Motorola and Angstrom Power a Fuel cell maker have developed a prototype mobile phone that runs on hydrogen fuel cell. A desktop fueling station is used to make hydrogen by cracking water molecules, hydrogen is then inserted into a metal hydride storage container on the phone. In the container, which is basically now the battery of the phone hydrogen molecules pass through a membrane, electrons are stripped away to run the phone. Methanol has been used to power fuel cell before but both technologies have their advantages and disadvantages. In Methanol fuel cells you just pour in methanol, you don’t have to produce it like you do for hydrogen fuel cell. But hydrogen is greener alternative, plus it is very likely that hydrogen will replace gas even in our cars.

China Mobile the largest wireless carrier in China announced that there were about 400,000 cracked iPhones using its network service at the end of 2007. That is 10% of all the iPhone sold till January 2008. According to Anty Zheng of In-Stat China, “the figure surprised us as it is fourfold of that we estimated before, In-Stat feels that the iPhone is leading the way to a new generation of smartphones that are very different from their older counterparts One important trend is that revolutionary UI and UE, enabled by touchscreens and 3D sensor technologies, will be widely used in the next generation of smartphones.” China and India are two of the largest developing mobile markets; just imagine how many unlocked iPhones are there in India. The important point here is more then 400,000 people are ready to take the risk of using an unlocked iPhone, which Apple won’t support, or repair. What will be the number if Apple starts to officially sell iPhone there?

Apple had announced last year that they would release a software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone and iPod Touch in February 2008. It is believed that developers close to Apple have already received the SDK. Tiny-Code, an iPhone Installer.app repository for unofficial 3rd party iPhone apps has posted on their website that “Tiny code no longer produces fixes or applications for firmware 1.1.3. We can’t say much, but we are working with Apple and with their SDK for the next firmware release and SDK applications and we shouldn’t be missed for long. We will no longer update our Installer.app repo for legality reasons and you should see us soon on iTunes.” Right now the website has stopped working but there is a screenshot of the website at Macenstein. First there were rumors that Apple will have an event at the end of this month and now this declaration by Tiny-Code, all these indicates that we will see iPhone SDK by end of February and we might even see few new applications launched by developers when the SDK is released.

NPD has released US videogame sales data for the month of January and PS3 with 269,000 units came second behind Wii with 274,000 units. Surprise of the lot again was PS2 (264,000) as it came in third ahead of Nintendo DS (251,000), PSP (230,000) and Xbox 360 (230,000). Now if PS2 is out selling Xbox 360 in US market where Xbox sales are strongest compared to rest of the world that is bad for Microsoft. In terms of software sales Xbox 360 and Wii dominated the top 10 best selling US games chart for January 2008.
[Via Gamesindustry]

According to Hollywood Reporter the format war has turned into a format death watch. Reliable industry sources said that Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometimes in the coming weeks. But according to Jodi Sally VP of Marketing for Toshiba, no official decision has been made and Toshiba will study the market impact of recent price reductions on all HD DVD players and then decide. Hollywood Reporter’s sources say, the substantial loss Toshiba is incurring with each HD DVD player sold – a figure sources say could be as high as several hundred dollars – coupled with a series of high-profile retail defections has driven the company to at last concede defeat.

Apple has filed patent application for a software concept of creation, management and delivery of map-based media. One of the key medium for delivery of map-based media is Podcast and it called “Podmap”. According to Apple’s Filling, “Improved techniques to facilitate generation, management and delivery of personalized media items for users are disclosed. Users are able to influence or control content within a personalized media item. According to one aspect, personalized media items can pertain to generation and delivery of map-based media items. These media items are playable by a media playback device. For example, when a map-based media item is played by a media playback device, an audio output and/or a visual output can be provided. The audio output can be provided by digital audio, and the visual output can be provided by at least one digital image that is associated with at least a portion of the digital audio.” According to this patent application Apple will use Podcast, which uses RSS to deliver Maps and audio data about the map to the portable media device. Podmap would likely be segmented into episodes, where each step could be accessed separately, paused, played, or repeated. You can get complete details about the application here.

There has be lot of debate going on about MacBook Air’s battery life. Some reviewers found out that it almost reaches four and a half hours and others found out that it was not even reaching 3 hours. It was really confusing as every reviewer did different sets of tests and came up with different results. I think in normal usage I would surf the net while listening to music or podcast, or I will playback a DVD and at that time I just watch the movie. So what test should I look at? Well AnandTech has solved my problem they have done three different sets of tests for both HDD and SSD MacBook Air. In the first test they browse Internet and play MP3 in itunes continuously, second test is done by playing a DVD image from the hard drive and in the third test they download 10GB file from Internet while Browsing web and playing 480p XviD file in QuickTime. As you might have guessed that in the last test Air didn’t even reach 3 hours and in the first test it reached 4.3 hours. The SSD Air lasted longer in every test in fact in the browsing test it reached 5 hours. You can read complete details about the test setups and results at AnandTech.

Apple has files a patent application for Universal Appliance. Apple describes Universal Appliance as “A universal appliance combines the benefits of a fixed-function CE device with the generality of a PC. The universal appliance includes a host environment which can support one or more fixed functions and virtual machines that can provide general computing capabilities (e.g., a Windows OS). The user can select fixed functions and virtual machines for operation on the universal appliance. A universal interface can be provided with the universal appliance that adjusts automatically to display one or more user interface elements for the selected fixed functions and/or virtual machines in an aesthetic manner. Twenty-four hour server functions can be provided with the universal appliance to allow for automatic data backup, remote access to personal data and an Internet telephone that can accept calls 24 hours a day.” So in short the Universal Appliance will integrate phone, play games, serve as cable box, download content, and run computer applications as virtual machine. You can read the complete patent application here.

A report published in Nature explains how textile fibers covered with zinc oxide nanowires generate electricity in response to applied mechanical stress. According to Georgia Tech professor Zhong Lin Wang “ the two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching, and the piezoelectric-semiconductor process converts the mechanical motion into electrical energy”. A square meter of this fabric could generate as much as 80 milliwatts. There are two problems with the technology right now, first iPod need at least 8 times more power to run compared to power generated by one square meter cloth. The second problem is zinc oxide is sensitive to moisture so can’t wear those pants when its raining and you can’t wash your pants (may be dry-cleaning is the solution).

LG is showing pretty decent looking Watch mobile phone at Mobile World Congress. The watch comes with a LCD in place of a watch dial that function as both the watch dial and information display for mobile phone. The phone functions rely on Bluetooth headset. In fact voice recognition is not only used to make calls but also for other functions like sending text message or using music player on the watch. LG has not announced whether it will ship the watch phone or not, and what it will cost if shipped.

I always felt that Android’s UI was a bad imitation of iPhone’s UI. But yesterday Google released a new version of Android SDK, making significant UI and API changes. The Mac OS Dock like interface at the bottom of screen has been replaced by tray of buttons. There are similar changes to the web browser and Google Maps also, making it less similar to the Mac or iPhone. Which gives me hope that the Google Android won’t just copy the iPhone but rather give a very good competing alternative to the smartphone UI king the iPhone. Google has made some major under the hood changes also, layout animations makes transitions within and between apps smoother, app can now translate address to map coordinates and back, and audio formats such as MIDI and OGG are built-in. With this update Android as a platform has improved greatly and I think it will keep getting better.

LG announced the KF 510 slider phone that is just .43” thick and has a fully metal casing. The phone is designed to consume 29% less power resulting in better battery life. The area below screen is a touch sensitive area with backlit icons. The phone comes with 2.2” QVGA screen, 3-megapixel camera, tri-band GSM, Bluetooth with A2DP, and microSD card slot. The phone will be available worldwide in March 2008.

One of the most talked about feature of the new MacBook Air is multitouch gesture such as pinching and swiping. According to an Apple representative the multitouch is entirely software based and existing Macbooks and Macbook Pros can get this functionality by software update. Apple has official not released any plans to add this functionality to existing Macbooks. Addition of advanced multitouch like Macbook Air could be very useful and allow new commands for different programs making them easier and faster to use. Lets hope that Apple releases a software update that adds multitouch gestures to existing Intel based laptops.

Update: T3 has removed the article, as the information about multitouch being software based may not be completely true. According to iFixit, the teardown of Macbook Air revealed a dedicated multitouch chip the same chip is used in iPhone for its touchscreen. So it looks like we may not get multitouch gestures on old MacBooks and MacBook pros. Now my question is does the existing Macbook have the multitouch chip, as we can use two fingers to scroll and do secondary click, and if they do then can multitouch be just a software update?

Mozilla has released their latest beta version of Firefox 3 beta 3. The beta 3 is intended for testers but who is going to stop the early adopters even if most of the extensions aren’t working with Firefox 3. The improvements and new features that Mozilla has added to Firefox include malware protection, new download manager, better Mac and Linux integration, speed increase, and 350 plus memory leaks plugged. You can download Firefox 3 beta 3 here and Lifehacker’s have provided detailed information about the new features here.

Apple released their second major update for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard yesterday. Apple has done many under the hood changes and improvement resulting in a quicker and more stable OS. Though most of the feature do not directly affect user interface, there are few new addition that improve and add functionality to the user interface. The most requested feature by the users was the List and Folder view in Dock. With this update, Apple has added the Folder view for folder alias in the Dock, plus you can select list view for viewing a standard list of files, and browse through the subdirectories. So if you didn’t liked Stacks now use folder view. The second important feature is addition of Time Machine to the menu bar. This allows you to quickly start backup or enter Time Machine to recover files. Previously you couldn’t start a backup anytime you wanted, you had to wait for Time machine to start the backup that was very inconvenient if you had a laptop and used a USB drive to backup. Now that has change and you can select Back Up Now option as soon as you attach the USB drive to start the backup. Apple has also added the option that allows you to select whether you want the menu bar to be translucent or not. In Desktop and Screen Saver System Preferences you can un-check the option to make menu bar non-translucent. There are some UI functionality problems still there, but over all the updates have improved functionality, speed and stability of Mac OS leopard. 

Apple has been releasing major software updates for past two days first it was Mac OS X 10.5.2 then it was Aperture 2 and now it’s Apple TV ‘Take 2’. Apple had announced the Apple TV update for January end at the Macworld but delayed the update for few more weeks. To get the update on your Apple TV go to Setting and select Software Update. Apple TV will automatic download, install and restart your New Apple TV. According to Apple’s press release “With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV, users can just click a button on their remote to rent movies from a catalog of over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, with no computer required. DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals are $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and HD versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99. Apple's new Apple TV software is free of charge to existing Apple TV owners. In addition all new Apple TV units (starting at US$229) ship with the new software.”

NVIDIA introduced APX 2500 their first mobile application processor at Mobile World Congress. According to NVIDIA this new chip will let smartphones shoot, watch and stream video in 720p resolution, snap 12-megapixel pictures, and allow sophisticated 3-D mobile gaming. NVIDIA said that the processor could match the power of Geforce 6 series desktop GPU for mobile gaming. NVIDIA has designed the chipset mainly for Windows Mobile devices using Direct3D but it is also capable of running OpenGL ES 2.0 and other operating systems. NVIDIA has already started to ship samples to the interested companies and will start mass production in Q2 of 2008. The devices using the new chipset should come to the market in Q4 2008. Well NVIDIA be able to establish itself in mobile processor market is to be seen.

Panasonic is the first company to announce 32GB class 6 SDHC, I know Toshiba announced a 32GB card last year but it was class 4 (slower read/write speed). Panasonic’s SDHC cards can read/write data at 20MB/s and store up to 4 hours of compressed 1080i video. The card will be available in April for $700 (that makes iPod Touch 32Gb sound cheap for $499 and yes onboard memory is cheaper than SDHC cards).

Apple today updates its Aperture photo management software to version 2. Aperture 2 has added more then 100 new features to improve the interface, performance and integration. Aperture 2 also introduces new imaging tools for highlight recovery, color vibrancy, local contrast definition, soft-edged retouching, vignetting and RAW fine-tuning, and lets users directly post their portfolios on the .Mac Web Gallery for viewing on the web, iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV. The new image-processing engine delivers new imaging tools for getting the most out of each photograph. Aperture 2 is available for retail price of $199 and owner of previous versions of aperture can upgrade for $99.
More info about Aperture 2

Starbucks announced that they would join hands with AT&T to provide WiFi Internet access to 7000 Starbucks stores nationwide. Previously, T-mobile use to provide pay-WiFi access to the Starbucks stores. AT&T new service will provide two hour free access per day to Starbucks card holder and they will need to pay $3.99 for additional two hour session, or they can get unlimited access for $19.99 per month. The service will be totally free to AT&T broadband customers, AT&T U-verse customers, and AT&T’s remote access services business customers. AT&T also said that it would soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at Starbucks to its wireless customers.

Today at the Mobile World Congress, Samsung unveiled the SGH-F480, the newest fashion accessory to hit the mobile phone scene. Though Samsung has not linked
This phone with any fashion house, you know the phone is really something when you see it. Its not just about style nor is it an all-function-no-looks kinda phone. The slim and sexy F480 comes with touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, FM radio, Email, Internet browser, Bluetooth 2.0, tri-band GSM and UMTS/HSDPA on 2100MHz band.  The phone measures 3.8" x 2.2" x 0.5" in size. No word on availability or pricing yet.

Two more nails in HD-DVD coffin. Its almost sealed shut and the format need to be buried now. Netflix the online/mail video rental service today announced that it will only buy Blu-Ray disc going forward and will phase out HD-DVD by end of 2008. Netflix said “We’re now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def.”  Best Buy also announced that it would promote Blu-Ray over HD-DVD. Best Buy’s president Brain Dunn said, “Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way” and Best Buy is leading the way toward Blu-Ray.

LG KG700 officially shown by LG today has a 3” touchscreen, a scroll wheel mounted on the back, and a slide-out keypad. The features on the phone include 3-megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth with A2DP and tri-band GSM. The scroll wheel on the back offers a shortcut to the multimedia functions from any menu, allowing user to utilize the multimedia feature quickly and easily. The phone will be available by end of March 2008 and the price has not been announced.

Samsung today showed the SGH-F400, the phone focuses on audio and uses Bang & Olufsen’s ICEpower audio amplifier to drive the external speaker present in bi-directional slider of the phone. The phone supports tri-band GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA on 2100MHz band. The other features on the phone are FM radio with RDS, 2.2” QVGA screen and a 3-megapixel camera. The release date and price is not yet known.

Today in Barcelona LG launched its KF600 phone that looks very much like the Venus from Verizon Wireless. The front face of the phone is divided in to two parts, the 2” QVGA display and the lower touch-based contextual buttons display called ‘InteractPad’. The InteractPad will change depending upon the current menu or function the phone is performing. The phone has tri-band GSM, 3-megapixel camera, microSD slot, 25MB internal memory, slide out keypad, and Bluetooth with A2DP. The phone measures 3.9” x 2” x 0.55” and weighs 3.8oz. The phone will be available by March 2008 and price was not announced.

Samsung’s Flagship G810 model comes with 3.6Mbps HSDPA, Wifi, Bluetooth with A2DP, GPS, 2.6” screen, microSD slot, micro-USB and a 3.5mm audio jack. The phone is based on Symbian S60 3rd edition feature pack 1 platform same as Nokia’s new N96. The phone has just 130MB of onboard memory compared to 16GB on Nokia N96. The 5-megapixel camera on the G810 has 3X optical zoom, face detection, image editor, Xenon flash and auto focus. The phone will be released in March of 2008 in Europe.

Apple also released the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 along with Mac OS X 10.5.2 that improves the stability of unspecified Macs as well as their compatibility with certain programs. The Leopard Graphics update becomes available once you update to Mac OS X 10.5.2, you need to update the OS first. The size of the update is 48.9MB and Apple has not released any details about the Update. You can directly download the update from here, but don’t download or run the update till you have updated your OS to 10.5.2.

Apple today released Mac OS X 10.5.2 and Mac OS X Server 10.5.2 which are recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. The OS X 10.5.2 Combo Update is 343MB and the Server update is 382MB. It is one of the biggest update for Mac OS ever released. The update includes improvement to active directory, airport, dashboard, dock, desktop, iCal and the list is very long and you can read the complete details here.
Download Links:
Mac OS X 10.5.2 Combo Update
Mac OS X Server 10.5.2 Combo Update

HTC Advantage X7510 is a smartphone cum tablet that has magnetically attached full QWERTY keyboard. The X7510 will run a future version on Windows Mobile (6.1 Pro) and include Quad-band GSM, HSDPA, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth. HTC will use the TouchFLO UI and not the basic Windows mobile UI. On software side it comes with Tom Tom Navigator for turn-by-turn GPS based directions, Opera Mobile 9 and Google Maps. The X7510 will have 16GB onboard memory and will be available in Europe from March 2008.

Nokia launched its Flagships N96 today and as you might have guessed it has every feature you can think. Let start with the 5-megapixel camera that has dual LED flash, auto-focus, Carl Zeiss lens and can record video at 30fps. The phone has quad-band GSM, HSDPA/WCDMA, Wifi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS for connectivity. The Assisted-GPS can find you position in second and can also geotag your photos. Nokia Maps 2.0 is loaded on the phone, which has 16GB of on-board storage, and microSD slot that can support additional 16GB. In audio department the phone supports MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+ and WMA. N96 also supports MPEG-4, H.264, RealVideo and WMV9 video formats.  The 2.8” QVGA screen with 16 million colors can also be used to watch TV via DVB-H receiver. The phone measures 103 x 55 x 18 mm and weighs 120g. The battery gives 220 minutes talk time, 220 hours standby, 5 hours video playback, 14 hours audio and 4 hours TV playback. The phone will be available in Q3 2008 and would cost you $800 (costly, but to get the ultimate you have to pay the price).

Nokia introduced a new multimedia smartphone N78, based on Symbian S60 platform. For connectivity the phone has quad-band GSM, dual-band WCDMA/HSDPA, WiFI b/g and Bluetooth 2.0EDR with A2DP. The phone supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MPEG-4, H.264 and WMA in audio/video department. There is FM radio and FM transmitter for playing back music through a car stereo. The phone has 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and auto-focus. The Assisted-GPS does automatic geotagging for photo, plus uses Nokia Maps 2.0 for navigation. The on board memory is just 70MB so the phone come with a 2GB microSD card and can support up to 8GB microSD card. The phone measures 113 x 49 x 15 mm and is expected to go on sale in Q2 2008 for $500.

Nokia announced the New 6220 classic phone. The phone has a 5-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM, dual-band 3G, 2.2” QVGA screen, Bluetooth with A2DP, microSD slot, 2.5mm audio port and micro-USB port. The camera has a Carl Zeiss lens, xenon flash and can record MPEG-4 video in VGA resolution. The music player on the phone supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, and WMA. The built-in GPS can do geotagging for photos and Navigation using the Nokia Maps 2.0. The phone will be available in Q3 2008 for $470.

Today at the Mobile World Congress, Nokia announced the new 6210 Navigator. The phone comes with 3.2-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM, WCDMA (depending on the market), Bluetooth with A2DP/AVRCP, microSD slot and micro-USB for computer connection. The slim slider phone comes with GPS and it has both in-vehicle voice guidance and on-foot mode, the phone uses the integrated compass and accelerometer to guide you in correct direction. The phone also supports automatic geotagging for photos, which would allow the handset to embed GPS location data into photographs metadata. Nokia Maps 2.0 is provided on 1GB microSD card with the phone and updates for the map data is free. The phones Assisted-GPS promises location lock in seconds. Battery life on the is 3.7 hours talktime, 244 hours standby, 5.7 hours video, 9.1 hour audio and 4.5 hours GPS mapping. The phone will be available in Q3 2008 for $435.

HTC today launched the GPS equipped smartphone P3470 that will provide real navigation functionality using Tom Tom’s navigation software. The smartphone is just 0.6” thick and come with 2.8” touchscreen, 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, quad-band GSM with EDGE, microSD slot, 200MHz processor, 128MB RAM, and 256 MB onboard storage. Like most HTCs it will come with Windows mobile 6 professional OS. The battery will last 350 minutes of talk time and 10 days of standby. The phone will ship in Europe later this month for €499.

Samsung’s semiconductor branch announced a new mobile platform chip S3C6410 that combines a 667MHz ARM Processor and hardware Multi Format codec decoder/encoder that would offload the work normally send to the main CPU. The decoder/encoder will support video playback as well as simultaneous video recording in standard definition. This feature will allow two way video calls at SD quality and improve battery life. The formats supported are H.264, MPEG-4 and VC-1. The chip will also improve 3D performance and have dual RAM ports to increase the memory bandwidth. This chip is aimed towards smartphone and other high-end hand held devices and will be available in second half of 2008.

Intel with STMicroelectronics has been working on development of next generation memory chip called Phase change memory. In the latest development they have been able to double the memory density of the chip. They achieved this by turning the glass like material used to store into four states instead of two, allowing in doubling the memory capacity. Phase change memory (PCM) uses a glass like material that can change from gaseous state to a crystalline state when energy (current) is applied. The change in state is interpreted as 0s and 1s, allowing the data to be stored based on change in state. Now the material can also exist in liquid and semi-liquid states which will result in total of four states and twice more storage. As a result of Intel and STMicro’s works the size of the chips have been decreased and the power efficiency increased. Compared to present solid-state memory chips PCM will have faster read/write speeds and better reliability. We won’t be seeing anything based on PCM anytime soon but this is another step in evolution of the next generation of memory chips.

Sony Ericsson unveiled two new Cyber-shot Candybar handsets at the Mobile World Congress. The first handset C902 is just 0.4” thick and comes with a 5-megapixel camera that has auto-focus, red-eye reduction, facial recognition, and BestPic. The other features on the phone are Memory Stick micro (M2) slot, Quad-band GSM, WCDMA (2100MHz), Bluetooth with A2DP and Full HTML browser. The second handset C702 is designed for active life-style, the handset is water and dust resistant. The phone has a 3.2-megapixel camera, Memory stick micro (M2) slot, Quad-band GSM, WCDMA (2100MHz), and Bluetooth with A2DP. The phone has a built in GPS module that enables geo-tagging of the photographs taken by phones camera and yes you can use the GPS with Google Maps also. Both the phone will be available in second half of 2008.
[Via MobileBurn]

Sony Ericsson today introduced their new G-Series touchscreen smartphones G900 and G700. Both the phones are based on Symbian UIQ and candybar form-factor. The phones have 2.4” QVGA touchscreen, Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot, tri-band GSM, WCDMA, FM and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. The touchscreen with handwriting recognition can be used to write notes directly on the touchscreen. The camera and WiFi differentiates the two phones, the G900 comes with 5-megapixel camera and WiFi and the G700 comes with 3.2-megapixel camera and no WiFi. Both the phones will be available in Q2 2008.
[Via MobileBurn]

Sony’s new Z770 clamshell is for the European market and will support tri-band GSM and WCDMA. The phone measures 3.7” x 1.9” x 0.6” and weighs 3.2oz. The phone has a 2.2” screen. 2-megapixel camera, Memory stick Micro (M2) slot, 32MB internal memory, Bluetooth 2.0 and FM radio. The talk time on the phone is 8.5 hours. The phone shines on the software side as it has push-email (Microsoft Exchange), mobile browser, RSS client, weather app, Google maps and “magnetic Mouse” pointer that jumps intelligently from text box to link to image for making Internet surfing on small screen easy. The phone will be available in Q2 of 2008 and price is yet not known.

Sony Ericsson today announced their new flagship Walkman phone W980. The phone comes with 8GB onboard storage, audio-enhancing features and premium set of earbuds for better listening experience. The feature that Sony is touting is an FM transmitter built along with a receiver, allowing the W980 to beam music to nearby stereos or even other phones with FM radios. The camera on the phone is a 3.2-megapixel one with auto focus. The W980 has external LCD and controls as well as shake control for allowing user to quickly change songs or check caller ID. The phone supports quad-band GSM with EDGE data and will be available in second half of 2008.
[Via Mobileburn]

Tomorrow marks the start of the Mobile World Congress and we will be seeing a marathon of phones showcased as the iPhone Killer. Sony announced its entry today by introducing XPERIA X1 a touchscreen based mobile phone. This is the first phone from Sony that uses Windows mobile OS but it have a custom “XPERIA panels” interface rather than the original Windows interface. The phone has a 3” touchscreen with 800x480 resolution. Other than touchscreen you can use physical navigation pads or the slide out QWERTY keyboard. The phone can be called the most connected Internet phone as its supports five-bands of 3G including 1,700MHz T-mobile USA 3G service, quad-band GSM, WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth. The phone has a 3.2-megaipxel camera and a microSD slot. The phone measure 4.3” x 2.1” x 0.7” and there is no word on onboard storage but I hope it comes with at least 8GB of on board storage to compete with iPhone. The XPERIA panel interface developed by Sony Ericsson is a group of nine desktop sections that you can re-order and use to access the functionality of the phone. The phone will be available in second half of 2008.
[Via PhoneMag]

On February 5th, Apple applied to expand its trademark in to gaming, yet no examining attorney has been assigned. The trademark filing by Apple covers:
"Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."
Right now it looks like Apple just wants to cover its bases rather then introducing a new gaming machine or platform. So don’t hold your breath for an Apple gaming console.

Inquirer has posted that according to their reliable sources one of the features DirectX 11 in the upcoming Windows 7 has been removed. It is said that the hardware requirements is to be blamed for DirectX 11 cut. The thing is with Vista or Longhorn, Microsoft was adding features for first three years, only after 2004 they started to cut features and by 2007 they had cut out most of the features that were suppose to be part of Vista. In first year of Windows 7 development Microsoft is already cutting features, imagine what will be left of Windows 7 by 2011.

ComputerWorld’s Seth Weintraub has posted about the latest build of WebKit and the great number of improvements that have been done. WebKit is the name of the development version of KHTML engine used in Safari Browser. The improvements are in two major areas feature and speed. According to Seth WebKit is fast, it is running circles around the standard Safari browser and is remarkably stable. This inspired me to download the download the latest WebKit build r30090 and believe me for past six hours I haven’t used safari. The Webkit has not crashed once, all my bookmarks and history moved across to the WebKit without me doing anything. I am not suggesting that everyone should move to WebKit as its for testing and there might be some issues which I haven’t come across in six hours of use. Seth is right in saying that WebKit is 2.5 times faster, in the unscientific test I did, in which I loaded 20 webpages in a single go it took safari 68.6 seconds and WebKit took 39.2 seconds. That is 1.75 times faster in real world test, so definitely in a test designed for WebKit it will be 2.5 times fast. In real world also the speed is awesome because I have never seen a browser that doubles it performance in just one update. The new performance and speed gain by WebKit is a definite indication of where Safari is going, becoming one of the leanest and fastest browser.