Hands on with the Dell Inspiron Duo Convertible Netbook
Our friends over at Laptop Mag have spent some time with Dell’s new convertible systems the Inspiron Duo. The Duo comes with a premium 320GB 7,200 rpm drive as well as a dual-core 1.5-GHz Intel Atom N550 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and Windows 7 home premium. That it also comes with a 1366 x 768 screen, and it’s a huge step up from low-end netbooks.
This netvertible is different then every other convertible netbook on the market since you spin the screen around that then rotate the whole lid left or right. So the screen screen not the lid is rotatable. This is an interesting design concept since it allows the device to use the firm hinges of a regular notebook. The biggest down side to this innovation is that the bezel is incredibly thick not only does it have a rubberized lid around the screen, but also some black padding on the screen itself. This form factor has always had one draw back and its the hinge however the rotating mechanism seems incredibly sturdy. No matter how many times they flipped it, the lid quickly slapped firmly into place. Read more 
iPhone 3G, 3GS get iOS 4.2.1 unlock, using risky ultrasn0w workaround
Can’t wait another minute for your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS to be carrier-unlocked once more? If and only if you’re already running the latest firmware, you can actually pilfer a bit of iPad code to pick the requisite locks — though there are some serious risks in doing so. The iPhone Dev Team has a new version of PwnageTool that uses the 6.15.00 baseband from iPad firmware 3.2.2, which just so happens to run perfectly on the iPhone 3G and 3GS since both phones and tablets of that era use the same Infineon radio chip. If you know your way around an IPSW and regularly bench-press SHSH blobs, you can download all the software you need right now — but if you don’t, you might want to steer clear of the proceedings for the time being. We spoke about risks a moment ago, and in this case there are quite a few — like the inability to downgrade from baseband 6.15 or ever do a full restore unless Apple relations improve, and it’s fairly likely that Cupertino won’t look kindly on your warranty if they find you running iPad software. Them’s the breaks, kid.
Creative ZiiO 7 16GB Specs
LG Optimus 7 vs Samsung Omnia 7
As the mad rush that followed the highly anticipated launch of Windows Phone 7 has more or less died down, it’s now time to step back and and take a good look at the handsets to decide whether you want to invest in one or not. We’ve already seen the LG Optimus 7 pitched against HTC’s 7 Trophy, but how will it compare when it stands toe-to-toe with its main rival from Samsung? With its big, 4-inch AMOLED screen, the Omnia 7 has set itself apart from the pack. But, which is the better phone? We engaged the two handsets in a tense spec-off to see which came out best…
Form Factor
- Winner: Omnia 122.4 x 64.2 x 10.99mm; 138.5g
- Loser: Optimus 125 x 59.8 x 11.5mm; 157g
Size is an important factor to consider when you’re shopping for a smartphone, as it’s something that you’re going to be carrying around with you all day long. Although smartphones tend to be on the larger side in order to accommodate their luxuriously large screens, it’s still important that they’re small enough to slip into a pocket. At 122.4mm long, the Samsung is shorter than the more elongated LG handset, while it’s also considerably lighter and slightly slimmer too. On account of its compact dimensions, the Samsung storms into the lead on the first round. Read more
Apple iPad 2 to feature FaceTime and retina display?
The iPad 2 is coming, that we know.
But what it’s coming with is unclear. And whilst we could chuck a few guesses in of the hardware changes that are likely to be included, it’s much better to go on some inside info.
And that’s exactly what an Economy Daily News report is claiming to have, and it names five new features for the 2nd-generation iPad.
Those features are listed as:
- Video phone
- New display technology
- 3-axis gyroscope
- Better mobility
- USB connectivity
Video phone is a bit of a no brainer really. With FaceTime now on board Mac OS X and the latest iPod touch, it’s fairly obvious that Apple will want this on its tablet contender.
New display technology hints at a retina display for the iPad 2, and/or possibly Gorilla Glass.
The 3-axis gyroscope is on board the iPhone 4, so again, this seems like a shoe-in, but what could better mobility mean?
Perhaps it hints at a smaller form so it fits in your pocket. Not likely – it’s more conceivable that it’ll be lighter, and maybe include CDMA-GSM chip capabilities.
And we’ll leave you to work out what USB connectivity means.
Toshiba TG01 slowly, surely gets hacked to run Android
It’s easy to forget about the TG01 nowadays, but bear in mind that Toshiba’s WinMo beast from last year was the first production phone in the world to use Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon. Oh, and it was under 10mm thick and featured a 4.1-inch WVGA display at a time when such specs were basically science fiction — so you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. Anyhow, the phone’s far from obsolete — apart from that little WinMo issue, that is, so the good folks on xda-developers have started the time-honored tradition of transplanting Android onto it. Important stuff still isn’t working (the lack of calling capability is a big one for us, personally) but we’re guessing it’s just a matter of time before we see a solid, usable build in the wild now. HD2, watch your back!
Acer Iconia dual touchscreen touches down
This dual screen notebook is in fact, the newly announced Acer Iconia, a touch friendly machine that does away with the traditional controls, such as a touchpad and a keyboard, and throws in two touchscreen displays instead.
Both 14-inch screens are capable of 720p HD displays (they have 1366 x 768 resolutions), and can work independently of one another, which is handy if you fancy watching a movie and doing a bit of Facebooking at the same time.
They also support all-point, multi-touch functionality meaning that you can use all 10 of your fingers to control the Iconia.
“Intel is proud that our close collaboration with Acer has helped to deliver the world’s first 10 finger multi-touch dual-screen notebook with an exciting and innovative end-user experience, powered by the Intel Core i5 processor”, said Mooly Eden, vice-president of PC Client Group, Intel Corporation.
The Acer Ring feature also means that placing five fingers down will give you a nice circular media control option as well. And, of course, the bottom screen can become a virtual keyboard.
The tech on board is pretty impressive too, with Windows 7 Premium running via a choice of Intel Core i5 CPUs (i5-480M/i5-560M/i5-580M with3 MB L3 cache, 2.66/2.66/2.66 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.93/3.20/3.33 GHz), backed up by 4GB RAM and Intel HD Graphics with 128 MB of dedicated system memory.
There’s a 320 – 750GB HDD for all of your media storage, and connectivity should be a doddle with Wi-Fi, 3G and a USB 3.0 port (there’s also two old-school USB ports as well).
There’s also a HDMI output, for those rare occasions that two screens just aren’t enough.
Reports suggest that prices will start from £1499 with the machine set to land in the UK on 15 January, although there is nothing official as of yet.
Acer reveals 4.8-inch Android smartphone with 1024×480 screen resolution
Acer may be calling this “100 percent smartphone. 100 percent tablet,” but something just doesn’t add up there. That being said, we have to agree that a 1024×480 screen resolution on a 4.8-inch smartphone is downright drool-worthy. Clocking in at just a smidgen smaller than Dell’s Streak, this here phone (no finalized name has been bestowed quite yet) was just revealed at Acer’s Global press event in New York City. It was only shown briefly, demonstrating an unknown version of Android and the “evolution of Acer UI.” Specs wise, there’s a two megapixel front-facing camera, eight megapixel rear camera (with LED flash), 720p video recording, a six-axis Gyroscope + accelerometer package and LED edge lighting. Per usual, Acer’s keeping a lid on any pricing estimates, but it’ll be shipping out to gape-jawed customers everywhere in April 2011.
Update: We’ve got the full PR after the break, which informs us of the atypical 21:9 aspect ratio in use here as well as its “full metal body.” Curiously enough, it’s also rocking a curved back (is that a trend we spot?), Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11n WiFi, HSDPA support, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and an HDMI output. Delicious, all the way around.
iOS 4.2.1 Jailbreak hits with updated redsn0w
The Dev-Team Blog was just updated with a new redsn0w version 0.9.6b4 jailbreak (based on Geohot’s Limera1n bootrom exploit) for iOS 4.2.1. Unfortunately, iOS device owners won’t find jailbreaking as easy as navigating to a website. And the 4.2.1 jailbreak is currently “tethered” so owners of the iPhone 4, iPad, and newer iPhone 3GS and iPod touch models will have to reattach to a PC or Mac to boot into a jailbroken state each time your device loses power or needs a reboot. Those of you who rely on the ultrasn0w unlock should hold off for now — good advice for anyone not comfortable with terms like “SHSH blobs” or “Cydia.” Everyone else can hit up the link below with a detailed how-to provided by Redmond Pie.
iOS 4.2 available to download
Hold on to your hats fanboys, because iOS 4.2 has finally arrived.
If you plug your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into iTunes now, it should automatically prompt you to download the latest software for your iOS device – but if not you can always click “Check for Update” on your device page. You’ll need to be running the latest version of iTunes as well (10.1).
So what exactly does iOS 4.2 mean?
Well, apart from AirPlay, AirPrint, new device management capabilities and support for 25 additional languages, iOS 4.2 is also the first time that you’ve been able to multitask, create folders and get involved in all of the other iOS 4 goodness on your Apple tablet (the previous updated iPad software was version 3.2.2).
So, whilst you wait for iOS 4.2 to download and do its stuff on your iDevice, why not check out our guide: Read more
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