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- Tech Today: Wii 2 controller, Apple iTunes cloud music
- Android app news: Skyfire 4.0 adds Facebook smarts
- Google Chrome netbooks to be sold via subscriptions?
- News@8pm: iPhone tracks locations and 3DS price drop
- Apple location-storing iOS file could be a bug
- Nokia: On the comeback trail or slipping further?
- PlayStation Network down for over 24 hours
- iPhone 3GS now just £15.50 a month on O2
- Sky still backing 3D content to go mainstream
- 3D porn film beats Avatar in box office taking records
- Facebook to block 'free speech' in selected countries
- Amazon tablet launch set for the summer?
- BlackBerry PlayBook sells 50,000 on US launch day
- HTC Sensation release date leaked online as June 8th
- iPad use abroad to cost users 1,000 times normal rate
- News@10: PlayBook sales and iPad costs soar
- Apple iPod sales slump 17 per cent as smartphones triumph
- Samsung Galaxy S II UK release date pushed forward
- Nintendo 3DS price drops below £180 amid sales woes
- Apple iPhone sells 18.6m units during record second quarter
| Tech Today: Wii 2 controller, Apple iTunes cloud music Posted: 21 Apr 2011 01:27 PM PDT
It's the tech news that broke after you logged-off. Apple will launch a cloud music service before Google gets its own plans out of the front door according to a report from Reuters this evening. The iTunes subscription service will store all of your music in the cloud and allow you to access it at any time on any of your devices, freeing up valuable space on your hard drives.
The Nintendo Wii 2 controller will have feature eight-buttons and two analogue sticks to go along with the touchscreen already touted for the device. The Wii 2 controller will, according to a report on Kotaku, will also have an on-board camera and the screen will be a whopping 6.2-inches in size, which will be used to control games like Zelda. So far, the hype for the controller is outstripping the hype for the console itself.
Sony's PlayStation Network has suffered a pretty sizable outages that Sony PlayStation says might take a "full day or two to fix." Members have been unable to log-in to their online accounts through their consoles for over 24 hours now, and Sony reckon it might be down to a targeted attack from third parties.
Speaking of PlayStation, it was with little surprise that we heard that the PSPgo was on the way out this week. What's more surprising is news from across the pond that their might be life in the download-only Sony PSPgo yet. Joystiq has been told by PlayStation today that production will continue in the US. We're not sure why.
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The Apple iPhone 5 might be coming later this year, but remember the iPhone 3GS? Well that's still knocking around, with O2 now offering a pretty interesting deal. You can get a free Apple iPhone 3GS for just £15.50 a month on a two year contract. Granted you get no data and only 100 minutes to show for it, but if that's the kind of low-usage contract you're after, you could do worse than this smartphone hall of famer.
News@8: Thursday was a bumper day of tech news. We've got rumblings of an Amazon Android tablet made by Samsung and the latest on the iOS location privacy row. Sky has backed 3D to go mainstream again and there's already a Nintendo 3DS price cut. Check it out in our daily News@8 round-up.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Android app news: Skyfire 4.0 adds Facebook smarts Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:52 PM PDT
Web video conversion no longer free on Android. Skyfire has updated its mobile browser for Android phones to include quick links to social sites, but will now charge users if they want to access it's most important feature - the ability to play troublesome web video on your device.
The Skyfire 4.0 updated is available to download from the Android Market now and contains quick links to your Facebook and Twitter feeds as well as Google Reader and Groupon. It also gives you the opportunity to share stories quickly as well as offering news feeds.
But that's not the reason why most Android and iOS users download this browser, it's the work-around that allows Flash video to be played on phones that don't want to play ball.
Skyfire will now charge for that privilege, bringing it into line with the iPhone and iPad versions of the browser. Android owners will now have to pay a one-off fee of $3 to access previously unattainable videos online.
Skyfire rose to fame as the browser that brought Flash video capabilities to Apple's Adobe-plug-in-hating iOS devices, by converting video to friendly formats from you and sending it back to your phone.
While most new Android phones are now equipped with Flash 10.1 on-board, there's still a host of older devices that are still unwilling to play ball with a host of web video.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google Chrome netbooks to be sold via subscriptions? Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:19 PM PDT
Radio Rentals style tech model could be coming back. Google is reported to be considering selling its Google Chrome-based netbooks through a monthly subscription service when they go on sale this summer.
The report from Neowin.net, which also claims that the first Chrome-packing devices will go on sale in late June/early July, says that Google will offer the devices to Gmail subscribers for between $15-20 a month.
In a strange move that would hark back to the days of leasing a telly from Radio Rentals, Google would provide full support, offer hardware repairs and replace the notebook after a period of time when new models become available.
The Neowin report says that it is as yet unclear whether Google will offer the service to regular old Gmail subscribers or those using the paid-for Google Apps service.
As well as the subscription service, Google is also planning to sell the long-awaited Chrome netbooks through retail outlets in the same way that it has with Android.
Link: Neowin.net
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| News@8pm: iPhone tracks locations and 3DS price drop Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:00 PM PDT
Welcome to your nightly round-up of the day's news and goings on courtesy of T3.com. Apple’s range of products have controversially hit the headlines today as users cite complaints with both the iPhone and iPad. In addition to the revelation that the iPhone is programmed to store its user’s location data, it has been revealed that using data on a tablet abroad can cost you as much as 10,000 times the standard rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ First day sales figures for the BlackBerry PlayBook have been surprisingly strong with the RIM tablet selling 50,000 units and many stores selling out of the product. Meanwhile, it is rumoured Amazon is to launch its own rival tablet by the summer.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Apple location-storing iOS file could be a bug Posted: 21 Apr 2011 11:43 AM PDT
Should we stop pointing the guilty finger at Apple? Yesterday we reported on a hidden file in Apple iOS that automatically tracks and stores your every movement through the device's GPS location capabilities.
The file, called Consolidated.db, caused a massive privacy stir, with the data also backed-up to your computer with every sync, making it vulnerable to third parties who wish to exploit your whereabouts to their own ends.
But most of the tech world pointed an angry finger at anger, one in-the-know Apple reporter reckons the existence of the file might be an error that'll likely be cleared up in a forthcoming software update.
John Gruber, of the Daring Fireball website, has a pretty decent records of calling the big Apple stories down the years, says his inside source tells him the file wasn't a deliberate inclusion.
"My little-birdie-informed understanding is that consolidated.db acts as a cache for location data, and that historical data should be getting culled but isn't, either due to a bug or, more likely, an oversight," Gruber wrote.
"I.e. someone wrote the code to cache location data but never wrote code to cull non-recent entries from the cache, so that a database that's meant to serve as a cache of your recent location data is instead a persistent log of your location history. I'd wager this gets fixed in the next iOS update."
Apple is so precise with these things that it's a slight stretch of the imagination to believe that this was an oversight, just like when the company tried to say the iPhone 4 "antennagate" was down to mistakes in how the device displayed the signal on the screen.
There's still no comment from Apple on this matter.
Link: Apple insider This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nokia: On the comeback trail or slipping further? Posted: 21 Apr 2011 11:05 AM PDT
Nokia still sold over 100m phones between January and March 2011, despite market slide. Nokia has announced better than expected profits in its quarterly results, but its market share has dwindled by a further four per cent it was revealed today.
The Finnish giant posted a healthy profit of £344m for the first three months of 2011, which is slightly better than had been forecast by financial analysts, suggesting a return to form might be brewing.
The bad news for Nokia is that its global share of the smartphone market is down to 29 per cent, which is still absolutely remarkable when you consider the perceived dominance of Android and Apple.
Apple made headlines yesterday by announced they had sold 18.6m iPhones between January and March last year. In comparison, Nokia sold 108.5m, although at a much lower price point than Apple's smartphone kingpin.
Nokia is banking on its new partnership with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system, a deal which Nokia has now rubber-stamped, with the first devices set to arrive at the beginning of 2012.
So at the moment the jury is out. Is Nokia starting to halt the slide and is the future back or is that market share going to eventually dwindle to nothing?
Let us know what you think on T3's Twitter and Facebook pages.
Link: Nokia
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| PlayStation Network down for over 24 hours Posted: 21 Apr 2011 10:09 AM PDT
Have hackers brought the PSN to its knees? The Sony PlayStation Network has been down for the last 24 hours, with Sony admitting that it might take them "a full day or two to get the service back fully online."
The outage has left gamers unable to log-on to the PlayStation 3 console's online portal, simply greeting them with an error message explaining in rather vague terms that there is an "issue with the system."
After radio silence for much of Thursday Sony has admitted that the damage ma have been caused by "targeted behaviour by an outside party" according to a statement on the EU blog.
A recent statement on the PlayStation US website explains that the situation is so severe that it might take them until the weekend to get the service running at full speed again.
The post says: "While we are investigating the cause of the Network outage, we wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we’re able to get the service completely back up and running. Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter. Please stay tuned to this space for more details, and we’ll update you again as soon as we can."
Let's hope the fix comes sooner rather than later so that Easter Weekend of online gaming you had planned isn't completely ruined.
Link: PlayStation
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| iPhone 3GS now just £15.50 a month on O2 Posted: 21 Apr 2011 09:18 AM PDT
Barely any minutes, no data, but a definite smartphone hall of famer. The once-mighty and always iconic Apple iPhone 3GS is now available for just £15.50 a month through O2.
The handset, which was the first iPhone to boast video recording, is available on a bargain basement contract which offers no internet data and just 100 minutes if you sign up for two years. The handset is free of charge.
The new low tariff for the iPhone 3GS surely represents a bid to clear the shelves before the arrival of the iPhone 5, be that in July as normal, or as recent reports have suggested in September.
If you're looking for a cheap smartphone deal, then the iPhone 5 also presents itself as a pretty darn good iPod touch and home Wi-Fi browser, so this represents a pretty interesting deal from O2.
However, at the end of your two year contract, the device will be four years old, so that's something to bear in mind if you're partial to the odd bit of tech jealousy.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sky still backing 3D content to go mainstream Posted: 21 Apr 2011 07:18 AM PDT
70,000 subscribers already signed up to the Sky 3D cause Sky’s director of product development has reaffirmed his confidence in the Sky 3D channel believing the medium will soon find its way to the mass market.
Having handed over his role as head of Sky 3D in wake of the product’s launch, Barry Lenz told TechRadar he was pleased with Sky's progress in the market so far.
"It's one thing to sit with something like 3D where we are going out and saying that we're happy with 70,000 subscribers in the first quarter,” stated Lenz.
“That's because we believe that it will grow to a much bigger number for us."
Lenz added,"We tend to be a more mass market company which means we have to hit very high volumes with our products.”
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 3D porn film beats Avatar in box office taking records Posted: 21 Apr 2011 07:15 AM PDT
Opening week records smashed by Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D porn has gripped viewers as raunchy film release 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy continues to top box office charts having smashed sales records previously held by James Cameron’s Sci-Fi epic Avatar.
Based on the ancient novel The Carnal Prayer Mat, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, billed as the world’s first feature length 3D porn film, has racked up a staggering HK$17 million (£1.32 million) in takings in its opening week in Hong Kong.
As well as becoming the most successful film in Hong Kong’s history, 3D Sex and Zen has amassed a cult following in Taiwan with Chinese nationals venturing to the two nations in order to bypass the strict Chinese erotica laws and get their peepers on the 3D hooters.
Will the porn industry help pioneer the 3D medium? Let us know what you think via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Via: TheIndependent This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Facebook to block 'free speech' in selected countries Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:48 AM PDT
Move into Chinese market is likely to bring added censorship. Facebook is prepared to censor content in emerging countries according to a Washington lobbyist for the company.
“Too much free speech” is a barrier to the social network’s entry into emergent markets states Adam Conner, a 25-year-old junior lobbyist for the company.
To date lawlords in the country have blocked nationals from using the Facebook for fear of a repeat of its use in recent Middle East uprisings.
"Maybe we will block content in some countries, but not others," Adam Conner commented to the Wall Street Journal."We are occasionally held in uncomfortable positions because now we're allowing too much, maybe, free speech in countries that haven't experienced it before." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Amazon tablet launch set for the summer? Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:44 AM PDT
Kindle to be upstaged by new tablet on the block? Amazon could be set to take on the iPad 2 and the growing Android tablet army with a report suggesting that the online retail giant will launch a tablet in the summer.
The report by gdgt suggests that the device which could run on Android Honeycomb or its own custom operating system, will be built with the help of Samsung.
Talk of a slate from Amazon has intensified in recent months with analysts saying that an Amazon tablet could beat the iPad if such a device was launched.
Having recently launched the Amazon Appstore for Android apps, and the Amazon Cloud Player service, both could feature in any potential tablet device.
There is of course the small matter of Amazon's hugely successful Kindle service would surely have a big part to play as well.
The big-selling Kindle will apparently not suffer from the presence of a tablet, but it will be interesting to see if these rumours do materialise into anything.
Do you like the sound of an Amazon tablet? Let us know your thoughts via Facebook and Twitter.
Link: BGR This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BlackBerry PlayBook sells 50,000 on US launch day Posted: 21 Apr 2011 03:49 AM PDT
Device sits behind the iPad but well ahead of the Motorola Xoom. The BlackBerry PlayBook has achieved impressive first day sales of around 50,000 units according to a preliminary analyst reports.
One in nine North American retail stores reportedly sold out their stock of the portable device on its opening day, most likely surpassing figures for that of its closest rival, the Motorola XOOM, according to RBC Capital Markets.
Further estimates support the strong sales figures, Peter Misek, an analyst for Jefferies & Co, placed sales of the tablet at 45,000 units with 25,000 PlayBooks sold through pre-order and another 20,000 bought over-the-counter.
Speaking on the PlayBook’s successful launch yesterday Misek commented, "While the launch of the PlayBook is not attracting overnight crowds, pre-order sales and in-store demand in major cities has been solid; however, AT&T's prohibition of free tethering is an unexpected negative."
Have you got your eye on a BlackBerry PlayBook? Are you holding out for the iPad 2 instead? Let us know via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Via: MobileMag
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| HTC Sensation release date leaked online as June 8th Posted: 21 Apr 2011 03:38 AM PDT
US to get Sensation in early June Following last week’s official unveiling, HTC’s new flagship handset the HTC Sensation is to officially launch in the US on June 8th, new reports suggest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HTC Sensation video
Touted at its UK unveiling as heading for a May arrival for the British market, the Sensation has since appeared online with the 4G capable US bound edition branded with a June 8th release date courtesy of a Google Adwork link.
Unveiled to a London audience last Tuesday the HTC Sensation is set to touch down with a market leading 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch SLCD display and an 8-megapixel camera with Full HD 1080p video recording capabilities.
Although confirmed UK pricing and release dates for the HTC Sensation have yet to be confirmed by Taiwanese manufacturer, Vodafone has been revealed to be exclusively stocking the device from launch in May with the four other major UK network providers, Orange, O2, Three and T-Mobile set to join in on the Sensation fun the following month.
Will the HTC Sensation become the new dominant force in the smartphone market or will the likes on the Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Atrix and Apple iPhone 5 take top honours? Let us know what you think via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Via: Engadget This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| iPad use abroad to cost users 1,000 times normal rate Posted: 21 Apr 2011 02:45 AM PDT
Pricey date to face iPad travellers Using your iPad or Android tablet abroad this summer could set you back 1,000 times your normal rates, new research carried out by Which? has revealed.
Whilst consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the roaming fees faced when using their mobile phones abroad, it is feared few will make the similar connection when touting their 3G capable tablet devices beyond the boundaries of Britain.
Speaking on the findings with warning to taqblet consumers Which? boss Peter Vicary-Smith said: “Until data costs come down, anyone considering their tablet or mobile for using the net abroad should steer well clear of 3G data roaming and use free wi-fi access where available instead.”
Will you be taking your tablet device abroad this year, had you considered the roaming fees this could result in? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Via: Metro This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| News@10: PlayBook sales and iPad costs soar Posted: 21 Apr 2011 02:00 AM PDT
T3 scans the Twitterverse to bring you a handy daily round-up of gadget news, tech rumours and randomness from the WWW. Kick back with your morning cuppa and catch up. ThursdayTABLET NEWS @Metro - Using your iPad abroad could cost 1,000 times more than normal
3D NEWS @TechRadar - Sky still expects 3D to go mainstream
GOOGLE NEWS @GeekyGadgets - Google adding charging stations for electric car owners to Google Maps
ONLINE NEWS @Engadget - Yahoo to retain users search data for 18 months
TABLET NEWS @ITProPortal - 50,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets sold in opening day say analyst
Get more news, views and tech tips:
Direct your web attentions to twitter.com/t3dotcom for a feed of all the latest tech news and gadgetry goodness. We’ll also reach out for your opinions for future features, so have your brains ready.
Facebook.com/t3mag is our handle. Don’t worry though, we spend much less time growing Farmville crops and poking strangers than we do divulging tech info.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Apple iPod sales slump 17 per cent as smartphones triumph Posted: 21 Apr 2011 01:12 AM PDT
iPhone sales save slumping iPod figures Apple’s much loved MP3 player the iPod has seen sales slump 17 per cent in the past year, the company has revealed via its latest quarterly earnings report.
Despite reporting record sales revenues and net profits during the three month period between January and March, sales of the iPod have dropped 17 per cent compared with the same period last year as multi-functioning high-end smartphones look to spell the end of the standalone PMP.
Poor sales of the iPod were cancelled out by strong performances elsewhere as Apple racked up 3.76 million Mac sales, a figure up 28 per cent on the previous year and 4.69 million iPad sales. The standout performer for the Q2 period, however, was the iPhone with 18.65 million sales marking a 113 per cent sales growth year-on-year.
Do you own a smartphone and an iPod, can both devices coexist or will one cancel out the other? Share your thoughts via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Samsung Galaxy S II UK release date pushed forward Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:37 AM PDT
Retailer Phones for you jumps Galaxy S II release as T-Mobile lags behind Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S II is to be available through Phones 4U a week before its widespread official launch, the third party retailer has claimed.
Set for an official UK release on May 1st, Samsung’s first dual-core smartphone is already available to purchase through retailer Phones 4U with the sales folk declaring shipping for the new iPhone botherer will begin on April 27th, more than half a week ahead of its formal launch.
Whilst Phones 4U looks set to go early with the Android 2.3 device, network provider T-Mobile has revealed via it’s coming soon page online that it will not stock the Galaxy S II until June, a full month behind its competition. T-Mobile’s Everything Everywhere partner Orange, along with Vodafone, Three and O2 have all announced they are to host the Galaxy S follow-up from its May 1st launch date.
Officially unveiled during February’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, the Samsung Galaxy S II has since seen its original 1GHz dual-core processor bumped up to a 1.2GHz dual-core offering with this processing powerhouse further bolstered by a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, an 8-megapixel camera and a second snapper located on the front of the beautifully crafter slim line and lightweight device.
Will the Samsung Galaxy S II be the new dominant force or will the likes of the HTC Sensation, Motorola Atrix and Apple iPhone 5 take top honours? Share your thoughts via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Via: CNET This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nintendo 3DS price drops below £180 amid sales woes Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:04 AM PDT
Sub £180 3DS price cut hoped to boost sales Following a launch late last month that was rocked by reports of a series of health scares, the Nintendo 3DS has seen its price slashed in the UK as the glasses-free 3D console drops below the £180 mark.
Cutting more than £50 from the device’s original £230 price tag, retailer GAME has revealed it is to now offer both colour varieties of the Nintendo 3DS for just £179.99, sparking fears that the pocket-friendly device has seen poor launch period sales.
These health concerns were quickly followed by news that hundreds of 3DS owners were being refused full refunds for their devices just days after purchase as retailers failed to acknowledge the well publicised worries.
Have you already snapped up a 3DS, wish you had waited for this latest price drop or not bothered buying one at all? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Via: CVG This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Apple iPhone sells 18.6m units during record second quarter Posted: 20 Apr 2011 11:38 PM PDT
Mac and iPad perform well as iPod sales drop Apple has announced its second quarter sales figures with its now talismanic iPhone handset reportedly shifting more than 18 million units during the three month period.
Marking a 113 per cent growth compared with quarter two figures of 2010, the company’s iPhone 4 device has shrugged off initial antenna issues to mark itself as one of the highest selling and most desirable handsets on the market, pushing the iPhone brand to 18.65 million unit sales for the three month period ending in March.
Plumping the sales of the iPhone Apple’s full array of iDevices and Macs are reported to have notched up strong quarterly sales figures with 3.76 million Mac computers being sold, a figure up 28 per cent on the previous year. Adding to this Apple has sold 4.69 million iPads and 9.02 million iPods during its Q2 period.
Speaking on the quarterly figures, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs made an appearance from his medically induced leave of absence to announce: “With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we’re firing on all cylinders.” He added: “We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.”
Have you added to your iDevice haul during the past three months, are you another figure on Apple’s spreadsheet? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
App of the Day | Papa Sangre
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