VISA hate carrying cash and they reckon you do too, and so they’re shouting about their new wireless payment systems. Recombu caught up with the company in Paris to look at three different ways of managing payments, ranging from a straightforward on-device app, wireless payments using NFC (near-field communications), and even a VISA app embedded into a SIM with its own mini-webserver.
Video demo after the cut
Like the look of Google Chrome OS but don’t want to wait until late next year to buy a system running the new, web-centric platform? It’s only been a matter of hours since Google announced details of their new OS, but already there are a number of options for playing with the software. gdgt have put out a full VMWare image of Chrome OS to play with on an existing system, or alternatively you can go the whole hog for a proper install.
Video demo after the cut
As expected, Google have released launch details about the Google Chrome OS platform, though there is no beta release today nor any netbooks actually running the OS to announce. The company intend Chrome OS to boot almost instantaneously, similar to a TV experience, and in fact it currently loads in just seven seconds; system stability and security is also paramount, with an encrypted user-data section, self-healing OS and complete cloud storage for files. While there’s no beta available today, Google is making the source code available for developers to download, compile and install.
Video overviews after the cut
We were hoping Qualcomm might whip out Lenovo’s upcoming Smartbook at today’s event, but unfortunately the diminutive all-day ultraportable is still being nursed for an official CES reveal. Instead, the company had Quanta’s functional Android Smartbook prototype and a non-working Smartbook/Tablet concept out for us to play with.
Video demo after the cut
Remember the Qualcomm mirasol ebook reader prototype we we exclusively showed you yesterday? One thing we weren’t allowed to photograph – something Qualcomm rectified today – was one of the more interesting attachments they envisage potentially figuring highly: a snap-on gaming controller. The mirasol team won’t confirm any OEM names, but using the low-power displays in gaming hardware looks to be another potential avenue. Plus, after the cut, a video of the mirasol display in action.
We may be giving Sony Ericsson a darn good scolding on the one hand for their XPERIA X10 hijinks, but we’re a little more interested by their new WebSDK for Android and Symbian Foundation devices. The Sony Ericsson WebSDK promises a metaphorical hand-holding for developers hoping to have their wares nestle up against the company’s own apps, whether that be on the XPERIA X10 or the SE Satio. It’s called Nexus, seemingly the official title for the UX platform Sony Ericsson were talking about with regards the X10.
It’s been a rainstorm of Archos 5 Internet Tablet newness over at UMPC Portal today, with our friend Steve Paine taking delivery not only of the Archos 5 Mini Dock but the latest firmware which has also released today, v1.3.07. Together they’ve taken the Android-based Archos 5 even closer into MID status: USB host support means that you can plug a full-sized keyboard and mouse into the Mini Dock’s USB port, while the new firmware now supports full-screen YouTube HD playback together with outputting that content, via HDMI, onto your TV.
Video demo after the cut
Spotify is great, particularly when you’re having one of those parties where people keep asking “oh, have you heard that new track by…”, but the current computer-bound UI isn’t exactly conducive to being passed around. If you’re lucky enough to have a touchscreen Crestron home entertainment system, however, Custom Controls may have the app for you: they’ve whipped up a new UI that will allow for fingertip control of Spotify through Creston panels.
Video demo after the cut
Sony Ericsson’s launch event for the XPERIA X10, their first Android smartphone, was slightly undermined by the fact that their single demo prototype proved to be not exactly the Snapdragon speed-demon we all expected. The company’s homegrown Timescape and Mediascape apps ran like molasses in a permafrost, which Sony Ericsson told us was due to them not having been optimized for the hardware. Happily HDblog have had access to a newer prototype, and theirs looks positively snappy.
Video demo after the cut
Nokia’s E72 has finally begun shipping, having been announced all the way back in June. The much-anticipated follow-up to the Nokia E71, the E72 is an unashamedly email-centric smartphone, with a full QWERTY keyboard and optical trackpad; running S60, Nokia have added in IM support from the homescreen together with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash.
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