SlashGear » leaks

Draconian Apple iPad pre-access rules leak

Chris Davies — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:12:59 +0000

Locked in a blacked-out room, chained to the ground and nobody knows you’re there… it might sound like the latest torture-porn movie to hit theaters, but it’s actually the miserable life of a pre-release iPad. Apple are well known for giving key developers early access to their hardware in the interest of drumming up some launch-day App Store action, and details of the 10-page agreement those coders must sign have been leaked to BusinessWeek.

According to the sources, in order for Apple to consider sending you an iPad for early access you have to send them photographic proof that you’ve created a “safe” room for it to hide in. That includes blacked-out windows and keeping the tablet “tethered to a fixed object” so that it can’t be removed.

Unsurprisingly Apple aren’t commenting on the leaks, and similarly unsurprisingly developers are lining up to agree to the Cupertino clauses. While firms confirmed to be working with pre-launch hardware aren’t named, some of those who fell short of Apple’s exacting standards have been listed: Evernote, Flixster and Digital Chocolate were all rejected. That’s left Evernote trying to second-guess how users will interact with the tablet; like many eager pre-order customers, they’ve even fabricated their own iPad mock-up so they can gauge usability factors such as where owners naturally rest their hands.

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Samsung tablet to run Android, allow 3G/4G voice calls?

Chris Davies — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:49:20 +0000

Having heard straight from the horse’s mouth that Samsung are planning an iPad rival for launch later in 2010, new leaks from the company are beginning to flesh out the details. According to Tweakers’ sources, the Samsung tablet will run Android; that makes it reasonably unlikely that the company will – as execs hinted earlier this week – use an Intel Atom processor.

The sources also claim that the Samsung slate will have integrated data connectivity, with 3G confirmed but some talk of 4G potentially being on board as well. As well as allowing for data services, the tablet will also apparently support voice calls, most likely via some sort of wired or wireless headset.

Samsung previously suggested that their slate would have more connectivity options than Apple’s iPad, which makes do with a dock connector and 3.5mm headphone jack. The company claims it will be targeting the tablet at a consumer audience, as opposed to its earlier experiments with UMPCs that focused on enterprise and vertical markets.

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O2 UK getting Palm Pre Plus & Pixi Plus in April 2010?

Chris Davies — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:22:40 +0000

Could Palm’s attempt to reinvigorate their dreary financial performance include adding the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to their O2 line-up? That’s the rumor over at Tracy & Matt, who have received an anonymous tip claiming that the two devices will arrive in April 2010. O2 have already been offering the GSM version of the Palm Pre for some months now, but so far the Pixi – which has a smaller display and candybar form-factor – is yet to make an appearance outside of the US.

The Pixi Plus gets 8GB of storage and WiFi (unlike the original Pixi, which lacked WiFi), while the Pre Plus has 16GB of storage and double the RAM of its predecessor. Frankly, while anonymous tips can always be discounted as make-believe, it seems particularly likely that Palm will attempt to turn around their fortunes in the short-term with broader device availability, while simultaneously developing their next generation of hardware.

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T-Mobile HTC HD2 promo material leaks ahead of launch

Chris Davies — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:56:50 +0000

Curious to know how T-Mobile USA will be pushing the HTC HD2 – a phone already available in Europe for several months now, and guaranteed not to get an official Windows Phone 7 update – when it goes on sale come March 24th? Over at Pocketables they’ve a stash of in-store T-Mobile promotional material sent over from an anonymous tipster, and it looks like the carrier will be leaning heavily on the HD2’s media playback abilities.

Given the HD2’s 4.3-inch WVGA display, that doesn’t seem too great a surprise. T-Mobile will be preloading each handset’s bundled 16GB microSD card with a copy of Transformers and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Meanwhile they’ll also be trying to lure buyers into bundle deals, pushing their other recent smartphones – the Android-based Motorola CLIQ XT and the Nokia Nuron – as part of a “smart family”. The HD2 will be priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement, or $449.99 outright; you can check out our review of the European version here.

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Android 2.1 for Motorola DROID delayed

Chris Davies — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:25:08 +0000

So close, but no cigar. Having whipped Motorola DROID owners into a great frothing heap of anticipation regarding the promised Android 2.1 update, the latest to leak out of Verizon is that the OTA firmware has been delayed. ”The OTA software update for the DROID by Motorola is TBD” reads the message on Verizon’s internal systems, “A new date will be communicated as soon as possible.”

So far there’s no sign of a replacement timescale for the update, which users were expecting to begin receiving today. Neither is there any hint from Verizon as to what might have impacted on the upgrade; there’s talk of some sort of last-minute bug, but nothing official. Still, it looks like DROID owners can stand down from OTA alert, there may be some wait involved.

[via SlashPhone]

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Verizon HTC Incredible launch in just two weeks time?

Chris Davies — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:35:20 +0000

If you’re going to call your phone the “Incredible” then you have to be pretty confident in in its abilities, so we’re really looking forward to seeing what HTC and Verizon have up their collective sleeves. According to the latest rumors – coming straight out of Verizon themselves, apparently – the HTC Incredible is set to arrive in the carrier’s stores in just two weeks time.

Based on Android 2.1, the Incredible certainly racks up the specs: there’s a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and dual-LED flash, a rumored 6GB of onboard storage and 512MB of RAM. HTC are believed to have underclocked the CPU to 768MHz, but we’ve already seen – on the Motorola DROID – that a speed in that ballpark can be certainly sufficient to keep Android 2.1 whipping along.

Elsewhere there’s a microSD card slot and FM radio tuner, and the screenshots we’ve seen leaked before now suggest that HTC Sense makes an appearance too. The whole thing is believed to measure 117.5 x 58.5 x 11.9 mm. Alongside the upcoming Big Red Nexus One, it could make for a decidedly difficult decision if you’re desperate for Android on Verizon.

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Intel Core i3, i5 & i7 notebook CPUs in short supply?

Chris Davies — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:51:56 +0000

Acer’s enthusiastic embrace of Intel’s latest Core i3, i5 and i7 “Calpella” notebook processors for their upcoming TimelineX range has seemingly thrown the chipmaker’s production lines into a panic, with DigiTime’s manufacturing sources reckoning that the CPUs are now in relatively short supply. That’s led Intel to prioritize the orders of first-tier manufacturers, meaning it may take a little longer for niche market notebooks to arrive.

The sources haven’t been specific with the amount of delay involved, only saying that second-tier and smaller notebook firms will need to “wait much longer” before they can expect access to the Calpella processors. Part of Acer’s enthusiasm was their disappointment with performance from Intel’s CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) CPUs, which enabled reasonable battery longevity but at the expense of performance.

However, it also raises potential explanations for the absence of any apparent MacBook Pro update using the new processors, something we’ve been expecting for some time now. Apple may be waiting for Intel’s supply to stabilize before they refresh their notebook range, rather than face stock shortages.

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Nokia X9 with Symbian^4, 1GHz CPU & 12MP camera leaks? [Update: it's a render]

Chris Davies — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:42:37 +0000

After the apparent leak of Nokia’s C6 QWERTY slider comes another new handset from the company under its refreshed range nomenclature. The Nokia X9 is believed to be the successor to the Nokia X6, complete with a 1GHz Cortex A8 chipset, 12-megapixel camera with LED flash, HDMI and a 3.7-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.

Elsewhere there’s HSDPA, WiFi and aGPS, along with 32GB of onboard storage and a 3.5mm headphone socket. The Symbian^4 device is expected to be capable of 720p HD video recording, and has some nifty social networking status updates too – along the bottom of that sizeable display run a series of icons for Twitter, Facebook, calls and messages, with a number indicating how many are unread or unanswered.

Still, we’re a little sceptical since we’re not expecting Symbian^4 to arrive for another twelve months. This could all be the handiwork of a Nokia-loving Photoshop artist, but even if that’s the case we’re hoping the Finns are watching closely; there are certainly elements to this smartphone that we’d like to see in real life.

Update: Yes, too good to be true – it’s apparently the handiwork of two artists putting it forward as a Nokia concept. Listen and learn, Nokia! Thanks Jul!

[via MobileMentalism]

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HTC Supersonic 4G launching at CTIA 2010 next week?

Chris Davies — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:04:46 +0000

HTC’s WiMAX-packing Supersonic has been something of a regular when it comes to the rumor-mill over the past few months, and it seems Sprint may be ramping up to an announcement next week. According to the WSJ’s “people familiar with the matter”, the Supersonic – expected to be an Android 2.1 device with a 4.3-inch display – will make its debut at CTIA 2010.

Sprint and HTC aren’t saying anything, but the Supersonic is expected to take the stand on Tuesday as part of the carrier’s CTIA keynote. The company had previously only committed to a launch sometime in the first half of this year.

At the time, the carrier’s business market’s president Paget Alves suggested that the Sprint 4G phone would be targeted at government and industrial clients rather than solely at consumers. However the WSJ also suggests that Sprint have recently changed their short-term incentive plan for employees, making signing up new contract customers to the WiMAX service a priority.

[via Android Community]

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HTC Hero Android 2.1 update from April 4th?

Chris Davies — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:44:18 +0000

It’s looking more and more likely that HTC will miss their self-imposed deadline for the Android 2.1 update for the HTC Hero, which we were told back at MWC 2010 would arrive in February or March. According to a supposedly leaked timescale document on xda-developers, HTC in fact won’t start pushing out the update until April 2010, kicking off on April 2nd with the unlocked version of the smartphone.

That will be followed by the T-Mobile UK/Germany and Orange UK/Spain handsets on April 16th, with other carrier-branded versions following later through the month and into May 2010. Notably absent is any mention of US devices. Of course, this could all be faked; we’ve got a request in for the latest information from HTC themselves, and will update with what we hear back.

HTC EU (Nordic/Greek/RUS/UKR/SA) 2010/4/2

TMO – UK TMO 2010/4/16

UK/ES Orange 2010/4/16

TMO – DE TMO 2010/4/16

SFR signature Orange 2010/4/22

ZA(Vodacom) HTC 2010/4/22

H3G UK H3G 2010/4/22

HTC BE HTC 2010/5/4

HTC TUR HTC 2010/5/4

TMO – PL TMO 2010/5/10

TMO – HU TMO 2010/5/10

TMO – MK TMO 2010/5/10

[via Android Community]

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Acer Aspire TimelineX Calpella notebooks debut March 22nd

Chris Davies — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:03:38 +0000

Remember yesterday’s Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T leak, the first of the company’s so-called Calpella series using Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors we’ve been hearing about lately? According to DigiTimes’ sources, we shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out about its siblings; the rest of the TimelineX line is expected to get official on March 22nd, with 13, 14 and 15-inch models.

That’s ahead of Taiwanese-specific availability on March 30th, apparently, according to Acer Taiwan’s president Simon Lin. The range will pair the style – and slim build – of the existing CULV-based Timeline range with the more potent Intel Calpella processors, answering criticisms of poor performance. However, larger batteries will ensure that battery life across the TimelineX series hovers around the same eight hour period as before.

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Leaked Xbox 360 “Slim” board tips incoming refresh?

Chris Davies — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:40:45 +0000

In our collective haste to pester Nintendo about the next-gen update to the Wii, we sometimes forget that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is beginning to look a little long in the tooth too. A new image purported to be of the refreshed Xbox 360’s mainboard has emerged, and most obvious is that Microsoft have put the console on a diet – it’s considerably smaller than the current ‘board in use.

According to the source, the ‘board isn’t intended to go into the existing 360 chassis but into a new, refreshed casing similar to Sony’s move with the PS3 Slim. Part of the reason for the dramatic size decrease in Microsoft’s case is the fact that they’ve combined the CPU and GPU into a single chip.

Of course, it could all be here-say and make-believe, but as Kotaku suggest, with Project Natal set to arrive later in the year it would make reasonable sense for Microsoft to have a refreshed version of the 360 to go along with it. It would also make sense if the company could use newer chips and other components to cut build costs for the console.

[via Kotaku]

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Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 10 with Atom & 10-inch display appearing?

Chris Davies — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:13:41 +0000

A new Lenovo netbook has apparently been spotted in Australian schools, seemingly based on the company’s ThinkPad X100e but with a smaller display. The Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 10 – as it’s said to be labeled – has the same chassis and keyboard of the X100e, but fits in a 10-inch display rather than its sibling’s 11.6-inch panel.

According to the tipster, the “Mini 10″ logo was positioned where the ThinkPad numbers are usually to be found, and the netbook uses Intel Pine Trail components rather than the AMD processor and chipset in the X100e. The Mini 10 is believed to use Intel’s Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics.

The smaller display is likely a move to keep prices down, certainly something of interest the educational authorities believed to be rolling the netbook out in certain Australian schools. A Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 11 has also been rumored previously, which we’re guessing includes Pine Trail processors but with the original X100e’s display.

[via Eee-PC.de]

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Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T with Core i5-520UM breaks cover

Chris Davies — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:30:36 +0000

Details of Acer’s first Calpella-based ultraportable have emerged, ahead of the notebook’s expected announcement in the last week of this month. The 11-inch Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T eschews the CULV CPUs of its predecessors and instead reaches for Intel’s Core i5-520UM, with a basic clock speed of 1.06GHz but the potential for 1.86GHz with Turbo Boost. Meanwhile battery life is rated at up to 8hrs.

Unchanged are the 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display and roughly inch-thick chassis, along with the full-sized keyboard with its distinctive flat key-caps. The chipset is Intel’s HM55 and the 1830T uses integrated graphics with a dynamic core capable of 166MHz to 500MHz. Inside there are two memory bays.

Ports and connectivity include HDMI, S/PDIF, gigabit ethernet, WiFi b/g/n, a multi card reader and three USB 2.0, while 3G and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR are optional. No word on pricing or specific availability, but we should find that out – together with details on the rest of the new TimelineX range – later in March.

[via Netbooked]

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 to be $450 not $600?

Chris Davies — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:11:17 +0000

How much would you pay for NVIDIA’s stonking Fermi-based GeForce GTX 480 video card? Early estimates pegged the high-performing cards at around €600 or $600 for the single-GPU 480 model, but new figures leaked to Fudzilla suggest a somewhat more reasonable figure: they’ve heard €450 including tax when the cards come to Europe.

Considering the usual conversion in hardware like this involves simply flipping the €-sign for a $-sign, that would mean a GeForce GTX 480 for $450. That’s the recommended price from NVIDIA, of course; strong demand could see retailers inflate that a little, and there’s room for a more expensive version with dual-cores launching in the next few months.

Meanwhile, while we’ve previously heard talk of card shortages at launch, Fudzilla’s sources reckon NVIDIA will have plenty of Fermi-based video cards to out come March 27th. $450 would make the GTX 480 more expensive than the ATI Radeon HD 5870, but by nowhere near the factor some predictions initially suggested.

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Nokia C6 touchscreen QWERTY slider leaks

Chris Davies — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:44:01 +0000

We made no bones about our general displeasure with the Nokia N97 and N97 mini QWERTY keyboards, the lack of tactile feedback of which (and general bumpy rubberiness) let to a sluggish typing experience, so we’re hoping this leaked shot of the purported Nokia C6 turns out to be authentic. Ostensibly a 5800 with a slide-out QWERTY, the keys look more in line with those of the N900.

Elsewhere the rumored specifications include 256MB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot, and of course we can glean 3G connectivity and a touchscreen from the image itself. However there’s no tilting display as on the N97/N97 mini, something which might disappoint some would-be buyers.

The C6 follows Nokia’s new naming convention, officially announced with the launch of the Nokia C5 candybar. The Cseries will be Nokia’s core, entry-level range – as opposed to the social entertainment focused Xseries, business-centric Eseries and flagship Nseries – and according to the leak the C6 will arrive in Europe before the summer 2010.

[via XatakaMovil]

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Nintendo DS2 details leak: bigger, higher-res screens, accelerometer, late-2010 launch?

Chris Davies — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:33:09 +0000

Nintendo’s DSi XL isn’t even on US shelves yet, and already gamers are prodding developers to find out details about the next-gen handheld. News on the Nintendo DS2 was top of the list for RPad.TV when they hit up GDC 2010, and they’ve managed to extract a few choice nuggets in the process. The DS2 – the official name of which nobody would, or could, spill – will apparently keep its dual-displays, but the panels will be larger, higher-resolution and have so minimal a gap between them that titles will be able to in effect use them as a single, big screen.

Other hardware news is that the DS2 will have an integrated accelerometer, which RPad.TV aren’t too impressed by but which could indicate Nintendo are looking to leverage the larger panels and customer hunger for ebooks to better position the handheld as a portable reading platform (like a mini enTourage eDGe, though without the E Ink). The dev kit, meanwhile, is believed to be as powerful as that of the GameCube, and developers are said to find it straightforward if they’re experienced in creating GameCube and/or Wii titles.

In fact developers who claim to have experience with the dev kit say it has very little learning curve. Previous tips have suggested the next-gen Nintendo DS will use NVIDIA’s Tegra chipset. As for those titles themselves, development is expected to be completed before the end of the year, and in fact the DS2 itself is tipped for a potential E3 2010 announcement and late 2010 release. However, that could change if strong sales of the existing-gen DS variants continue.

[via Kotaku; image credit Phil Nolan]

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HTC Touch Pro3 (aka HTC Tera) offering WinMo 6.5 in Q3 2010?

Chris Davies — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:14:48 +0000

Generous pinch-of-salt time now, but according to one xda-developers tipster HTC are readying their new version of the Touch Pro2, the unsurprisingly named HTC Touch Pro3 (aka the HTC Tera from the leaked roadmap) for launch in Q3 2010. Apparently informed by a contact at HTC’s European distributor, member LocDogg says initial stock of the Windows Mobile 6.5 handset is expected to come in over the Summer, though the Pro3 itself will be going on sale just shy of Windows Phone 7’s debut.

A Q3 2010 launch is late, considering according to the roadmap the “Tera” was expected to arrive in April 2010. Even then, it’s touch and go whether users would even be interested in the WM6.5 device, what with the newer OS due by the end of the year. Microsoft have already confirmed that the HTC HD2 – like all other WM6.5 handsets – won’t be eligible for a Windows Phone 7 upgrade as they don’t have the correct buttons (among other reasons), so it seems likely that HTC Touch Pro3 buyers would be similarly limited to the soon-outdated platform.

The Tera is believed to have a 3.0-inch WQVGA resistive touchscreen, dualband HSPA, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and GPS/aGPS. It’s based on Qualcomm’s 600MHz MSM7227 chipset with 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM, and measures 115 x 53 x 15.5 mm – more compact than the Pro2 it presumably replaces, though with a smaller display as a compromise.

[via MobileHub]

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CDMA Nexus One stock already headed to Verizon?

Chris Davies — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:20:09 +0000

Last we heard through the rumor-mill, Verizon were readying themselves for a March 23rd launch of the CDMA version of the Google Nexus One. In apparent preparation for that, Chinese newspaper Economic Daily News are supposedly reporting that HTC have begun shipments of the handset to Verizon in the US, with European shipments of the GSM Nexus One headed to Vodafone “soon”.

Vodafone UK, for their part, added a pre-registration option on their site late last week for the incoming GSM Nexus One, though so far it’s only listed as “coming soon”. According to the Chinese paper, Verizon are expected to launch their Nexus One either late this month or in April 2010.

The CDMA Nexus One was spotted clearing the FCC earlier in the year. The handset is expected to be functionality identical to the existing, GSM model, only swapping out that device’s UMTS/HSPA connectivity for a CDMA/EVDO Rev.A modem instead.

[via Android Community]

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Apple iPad orders “so overwhelming” new in-store collections frozen?

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:43:53 +0000

The storm of iPad preorders this morning has reportedly been “so overwhelming” that Apple’s customer services team are apparently warning would-be buyers that there may not be stock to pick up in-store come April 3rd. According to multiple MacDailyNews readers, buyers who have contacted Apple’s customer card team to change their order from delivery to in-store collection are being told that the tablets may in fact be in short supply at their Saturday launch.

That’s because, to change from delivery to pick-up, the order must in fact be cancelled and then re-placed as an in-store collection. However, the “overwhelming” number of orders have seemingly left Apple uncertain as to whether they’ll have sufficient store units to satisfy that demand.

It’s unclear whether this is a US-wide situation or limited to certain stores, and Apple themselves are yet to officially comment. Previous rumors and leaks suggested that iPad production had faced issues and that initial numbers of devices would be limited; however they were quickly followed by reports apparently from component suppliers that production was on-track according to schedule.

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Spring Design Alex on sale Tuesday March 16th?

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:12:57 +0000

From one delayed ebook reader to another, and it’s now the turn of the Spring Design Alex to throw some grist into the rumor mill. According to our tipster the company’s Android-based dual display ereader – which has an E Ink panel up top and an LCD touchscreen underneath – will go on sale at the company’s site come Tuesday March 16th.

Spring Design had previously been promising early March 2010 availability for the Alex, though that time period came and went. In fact, at time of posting the company’s store page still reads “Thanks for your patience. We’re almost ready with our Alex store. Keep checking in and by the first week of March you’ll be able to order your Alex online.”

Before that, a February 22nd release had been suggested. We’ve got a request in with Spring Design for more information, and will update as and when we hear back from them.

Spring Design Alex hands-on demo:

[Thanks Alex!]

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QUE proReader delayed until summer

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:43:02 +0000

I am not typically one to pre-order products. I like to be able to just walk into a store, buy the thing, and take it home. One of the reasons I don’t like pre-orders is that you never really know when you will get the device until it actually ships. Such is the case with the geeks who pre-ordered the expensive QUE proReader a while back.

At the time pre-orders started the reader was supposed to ship in the middle of April. One person who pre-ordered the device has sent an email received from the CEO of QUE over to Engadget. According to the email, the QUE is being delayed until sometime later in the summer.

The reason given in the email is that QUE wants more time to “fine tune features and enhance the overall product experience.” When companies spout marketing speak like that, what I really hear is “the thing doesn’t work right and we are fixing it.” The upside if you have pre-ordered is that your credit card hasn’t been charged yet and you can cancel and take your $650 to $800 depending on the version you ordered and get yourself an iPad or two.

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Microsoft Pink leaks again: April 20th Verizon launch? [Update: & Vodafone!]

Chris Davies — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:10:48 +0000

Microsoft’s been a leaky old sieve lately, with Courier slipping out earlier and even more Project Pink news just now. After yesterday’s Verizon revelation and the subsequent firmware leak comes new images of the two Sharp-manufactured Pink phones, the Pure and Turtle, themselves, along with a potential launch date of April 20th.

Update: Apparently the devices will also get an international launch – in their GSM formats – with carrier Vodafone.

Larger images after the cut

According to Engadget’s sources, the Pink phones will indeed be targeted at a more youthful market than Windows Phone 7. The promotional campaign will center on a “truly madly deeply” slogan, presumably leaning on the idea that the entry-level smartphones will become the essential lynchpin of your social life.

As for what we already know about the two devices, beyond that there will – eventually – be both CDMA and GSM models, and that the Pure has a 480 x 320 display while the Turtle has a 320 x 240 screen, it’s all a bit of a mystery. Social networking seems to be heavily integrated – along with Zune HD style media functionality – so it seems very likely that these are the devices Microsoft hope will grab the attention of Sidekick lovers.

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Microsoft Courier coming 2H 2010: Tegra 2 based digital journal [Update: Video]

Chris Davies — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:14:57 +0000

It feels almost blasphemous what with the iPad furore right now, but some of us are more interested in Microsoft’s long-rumored Courier project. New details of the dual-screen “digital journal” have emerged today, with Engadget hearing that the pen-centric device is, indeed, on course for an official release later in the year.

Updated with video after the cut

Apparently the Courier is only slightly larger than a 5 x 7 photo, and measures less than an inch thick when closed. It’s a little over a pound in weight, and is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 chipset with the same OS – presumably meaning Windows CE 6 based – as the Zune HD, Pink and Windows Mobile 7.

Microsoft are apparently building an ebook ecosystem to support digital text on the Courier, and there’ll be an integrated webcam and headphone socket. There’s handwriting recognition and the Courier will also produce an online site with access to notes and diagrams like a personal blog. No word on how much we can expect it to cost, but there’s talk of a launch in Q3 or Q4 this year; that’s something keeping us excited.

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Microsoft Pure Pink phone caught in wild; firmware leak tips specs & more

Chris Davies — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:58:28 +0000

Hardly has the dust settled on the Microsoft Pink Verizon leak, when along come live – if blurry – shots of one of the handsets themselves. You’re looking at the device codenamed Pure, a touchscreen slider with a full QWERTY keyboard and – according to a leak of the firmware – a 480 x 320 display. The firmware also confirms the Verizon launch, together with traces of of Zune, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! and Windows Live.

It also confirms that the Turtle has a 320 x 240 display, and that there are alternative codenames – Pride and Lion – for the Turtle and Pure CDMA versions respectively. There’s also what’s believed to be a social networking center, called The Loop, and the whole thing is based on Windows CE albeit heavily hidden with a distinctive UI that borrows from the Zune and Windows Phone 7. Says the source of the firmware leak:

“Everything is programed in .NET a lot like 7 is. It does not say it inside the files where I have seen, but It is coded in XAMl and is in the structure that CE 7 is supposed to be structured, it is my belief that it will be based off CE 7, and it will have a lot of tie in to Windows Live as well.”

Gizmodo’s tipster reports that the device was “intuitive, ‘better than Android,’ and decorated with Windows Phone 7-style animations throughout,” though that’s based on a few seconds use. They also saw an app store, though currently empty of titles. Meanwhile over at Twitter, user Conflipper apparently also has some firmware access of their own, and has released a few shots of the UI – including the dialer and PIN screen – together with a photo from the Pure’s camera.

No release date has been leaked for the Pure, but the assumption is that it’ll land at around the same time as the Turtle, at the end of April 2010. Microsoft were tipped to be preparing the Pink platform as a replacement to the Sidekick, and it certainly looks like that’s what these devices are turning out to be: social networking-heavy media phones with an emphasis on usability rather than the sort of enterprise functionality you’d get on Windows Phone 7.

[via Windows-Phone]

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New Sony gaming smartphone & iPad rival tipped by WSJ

Chris Davies — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:07:16 +0000

Sony haven’t exactly been on a roll lately, but that could all be about to change. According to the WSJ, Sony are planning a new smartphone capable of playing downloaded PlayStation games together with a hybrid netbook/ereader/PSP to take on Apple’s iPad. Both devices will apparently work with a new online media platform that the company are tipped to launch in the US later in March 2010.

As they have before, Sony are partnering with Sony Ericsson on the design of the new smartphone, but according to “people familiar with the matter” are now taking a more active role. That, they say, is because of a growing realisation as to how central smartphones are becoming to the company’s overall strategy.

Meanwhile Sony are also looking at segment-spanning devices – like the iPad – according to CFO Nobuyuki Oneda. The company has confirmed that Senior Vice President Kunimasa Suzuki – who is responsible for Sony’s VAIO division and their Network Mobile Center, together with acting as deputy in the PlayStation and Network Products & Services divisions – is “leading product planning for new mobile devices”, though they unsurprisingly declined to outline what sort of projects may be involved.

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NVIDIA GTX 480 Fermi-based video card leaks

Chris Davies — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:11 +0000

It’s obviously a week for leaky video cards, as after the first sighting of Sapphire’s stonking Radeon HD 5970 yesterday comes in-the-wild images of NVIDIA’s rival card, the GTX 480. Based on the company’s Fermi architecture, the GTX 480 is tipped to begin arriving on cards from select manufacturers this month.

One of the most obvious elements in the card’s design is the huge power supply, complete with six regulation lines; that ties in to some details NVIDIA revealed at CeBIT 2010 this week. Apparently the GTX 480 will be particularly power hungry, and you’ll likely need a 600W minimum PSU.

It’ll also require special fans to keep it cool, not that we’re too surprised at that given the performance angle NVIDIA are going for. They’ve apparently said that the GTX 480 will be more potent than ATI’s Radeon HD 5870, particularly when it comes to Open CL performance under OS X Snow Leopard. We’ll have to wait and see when the first shipping cards hit review benches, hopefully later this month.

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ASUS’ iPad-rival tablet strategy includes multiple models this year

Chris Davies — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:03:19 +0000

Back when ASUS CEO Jonney Shih told us to expect a “killer product” from the company this coming June, we assumed it would be the launch of their Tegra 2 based tablet. Now, it looks like that’s not one device but a range of iPad-rivals; according to Eric Chen, corporate VP of the ASUS systems business group, the company “will have similar products. We have a couple of projects under way.”

Chen pointed to the fact that some have described the iPad as nothing more than “one big screen iPhone”, and suggested that “this is something we can improve [on].” While he declined to go into details regarding exactly what ASUS had in mind, he did confirm that they’re looking to target different segments with different devices, rather than Apple’s one-model strategy.

As for timing, we can certainly expect ASUS’ entrance to the slate market to take place before 2010 is out. ”It should be this year, that makes sense … Over a year and people forget” suggested Chen.

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Sony VAIO M Atom N450 netbook breaks cover

Chris Davies — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:05:43 +0000

Sony’s upcoming netbook refresh, the Sony VAIO M, has broken cover, and we have to say it looks a little less interesting than the company’s previous netbooks. Suspected to replace the VAIO W range, the VAIO M packs Intel’s new Atom N450 1.66GHz processor along with 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 250GB 5,400rpm HDD and Intel GMA 3150 graphics.

There’s also a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 LED-backlit display, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, along with a webcam. The whole thing is expected to tip the scales at 1.3kg, and has the usual range of VGA, ethernet, USB, audio in/out and memory card reader ports.

Frankly the chunky keyboard looks like a bit of a throwback to old-fashioned netbooks, and is a disappointing departure from Sony’s regular chicklet keys. According to UK listings the Sony VAIO M is expected to be priced at around £299 ($451) and available in black and white.

[via Sony Insider]

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BlackBerry Slider caught in wild again

Chris Davies — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:14:58 +0000

After its first blurry sighting, the BlackBerry Slider has shown up again in a new set of photos this time looking far clearer. According to BBLeaks the device – which won’t power on due to a “bad battery” – lacks the physically-clicking SurePress display of previous touchscreen BlackBerry devices, and from the photos we can see that RIM have fitted a large touchscreen and QWERTY in roughly the same bulk as the BlackBerry 8900.

Other than that, specifications are few and far between. We’ve previously heard whispers of BlackBerry OS 6.0 making an appearance on the slider, as well as the display being 320 x 480 resolution, while connectivity is believed to include UMTS/HSPA and WiFi 802.11n.

Of course there’s also an optical joystick like other recent RIM devices. BBLeaks say the battery is a non-standard pack, too, labelled FX-1 and being thinner than RIM’s usual DX-1; it’s also just 1,050mAh in capacity, likely a concession to overall bulk.

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