Next Version Of Android To Align Gingerbread And Honeycomb. #mwc

Thank you Eric Schmidt! While the former Google CEO gave a rather boring MWC keynote, he did manage to slip in a few juicy details about future plans for Android. Specifically, the next version the open source OS will align/combine Gingerbread (phones) and Honeycomb (Tablets), start with an “I”, and be named after a desert — the “Ice Cream/Ice Cream Sandwich update we’ve been hearing about. None of this is surprising really. We’ve heard all of the aforementioned claims in rumors over the last few weeks. But to hear it “officially” adds a new level of excitement and realism to it we think.

Don’t go getting too excited yet for Ice Cream. Android Honeycomb hasn’t even hit public devices yet, so the next version of Android has at least a few months left curing in the freezer. From everything we’ve seen showcased in Android Honeycomb so far, we’re excited x10 for the same features and UI to trickle down to phones.

Nvidia Unveils Quad-Core “Kal-El” (Tegra 3) SoC Complete With 12-Core GPU. 1440p Video Playback Has Arrived! #mwc

Think the Nvidia Tegra 2-powered mobile devices are the cat’s meow? Your definition of such a thing will certainly change later this year when devices with Nvidia’s new “Kal-El” (believed to be the upcoming Tegra 3) mobile processor + gpu start hitting store shelves. What is the Kal-El? A quad-core CPU + 12-core GPU strapped together for one hell of a ride. During the MWC event, the little chip you see above was able to convert a 2,560 x 1440 video stream to the host tablet’s native 1,366 x 768 resolution while also outputting the same video stream to a separate external monitor running at 2,560 x 1600 — and doing all of this without a single stutter or dropped frame rate.

Naturally, with all of this power on tap, fears of outlet babysitting creep into our minds. But Nvidia made it clear that the Kal-El/Tegra 3 would be much more efficient than the current Tegra 2, citing up to 12 hours of HD video playback “under the right conditions”. Exactly what those conditions are isn’t yet clear. But we’ve got at least a few months to ponder as Nvidia begins shipping these out to hardware vendors and manufacturers. If you’re feeling a little blue about witholding from the Tegra 2 smartphone craze currently going around, cheer up. Tegra 3 will be exponentially better.

Twitter CEO Dick Costello: There Are Not Any “Twitter Phones” In The Works.

Following today’s festivities which had Facebook and HTC unveiling the first of many upcoming Facebook-specific smartphones, Twitter CEO Dick Costello as come forward to state that the same story won’t play true for Twitter. The company is not working on any special “Twitter Phones”. Of course, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg also adamantly made that same statement countless times over the last few months — and we all saw how that turned out…

Though truth be told, an entire phone designed around one service is kind of a waste. Think of how many thousands if not tens of thousands of services there are available on the web that would benefit from a special phone. Too many to count, we know. To us, Facebook did it right. Drum up some hype with some “Facebook Phones” that feature deeper-than-usual Facebook integration and then begin integrating those same features into all phones. Profit.

Now if only someone could develop a unique and useful Twitter phone. Oh, wait a minute….

Sprint To Evaluate WiMax Adoption Later This Year. Possible Switch To LTE In The Cards. #mwc

Could your future Evo 4G 5 run off of LTE instead of WiMAX? That’s a very real possibility according to statements made by Sprint’s Senior Vice President of Networks, Bob Azzi. According to Azzi, Sprint will be evaluating WiMAX adoption and customer movement from 3G to 4G over the next 4-6 months. After this “study time”, Sprint will apparently make an important decision as to whether they should continue along pushing WiMAX or jump ship to LTE.

For the record, Sprint has begun deploying a healthy amount of multi-mode equipment, meaning such a switch wouldn’t be as bad as originally thought. A simple swap of a baseband card and software upgrade is all that’s needed to make complete the deal. Sounds rather exciting to us. Though, early adopters of WiMAX equipment surely can’t be feeling as intrigued as we are.

Crisis Averted: Nokia Eyed RIM For Potential Partnership.

I may get some flack from CrackBerry enthusiasts saying this, but, news that RIM turned down Nokia’s advances for a handy dandy partnership have me saying “Thank God” — though not in the way that you would think. I’m saying Thank God for Nokia. Unless RIM magically reveals some QNX-powered phones at MWC, they’ve got nothing in the smartphone arena that comes anywhere close to unseating any of the mid to high-end Android handsets and upcoming iPhone 5. Pairing Nokia (a company that needs a new and innovative OS) and RIM (also another company desperately in need of a new smartphone OS) together would have been a disaster of epic proportions. Hell, even Symbian can handle Nokia’s high-end hardware rather well compared to the meager hardware the BlackBerry OS has to deal with. Sad to say it (as I used to be a huge CrackBerry user myself), but RIM has fallen mighty far from where they once were.

Before Nokia went with Microsoft’s WIndows Phone 7, it is said that RIM first denied any potential partnership. It was followed not too long after by Google whom apparently didn’t want Nokia replacing parts of the OS with their own services. On that note, Nokia still could have done whatever they wanted with Android as carriers do it all the time (and thereby destroy the experience).

As we see it, RIM denying Nokia was a blessing in disguise. Nokia choose a new and innovative that really has potential to help them out. Meanwhile, Microsoft just increased their potential userbase by a huge margin. Seems win-win to us, even if money wasn’t exchanged.

Video Games Aren’t Art? Don’t Tell The Smithsonian That!!!

This is definitely news. 2012 is the year video games aren’t just child’s play. Gaming isn’t just something for single boys and men sitting in basements anymore. The time has come – video games are art.

The Smithsonian will be placing video games on display on March 16th, 2012 AS ART! It’s about time. The developers out there that create these masterpieces are artists and need be recognized as such. The hard work, discipline and time that goes into creating video games isn’t just a job or hobby, it is so much more.

The choice of which games will be on display is being left up to the public to decide, with voting open at artofvideogames.org through April 7, 2011.

The Art of Video Games exhibition will explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects, the creative use of new technologies, and the most influential artists and designers. We want you to help us select the eighty video games that will be represented in the exhibition. Remember, this is an art exhibition, so be sure to vote for games that you think are visually spectacular or boast innovative design!

The exibit will consist of 5 video game eras – Start! / 8-Bit / Bit Wars / Transition / Next Generation

So please, head on over to artofvideogames.org and vote on each era. And if you are anywhere near the Smithsonian in DC, stop by between March 16th – September 30th 2012 to witness this. I am going to try to make arrangements to be there where I will live tweet and photograph everything I see.

Apple To Grace The Side Of Your Face With 4 Inches?

At least that is what we are hoping! Rumor has it that Apple will be expanding its unanounced iPhone 5 screen to a massive 4 inches. When you consider the size of most smartphones around today, this doesn’t seem too large. But for Apple, 4 years might be the mark to get a touchscreen implant. For me, size is everything! I use my iPhone as way more than a phone, and the screen size has always saddened me. I never minded it with my older models, but once I upgraded to the the iPhone 4 – the screen was disapointing. That was probably the only complaint I had.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be walking around with an iPad stuck to the size of my face, but I’d like to some meat on my plate. I want to be able to enjoy the stuff I watch on the device. I don’t want to double finger and spread (zoom) every time I need to see something. I little bit more screen will go a long way for Apple. I really feel this will be a clean jab at the Android scene…