Archive for January, 2011
Today we’ve received word that common sense and practicality do not flow through the minds of California’s legal system — PS3 hacker Geohot had his temporary restraining order upheld. During this the next few weeks, Geohot is supposed to turn over any and all computer/electronic equipment used to hack the PS3 and release the tools in question, help other hackers continue his work, link or speak of the very act of PS3 jailbreaking, and pretty much anything else that is remotely tied to gadgets. Stupid? Yes. But that’s our legal system for ya.
As of now, Sony has but one tiny pat on the back with this restraining order as the real meat and potatoes of the lawsuit is still in the early stages, with each side building their case. From where we stand, Geohot has leg up thanks to the whole DMCA/iPhone jailbreaking saga that went down last year. But we will see, however, how the new DMCA exemptions apply to other similar areas in society.
In other news: Sony once again has shown how incompetent and ignorant they are when it comes to consumers’ rights with their property. The effect from people hacking their PS3′s solely for illegal purposes is small all things considered and not nearly the end of the world scenario they would lead you to believe. With that said, they have managed to drum up a lot more hype about this particular lawsuit and made themselves look like even bigger idiots. Classy.
Verizon users and CDMA iPhone wannabes, listen up: Pre-orders begin at 3am on February 3rd. Supplies are said to be limited. So once they’re out, they’re out. You’ll have to wait until the actual launch date of February 10th before you can wrap your mitts around one.
In other news: The same memo that leaked the 3am pre-order launch time also mentioned several prices for AT&T iPhone trade-ins:
If the above turns out to be true, that’s a pretty decent deal from a carrier. (As of course, eBay, Craigslist, etc. will net you far better re-sale prices for your aging iDevice.) If trade-ins aren’t kept solely to business customers and do in fact come to the masses, I can’t see how it wouldn’t be popular. AT&T, you better watch out!
The million dollar question: Will a device trade-in sway you from AT&T iPhone to Verizon iPhone?
Yes/no? It’s definitely one of the…more colorful logos in Android’s history. But you know what? I like it. In fact, I like it a lot. If you want your very own bumblebee/honeycomb logo, you can always right click and “save as” on the image, or you can download the official Android SDK which includes the new logo. The choice is yours.
Mobile gaming junkies got a bombshell on Thursday, for Sony revealed their PSP2 at an event in Tokoyo. Officially however, the new device is going by “Next Generation Portable” or NGP for short. (We like the former better.) Ushering in the next generation of mobile gaming will be an ARM Cortex A9 processor + SGX543MP4+ GPU, 5″ OLED touchscreen display with 4x the resolution of the current PSP, dual micro-joysticks, touchpads and cameras on both front and rear, and various wireless technologies including WiFi/3G/Bluetooth. But the biggest news concerning the NGP are the reported “PS3 quality graphics”. That is certainly a high bar to raise for such a small device, a mere tablet even.
Outside of hardware, Sony unveiled a new “Playstation Suite” that will eventually allow Sony games to play on Android as well as the porting of PS3 games to the NGP device. In short: there is plenty of potential for the NGP platform.
I don’t know about you, but Nintendo’s 3DS just got shafted. What would you pick?
Despite constant denials by the company itself, the Facebook/self-branded smartphone rumor just won’t die. Today, business oriented City AM newspaper posted an article claiming to know inside information of two Facebook smartphones being unveiled at this years MWC. The phones will reportedly be built by HTC and run a customized version of Android. Facebook’s own Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos are said to be the top two minds behind the phones’ launch.
Given the highly customizable nature of Android, Facebook phones with special, deep integration are certainly intriguing on paper. But how well will they actually turn out to be? That remains to be seen. With that said, any other information regarding hardware or even what version of Android the claimed “Facebook phones” will run is unknown at this time. Facebook meanwhile, continues to deny any such project or phone is in the works.
- January 26, 2011 10:37 am
When it was first announced, the Motorola Droid X was a king in a land of mere princes. The 4.3″ display and 1GHz Snapdragon processor were inspiring. But in the year of Nvidia’s Tegra 2 and several other dual-core mobile processors, the original Droid X and its hardware is more of a yawn. So consider our interest piqued when we stumble upon a story over at HotHardware claiming a “highly reliable source” has spilled a few beans on the upcoming Droid X2.
Obviously, Motorola is working on a follow-up. Surprisingly however, the DX2 will share the same physical design, size, and shape as the DX1, but come packed with much more powerful hardware: 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor and 540 x 960 4.3″ display. What’s particularly worrisome in these early accounts is that the DX2 will reportedly use the same battery as the DX1 — with an extra processing core, more power-hungry display, and more powerful GPU. We can only hope Nvidia’s Tegra 2 platform is the battery sipper it claims to be, or else DX2 users find their precious devices turning into useless bricks before lunch.
As for LTE support and Andorid 2.3/3.0, the jury is still out. (Though, we’d certainly hope LTE makes an apperance.) The early rumors say Andorid 2.2 will be the go-to standard, which is unfortunate. But hey, if these specs materialize into a real DX2 in the near future, it’ll be quite the device Android 2.2 or not.
You have to admire HyperMac, they sure are determined. After a brief legal battle with Apple last year concerning their HyperMac batteries for Apple products, the company came back with a new approach that required the purchase of stand alone adapters from Apple. At $40+ extra for a simple adapter, it wasn’t the best solution around. But when lawyers come on swift wings, you do what you have to. Today however, HyperMac is back with another solution that builds off of their previous DIY solution involving the MagSafe Airline adapter.. Introducing: the HyperJuice Magic Box.
This 2-part device is supposedly easy and foolproof enough to be conducted in a mere 2 minutes. The Magic Box is priced at $50 and is well worth itself if it does away with the ridiculous limitations Apple has imposed upon HyperMac. Anyone give it a go yet? More informative image showing various configurations and options with HyperJuice Magic Box after the jump…
![[Update 4] Free At Last – A5 Untether Has Been Released!!](http://gadgetsteria.com/wp-content/themes/magnet/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://gadgetsteria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/absinthe-logo.jpeg&w=270&h=125&zc=1){kind=logo}
