Apple has successfully patented two of the more basic interface aspects of iOS on the iPhone, the slide-to-unlock bar on the smartphone's lockscreen, and the pop-up characters that feature on its on-screen keyboard. The two patents, each titled "animated graphical user interfaces for a display screen or portion thereof", were initially filed three years ago but only granted today.
Pogoplug has launched a new WiFi adapter, the Pogoplug Wireless Extender, which allows users of the home NAS adapter to get online via a wireless network rather than stringing ethernet cable to their router. Up for preorder at $29, the Wireless Extender supports WiFi b/g/n. Meanwhile Pogoplug are also slashing the price of their eponymous device, down from $129 to $99.
Find out how to get a free Pogoplug Wireless Extender after the cut
Nokia has unveiled its latest touchscreen handset, though the new Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type is resolutely entry-level rather than something for the company's high-end users. Running S40 on a 2.4-inch resistive touchscreen, the X3-02 also has a numeric keypad, 3G and WiFi, and will launch in Q3 2010 priced at around €125 ($161).
Barnes & Noble has updated its NOOK ereader app range, with a new iPhone app (that also works on the iPod touch) together with rebranding their NOOK for PC and NOOK for iPad apps. The new NOOK for iPhone gets the same iPad customization, together with last-page-read sync across ebooks also being viewed on the PC, Android, iPad and iPhone apps, and access to the B&N eBookstore and digital library.
Given the trouble ASUS had getting their Eee Keyboard onto the market, we're not really surprised that Apple aren't planning an all-in-one PC and peripheral combo themselves. Still, Steve Jobs' omission is a gap for a modder, and over at the MacBook Air Project Bart Reardon has taken it on himself to craft a custom keyboard PC based on the guts of a first-gen MacBook Air, an Apple keyboard and a new Magic Trackpad.
It's still up in the air whether HTC's press event midway through next month will be for the company's first Windows Phone 7 handset or something running Android, but with Electricpig spotting an Amazon UK listing for the HTC Desire HD we've a feeling it's the latter. The listing - which suggests the Desire HD will be shipped from Amazon themselves, not a third-party seller - prices the smartphone at £415 but mentions no specifications.
Intel has agreed to purchase Texas Instruments' cable modem division, with the chipmaker planning to use it as a showcase for their Atom-based SoCs. TI's existing staff will be folded into the Intel Digital Home Group; it's unclear at this stage whether Intel intend to shift the cable STBs to the Google TV platform, having been a launch partner for the Google-led technology.
Apple and Adobe may not be the best of friends right now, but Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen doesn't seem too worried. Describing the Cupertino company's aversion to Flash on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad as Apple "wanting to control the environment", Narayen says his company would "rather work with partners who are interested in working with us" and that "they've made their choice. We've made ours and we've moved on."
Verizon's upcoming Motorola devices have been further detailed, after one of BGR's sources at the carrier revealed more news on the Motorola DROID Pro - a 4-inch Android smartphone - together with what looks to be a world-edition version of the DROID 2 and either a tablet or a tablet-style large-screen handset. The DROID Pro has a 1.3GHz processor and is expected to have world-phone capabilities for international use.
Nokia has begun accepting preorders for the US version of the upcoming Nokia N8, with the Symbian^3 smartphone set to arrive at the end of September 2010. Priced at $549, the N8 has a 12-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, a five-band WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 modem suitable for both AT&T and T-Mobile USA, together with 16GB of onboard storage.
Toshiba's Libretto W100 is an exceedingly expensive way to get dual LCD touchscreens in a clamshell device, so you'll forgive us if we pay close attention to early unboxing reports to see if its worth the $1,400+ importers are currently asking. Wow Pow grabbed one of Conics early units and subjected it to a three-part video unboxing and review, which you can watch after the cut.
While ARM processors are generally to be found in ultraportable devices like smartphones, a significant round of investment in power-frugal ARM-based server chip producer Smooth-Stone could signal an impending shift. The company - which promises to bring "ultra‐low power mobile phone technology to the datacenter" - has secured $48m in new funding, which it will use to finalize its chip technology that uses many low-power processors rather than, as with Intel-based servers, a few high-power chips.