KDDI Japan Announces 7-Inch Android 2.2 Wi-Fi Tablet
KDDI Japan has announced a new 7-inch Android tablet made by Samsung called the SMT-i9100. Gotta love hard to remember names. Unlike the ViewSonic ViewPad 7 or the Samsung Galaxy Tab (outside of the US) this tablet lacks 3G and only comes with Wi-Fi, so it’s guaranteed to lack the Android marketplace. There’s the same custom UI on top of Android as seen on their IS phone series. Most confusing is the specs listing a 2 hour battery.
The SMT-i9100 features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 capacitive multi-touch display, b/g/n Wi-Fi, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash storage, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 2MP webcam, stereo speakers, mini USB and micro SDHC card slots. It’s got a 2 hour battery (you’re kidding right?), 12 hours in standby time, 6 hours to recharge. It’s 13.9mm thick and weighs 450 g. It’s expected out around the end of February next year. No word on price right now.
Limera1n and Greenpois0n iOS 4.1 jailbreaks now available for Mac, Linux
We thought it was a wee bit ridiculous that Geohot’s original iOS 4.1 jailbreak only worked on Windows, but that’s a thing of the past now — limera1n now supports Mac as well, and the Chronic Dev Team’s greenpois0n variant can purportedly free your device from Apple shackles from any of OS X, Linux or Windows. Mind you, there’s still no working carrier unlock for iOS 4.1, so be sure to back up your baseband and don’t expect to be making calls on T-Mobile USA — and remember kids, there are always risks to playing chicken with the Apple firmware train.
See the new HTC Windows Phones in video
A whole raft of videos have been added by HTC this morning. The HTC 7 Trophy, HTC 7 Mozart, HTC HD7 and HTC 7 Surround are all featured, just click on to view them here.
If you want a closer look at Windows Phone 7 do keep an eye on the site next week because we’ll have some very interesting items relating to the new Microsoft OS. We can’t say too much just yet but, believe me, it’s worth waiting for 😉
CTL 2goPad SL10 Review
Last time we left off in the tale of Windows 7 tablets, we’d taken a look at Netbook Navigator’s Nav 9 slate, which by review’s end had us not only wanting to send it back as soon as humanly possible, but concluding that something better just had to be on the horizon. Well, as luck would have it, just a few days later CTL’s 10-inch 2goPad SL10 showed up on our doorstep with some very promising ingredients — a capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer, front facing camera, and a Win 7 software layer. As we said in our early hands-on, we’ve been more impressed with the $499 (it will go up to $599 in late October) 2goPad than we ever thought we would be, but ultimately its Atom N450 processor and its software stand in its way of being the Win 7 tablet to kill ’em all. You’ll want to hit the break to read all about it in our full review. Read more 
Android 4.0 to be called Ice Cream
Google is well known for playfully naming new Android OS’s after various sweets. This tradition began in May 2009 with the development of Android 1.5, which Google dubbed Cupcake. Donut (Android 1.6) was released in Sept. 2009 and Éclair (Android 2.0) followed in Oct. 2009. The current version of Android (Android 2.2) is called Froyo, short for frozen yogurt. Going in alphabetical order, Google has confirmed that Android 3.0 will be called Gingerbread and Android 3.5 will be called Honeycomb. But the “I” representing Android 4.0 has been kept secret for some time. Until now. ARM President Tudor Brown has said that Android 4.0 will be dubbed Ice Cream. All other details about Android 4.0 are being kept secret, however. Ice Cream most likely won’t make its debut until mid-2011. Gingerbread is expected to be released before the end of the year and Honeycomb in early 2011.
Samsung Transform review
With Epic 4G styling, a front-facing camera and a $150 post-rebate price, it’s easy to mistake the Samsung Transform for a high-end phone. Don’t. The reality is that it’s a evolution of Samsung’s mid-range Moment and Intercept more than anything else — you’re paying an additional $50 here to get a front-facing camera, an LED flash and a few welcome tweaks, but the same ho-hum performance plus a few new annoyances to boot. Where does it improve and where does it fail? Find out in our full review. Read more
HTC 7 Pro arriving in UK and rest of Europe 'early next year'
HTC plans to bring its business-friendly 7 Pro to the UK and rest of Europe in “early next year.” The news comes from Engadget, which also noted it’s too soon to discuss potential carriers. Read more
White iPhone 4 spotted in New York
Tonight at an NYC tech event I spotted one of the rarest and most sought after handsets ever: the white iPhone 4. It was in use, not under glass or held by a high ranking Apple official.
The fabled device was in the hands of a person who wasn’t an Apple employee but was able to call in a favor from one. Apparently the white iPhone 4 was (or is) available on the Apple campus.
It was mentioned that the reason the phone never reached mass production was because two different manufacturers produced the plastic button and glass front/back plates. The problem reportedly had to do with keeping the color consistent when using different materials and suppliers. Matching the shade and translucency of the white must have been enough of a challenge that Apple’s quality control never approved the phone for a wide release.
Galaxy S Android 2.2 Froyo update begins to trickle out (update: official)
Based on breathless reports we’re seeing on Twitter and in the XDA-Developers’ forums, it would appear that Samsung has just pushed out the official Android 2.2 Froyo update for its Galaxy S as promised. Our Nordic friends are the first to report seeing the build I9000 JPM update in the latest version of Samsung’s Kies PC software. It’s early days though, so do let your fellow i9000 owners know how it goes in the comments below. List of changes (including GPS fix) listed after the break.
Update: We’ve just been handed the official press release for the Andoid 2.2 Galaxy S update. Indeed, Nordic countries get it first (starting mid-October, aka, “now”) before it’s “gradually rolled out to other European markets, Southeast Asia, the Middle East Asia, North America, Africa and rest of the world.” Hey, it takes time to update 5 million handsets. Read more
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Android update teased (video)
Sony Ericsson has finally started to talk up its plans to give the much-hyped, but ultimately flawed Xperia X10 a bump to Android 2.1.
Having landed on the outdated Android 1.6 platform, SE has unleashed three new clips (seen below) which show the Xperia X10 playing nice with a version of Android which was first seen in January this year, months before the X10’s release.
As well as unified mailboxes, Google Goggles and Exchange support, Sony Ericsson has upped the homescreen count to five, added more icon spaces to each screen and a couple of new widgets for conserving the battery and checking out recent calls. There’s also continuous autofocus in HD video shooting. However, you won’t be able to get the software boost until the end of the month, and even then it depends on the networks giving the thumbs up.
It’d be polite to say this upgrade is long overdue, especially as most rival Android phones already have Android 2.2 sitting on board. Android 3.0 is widely expected to be unveiled before the year’s end, making the X10 obsolete once more despite its killer spec sheet.
AIVAnet 