will be announced in full this Sunday, February 13th, when we might just learn more about its global availability... if we're really polite and wear our PlayStation T-shirts, presumably.

Verizon iPhone 4 now available to order / reserve for in-store pickup

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 11:07 PM PST

Apple and Verizon's long-awaited partnership is nearly upon us, folks, and the final piece to the puzzle is general availability of the hallowed iPhone 4. You're now able to order or reserve your own at the online stores of both carrier and phone maker, though shipping dates for early orders are listed at a distant February 18th. We'd just reserve one and go down to our nearest physical outlet to pick it up tomorrow.

Update: We're now hearing that only Apple stores will take in-store reservations, while Verizon is first-come, first-served and only while supplies last. You may get lucky, but it seems the rule is that VZW won't reserve or hold phones in-store for any reason. [Thanks, S.!]

Fujitsu's next-gen Milbeaut image processor does single-chip Hi-Vision video, 20MP stills

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 10:58 PM PST

Fujitsu's latest image processor, the Milbeaut MB91696AM, has a new bag of tricks on tap, and it's fixing to unload them in April. The new Milbeaut sports ARM processors and a "newly-developed" Full HD H.264 codec engine, making for 14-megapixel shooting at 8fps (or about 20 megapixels at 5.5fps) and low-noise Hi-Vision video recording at 1920 x 1080. So the processor, in its sixth iteration, sports high resolution photos and HD video all on the same chip, and features continuous photography speeds up to five times faster than its predecessors. Fujitsu's got plans to show off Milbeaut's mobile solutions at MWC next week, and we wouldn't be surprised to see the MB91696AM make its debut in Barcelona as well. Either way, the new processor is scheduled to ship starting in April for ¥3,000 (right around $36), which means new Milbeaut-equipped cameras won't shouldn't be far behind. Full PR after the jump.
Show full PR text
Fujitsu Releases 6th Generation of Milbeaut Imaging Processors

Realizes high-speed continuous shooting at 8 frames per second and high-resolution Full Hi-Vision movies (1920 X 1080 pixels) -

Yokohama, Japan, February 8, 2011 - Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited today announced the development of MB91696AM, the newest model in the Milbeaut series of advanced imaging processors. Samples of the new model will begin shipping in April 2011.

MB91696AM represents the sixth generation of the Milbeaut image processing algorithm, which has been widely adopted due to its high reliability, allowing both high-speed continuous shooting at 8 frames per second (at a 14 megapixel resolution) and higher video quality. Furthermore, MB91696AM is equipped with a newly-developed Full HD H.264 codec engine, enabling clear, low-noise recording of high-resolution Full Hi-Vision movies (1920 X 1080 pixels).

By advancing the development of these proprietary technologies, Fujitsu has been able to achieve a balance between quality and speed for both high-resolution video and still photography, thereby enabling camera solutions to be developed using a single chip.

In recent years, the shift toward high-definition technology in the market for AV devices, including digital cameras, mobile phone cameras, and digital camcorders, has been accompanied by heightened demand for increasingly higher resolutions for capturing high-speed photographs and HD movies. Using conventional technology, however, it still remains a challenge to quickly handle dramatically-increased processing volumes of high-resolution images.

Fujitsu Semiconductor has responded to these challenges by enhancing its proprietary Milbeaut image processing algorithm and H.264 Full HD codec engine, thereby meeting the high-resolution needs of users, from still images to HD movies, using a single chip.

MB91696AM represents the sixth generation of the Milbeaut image processing algorithm. Milbeaut is an image processor that has been widely adopted in digital cameras, mobile phone cameras and other devices since its release in 2000. MB91696AM features a significantly-improved image processing algorithm that enables higher image quality and processing performance. At the same time, the processor is equipped with two ARM® processors, an industry-standard CPU core, and features continuous photography performance approximately five times that of previous Fujitsu products.

In addition, Fujitsu Semiconductor has performed a complete optimization of its Full HD H.264 codec engine. The new engine enables the capturing of high-resolution images through a proprietary image processing algorithm, which was developed in collaboration with Fujitsu Laboratories Limited. In addition, with an architecture that significantly reduces data-transfer volumes, the processor reduces energy consumption.

In the future, Fujitsu Semiconductor plans to bring the product to the global market while continuing to develop high-resolution, high-performance, and energy-efficient products.

This product was jointly developed by Fujitsu VLSI Limited, Fujitsu Microelectronics Solutions Limited, and Fujitsu Laboratories Limited.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo put through its paces on video

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 10:09 PM PST

The rumored Xperia Neo still isn't official -- we think we're probably looking at MWC next week for that -- but there are enough floating around at this point so that they're getting tested pretty thoroughly (or, at least as thoroughly as you can test a pre-production device). The latest tidbit comes via a series of videos and stills that put the phone's 8.1 megapixel sensor through its paces; frankly, they look a little washed out, but it's really common for camera performance to improve by leaps and bounds through firmware updates right up until a phone's commercial release so we don't want to sound the alarm quite yet. My Android Life has also thrown together a quick video walkthrough of the UI, where you see that Sony Ericsson seems to be standardizing on the same experience first seen on the Xperia Arc and later on the Xperia Play -- highly widgetized with a Gingerbread core. All things considered, it seems the Arc's a higher-end device -- but if the price is right, this Neo could win some hearts as well. Follow the break for the UI walkthrough.

Etox plans all-electric Zafer sportscar, could sell for around $20,000

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 09:27 PM PST

It may not be ready to challenge Tesla just yet, but it looks like Turkish automaker Etox is about to get into the all-electric sportscar business with a vehicle that could cost considerably less than much of its competition. The company is reportedly now working on an electric prototype of its Zafer sportscar, and it says the car could run for as low as 30,000 to 35,000 Turkish lira (or roughly $19,000 to $22,000) when it eventually hits showrooms. Unfortunately, while the car will apparently boast a respectable 250 kilometer range, it isn't quite as fast as it looks -- the company says it'll top out at just 120 kilometers per hour, or 75 mph. It also looks like those plans for an actual production vehicle are still far from certain, as Etox is reportedly still waiting on government funding to get the assembly line moving.

PS3 'jailbreak code' retweeted by Sony's Kevin Butler, no punchline needed

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 09:04 PM PST

Oh, honey. Sony PlayStation's (entirely fictional) Kevin Butler holds many (also fictional) positions within the company, but apparently none of them require him to keep up with (very real) news events. Travis La Marr (aka @exiva) tweeted the now-infamous PS3 METLDR root key towards Butler with the challenge to "Come at me." What's a spokeperson to do but confuse it for a Battleship reference and retweet the entire code? Obviously someone let him in on the joke, as the tweet's since been removed (original URL can be found as More Coverage below). At least Sony won't have to subpoena for his info here. Geohot, we hope you're laughing.

Update: As Digital Foundry points out, this sequence actually refers to the USB dongle ID generator key, also used for PS3 security circumvention.

[Thanks, Scott M]

Samsung Galaxy Indulge shows up on MetroPCS: LTE, Android 2.2, 1GHz processor

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 08:28 PM PST

We don't have any official pictures yet, but there's now a placeholder entry for a so-called SCH-R910 Galaxy Indulge from Samsung on MetroPCS' official site, in all likelihood that device we'd previously seen leaked a couple times as the Forte. This would be the first LTE smartphone on MetroPCS since the previously-released Craft is a dumbphone -- and depending on the release date, they could potentially beat HTC's Thunderbolt for Verizon to become the first LTE smartphone offered on any carrier in the US. Besides LTE support, specs look to include a 1GHz processor (Hummingbird, we're guessing) along with WiFi and a 3.5-inch HVGA display all running atop Froyo. Pricing? $399, which seems expensive until you remember that these guys don't do contracts. We're assuming we'll be hearing more about this bad boy soon, so keep an ear to the ground and we'll do the same.

[Thanks, Danny]

Dell Latitude E6220 hands-on

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 07:10 PM PST

Sure, the Dell Means Business event this morning was a bit of a snore, but amidst all the talk of backlit keyboards (egads!), four-times faster hard drive encryption, and cookware-inspired design, we spotted a rather attractive (perhaps even enticing) enterprise system -- the Dell Latitude E6220 laptop. According to Dell, this 12-inch thin-and-light is targeting "field workers" like us, so we wasted no time getting some hands-on time with it alongside our trusty 11-inch MacBook Air. Check out the gallery below, and read on for our first impressions.
Dell Latitude E6220 hands-on


Despite being a pre-release unit without a battery installed, the E6220 felt solidly built. The screen lid is inlaid with brushed metal while the main body of the laptop is made of black plastic with a silver rim. The edges of the bottom cover are tapered in the front and sides, making the system look thinner than it actually is. The rear protrudes beyond the hinges and contains all the ports, just like the Adamo -- in fact, the styling reminds us of the XPS 14. On the left side you'll find smart card and SD card readers, as well as audio, eSATA / USB, and VGA connectors. On the right side there's an ExpressCard slot, wireless switch, two USB ports, and an HDMI connector. Power and Ethernet are located in back, with a docking interface on the bottom.

The 12-inch screen uses a matte finish and while we're not sure of the exact resolution, it's likely 1366 x 768 pixels. Quality seemed on par with LCD panels found in other modern laptops. There's a webcam above the display, flanked by a pair of microphones. We liked the full-size keyboard, which is backlit and features standard key travel. The trackpad works as expected, including two-finger scrolling, but the buttons felt a little too mushy. In addition to the trackpad, the palmrest incorporates an RFID reader and a fingerprint scanner.

Under the hood, you'll find an Intel Core i3 CPU with integrated graphics, your choice of hard drive or solid state storage, plus a plethora of wireless options (including 3G). Performance seemed adequate for a Core i3 laptop running Windows 7, despite a reported Windows Experience Index of 1.0 (which we suspect is inaccurate, since this was not final hardware). Our unit, which was equipped with a 2.1GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a hard drive, loaded Engadget and other websites without any drama. Dell was mum on pricing, availability, or battery life, but we expect the E6220 to be competitive in the enterprise market.

Dell Latitude XT3 convertible tablet, hands-on (video)

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 06:39 PM PST

Dell unveiled a mighty business laptop lineup this morning, but only a few stood out -- like this Dell Latitude XT3 convertible tablet PC with a quad dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge processor inside. Yes, it seems Dell's decided to forgo the incredible battery life of its predecessor for potent performance instead, with this particular unit packing a 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M CPU and 2GB of RAM underneath that swiveling 13-inch display. While the prototype XT3's screen seemed a little washed-out and viewing angles left something to be desired, we have to admire its matte dual-digitizer display, which takes multitouch input from at least three fingers simultaneously and also recognizes a pop-out stylus pen (the former responsive enough to navigate Windows 7 by touch alone, and the latter beyond our can't-draw-a-straight-stick-figure ability to easily test). That sunlight-readable screen isn't just for traveling artists, though, as Dell was quick to inform us that the XT3 is the company's attempt to make a convertible tablet that corporate IT will accept as one of its own, thanks to the same magnesium frame and universal docking port as the rest of the new Latitude lineup. We can't lie: we'd be pretty excited about the potential for awesome here, if we had any notion of release dates or price. Find some pictures below, and mosey past the break for a hands-on video.
Dell Latitude XT3 convertible tablet, hands-on

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

EFO's diminutive Google TV keyboard makes us laugh, cry, exclaim

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 06:14 PM PST

Google's remained fairly mum on its TV experiment ever since a number of major networks blocked Google TV devices from accessing their online content, but you can bet that Logitech and Sony are still doing everything they can to unload inventory. If -- for whatever reason -- you've found yourself in the precarious position of needing a backup keyboard, EFO's got a couple of comical solutions. The outfit's new Google TV keyboard is named simply enough, and it's also one of the smallest KB remotes in the history of KB remotes. That's great for those who tend to shove their controlling devices into pockets and whatnot, and there's even a touchpad that works vertically and horizontally -- depending on preference, of course. Bluetooth ($75) and RF ($65) versions are available, with initial shipments to go out starting on the 15th. Head on past the break for a demo video, also known as the cutest thing you'll see all day.

at 11:51 AM

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