Omni Tech Limited - Your Mobile Phone and computer Repair Specialist

Nokia seeds a new MeeGo PR1.2 beta, detailed changelog included

2012-01-26T14:32:00.002+13:00

Nokia seeds a new MeeGo PR1.2 beta, detailed changelog included

25 January, 2012 | Comments (17) | Post your comment

Tags: Nokia, MeeGo, Touch UI

Little over a week ago Nokia released N9 PR1.2 beta version to the Nokia N950 developer device but at the time we didn't have the full changelog at the time.

Well now we do - it includes 5 new languages, app folders, extended copy-and-paste support (finally!), lockscreen music controls, front camera support, etc. Also there are many bug fixes and tweaks. We can't wait to take it for a spin on the N9.

Here are the most noteworthy improvements in the N9 PR1.2 beta version.

• Software update notifications for content in Nokia Store

• Face recognition for gallery and face tags for Facebook

• Support for folders in the application view

• Mail thread support in the Email client

• Extended copy-paste support

• Media sharing with DLNA compatible devices

• Compass support in Maps

• New font taken into use

• Front camera support

• Video editing support in the Gallery application

• Separate switch for controlling mobile background connections while roaming

• Camera: self timer, grid on/off control

• Clock alarm becomes silent by flipping the device face down instead of snoozing

• People view added to the grid toolbar in the gallery

• Audiobook and podcast support in the music player

• Ability to create playlists in the music player

• Ability to delete music files from music player library views via object menu

Users who own the N950 and are eager to test out the new beta should know that upon updating there's no going back to version 1.1. MeeGo doesn't allow moving down beta versions.

Source | Via

Sony unveils PlayStation Vita!!!

2012-01-23T12:53:00.001+13:00

Sony unveils PlayStation Vita

Tim Stokes (third left) and Robert Fisser are flanked by event models at the Sony PlayStation Vita media preview held in DIFC, Dubai, last week
By G John/Senior Features Writer

Sony previewed its next generation handheld gaming device, PlayStation Vita, for the Middle East media in Dubai last week.
Leveraging PlayStation’s legacy of delivering deep and immersive gaming experience, the PS Vita is the successor to the existing PlayStation Portable and will be launched in markets globally on February 22. In Qatar, the device will be available for pre-order exclusively through the Fifty One East outlets.
Sleek and lightweight with a stunning OLED screen, the PS Vita will bring to gaming enthusiasts new ways to play through a highly responsive touchscreen, rear touch pad, dual analog sticks, motion sensors, and dual cameras.
The device comes in Wi-Fi and 3G versions, and is tightly integrated with the gaming community through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Skype et al. “PlayStation Vita is an incredible device that offers the best possible portable gaming experience. Its revolutionary mix of features combined with social connectivity, delivers a platform for gamers to play games in a whole new way and to connect with their friends and the world around them,” says Jim Ryan, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). He adds: “We’re very excited to launch a portable gaming device that goes beyond anything available on the market and is positioned to deliver the uncompromised gaming experiences consumers have been asking for.”
Unlike its predecessor, the PS Vita comes at a time when it will face stiff competition from mobile gaming on tablets and smartphones. Says Tim Stokes, PlayStation Vice President of Sales and Commercial Planning: “The mobile gaming space is very different from the time we launched the PlayStation Portable six years ago. Back then if one wanted to have a gaming device it was a Sony or Nintendo or some basic game on your mobile. Now, of course, we have a clutter of smartphones or tablets which offer great gaming experience. We really had to design something with the gamer in mind, whether it’s the content, the user, the whole experience, it’s all about gaming that’s at the core of PlayStation Vita.”
Software for the PS Vita will be distributed on a new proprietary flash memory card called PlayStation Vita card rather than on Universal Media Discs (UMDs) used by the original PlayStation Portable. PS Vita memory cards will be available in sizes from 4GB to 32GB. However, the device will be compatible with PlayStation Portable downloadable titles, PlayStation minis, PlayStation Suite games, PSOne Classics, videos, and comics from the PlayStation Store. Says Robert Fisser, PlayStation General Manager of Middle East, Africa, Turkey and India: “The launch of a new platform is an exciting time for developers and gamers. We sold 70mn units of PlayStation Portable worldwide, and brought in the years of experience while designing the Vita. We believe the Vita is a true nextgen successor to the PlayStation Portable and offer new and innovative ways to play.”
One of the key features of PS Vita is the support for Augmented Reality (AR) games. Augmented Reality is considered as an extension of Virtual Reality, where gamers can immerse in a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.
With more than 80 games currently in production from first and third party studios including LittleBigPlanet, Wipeout 2048, Resistance: Burning Skies, Uncharted Golden Abyss, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, EA Sports’ FIFA, Activision’s Call of Duty, and many more, the PS Vita is poised to deliver gameplay experiences unmatched by any handheld or mobile device in the market.

Upcoming Sony smartphones to support the Russian GLONASS

2012-01-23T12:51:00.003+13:00

Upcoming Sony smartphones to support the Russian GLONASS

21 January, 2012 | Comments (47) | Post your comment

Tags: Sony, Android, Touch UI

Sony has announced that their newly announced Xperia smartphones, the Xperia S and Xperia Ion, will come equipped with the GLONASS satellite navigation system built-in.
What's more, they have also revealed that some of their previous smartphones on sale right now have had GLONASS support built-in since launch. These other handsets include the Xperia arc, Xperia arc S, Xperia ray, Xperia neo, Xperia pro, Xperia PLAY, Xperia active and Live with Walkman.

In case you weren't aware of it, GLONASS is to Russia what GPS is to America. Most of the phones have just GPS on-board, which restricts them to 31 satellites but having both, GPS as well as GLONASS on-board, you have access to 24 additional satellites, which not only speeds up lock-on time but also ensures you get a lock-on in trickier places, such as when you're surrounded by tall buildings.
Sony is not the only company to have GLONASS along with GPS built-into their phones. Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola too have a few models that include this functionality. Hopefully, more phones will include this feature in future.

Source

Behind the Scenes at CES: The Latest Laptops

2012-01-20T10:55:00.002+13:00

Taken from http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6370&news=CES+behind+the+scenes+toshiba+ultrabook+lenovo+yoga

Behind the Scenes at CES: The Latest Laptops

By Jerry Jackson, NotebookReview.com Editor | 1/10/2012

digg

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing, but some of the most exciting laptops at the show are hiding in private meeting rooms and press suites. Take a look at these behind the scenes photos from CES so you can find out what's coming later this year and you can get a closer view of some of the big announcements.

Toshiba Satellite "Consumer Ultrabook"
This aluminum-wrapped thin and light laptop was only visible for a few hours during a Toshiba pre-show party (hence the dark room and red lights) but it will likely be one of the most important notebooks for Toshiba in 2012. The as yet unnamed Toshiba Satellite ultrabook is going to be the company's first consumer-focused ultrabook with a target price range "around $699" later this year. Details are few and far between at this time, but this ultrabook will ship with Windows 8, it will have the latest generation Intel processors, a 14-inch HD screen, it will use a LED-backlit keyboard with a Synaptics touchpad, and feature rapid boot and rapid resume from sleep.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
One of the more interesting designs to make an appearance at CES 2012 is the all new Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga. This laptop features a revolutionary folding hinge design that allows you to not only fold the notebook flat for business presentations or digital board games, but you can flip the screen 360 around and use the touchscreen as a Windows tablet.

The keyboard on the IdeaPad Yoga is automatically disabled when the screen reaches the 180-degree position; so you won't have to worry about pressing the keyboard keys when the laptop is in tablet mode. The convertible design features a 13.3-inch HD multi-touch display, a chassis that is 0.6" thin and 3.1 lbs. in weight, it uses 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processors and is designed for Windows 8 with up to 8 hours of battery life. One other interesting item of note is that the Yoga is the first Lenovo notebook to use an all new rectangular power adapter connection which may become the new standard for future Lenovo laptops.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Hybrid
The executive-oriented ThinkPad X1 business laptop is essentially unchanged from the notebook be reviewed last year, but the updated X1 Hybrid maintains the X1's status as "the thinnest ThinkPad" while offering a new low power mode via a Snapdragon processor module. The low power mode boots almost instantly and gives you access to your calendar, videos, music, web access, email and other important documents stored in flash on the Snapdragon module. The low power mode also gives you twice the battery life compared to running the X1 in Windows 7 mode.

You can instantly switch to Windows mode at the touch of a button and the flash storage is visible to Windows so you can access the files stored there ... however, you cannot access the main hard drive in low power mode since only the Snapdragon module, Wi-Fi card and display are powered on during that time. The only thing you might want to keep in mind with the ThinkPad X1 Hybrid is that the low power module uses the WWAN card slot, so X1 Hybrid notebooks won't offer built-in 3G broadband access.

Should Siri be jealous of voice recognition competitors?

2012-01-18T10:06:00.002+13:00

Linked from the cnet website

Should Siri be jealous of voice recognition competitors?

by Roger Cheng January 13, 2012 10:35 AM PST

Voice command services such as this one from Vlingo are starting to get more popular thanks to Siri. So what's next?

(Credit: Vlingo)

LAS VEGAS--Looks like Siri was just the beginning.

Okay, even Siri wasn't the beginning. The ability to do voice-command isn't particularly new, but the marquee feature for Apple's iPhone 4S has gotten the masses to recognize and appreciate its benefits. For the first time, voice-command was a feature people talked about and coveted.

At CES, there were better implementations and voice-commands popping up on different devices. Big-name companies got into the mix. Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes Benz, said voice would play a major role in its cars, calling them a driver's "digital companion." Ultrabooks will eventually be getting speech recognition built in. Manufacturers from Samsung Electronics to Lenovo are integrating the feature into their high-end televisions.

Indeed, using speech to control a TV was a major trend of the show. Vlingo, which makes a virtual speech assistant for smartphones, announced its "Vlingo for Smarter TVs" software, which it plans to embed into televisions and set-top box. Nuance likewise announced its Dragon TV platform, which is believed to be powering the new voice-and-gesture-controlled Samsung TVs.

But this is just the beginning. The voice-recognition companies are looking to get the feature in every electronic device. They also want to get to the point where these virtual assistants follow you from device to device in a consistent manner, so your preferences move where you move.

"Everything you see in 'Star Trek'--it's going to be real," said Matt Revis, vice president of product management for Nuance's mobile division.

For that to happen, and for consumers to truly gravitate to speech, there still needs to be more education out in the market.

"For two and a half years, we've shipped various products that were equivalent or better than Siri, but a start-up is hard to make a market," said Vlingo CEO Dave Grannan. "People really don't know what they need, they need to be shown."

Nuance has agreed to acquire Vlingo in a deal that is expected to close later this year.

Natural dialogue the key
While voice commands have long been used by various industries, including automated help lines and older cell phones, Siri brought attention to an advancement of voice-recognition: the ability to understand our natural language and respond in kind, so Siri really does seem like a person. That's managed to turn it from a utilitarian tool to something you want to use.

"Speech initially was used because it was more convenient," Revis said. "But Siri is fun. You're engaged."

Over the past few years, there have been huge advancements in voice recognition. Vlingo, for instance, has done a lot of work in improving the artificial intelligence and natural understanding, Grannan said. You can say, "I want to get wasted" and have its program find you local bars, he added.

Vlingo's TV service allows for voice commands to work like a dialogue. Make a request, and it will ask a question back to narrow down your choices. There's a back and forth that continues until the user finds what he is looking for.

The company is working with one smart-TV manufacturer, and one European cable provider, Grannan said, adding he expects products to come out by the end of 2012.

The various companies say that given the intense processing power required for AI, basing the services on the cloud is key. While the microphone picks up your comment on your phone, car, or TV, much of the heavy lifting occurs on the back-end at Nuance, Vlingo, or Apple's servers.

Beyond just a remote control
That cloud will enable these companies to put voice recognition on just about any connected device.

Revis said he envisions every electronic device being able to run these features, and it appears we're pretty close to it. Samsung, for instance, showed off several connected appliances including refrigerators and washers that could easily integrate a Siri-like capability down the line. Likewise, it has opened up its smart TVs to developers in the hopes they better take advantage of the gesture and voice controls.

"There are a lot of user scenarios you can dream up," said Joe Stinziano, senior VP of home entertainment marketing for Samsung. "We're opening it up to a developer community that has proven it can be more creative than the original manufacturer."

One such scenario involves asking the refrigerator about milk, and having the appliance detect via barcode scanner whether there is any left, or to set a reminder about buying more milk later on, Grannan said.

Large tech companies such as Sony, Samsung, or Apple are at an advantage because they make so many of the products that consumers use. The large Asian conglomerates, for example, making smartphones, PCs, appliances, and even home heating and cooling systems, could all integrate voice.

Nuance, meanwhile, is hoping to get voice commands in more apps. The company has released a software development kit to allow other programmers to integrate its service into their own apps. Revis noted that Amazon Price Checker and Merriam-Webster Dictionary apps used its technology.

As for the further proliferation of voice commands in more products? We're probably still a little away from barking orders at our microwave.

"I think we'll see a couple of iterations and won't see mainstream until the end of 2013," Grannan said.

2012-01-16T12:54:00.005+13:00

7 things you didn't know about PlayStation Vita

Comments

Gamers in search of a new portable gaming platform that offers console-like graphics and controls might have already circled Feb. 22 on their calendar.

Video Games

Sony
The PlayStation Vita is coming to the U.S. on Feb. 22.

Enlarge

Sony

The PlayStation Vita is coming to the U.S. on Feb. 22.

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That is the North American launch date for Sony's much-hyped PlayStation Vita, a successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) that promises to up the ante in mobile gaming, as well as entertainment and communication.

Many are already aware that the $249.99 Wi-Fi device ($299.99 for Wi-Fi + 3G) boasts a 5-inch high-definition OLED display, dual analog sticks and will include both front and rear cameras to snap pictures, shoot movies or engage in video calls.

BLOG: Game Hunters

But there's a lot more to the "PS Vita," says Sony, which was showing off the Vita this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

We caught up with John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony, to reveal a few lesser-known facts and features about the upcoming machine.

What's in a name? "Vita" means life in Latin. "We felt it was the most appropriate name to describe such a revolutionary device that combines gaming and social connectivity," says Koller. "One of the goals of Vita is to transform every aspect of a user's life into the entertainment experience."

Experience rules: The PlayStation Vita's designer helped design the original Sony Walkman. That's right, Mr. Takashi Sogabe of the Sony Corporate Design Center, who has 27 years of experience under his belt at Sony, was the designer of the original Walkman personal stereo first introduced in 1979.

Many ways to play: PS Vita gamers have five ways to control the action. Depending on what each game supports, players can use the 5-inch touchscreen, the back touch panel, familiar PlayStation buttons (circle, square, triangle, X, shoulders and d-pad), dual analog sticks and a built-in gyroscope sensor to tilt the unit in various directions.

Wireless wonder: PS Vita is the first handheld device dedicated to gaming that incorporates 3G and Wi-Fi support. That is, you will be able to play your PS Vita games everywhere you go and stay connected with your friends and other PS Vita users. Gamers can also stay updated with those who matter thanks to popular social networking and communications applications. In order to tap into 3G you will need a data plan from AT&T, which is offering month-to-month plans ($14.99/250MB or $25/2GB).

Not camera shy: Dive deep into "augmented reality" gaming using PS Vita's front and rear cameras. PS Vita enables reality and the virtual world to blend in new ways, says Sony, by taking real-time images of yourself or the world around and placing them into the gameplay experience.

Game on! PS Vita will launch with the largest gaming library in the history of PlayStation platforms. There will be 25 games available on day one, Sony says. And there are more than 100 games in development — including high-profile franchises like "Uncharted," "Call of Duty," "LittleBigPlanet" and "Assassin's Creed." Those who purchased PSP games through PlayStation Network will be able to play those games on their PS Vita device, as well.

PS3 interaction: Finally, the PlayStation Vita will interact with the PlayStation 3 console. Specifically, PS Vita and PS3 gamers can play with or against one other when playing compatible games. And some games will take it a step further by enabling players to pause their game on their PS3 and resume it later on their PS Vita (or vice versa).

2012-01-16T12:52:00.001+13:00

Samsung to merge its Bada OS with the Linux-based Tizen

15 January, 2012 | Comments (33) | Post your comment

Tags: Samsung, Tizen, Touch UI

Samsung has announced its plans to merge its homegrown smartphone OS - Bada - with the Linux-based Tizen, which was recently created in collaboration with Intel.

Launched back in 2010, Bada was meant to feature on Samsung's low-end touchscreen phones. Compared to the feature phone OS found on these phones, Bada was much better because it had an improved user interface and smartphone features such as proper multitasking and native third party application installation through Samsung's own application store.

Now, however, with Samsung starting work on Tizen, it makes little sense to keep both the operating systems existing simultaneously. Then there is also the fact that Samsung has Android and Windows Phone devices as well.

So starting this year, Bada will be merged into Tizen and as such, will cease to exist on its own, outside of the devices that are currently running it. Samsung has said that the current Bada applications and the SDK will be backward compatible with the new OS. No mention of whether the current devices will be upgraded to Tizen, although we wouldn't hold our breath for that.

Samsung has also mentioned that they will be launching one or two Tizen phones this year. Our guess is that they will be low-end or mid-range devices, since Samsung has already got the high-end covered with Android and Windows Phone devices. Hopefully we will find out more at MWC this year.

2012-01-13T09:31:00.001+13:00

Main Repair Center | Head Office378 Great North Road,Henderson, Auckland.Telephone: 09-8383943Fax: 09-8383947Email: info@omnitech.co.nzWebsite: www.omnitech.co.nzFacebook: www.facebook.com/nzomnitechWestfield Albany | Drop off and collection pointAlbany Westfield Shopping MallKiosk ALBB1010 - Outside JB Hi-Fi Level 1, 219 Don McKinnon Drive,Albany, AucklandTelephone: 09-9259230Sylvia Park | Repair CenterShop N038 Sylvia Park Shopping Mall,286 Mt Wellington Highway,Mt Wellington, AucklandTel: 09-5730483Westfield Manukau | Drop off and collection pointKiosk MANB1010 – Outside Bond & BondManukau Westfield Shopping Centre,Cnr Great South and Wiri Station Road,Manukau City, AucklandWestfield St. Lukes | Drop off and collection pointKiosk STLA1040 - Next to Vodafone KioskSt Lukes Westfield Shopping Mall80 St Lukes Road, Auckland 1025Tel: 09-9786122

Something About New Zealand's Premier Device Repair Specialists

2012-01-12T15:01:00.000+13:00

Just a Little About us.

Omni Tech Limited, a local New Zealand technology company was started with a vision to provide New Zealand with professional edge mobile phone, gaming consoles and computer repairs and unlocking solutions. As leading technical specialists, meeting the demands of an emerging technical market is our main goal.

We commit ourselves to providing professional and unmatched service to mobile
phones, both new and old. All through the deployment of advanced communications, integrated systems, devices and hardware, we remain responsive to our customers’ individual needs and ever-changing requirements.

Our repair team has over 18 years of cumulative mobile phones, laptops and gaming consoles repair experience. Our highly skilled technicians carry out their tasks with utmost efficiency and accuracy, for reasonable pricing as well!

Quality customer service is our top priority; we are a customer-focused organisation. No efforts or resources are spared to ensure the highest level of customer service and support to our customers.

Omni Tech Limited is 100% locally-owned company and it is committed to stay current with the advancement of mobile phone repair and unlocking. We constantly update our knowledge, software and hardware-wise, with the ever expanding growth of the telecommunication sector.

Here in omnitech, we believe that all devices deserve a second chance.

Visit our website: www.omnitech.co.nz

Email us on: info@omnitech.co.nz

Call us: 0800 666 483

----------------------------Quality Assurance------------------------------
We use 100% authentic parts for repairs, and we provide warranty for them as well. 100% guaranteed satisfaction for our services! We strive to check and fix devices promptly once they have been submitted for repairs or inspection. We keep in close contact with you while we are working on your device.

----------------------Submitting Phones For Repair-----------------------
We provide two ways for submitting phones for repair
Via courier or in-store
Visit http://www.omnitech.co.nz/how2post.php for more information

-------------------------------Locations-------------------------------------
Main Repair Centre
378 Great North Road
Henderson
Auckland

Sylvia Park Shopping Mall Repair Centre
Shop N038, 286 Mt Wellington Highway
Mt Wellington
Auckland

Albany Westfield Shopping Mall (Outside JB HiFi)
Kiosk ALBB101
Level 1, 219 Don McKinnon Drive
Albany
Auckland

Manukau Westfield Shopping Mall (Outside Bond & Bond)
Kisok MANB1010
Cnr Great South and Wiri Station Road
Manukau City

St Lukes Westfield Shopping Mall (Next to Vodafone Kiosk)
Kiosk STLA1040
Ground Floor
80 St Lukes Road
St Lukes
Auckland

Lynn Mall Shopping Centre (Outside Bond & Bond)
Kiosk 12 - Outside Bond & Bond
3058 Great North Road
New Lynn
Auckland

Computer/Laptop & Gaming Console Repair Centre
Level 1, 357 Great North Road
Henderson
Auckland

BRANCHES OPENING SOON
Hamilton Branch
Grand Opening - 25th February 2012
Shop K12, TeAwa The Base Shopping Mall (Next to Vodafone Store)
Corner of Te Rapa Road & Avalon Drive, Hamilton

Onehunga Branch
Grand Opening - 22nd May 2012
Shop 4A, Dress-Smart Outlet Shopping Centre
151 Arthur Street, Onehunga, Auckland

Here Comes Playstation Vita!!!

2012-01-12T13:25:00.002+13:00

Here comes Playstation VITA

Find out what video game industry experts are looking forward to most when PS Vita launches on 23 February 2012.

"I want to see how people will react to the new ways to play that PlayStation Vita brings such as the rear touch pad, Augmented Reality features and AAA titles on a portable device with a real game interface. Plus, I'm interested to see how developers will take advantage of the potential of PS Vita. Looking at the Japan launch titles, the future looks very promising." Shuhei Yoshida, president, SCE Worldwide Studios

"It's going to be great to see consumers get their hands on PS Vita. I believe it will really shake up the whole portable gaming space with richer, deeper and more immersive experiences than before. There are lots of fantastic games coming that deliver true dual analog stick action, as well as existing series that have been reinvented for PS Vita and great, new, innovative games and apps that show off many of the system's other cool features." Michael Denny, senior vice president, SCE Worldwide Studios, Europe

"Escape Plan: it appeals to my aesthetic and auditory senses like few games do. Seems like some great opportunities for fresh gameplay on a new device." Dayne McClurg, community manager, Gotham City Impostors

"I'm looking forward to WipEout 2048, Little Deviants and MotorStorm RC. They're all great games that I've really enjoyed playing this year, and my teams have done a great job bringing them to PS Vita. Apart from those titles I can't wait for people to play Uncharted Golden Abyss and Escape Plan." Mick Hocking, vice president, SCE Worldwide Studios

"Other than our own F1 2011, I'm keen to tinker with some of the AR features and just drool over that amazing screen." Nick Craig, vice president, Codemasters

"I'm really looking forward to the launch of PS Vita. It is a great device and there are loads of games that I can't wait to get my hands on." Simon Bursey, art director, BigBig Studio

"Escape Plan looks like a great little game with interesting and unique gameplay; Gravity Rush seems to be a new concept with a cool style to go with it; and, Uncharted: Golden Abyss seems to push PS Vita to the max – it will be interesting to see how Drake plays on a handheld." Tore Blystad, game director, Hitman: Absolution

"Definitely Resistance: Burning Skies. I know it sounds like I'm plugging my own but that's why I got into this business – to finally see the games on the shelves when they're done." Daniel Brooke, producer, SCE Worldwide Studios

"I'm really excited about Unit 13, which we recently revealed. I think it's going to be one of the most successful titles during the launch window." Ara Demirjian, assistant producer, SCE Worldwide Studios

Check out our video to find out what Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, thinks of the PS Vita launch and stay tuned to playstation.co.nz andPlayStation.Blog for more PS Vita news ahead of the system's launch on 23 February 2012.

Post comments and share all the latest PlayStation happenings along with the rest of the PlayStation community at the Official New Zealand Facebook Fan Page.

Samsung Galaxy S 'Value Pack' firmware leaks

2012-01-09T12:42:00.006+13:00

A few days ago we heard from Samsung that they have dropped plans to release the 'Value Pack' update to Galaxy S owners, which was supposed to improve performance and add features found in Ice Cream Sandwich. The reason for this stated by Samsung was hardware limitations of the device.

Now, however, the Value Pack firmware has leaked online. List of improvements include the additions of Face Unlock, improved camera performance with the ability to take pictures while recording videos, image editor from the Galaxy S II, new lockscreen sounds, and improved performance in browser, gallery and gaming.

This doesn't tell us though whether Samsung will officially be releasing it. They may have tested this update and later on decided to cancel it. Whatever may be the reason, you can now download it and try it out on your phone. The less brave among you would want to hold on for a while longer to see if Samsung officially releases the update.

Leaked shots of the Sony Ericsson MT27i 'Pepper' emerge

2012-01-09T12:41:00.001+13:00

Cast your eyes over the yet to be announced Sony Ericsson MT27i, codenamed 'Pepper'. This is to be the intended successor to the Xperia neo V which launched back in October.
Based on the design language we've seen from the likes of Sony Ericsson's worst kept secret the Nozomi, there's definitely some shared DNA here and not just aesthetically.

Along with the hard edges and sharp corners in this prototype (as marked in the images), sources say the hardware will place the Pepper underneath the Nozomi and share a number of elements with its predecessor, the neo V too.

On the inside the Pepper is expected to utilize an ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 chipset with a 1GHz dual-core CPU alongside a full 1GB of RAM (the Nozomi uses a 1.5GHz dual-core but also has a gig of RAM). Then we have graphical power courtesy of an Adreno 220 GPU and user storage built in at 16GB, but it has to be said, no SD slot.

The neo V similarities then come into play with a 3.7" display of the same (480x854 pixels) resolution on the front and a similarly equipped 5MP autofocus camera complete with LED flash on the back, also capable of 720p HD video at 30fps.

As you can see above, the front of the Pepper swaps hardware for capacitive Back, Home and Menu keys and on the device's back you can spot a noise-cancelling microphone to the left of what we assume to be a loudspeaker grill.

We hope Sony Ericsson will be unveiling the Pepper in a more complete form once CES kicks off, but if we are made to wait, we can then only assume that they're saving its debut for Mobile World Congress in February.

Nokia World 2011: Live coverage

2011-11-03T11:21:00.000+13:00

Introduction

Todaymarked the beginning of the Windows Phone era for Nokia. The company announcedto make the Microsoft platform its primary OS just before the MWC in February,but it's only now, at Nokia World that it finally had actual products to showus.

TheNokia CEO, Steven Elop, stepped on stage and unveiled the Nokia Lumia 800 andLumia 710. The Lumia 800 borrows the Nokia N9 unibody design and comes with a3.7" Clear Black AMOLED, a 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU, 512 MB of RAM and 16GB ofstorage under the hood.

An8 megapixel camera with super bright f/2.2 lens is what does the shooting onthe Nokia Lumia 800. The snapper also does 720p video@30fps.

Photos from the keynote speech

The NokiaLumia 710 is a more affordable device (€270 pre-tax vs €420 pre-tax forthe Lumia 800), that comes with a slightly different design, but the same 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU. It trades the AMOLED for a more conventional, LCD screen andgets a 5 megapixel camera instead of an 8 megapixel shooter.

TheLumia 710 will be available in stealthy black and crisp white at launch withextra swappable covers that match the WP tile color options.

Alongwith the two headliners, Nokia announced four new S40 handsets. Nokia Asha 200,Asha 201, Asha 300, Asha 303 are all budget-minded cell phones aiming to bringgood connectivity options without breaking the bank.

Theonly notable absentee was Nokia 900, which leaked last night, butobviously didn't make it in time for the announcement today, so we'll have towait a bit more to meet the 4.3" beast.

Afterthe press conference we got a chance to play with the newly announced devices.You can find live photos and our first-hand impressions of all of them on thefollowing pages. We begins with the Nokia 800 Lumia right after the break.

iPhone 4S to storm 15 new countries, come November 11

2011-11-02T09:20:00.000+13:00

As promised, Apple is expandingthe iPhone 4S availability. Their latest and greatest was released onOctober 14 in seven countries, followed by 22 new countries on October 28.

Currently, the iPhone 4S isalready available in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia,Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland,Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway,Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The iPhone 4S gang is now beingexpanded throughout Hong Kong, South Korea, Bulgaria, Albania, Armenia, ElSalvador, Greece, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland,Portugal and Romania. The official launch in these countries will be onNovember 11, while the pre-order campaign will start on November 4 (not availablein Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro and Panama).

According to Apple the iPhone 4Swill become available in more than 70 countries until the end of 2011, whichmeans at least 26 more countries are going to start offering it via officialchannels.

Source

Siri successfully ported over to other iOS devices

2011-10-31T09:36:00.002+13:00

Ever since the launch of the iPhone 4S peoplehave been wondering why on earth is Siri not available on other iOS devices. Several attempts have also been made to make it work ondevices other than the iPhone 4S but so far the result was disappointing, theirefforts often being thwarted by Apple's servers who were determined not to letanything other than the iPhone 4S through.

But after a few weeks of hard work, developers Steve Troughton-Smith and chpwn have finally managed to crack it. Asyou can see in the video above, Siri is now fully functional on a device thatis not, for a change, an iPhone 4S.

But before you get all excited, this news does come with a catch.The thing is that the developers cannot release this hack to users withoutApple's legal team coming after them. It requires the manipulation of Apple'scode in order to get it working on other devices, which is a violation of theEULA. They may eventually find a way to distribute it legally but till then youwill have to use your iOS device the ol' fashioned way.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus hands-on: First look

2011-10-26T10:01:00.001+13:00

Well, Google didn't just unveil a new version of their mobile OS early this morning. They also unveiled their next Google phone, a new galaxy by the name of Nexus. And just a glance on that Super AMOLED screen in 720p HD resolution is enough to tell you it means business.

Galaxy Nexus official photos

Now, though, with the unveiling of the Galaxy Nexus Google steps out from the Nexus S shoes of mediocrity and skyrockets their new baby into a galaxy of its own with dual thrust. A galaxy where the latest Nexus shines the brightest with its groundbreaking HD Super AMOLED display, waiting for the other Droids to follow its path.

We got our hands on Google's latest Nexus device and we are going to get on board, ready to explore the unfathomed nebulas of its hardware, as well as the Ice Cream Sandwich which its using for fuel. Yummy.

Putting our appetite aside though, the Galaxy Nexus is pushing all the right smartphone buttons for a 2011-2012 device. Starting from its slightly curved Super AMOLED display, moving through the powerhouse residing under the hood and finishing off with the brand new Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy Nexus is certainly in a league with the best out there.

Fortunately, we do not need a telescope to explore the inner workings of the Galaxy Nexus as it's right here in our hands tonight. Here's a recap of its key features:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus at a glance:

General: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100, LTE (region specific)
Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
Dimensions: 135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9 mm
Weight: 135 g
Display: 4.65" 16M-color HD (1280 x 720 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 0.01ms response time; oleophobic surface, curved display, multi-touch input
Chipset:Dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, TI OMAP 4460 chipset
RAM: 1GB
OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Memory: 16/32GB storage
Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection, touch focus and geotagging; Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps, LED flash, front facing camera, video-calls, touch-to-zoom while recording
Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
Misc: Hyper Skin material for increased grip, built-in accelerometer, proximity sensor, barometer sensor, notification LED area.

Now the Galaxy Nexus may not wow everybody with its specs sheet, it only tells half the story. There's more to it and we're just beginning to unwrap this beauty.

Galaxy Nexus live shots • The Nexus compared to the Note (left) and the S II (right)

Now, follow us as we go exploring the hardware side of the Galaxy Nexus.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus designed with bypassing patents in mind

2011-10-20T16:04:00.002+13:00

After yesterday's Ice Cream Sandwich event, Samsung's president of all things mobile JK Shin made an interesting note about the freshly announced Galaxy Nexus and the ongoing patent attrition warfare with Apple.

Now, Samsung wants to put a stop to all the patent infringement cases with its top smartphones and has taken the first step to do so by designing the Galaxy Nexus from the ground up to avoid being drawn to yet another patent lawsuit.

"Now we will avoid everything we can and take patents very seriously," said Shin Jong-kyun and later added, "Patents are very complicated and can be difficult to identify, but Samsung tried to ensure that no known patent by Apple is included in the new Android smartphone."

So does this mean that Samsung admits that in their past products some Apple patents were indeed infringed? And is the Galaxy Nexus now immune from more patent lawsuits being designed from the ground up with this sole purpose?

Samsung's mobile chief doesn't even know the answer to that last one, saying "We will see if (the Galaxy Nexus) will be 100 percent free from Apple lawsuits." We guess only time will tell.

Apple iOS 5 review: You've been notified

2011-10-19T13:00:00.002+13:00

Introduction

The iOS 5 is no news anymore. It was announced back in June at the WWDC along with the iCloud service. Apple has fulfilled its promise for a fall release and iOS 5 is finally seeding to all compatible iDevices around the globe.

If you've followed all the iOS 5 beta versions you've probably heard everything you need to know about it. But don’t worry in case you've missed those early builds, we’ll cover everything in this review.

An important note to make is that this is a review of iOS5 as it’s available on the iPhone 4. The specific iPhone 4S perks will be covered in a separate review once we get the handset itself. Now before we continue, let's take a look at the most important features premiering on the iOS 5.

Apple iOS 5 new features:

Notifications - real time on-screen notifications, lockscreen notifications and pull-down Notification Center
iMessage service in the Messaging app enabling instant messages to other iOS users
Reminders - including location-aware options
Customizable notification sounds - email, voicemail and calendar alerts
Twitter integration
iCloud service integration – wireless backup and restore, app and content syncing
Enhanced Camera app - viewfinder grid, supports a hardware shutter key
Integrated photo editing - crop, auto enhance, rotate and red-eye fix
Updated Safari browser - tabbed browsing (on iPad), private browsing mode, integrated Reader, Reading list and optimized performance
Dictionary lookup throughout the interface
Computer free operation - independent activation, OTA updates, iCloud backup and restore
Wi-Fi synchronization with iTunes with automatic operation
New features in the Mail app - Bold, Italic, Underline and Quote options, extended Search, mass Mark as Read/Unread and Flag setting, Add/Delete mailbox folders
Updated Calendar (new weekly view) and Game Center apps
Newsstand app combining all of your magazine subscriptions
iPod player now called Music, has a new icon
Separate Video player app for the iPhone
AppStore purchase history
New Storage management options (list and info of all installed apps)
Multi-tasking gestures for iPad
AirPlay mirroring for iPad
New accessibility options involving the LED flash, custom vibrations and Assistive Touch

Typically, there's still plenty of stuff missing and some of the things will probably never make it to the iOS. Here is a list of the things we continue to miss:

Still missing:

No Flash support in the web browser
No quick toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G
No Facebook integration
No proper widgets for the lockscreen
App folders still are limited to 12 apps tops
No DivX/XviD video support out of the box (though there're lots of players in the App Store)
No haptics for the touchscreen
No Bluetooth file transfers to other phones (though there’s an app that solves that partially)
Contacts lack a swipe-to-delete or mass delete feature

Well, the list is notably shorter than last year's. Apple continues the tradition of bringing missing key features, so that's not surprising. As most of the Apple fans have already understood, some of the missing things will probably stay missing for a long time, since they go against the Apple policy (like the Flash support or the USB mass storage or the native Bluetooth or USB Mass storage functionality is against the very principles of the closed iOS eco-system).

But enough with the teasers, let's see the new iOS 5 in action.

RIM to offer all Blackberry users free apps starting October 19

2011-10-18T10:31:00.003+13:00

RIM takes itsapologies one step further after the nasty outage of RIM's servers which made all Blackberry users' lifehell for a period of up to three days. Following the company's official excuseissued in a press release, now Research in Motion announced it will give away aselection of premium apps to all of its users for free.

And the applications whichwill be offered for free are not minor league. The list includes famous gametitles such as SIMS 3, Bejeweled, N.O.V.A and apps like Shazam Encore, VlingoPlus and Photo Editor Ultimate, with RIM promising that even more apps are yetto come.

Here's what RIM's Co-CEO MikeLazaridis says regarding the company's initiative.

We truly appreciate and valueour relationship with our customers. We’ve worked hard to earn their trust overthe past 12 years, and we’re committed to providing the high standard ofreliability they expect, today and in the future.

And that's not all. RIM's enterprise customers will also receive a month of technicalsupport completely free of charge. The selection of premium apps will becomefree starting from October 19 going until the end of the year (December 31).You can check out the full list of free applications to be offered in thesource link.

Google Q3 profits beat estimates, 190M Androids activated

2011-10-17T11:51:00.003+13:00

Larry Page, who not so long ago took over as Google's CEO, handed in the company's Q3 financial results with a big smile on his face. Revenues were up 33% Year-on-Year (YoY) to $9.72 billion.
Of that cool 31% transferred into operating income ($3.06 billion) and 24% ($2.21 billion) went to advertisers. The same numbers for last year's Q3 were 35% ($2.55 billion) and 26% ($1.81 billion).

The number of paid clicks on Google's ads increased 28% YoY and 13% compared to the previous quarter of this year. They were 5% more expensive too, both YoY and consecutively.
Larry Page also boasted on Google+ that there are now 190 million activated Android devices around the world. Last time, that number was 135 million. The Google revenue from mobile devices also grew 2.5 times over the last year.
Google+ (which Page used to do the bragging) has hit 40 million users who have uploaded 3.4 billion photos. Another Google project - Chrome - is doing very well too, breathing down Firefox's neck for second place in the browser market with 200 million users.
If you want more numbers, check out Google's press release and have a look at Page's Google+ posttoo.

With iCloud Launch, Apple Demotes The Personal Computer

2011-10-14T16:02:00.003+13:00

Update: time to see what Apple’s servers — and your own corporate network — can take. Latest versions of iOS, iTunes supporting iCloud just went live.

The promise of the personal computer was simple: all the computing power you need, all on your desktop. Apple co-founderSteve Jobs delivered on that promise first with the Apple II. He delivered on it better with the Macintosh. And for the last decade Jobs has worked to expand that franchise, turning the Macintosh into a ‘digital hub’ that linked cameras, printers, and music players into a personal digital ecosystem.

No longer. On Wednesday Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of software and services will lead the public launch of iCloud, a suite of online services that will demote the computer on your desktop from essential to nearly inconsequential. Digital books, documents, applications, photos, and music will all be stored on Apple’s servers, for free. Not to mention email, contacts, and calendaring information.

Where do you get this product? If you use any of Apple’s products, even just iTunes, you’ll soon be soaking in it. Support for iCloud has been built into updated software for Apple’s desktop computers, mobile devices, and even the iTunes digital media management software used by tens of millions of Windows users. iCloud, of course, hasn’t been baked into Windows as it has all of Apple’s software, but if you buy a piece of music or a TV show on your Windows PC, you can download that media to other devices running Apple’s software with just a tap.

The most dramatic change: Apple is cutting the cord — literally — between the Mac and the iPhone, iPod, and iPad. The latest version of Apple’s mobile software, iOS 5, available as a free download Wednesday, will allow users to synch directly with Apple’s cloud services. Photos, for example, will be scooped up into Apple’s server and pushed out to all of a user’s devices. No more need to synch these devices to a personal computer for software updates or to get copies of a user’s movies and music. No more need for a personal computer at all.

Google, of course, is taking steps in the same direction. The laptops built around Google’s Chrome operating system boot quickly and are built around the web browser, and push all their data to the cloud. Apple’s approach is much more radical. Rather than stripping everything but the web away from the personal computer, as Google has done, Apple is pushing the Internet into every nook and cranny of what its devices do.

While Google becomes more of a competitor, Dell is becoming less of one. Both Apple and Dell compete in the personal computer market, but both are finding growth in very different slices of the cloud. Apple is building a polished, consumer-class cloud-based service, while Dell wants to offer the high-margin building blocks businesses need to assemble their own. For Dell, rack-mounted servers are just a start. Apple, by contrast, quietly ended its rack-mounted server business last year.

The only question now: how well will Apple’s plan work in the real world. Apple has no doubt tested its new services thoroughly. But the size and scale of its user base is enormous: there are now more than 60 million Mac users and more than 250 million iPhones, iPads, and iPod’s running Apple’s iOS operating system. It took a while for Apple to get its far less ambitious MobileMe suite of services right. Even if iCloud doesn’t work as planned, or work at all, someone — maybe Microsoft, maybe Amazon — is going to get this right. And that means the personal computer is going to get left behind.

Siri Is iPhone 4S-Only Today, But Where Will It Be Tomorrow?

2011-10-13T16:20:00.002+13:00

Appleis launching the iPhone 4S this week with the recentlyunveiled integration of Siri, a voice activated “assistant.” Siri acceptsvoice input and can perform a range of actions on your iPhone,

includinglooking up information, adding calendar events, and even composing short textsand e-mails.

Siri shows a lot of promise in realizing humancomputer interaction using natural language. Right now, however, Apple seems tobe wisely keeping the feature firmly in the “beta” stage even as it seeks topopularize talking to your cell phone to get things done. As iPhone 4S usersstart using Siri en masse, it’s worth considering where Apple might integratethe technology in the future. Will talking to computers and devices transcendconventional keyboard or touch input, à la Star Trek?

Rightnow Siri is limited to the iPhone 4S. Presumably much of the reason for thatlimitation is that Siri requires a lot of computing power to work. Sirico-founder Norman Winarsky told 9to5 Mac that the Siri app, originallyreleased in early 2010, required a number of workarounds and optimizations towork well on the then-current iPhone 3GS’s 600MHz processor. Even with thesignificant processing boost gained from the iPhone 4S’s dual-core A5processor, however, Apple is still calling the tech a “beta” nearly two yearsafter its first public release.

Applehas set pretty high expectations for Siri, and it likely didn’t want to hamperit with compromises to get it to work on older hardware. After all, the companynever quite lived down the mocking it received for early iterations of thehandwriting recognition in its Newton MessagePad. Though later versions workedquite well (and the technology was eventually integrated into Mac OS X asInkwell), its reputation for completely misinterpreting handwritten words never died.

However,the iPad 2 already has the relatively high powered A5 processor built in, soit’s easy to assumeitwould be the next iOS device to get a Siri upgrade. Recent evidence buried iniOS 5 suggests Apple is already working on an A5-powered Apple TV, perhapsbringing support for 1080p video to the tiny set-top box. With an A5 processor,you could potentially tell your Apple TV to play the next episode of The VentureBros insteadof fumbling with its simplistic remote. Unfortunately, the iPod touch was passed over for an A5 upgrade for this holiday season, soit may be as much as a year before the iPod touch could potentially takeadvantage of Siri.

While these sound like easy things to pull off,the fact is that that these devices may not get Siri at all—at least not in theshort term. Besides a relatively beefy processor to power Siri’s naturallanguage interpreter, it also relies on speech-to-text recognition technologyfrom Nuance. This works by encoding and sending an audio file to Nuance’sservers, which return the interpreted text to the iPhone. Without a constantdata connection, Siri doesn’t work, period. iPhones are rarely without dataconnections, but the same can’t be said for WiFi-only iPads and iPod touches.Apple will still need to find a way to work the feature into these devices in away that doesn’t frustrate users when it isn’t available after leaving the rangeof a convenient WiFi signal.

Anotherlimitation may also be a device’s included microphone. The iPhone 4S has, likeits iPhone 4 predecessor, a secondary microphone used to filter backgroundnoise. Those with experience using Nuance’s Dragon speech-to-text products for Windows or Mac OS X are undoubtedly familiar withthe need for a good quality headset to get the best results—and even thenaccuracy isn’t 100 percent. Given this, we believe that the relatively lowquality microphones in the iPad and iPod touch again may not give the bestresults, and could possibly prevent these devices from using Siri in the nearfuture.

TheApple TV benefits from having a constant network connection for speechrecognition, but Apple would have to build in a microphone that can filterbackground noise well enough from approximately 10 feet. Alternately, the miccould be built into the remote (a suggestion we had for a speech-powered GoogleTV).Or, an iPhone could serve as a voice-activated remote for an Apple TV: “Siri,play season two of Mad Men on Apple TV.”

More exciting, however, may be the prospect ofintegrating Siri into Mac OS X. All current Mac hardware is already capable ofdoing the necessary speech-to-text processing locally, so it doesn’t need to benetwork-connected for Siri to work. (Siri was originally designed to bemodular, according to Winarsky, so any voice recognition system could beplugged into it.) Mac OS X already has a fairly rudimentary voice controlsystem built in, but Siri’s artificial intelligence could take that to the nextlevel. Imagine firing off tweets as fast as you could say them, dictatinge-mails, searching for airline tickets, and more simply by telling your Macwant you want and letting Siri do all the work.

Bigpredictions meet big skepticism

Big predictions about the importance of Siriare already coming. Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross believes Siri is apivotal technology. “We believe,” Cross wrote in a recent note to clients, “theuse of natural language and potentially the ability to distinguish betweenvoices could one day change the way we interact with electronic devices andprovide a substantial technology advantage to Apple. Quite simply, we have notseen a demonstration of comparable AI in any other consumer system.”

Winarsky is perhaps even more bullish. “Applewill enable millions upon millions of people to interact with machines withnatural language,” he told 9to5 Mac. “[Siri] will get things done and this isonly the tip of the iceberg. We’re talking another technology revolution—a newcomputing paradigm shift.”

However,the promise of the technology should be tempered with the realities of humaninteraction. Ars spoke to some of the creative minds behind Star Trek about the future of humancomputer interaction lastyear. While visual effects artist Doug Drexler believed voice interaction heldpromise, visual artist supervisors Michael and Denise Okuda were skeptical thatit would be as useful as some may hope.

For instance, imagine talking to your cellphone, computer, or other device in a public space. With even a handful ofpeople talking to their devices, the cacophony could quickly become a problem.“I don’t want to hear people’s phone conversations, let alone them talking totheir devices,” Denise Okuda told Ars.

Michael Okuda also noted that voice input isgenerally inefficient. “Imagine I’m looking at some photos, and I want to say,‘Up, up, left, down one, photo number 3362, no, the one on the left.’—that’smuch slower than just clicking or tapping,” he said. “Natural language is, Ithink, going to have some significant limitations.”

Still, in the confines of our own homes andoffices, Siri’s voice-based control could shave off a good amount of timeperforming mundane tasks like setting reminders or performing searches. And,such control could make computers and other mobile devices far more powerfulfor those who simply can’t use keyboards or touch input due to injury orhandicap.

iPhone 4S benchmarks and camera sample pop up

2011-10-12T11:24:00.000+13:00

The Apple iPhone 4S isyet to start shipping but someone already managed to get their hands on one.And as you can expect a camera sample image and some benchmark scores have beenposted online for our viewing pleasure.

We'llstart with the browser benchmark. The benchmark being used here is Browser Mark,a popular benchmark that we, at OmniTech, use to test and compare our phones.The iPhone 4 had managed to get a score of 51,701 while running a GM betaversion of iOS 5. The popular Galaxy S II, with its dual-core Exynos processor,managed to get a score of 55,144, which was the highest so far for any smart phone.

Now thisis where the iPhone 4S comes in. The Safari browser running on iOS 5 and thedual-core A5 processor managed to obliterate the competition with a score of89,567. No matter which side of the camp you may be, you cannot deny that it isan incredible score.

Apple iPhone 4S BrowserMark result compared

We alsogot a Sunspider JS Benchmark score from the iPhone 4S, which probably explainsthe BrowserMark result to a point. The latest Apple Smartphone got the bestresult of any Smartphone to date, while its iPhone 4 predecessor came insecond. Safari on iOS5 obviously has the best JavaScript engine by somedistance.

Apple iPhone 4S SunSpider JS Benchmark result compared

Still theprocessing power advantage of the A5 SoC over its A4 predecessor is there foreveryone to see. Using identical browser for the same test, the iPhone 4S isnearly twice as good as its predecessor.

What'seven more exciting is the Apple iPhone 4S GPU, which also got benchmarked aheadof the release of the Smartphone. Its performance advantage over the GPU usedin the iPhone 4 is 7 to 8 times, which is really stunning and matches Apple'sclaims.

Apple iPhone 4S GPU benchmarked

Nowmoving on to the camera sample, we get a single indoor shot of a one dollarbill. The image looks crisp with good amount of detail and very little noisedespite being in less than ideal lighting conditions.

Apple iPhone 4S camera sample

So far sogood. We can't wait to get our hands on a retail unit so we can put it throughits paces ourselves and see how it compares against its rivals.

Apple iPhone 4S mania continues: 1M preorders in first 24 hours

2011-10-11T11:07:00.000+13:00

Not that we had any doubt of the iPhone 4S market prospects, given that iOS fanshad to wait 16 months for an upgrade, but the latest numbers provided by Appleare simply stunning. It turns out that 1 million pre-orders were placed in thefirst 24 hours after the 4S page went live in the Apple store.

Needlessto say that this is a record for both Apple and the industry as a whole.However what's even more impressive is that the previous record (held by iPhone 4) was betteredby good 400,000.

A goodportion of those preorders were placed with AT&T, who confirmed 200,000 preordersin the first 12 hours of offering the device. That number was anotherrecord on it own too.

Thismeans that the Apple iPhone 4S is enjoying nearly twice the interest of itspredecessor, despite only being an incremental update and the iPhone 4 being atotal overhaul of the 3GS. It's all an indication of the ever growing momentumthat iOS gains - every next device and every next update is getting theattention of a wider and wider audience.

How aboutyou - are you one of those in the first million or are you waiting for theiPhone 4S to come out and show its true worth before handing out the cash?

Apple iPhone 4S preorders break AT&T record

2011-10-10T10:10:00.001+13:00

In case anyone has doubted the success of the iPhone 4S, we have some fresh numbers for you. Apple's latest smartphone has scored more than 200,000 preorders for AT&T in its first 12 hours of availability.

The stunning number makes the device the most successful debut yet for AT&T. It must be noted that Sprint Wireless and Verizon are yet to report preorder numbers for Apple's latest smartphone, so we can reasonably expect to see a number which is well above 200,000 for the device overall.

Despite keeping the design of its predecessor, the Apple iPhone 4S has received a serious upgrade of its internals, including a dual-core A5 CPU and a capable 8MP camera unit. Apple's voice-operated personal assistant, called Siri, is also among the major novelties in the device.

So it looks like Apple has done it again, folks. We will keep you in the loop on the subject as it develops. In the meantime, tell us what you make of the high demand for the iPhone 4S in the comments section below.

You said nothing about the little screen, multitasking, bluetooth file transfer, flash,or hdmi. But, enjoy videos games on the little screen, should be fun playing for 15 minutes until your thumbs get cramped. Dual core....been there done that. 8m...

Duel

I use 3GS too, it's quite power machine for it's age hard to believe it came 2009. It just tells what every iPhone users know, iPhone is way more powerful than people might think, it's so well optimazed, apple know how to take everything out of those...

Sehol

No wonder they didn't bother making an iPhone 5 - they know they can sell millions of these first then bring the 5 out in 12 months or less and sell bucket loads of them too hence doubling their money! I still have the 3GS and was looking forward to ...

First Apple iPhone 4S camera samples surface, look stunning

2011-10-05T17:06:00.002+13:00

The Apple iPhone 4S might not have been the update everyone was expecting, but it certainly delivers well on the camera front. Not only is this the fastest camera around, but it also promises to do some of the most impressive photos you have seen.

As Tim Cook boldly claimed "To many customers this will be the best still camera they've ever owned and the best video camera they've ever owned.". Now to say such things for a camera that fits in a 9.3mm body is probably pushing it, but the 8 megapixel snapper with bright f/2.4 lens certainly sounds promising. Even more so, knowing that the iPhone 4 was one of the best 5 megapixel shooters around.

Still, Apple are ready to put their latest smartphone where its mouth is and has released a bunch of camera samples captured with the iPhone 4S on its website. We don't know how serious a photographic effort those shots took, but they certainly look stunning.

Apple iPhone 4S camera samples

Of course, it almost certain that you won't be able to produce similarly stunning shots when/if you obtain your iPhone 4S, but it's good to know that the potential is there. So even if you only utilize a small portion of it, you should still end up with pretty decent shots.

Samsung announces Omnia W, we go hands-on

2011-09-27T10:32:00.003+13:00

Windows phone 7 Mango update is coming any moment now and so are the first phones that will have it stock right out of the box. HTC has already announced the Mango-based Titan and Radar, so today is the Samsung's turn - meet the Omnia W.

The Omnia W packs a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED screen and is based on the Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset with a 1.4GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 graphics and 512MB RAM. Since Microsoft has strict policy about the hardware there is very little space Samsung to innovate.

The rest of the specks are pretty much standard - a 5 megapixel snapper with a LED flash, a 720p camcorder, a front-facing VGA camera, 8GB internal storage, a 1500mAh battery and the usual connectivity (Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth).

Samsung Omnia W runs on the latest Windows Phone 7 Mango version and there are just few Samsung apps you can download for free to get something unique with your phone, since Microsoft forbids customizations.

According to GSMInfo.nl the Omnia W is expected this November for about €450 for the unlocked device.

We also got a chance to play around with the Omnia W. It's nicely compact and not too heavy. The battery cover is made out of brushed metal (a nice touch!) but the rest of the body is plastic. Still, the Omnia W feels solidly built.

On the front, there's the 3.7" SuperAMOLED screen with WVGA resolution. Below that is the Windows key flanked by capacitive back and search keys. There's a half-pressable shutter key on the side as it's customary for Windows Phones.

Unfortunately, the phone had a rather bad case of a dead battery, so we can’t share any impressions about actually using the phone. We bet, however, it won't be long before we get one-on-one with the Omnia W again.

Motorola Atrix 2 a.k.a. Edison gets hands-on treatment

2011-09-24T13:23:00.002+12:00

The next version of the Motorola Atrix, a.k.a. the Edison, has been spotted once again and we're not talking about some blurry shots here but a full blown hands-on by the folks at The Verge, well before the official announcement.The most noticeable change from the older model is the design and at least to our eyes it looks a hell of a lot better (the Atrix wasn't bad looking to begin with). It also looks thinner and taller than before.

Underneath, the Edison runs on a 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor with PowerVR SGX 540 GPU and 1GB RAM, same as the one in the DROID BIONIC. There's also 8GB of internal memory along with a microSD card slot.

Other major change being reported is that the display no longer uses the PenTile matrix layout of the Atrix display, opting for the superior and commonly used RGB layout. The display size and resolution remains the same at 4.3-inch and QHD respectively.

The Edison has an HDMI port on the side next to the USB port and should work with the WebTop dock made for the first Atrix. The Edison works only on the HSPA+ network, however, and not on AT&T'snewfangled LTE network. The Edison also drops the fingerprint scanner found on the Atrix.

The phone was found to be running on Android 2.3.5 with a very lightweight version of the Motorola Blur skin. Even the AT&T bloatware was found to be minimal.

There is no word yet on when this phone will be available through AT&T and what will it be priced at. You can check out the hands-on in the source link below.

HTC Ruby press shot leaks, official release just around the corner

2011-09-23T17:21:00.001+12:00

The HTC Ruby has been teasing us for a while now, we've seen spy shot after spy shot whether it be lurking sometimes in the background, sometimes in the foreground, even featuring a little T-Mobile branding here and there, but now it looks like HTC have finished working on the official press shots and Pocketnow.com have managed to get hold of one such image.

The Ruby last appeared in a host of shots from Thailand and we confirmed a few more specs that we'd already got wind of from the T-Mobile variant, intended to launch as the HTC Amaze 4G.

The Ruby looks to be rocking a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU with a gig of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, a 4.3" qHD display and an 8MP camera on the back. Software wise, we'll be given HTC's latest Sense 3.5 UI running on top of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, so nothing we didn't already know here.

What this means however is that the Ruby can't be far away from its official launch. There's every chance that it'll be the belle of the ball in the upcoming London event on October 6th and it'll probably make it's official debut as the HTC Amaze if it's following in its T-Mobile counterpart's footsteps.

Don't forget though, that we could also see the color co-ordinated Rhyme's UK debut, the pint-sized Explorer, the impressive Vigor and the thundering Bass all make an appearance, but until the 6th it's anyone's guess.

iPhone 4S launching on October 21 with BBM?

2011-09-23T13:44:00.001+12:00

iPhone 4S launching on October 21 with BBM?

According to a Greek website an iPhone will be announced in early October and released to the major markets around the world on October 21. The site claims this will be the iPhone 4S with the same size display, 8 MP camera with 1080p video recording, a dual-core 1GHz A5 processor inside and a second antenna on the top.

The rest of the specs are pretty much identical to the current iPhone 4. The site claims to have a "100% reliable source", but we wouldn't rush to bet our salaries on it if we were you.

We also received another tip, claiming that the next iPhone will feature BlackBerry's Messenger service. According to the tipster, BlackBerry will be getting a lot of cash in return for their messaging service. Once again there's no confirmation of any kind to those rumors, so it might all end up to be science fiction.

Now, we are not quite sure what to make of those rumors. The iPhone 4S seems likely as Al Gore himself says there will be more than one iPhone announced next month, JP Morgan confirms that, and AT&T haslisted a white iPhone 4S. But what about the iMessage service that will come with iOS 5 - is Apple just going to put it side by side with BlackBerry Messenger?

The Apple iPhone event is, supposedly, coming on October 4th so we should find out the truth soon.

Hove to find the different between original IPHONE 4 LCD + TOUCH SCREEN COMPLETED SET and a fake IPHONE 4 LCD + TOUCH SCREEN COMPLETED SET.

2011-09-22T16:48:00.001+12:00

Hove to find the different between original IPHONE 4 LCD + TOUCH SCREEN COMPLETED SET and a fake IPHONE 4 LCD + TOUCH SCREEN COMPLETED SET.

All you need to do is drop a water bubble on to the LCD. Ifthe water bubble stay stable on the LCD as we shown on the picture no 01 thatLCD is an original LCD. Or the water bubble start running all over the LCD thatmeans the LCD is a fake LCD.

*Make sure to go for a reputable company when you buy or replace your iphone LCDs *.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review: Droid at large

2011-09-09T16:06:00.001+12:00

Introduction

Tablets are basking in well-deserved attention and manufacturers know they need to try hard and make their devices distinct and memorable. Truly unique gadgets are hard to come by these days - especially in Honeycomb land. Which is perhaps part of the reason why iPad is still the one to beat. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G is in for a challenge, and up for it.

Shortly after launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was blessed with a custom user experience, called Touch Wiz UX, which literally puts more color into Honeycomb, offers a good selection of customizable widgets and most importantly tries to ease your way into Android for tablets.

Yet this tablet’s main advantage remains that it’s the most portable 10” slate to hit the market. It's thinner even than iPad 2 and good 42 grams lighter than Apple's frontrunner, while still promising to match its battery performance. And that's no mean feat since tablets are going hard after netbooks, so they need to back their portability with battery longevity.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, a bright 10.1" PLS TFT display of WXGA resolution, a premium set of connectivity options and plenty of storage space. Check out the full list of things going for (and against) the Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G below.

Key features

10.1" 16M-color PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen of WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) resolution
Very lightweight at just 565 g
Thinnest slate to date at just 8.6 mm
Gorilla Glass display
Tegra 2 chipset: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor; 1GB of RAM; ULP GeForce GPU
Android 3.1 Honeycomb with TouchWiz UX UI
Optional quad-band GPRS/EDGE and tri-band 3G with HSDPA 21 Mbps connectivity
16/32/64 GBGB of built-in memory
3.2 MP autofocus camera, 2048x1536 pixels, LED flash, geotagging
2.0 MP front-facing camera; video calls
720p HD video recording @ 30 fps
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Proprietary 30-pin connector port for charging
Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
HDMI TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Flash 10.3 support
GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
DivX/XviD support (fullHD), MP4 support up to HD
Accelerometer and proximity sensor; three-axis Gyroscope sensor
Polaris office document editor comes preinstalled
7000 mAh Li-Po rechargeable battery
Main disadvantages
Non-replaceable battery
No microSD card support
No standard USB port
No Android Honeycomb 3.2 yet
No GSM voice capabilities despite the available SIM slot
Samsung are bringing their A game in the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Not that it should be judged by sheer size but the company's biggest tablet is fit to be in charge and meet the competition head on. Whether it's watching films, browsing the web, gaming, video-calls, or imaging, this is one of the best-equipped tablets out there.
The screen quality, the added TouchWiz UX functionality, the good battery and excellent media make it a must-see. The whole package looks like the right mix of style and substance, but we just won't rush to a verdict. The Galaxy Tab had a promising start in our preview. With all the finishing touches in place, it's ready to give its best. Head on past the break to see what the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is made of

Referance:http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_tab_101-review-642.php#

Is a Samsung-made Nexus Prime coming in October?

2011-08-22T13:01:00.000+12:00

The rumors that Samsung will be producing the next generation Google phone are heating up. Today's edition suggests that the next Google phone, the Nexus Prime, will launch in October and will be the first device to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Reportedly, it will pack a 4.5" screen with 720p resolution - probably the new generation SuperAMOLEDs we heard of yesterday. If that's true, it will mean going back to PenTile matrixes.

Rumors go on to say that the Nexus Prime will be powered by a chipset that will make even the Galaxy S II look slow - a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a PowerVR SGX540 GPU running at a higher clock speed than we've ever seen so far.

Samsung is already teasing their Berlin Unpacked event, which will precede IFA. It's expected that they'll show the I9250 - supposedly a Android Ice Cream Sandwich phone with a 4.65" screen with 720p resolution.

This sounds very much in line with the Nexus Prime - and if it's not Prime itself, it might be Samsung's own version of the phone (like how Nexus S/Galaxy S were). Also, a September announcement and an October launch seem good.

The acquisition of Motorola by Google hasn’t gone through yet, so it's not strange that another company is making the next Nexus. Things might look differently when the time comes to make a successor to the Nexus Prime.

We can't wait for the Berlin Unpacked and IFA, when we should get a clearer picture.

2011-06-17T14:01:00.004+12:00

WE JUST KEEPS EXPANDING!!

Main Repair Center | Head Office
378 Great North Road,
Henderson, Auckland.
Telephone: 09-8383943
Fax: 09-8383947
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Saturday: 10am - 5pm
Sunday & Public Holiday: CLOSED
Email: info@omnitech.co.nz
Website: www.omnitech.co.nz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nzomnitech

Computer/Laptop Repair Centre
Ofiice 1, 357 Great North Road,
Henderson, 0612
Auckland , New Zealand
Tel: 09-8383948
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday: 9.30am - 6.00pm
Saturday: 10am - 5pm
Sunday & Public Holiday: CLOSED

Westfield Albany | Drop off and collection point
Albany Westfield Shopping Mall
Kiosk ALBB1010 - Outside JB Hi-Fi
Level 1, 219 Don McKinnon Drive,
Albany, Auckland.
Telephone: 09-9259230
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Thursday & Friday: 9.00am - 9.00pm
Saturday: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Sunday: 10.00am - 5.30pm

**NOW OPEN**
Sylvia Park | Repair Center Shop
N038 Sylvia Park Shopping Mall,
286 Mt Wellington Highway,
Mt Wellington, Auckland
Tel: 09-5730483
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 9am - 6pm
Thursday & Friday: 9am - 9pm
Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 6pm
Public Holidays: Normal shopping hours

**NOW OPEN**
Westfield Manukau | Drop off and collection point
Kiosk MANB1010 – Outside Bond & Bond,
Manukau Westfield Shopping Centre,
Cnr Great South and Wiri Station Road,
Manukau City, Auckland.
Tel: 09-9785352
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 9am - 6pm
Thursday & Friday: 9am - 9pm
Saturday: 9am - 6pm
Sunday: 10am - 5.30pm

**NOW OPEN **
Kiosk STLC2020
Level 2, St Lukes Westfield Shopping Mall
80 St Lukes Road, Auckland 1025
Tel: 09-9786122
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Thursday & Friday: 9.00am - 9.00pm
Saturday: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Sunday: 10.00am - 5.30pm

OPENING SOON!
Grand Opening 17th November 2011
Kiosk 12 - LynnMall Shopping Centre
3058 Great North Road
New Lynn, Auckland
Toll Free: 0800 OMNITECH (0800 666 483)
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 9am - 5.30pm
Thursday & Friday: 9am - 9pm
Saturday: 9am - 5.30pm
Sunday: 10am - 5.30pm
Public Holiday: 10am - 5.30pm

Tauranga Collection Office
Authorised Dealer: Peter Murray
53a Maranui Street,
Mt Maunganui,
Tauranga, 3116
Ph: 07-5758524
Fax: 07-5758528

2011-05-26T11:24:00.006+12:00

IS YOUR IPAD SCREEN BROKEN ?

We replace all IPAD screens. We do have solution for your Iphone Ipod faulties!!!!!!!
NOW EVEN APPLE RECOMMEND US !!!!!!!

Omni Tech Limited - Your Mobile Phone and computer Repair Specialist

Nokia seeds a new MeeGo PR1.2 beta, detailed changelog included

Nokia seeds a new MeeGo PR1.2 beta, detailed changelog included

Sony unveils PlayStation Vita!!!

Upcoming Sony smartphones to support the Russian GLONASS

Upcoming Sony smartphones to support the Russian GLONASS

Behind the Scenes at CES: The Latest Laptops

Taken from http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6370&news=CES+behind+the+scenes+toshiba+ultrabook+lenovo+yoga

Behind the Scenes at CES: The Latest Laptops

By Jerry Jackson, NotebookReview.com Editor | 1/10/2012

Should Siri be jealous of voice recognition competitors?

7 things you didn't know about PlayStation Vita

Video Games

BLOG: Game Hunters

Samsung to merge its Bada OS with the Linux-based Tizen

Something About New Zealand's Premier Device Repair Specialists

Here Comes Playstation Vita!!!

Samsung Galaxy S 'Value Pack' firmware leaks

Leaked shots of the Sony Ericsson MT27i 'Pepper' emerge

Nokia World 2011: Live coverage

iPhone 4S to storm 15 new countries, come November 11

Siri successfully ported over to other iOS devices

Samsung Galaxy Nexus hands-on: First look

Samsung Galaxy Nexus at a glance:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus designed with bypassing patents in mind

Apple iOS 5 review: You've been notified

Introduction

Apple iOS 5 new features:

Still missing:

RIM to offer all Blackberry users free apps starting October 19

Google Q3 profits beat estimates, 190M Androids activated

With iCloud Launch, Apple Demotes The Personal Computer

Siri Is iPhone 4S-Only Today, But Where Will It Be Tomorrow?

iPhone 4S benchmarks and camera sample pop up

Apple iPhone 4S mania continues: 1M preorders in first 24 hours

Apple iPhone 4S preorders break AT&T record

First Apple iPhone 4S camera samples surface, look stunning

Samsung announces Omnia W, we go hands-on

Motorola Atrix 2 a.k.a. Edison gets hands-on treatment

HTC Ruby press shot leaks, official release just around the corner

iPhone 4S launching on October 21 with BBM?

iPhone 4S launching on October 21 with BBM?

Hove to find the different between original IPHONE 4 LCD + TOUCH SCREEN COMPLETED SET and a fake IPHONE 4 LCD + TOUCH SCREEN COMPLETED SET.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review: Droid at large

Introduction

Key features

Is a Samsung-made Nexus Prime coming in October?