It’s an Android week alright, with LG’s first Android smartphone, the LG GW620, getting its own mini-site. The page appears to be a work in progress, with form text rather than any actual press copy, but there are two video demos – which you can see after the cut – plenty of stock photos, and both the user manual and specification sheet for download.
Video demos after the cut
An upcoming update to the Apple TV has been tipped by a change in Terms & Conditions for the iTunes Store. The new agreement – which is shown as of today – lists that “you can now use iTunes LPs and iTunes extras on Apple TV with software version 3.0 or higher”; however Apple are yet to release version 3.0 for their set-top box.
TomTom have confirmed that their Car Kit – the optional accessory to accompany the TomTom iPhone app – will only fully work with the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, thanks to a limitation in the TomTom application. The app’s limitation means that owners of the first-gen iPhone, together with iPod touch users, won’t be able to take advantage of the Car Kit’s integrated GPS receiver and speakerphone.
Remember Kohjinsha’s nifty dual-display netbook from CEATEC, that sandwiched two 10.1-inch displays together for some extra-wide Windows 7 productivity? Another video of the netbook in action has emerged, courtesy of DigInfo, and if the sight of beautifully engineered sliding LCD panels makes you weak at the knees, well, sit down before you hit the jump.
Video demo after the cut
NVIDIA’s Ion LE promises to deliver the same 1080p HD playback as its regular Ion sibling, but at a cheaper price; to do that, it drops DirectX 10 support in favor of solely accommodating DX9. It turns out that the limitation is, in fact, an arbitrary one and that the Ion LE seems to have been artificially crippled by NVIDIA themselves; MyHPMini forum member runawayprisoner found that by slightly modifying HP’s own Ion drivers he could get them to install for the Ion LE.
Recently I asked, if a DROID could take on the Death Star? Now, Motorola and Verizon, along with some help from Google launched DROID. I’ve spent the day with a device and here’s what I think so far. First, Verizon was clear that DROID is going to be a family of devices running Android, Motorola’s device will be the only one called DROID, others will be known as the DROID-XXX. DROID is the first Android 2.0 device and the Google branding points to the fact that this is stock Android. And I do mean stock Android: there are zero Verizon services on this device (with the exception of a non-branded visual voicemail app). No VCast. No nothing. One wonders if Verizon were willing to go to this length a few years ago, would the iPhone have landed on Verizon? Android 2.0 is a great update and finally is starting to feel complete. Compared to V1 Android running HTC Sense, it’s a mixed bag. HTC’s UI is lightyears ahead of stock Android in my opinion but the DROID performs so much better than any Android V1 phone I’ve used and is nearly feature complete that it’s hard to recommend a V1x device at this point.
Further details of ASUS’ upcoming ebook reader have emerged, after executives from the company apparently confirmed that WiFi, 3G and WiMAX versions will be announced before the year is out. The ebook readers will apparently begin reaching carrier partners in the US and Europe come March 2010, with the executives claiming that prices will be “competitive” with what’s on offer from Amazon and Sony.
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We've obviously gone through the rabbit hole: Motorola's income reaches positive figures while Nintendo turn around and report slashed profits [pdf link]. After a healthy last quarter, the Japanese gaming giant has announced a drop in interim net profits from 144.83 billion yen this time last year to just 69.49 billion yen this past six months, with a 43-percent drop in Wii sales.
We’ve been waiting for Motorola’s Android range to go on sale to turn around the company’s ailing fortunes, but it turns out just the promise of Android models seems to have done the trick. The company have announced their Q3 2009 financial figures, and they’ve surprised investors and analysts alike with news of net income amounting to $12m; that might not sound like much, but it’s a significant turnaround compared to the $397m loss in the same period twelve months ago.
What’s bright red, has an almost comically-long chin and bug-eyes? No, not my ex-wife (yes, Marion, your damned check is in the mail) but the latest incarnation of the Factory Five ‘33 Hot Rod, perhaps the best alternative to a pious Prius we’ve seen so far. Factory Five took the regular planet-destroying engine out and replaced it with a custom 300+ horsepower electric drive that musters over 660ft/lbs of torque and pegs 0-60mph times of four seconds.
JP
