Apple released the iPhone firmware 2.0 today morning. I downloaded it and installed it as soon as it was available and like most early adopters my iPhone went dead. It was dead for almost 5 hours today; when I connected iPhone to iTunes for activation I kept getting this error “There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later.” After almost five hours the activation server is back online and my iPhone is back with updated firmware 2.0. The main features of the firmware are third-party application support, App Store support, Exchange ActiveSync, Cisco IPSec VPN, WPA/WPA2 authentication, MobileMe support, saving images to photo library from safari and mail, scientific calculator, parental controls and bug fixes. The feature I was waiting for is App Store and it runs flawlessly, it is the easiest way to install applications on a mobile phone. I don’t understand why no one else thought of such an easy interface and application installation process for other mobile phones before. The firmware is available for all iPhone users via iTunes so go ahead install it and enjoy.

Last week NVIDIA said that significant quantities of previous generations chips were defective and it would cost NVIDIA around $250M to replace those chips. The Inquirer is reporting that all the G84 (8400M) and G86 (8600M) chips were faulty. Both the chips share the same ASIC and that ASIC has terminal and heat related problem. NVIDIA is not commenting on the story, they are only saying that the problem is with a specific batch of parts that only HP got. But Inquirer says that Dell’s XPS line is having huge failure problems and they are replacing NVIDIA parts with ATI parts. Even Asus is reporting similar problem. Right now it looks like what ever NVIDIA may say, the magnitude of the problem is huge.
[Via The Inquirer]

AT&T today announced that it offers the nation’s fastest 3G network. AT&T bases its claim on variety of tests conducted by leading third-party researchers, who downloaded a variety of applications and files to test throughput and overall performance of various 3G-service providers in US (AT&T, Verizon and Sprint). AT&T was the winner by a significant margin.
"We've invested billions of dollars in our 3G network, and now we can proudly claim it as the nation's fastest 3G network," said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's wireless unit. "We will continue to expand our 3G network coverage into new areas, grow our lineup of industry-leading devices, such as iPhone 3G, and deliver compelling new 3G services to market like Video Share(SM). And to top it off, only AT&T offers the best global coverage. AT&T's ability to serve its wireless customers is unparalleled in our industry."
AT&T says that 3G service is available in nearly 300 major US metropolitan areas and the company plans to expand to nearly 350 by end of this year.
[Via PR Newswire]

Seagate today unveiled the world’s first hard drive that breaks the 1TB capacity barrier. The new Barracuda 7200.11 a 3.5” hard drive has 1.5TB of storage space. The hard drive has four platters and each platter has 375GB storage capacity. The increase in data density on each platter improves the speed and results in disk transfer data speeds of 120MB per second or more. The Barracuda 7200.11 lineup will have drives ranging is size from 160GB to 1.5TB. All the drive will feature 32MB cache and will be released in August.
Seagate also showed two notebook drives. The Momentus 7200.4 is the first 2.5” hard drive that has 500GB storage and spins at 7,200 RPM. The drive has 16MB of cache to cut down on unnecessary drive access. The second notebook drive Momentus 5400.6 is also a 500GB hard drive with 5,400 RPM and 8MB of cache. Both the drives will be released in fall 2008.

Kodak today unveiled the Kodak Theatre HD Player, a High Definition media player that enables access to pictures, video, podcasts, music and web-based content on HDTV via WiFi network. The remote-operated KODAK Theatre HD Player lets consumers relive their favorite, and even forgotten, memories in customized slideshows, incorporating their personal music and video collections, Internet Radio, plus online video- and photo-sharing sites. Consumers can also edit and upload images and videos to popular online content sharing sites on their HDTV from the comfort of their living room. Kodak has formed partnerships with Flickr and YouTube for online content. The player comes with a USB port, SD memory card slots, HDMI, Component video and audio out port. The player is able to display HD still images in 16:9 aspect ratio and videos at 720p. The Theatre HD Player will ship in September for $299.99. Now my question is why won't I go and get Apple TV that will do all the above functions and has iTunes backing also for just $229.

Kodak today announced the latest addition to its Z-series digital camera. The new Kodak EasyShare Z1015 IS digital camera comes with 15X Schneider Kreuznach Varigon optical zoom lens, 10-megapixel sensor and ISO up to 6400. The camera has Smart Capture feature, which identifies the scene and adjusts camera settings accordingly. It also supports full manual mode, as well as program, aperture and shutter priority modes. In video department the camera can shoot videos in HD and you can view them on HDTV with the optional Kodak EasyShare HDTV Dock. The Z1015 will ship in September for $349.99.

Creative has officially announced Zen X-Fi PMP in Singapore. The X-Fi player comes with 2.5-inch screen, built-in speaker, FM radio, SD/SDHC card slot and WiFi for Yahoo and MSN chat clients. The player is available in three capacities 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. In a surprise move, Zen X-Fi is paired with EP-830 premium in-ear earphones. Creative says that the player uses their Crystalizer technology for premium sound quality. The company also announced accessories for the X-Fi player, including TravelSound Zen X-Fi docking speaker system, armband, silicone case and leather case. The price for 8GB is S$229 (US$145), 16GB is S$329 (US$210) and 32GB is S$399 (US$255). Creative has not announced when the product will ship.

Apple has just released iPhone Configuration Web Utility that lets user easily create, sign and distribute configuration profiles using a web browser. Configuration profiles are XML files that contain device security policies, VPN configuration information, WiFi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates that permit iPhone and iPod touch to work with your enterprise systems. This utility will also allow you to distribute your iPhone apps via a web browser. For more information visit about the Utility and Enterprise Deployment Guide visit iPhone’s Enterprise site.

Yesterday, Tech Crunch reported that the iPhone’s App Store would go online at 9 am PST on Thursday. Well the App Store went online slightly before time, as the Store is available for user to download applications for their iPhone now. You can access the App Store by downloading the iTunes 7.7 update and then selecting Applications in the Library. Right now there is no direct link in iTunes Store for the App Store. Apple has launched the App Store with over 500 applications and the top selling free application is Remote (iTunes Link), a free application that allows you to control the music on your computer and Apple TV using your iPhone or iPod touch. For applications to work on your iPhone or iPod touch you will need the latest firmware 2.0, which Apple says they will release shortly.

Apple today released the latest update for iTunes that is required for iPhone 3G, Firmware 2.0, App Store and MobileMe. For Mac OS X the update is available through Software Update, in Windows the update is available though check for updates function in iTunes. The update also confirms iPhone remote application to control your iTunes. The application can be downloaded from the App store. The release note for the iTunes update says:
“Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed from iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application fro iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home – a free download from the App store.”

Samsung has updated its SC-MX10 camcorder with a new model SC-MX20. The camcorder comes has 680K pixel CCD that records at 720 x 480 resolution in H.264 format. The SC-MX20 has no onboard memory and uses SD/SDHC card to record. A 8GB card will record 4 hours of video, 16GB will record 8 hours and 32GB will store 16 hours of video. The camcorder has a 2.7-inch swiveling LCD display and 34x Schneider optical zoom lens. It also has a web and mobile mode that record at 640 x 480 resolution optimized for online use. The camera will be priced $279.99 and will ship in black, red, blue, white and sliver colors in August.

Nokia has previously talked about their haptikos tactile touchscreen that has two small piezo-sensor pads under the screen and creates a 0.1mm movement in the screen. But few details were revealed about the mechanism behind the system. A recent patent filed by Nokia for the technology brings more details about how this touchscreen works. According to Nokia the main idea behind the haptikos system is to create variable and controllable user perceived surface roughness or friction to generate a feedback when the user touch’s the screen. To achieve this Nokia uses protuberances filled with fluid and made of elongated elements that extend parallel to the touchscreen. Along these protuberances there are piezoelectric actuating members that protrude into them as voltage is applied. The resulting pressure raises the elastic surface making the touchscreen surface rough. In normal state, when no current is applied the surface of the touchscreen is smooth.
Nokia says that larger number of actuators can be place on the touchscreen and each actuator can be controlled independently. Creating a dynamically controlled surface through out the touchscreen. The actuators can be moved back further then the default position to create a negative pressure on the tactile feedback compartments thus creating the feel of the surface bulging in as if you have pressed a button. There is no word on whether this technology will be ready for implementation in the touchscreen phone that Nokia will release some time late this year or early next year.

Apple has notified developers that the iPhone App Store will launch for users to download and use applications at around 9 am PST on Thursday morning. According to Tech Crunch that is when the prohibition will lift allowing press to write about specific applications. The App store will go live along with iPhone 2.0 and iTunes 7.7 software that will be required to use the App Store. The Thursday launch will also allow the iPhone 3G buyers to start using the App Store as soon as they grab their shiny new iPhone.

Matsushita Electric Works and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology are developing a prototype light-emitting device that is more efficient and smaller than conventional LEDs. The device uses 5nm or smaller nanosilicon to create a ballistic electron discharge into xenon gas. The device is able to theoretically produce 150 lumens per Watt making it more efficient than conventional white LEDs that can produce 80-100 lumens per Watt. The increase in light output for the device is a result of its design and not amount of voltage passed through it and hence its efficiency can be easily enhanced.
The Nanosilicon layer in the device generates electrons when voltage is passed through it. Those electrons are passed through the xenon gas resulting in ultraviolet light (not visible to human eye), which is they passed through layer of phosphor to make it visible light. If perfected the technology may be used in future notebooks, computers and HDTV screens, extending the battery life of the portable device and saving power for the computer and HDTV.
[Via Tech On!]

Microsoft is preparing to drop the price of the Xbox 360 Pro model from $349.99 to $299.99. The information was leaked from the scans of various electronic retail stores. GameStop has send an internal store memo showing the price cut, which was leaked by Engadget. Scans of Best Buy and Target ads also shows the new price point and confirm the $50 price drop for the system. There is no word on whether there will be a price drop for the $279 base model or not. Rumors are that Microsoft is making the price cut to make room for a new 60GB Xbox 360 system.

The details of the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.1 based Samsung i740 were leaked today. For communication the phone will use quad-band GSM, GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth. The phone will feature a 2.8” LCD screen, 624MHz ARM11 processor, 3-megapixel camera, FM radio, media player and a microSD card slot. The phone has a scroll-wheel navigation button and measures 4.21” x 2.32” x 0.54”. The phone will ship by end of the summer, but no information about price is available.
[Via GSM Arena]

Last year, Hitachi brought the first 1TB hard drive Deskstar 7K1000 to the market in January. After more than a year Hitachi is introducing more efficient model of that hard drive the Deskstar 7K1000.B. The new hard drive has almost the same specification 3.5”, 7200 RPM, 32MB buffer and 1TB storage as the old hard drive, but with one major difference, it uses only three platters in place of five platters used in the older design. The decrease in number of platters improves idle power consumption up to 43 percent compared to last year’s model. Fewer platters results in better reliability, acoustics and seek times. Another feature added to the new hard drive is Bulk Data Encryption. This feature encrypts data as it is written to the drive and decrypts when it’s retrieved. Hitachi will start shipping the drive by end of this month for $239. The company will also ship an enterprise version Deskstar E7K1000 designed for low-duty cycle, 24x7 applications for $279.

O2 started taking pre-orders for the iPhone 3G on its website. But went out of stock due to huge demand within minutes. O2’s Sales director later said, “We have been working continuously with them (Apple) to get as much stock for UK as possible. Unfortunately they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries.” It is not just O2 but all the carriers around the world are expecting iPhone shortage at the launch time. O2 says a rush of as many as 13,000 iPhone per-orders per minute, brought down its online orders for the iPhone 3G. O2 believes that they will have a few dozen iPhones at each O2 or Carphone Warehouse stores on July 11th and the inventory will last only a few minutes. The Australian carriers Telstra and Optus will get less than 80,000 iPhones between them. Together both the companies have more then 2,000 stores bringing the total number of iPhone to less than 40 per store for the first week of launch. Vodafone in New Zealand believes that they will have around 25,000 phones for the launch week. Softbank of Japan says that they will have iPhone shortage for at least first three weeks after the launch. US will get the maximum share of the iPhones at the time of launch, but here also no one knows how long the stock will last. It is believed that some smaller countries might not even get 10,000 iPhones for the launch day. Most carriers around the world have already said that they will have next to nothing in iPhone allocation and the inventory will be snapped up within minutes. The iPhone 3G will be released in 22 countries on July 11th and on July 12th we will know exactly how the launch went…

The one big complaint I had against the new iPhone 3G was that Apple didn’t add voice activated dialing in the new iPhone. Well that has changed now, as a company called Fonix Speech announced the release of Fonix iSpeak - a voice activated application for the Apple iPhone 3G. The application allows users to initiate several operations simply by speaking the command. iSpeak connects the user by just saying the phone number or by saying the name of a person in the contacts. Additionally users will be able to navigate their music libraries and launch a song or playlist simply by saying the name of the artist, song or playlist. The company says that iSpeak includes a run-time engine that sits on the phone allowing users to interact with the personal contents of their iPhone. Unlike other voice applets that enable voice search of the Internet by sending commands over the airways, this client side application gives users the power of voice interaction with their personal content and eliminates network latency. Fonix will be available though Apple’s App Store for iPhone. The company has yet not announced the pricing or date of availability.
[Via Fonix]

NVIDIA is planning to start using 55nm process for it complete Graphics chips lineup in second half of 2008. The main reason behind the switch is lower production cost and higher yield. The company will also introduce 4-5 new GPUs based on 55nm process technology before the end of this quarter. According to DigiTimes, NVIDIA’s GT200 and G92b GPUs have already adopted a 55nm process and the company’s mid-range G96, which will launch by end this month, will come in both 65nm and 55nm versions. However, the company’s upcoming GPUs including G94b, G96b and G98b, which are scheduled to launch after August, will all use a 55nm process. It is believed that NVIDIA and AMD have already started working on 40nm process technology for their next generation graphics cards.

Under Pressure from the strong backlash against the iPhone price plans, Rogers today announced a limited-run promotional plan for the iPhone 3G. Customers who sign up for the Apple device before the end of August will have a option of selecting a $30 monthly plan that offers 6GB of data per month along with any existing voice plan Rogers already offers. Rogers says that this will give iPhone users enough bandwidth to watch nearly 105 hours of YouTube video per month on cellular network. Now 6GB is a good enough limit, I have never crossed 1.5GB per month on my iPhone. I know iPhone 3G is faster, that means I will surf three times faster, but will I surf three times more, I don’t know.
[Via Macnn]

Samsung announced today that they have started mass production of 128GB Solid State Drives that they had announced in May of this year. The new drives are based on multi-level cell technology and should reduce the manufacturing cost for Samsung and as a result should cost way less than the present Flash drives that are based on single-level cell technology. When Samsung announced these drives in May they had promised read speed of 200Mbps, the speeds have gone down a bit, read speed is 90Mbps and write speed is 70Mbps. But then also the drives are way faster than most notebooks class hard drives and even most Solid State drives. Samsung says that the new drives should last 80 to 100 years on average compared to four or five year for hard drives. The new drives also consume less power at just 0.5W in active use. Samsung will release two SSD models of 128GB and 64GB in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch sizes. The drives will use Serial ATA II for faster data transfer. Samsung also said that they would release the 256GB version by end of this year. The company has yet not announced the pricing for the drives.

People in Japan have started lining up for iPhone 3G at Softbank’s flagship store on Omotesandou street in Tokyo. Softbank will launch the iPhone 3G in Japan on July 11th at 7am (July 10th, 6pm EST). The photo was taken almost 52 hours before the launch and more than 15 people were already in the line. Hiroyuki Sano will be the first person in Asia to lay his hand on iPhone 3G. One of the person in the line Sano will turn 25 on July 11th and has taken four days off from school to travel 230 miles from his hometown Nagoya to Tokyo and get in line for the new iPhone 3G. He actually paid more for the travel than he will pay for the iPhone. Normally this kind of build-up is reserved for gaming console release in Japan. This is the first time a mobile phone is being released with such fanfare.
[Via Crunch Gear]

Intel expects that the notebook maker will use the 25 watts chips in their upcoming mainstream notebooks. The 35 watts chips used in today’s notebooks will be reserved for high-performance bigger notebooks only. The decrease in watts will result in notebooks with longer battery life and thinner profile. Intel will be formally announcing their new Centrino 2 platform next week. Intel will launch three Core 2 Duo processors with TDP of 25 watts for the Centrino 2 platform. The processor will have clock speeds of 2.26GHz, 2.4GHz and 2.53Ghz. They will support the faster 1,066MHz front side bus and have option of DDR3 memory. It is believed that Apple will use the new Centrino 2 processors with 25 watts TDP in their upcoming redesigned Macbooks.

MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, has begun shipping all the pre-ordered Wind U100 notebooks. The Wind, with its speedy new Intel Atom™ 1.6GHz processor, is also on sale at Fry's and online at www.newegg.com, www.amazon.com, www.frys.com, www.zipzoomfly.com, www.mwave.com, and www.buy.com. These first notebooks sold will feature Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and a 3-cell battery.

On Tuesday Kodak announced their 50-megapixel CCD sensor KAF-50100, measuring 49.1mm x 36.8mm, normally the full frame sensor measures 24mm x 36mm. Hasselblad earlier today announced their latest 50-megapixel camera using the sensor.  The new sensor becomes the highest resolution  non-scientific sensor, superseding Kodak’s 39-megapixel KAF-39000 sensor. To fit more pixels on the same chip Kodak shrunk the size of each pixel from 6.8 microns in KAF-39000 to 6 Microns in KAF-50100. The new chip will have 18MHz throughput compared to 24MHz for the KAF-39000 chip. But the performance has increased as the new chip KAF-50100 has 4-channel output compared to 2 channels in the old chip. Kodak says the chip is more energy efficient also. According to Cnet, performance specs seem to take a hit; quantum efficiency (how successful the electrons are at getting where they need to go), blooming protection (how well the chip handles the electron overflow caused by bright light) and dynamic range seem to drop as well. But Kodak claims that key performance parameters are retained compared to the current 6.8-micron designs. The sensor will release in 4th quarter of 2008 and we will find out, how it performs.

Last week Sony had released the PS3 firmware 2.40 that caused lot of problems for many PS3 users. As a result Sony pulled the firmware 2.40 off its servers. The PlayStation blog is reporting that Sony has solved the problem and has released PS3 firmware version 2.41. According to the blog, for a limited number of users, the XMB wouldn’t display after the update was installed and as a result the system caused problems after the update. The company has extended their apologies to the PlayStation community for any inconvenience and adds that now we’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone online and racking up those trophies.

Piper Jaffray’s analyst Gene Munster anticipates iPhone 3G to sell 225,000 units in USA, 75,000 in UK and about more than 7,000 in each of the other 18 countries in first three days. Bring the total number of iPhone sold in first three days to 425,000 units. For September quarter the analyst estimates the Apple will sell more than 4.1 million units. Piper anticipates 12 million iPhones will sell this year and the number will rise more than three times to 45 million next year.
“Just days away now from the release of the Apple’s next generation iPhone… And if the first one was dubbed the ‘Jesus Phone’ because of the overwhelming hype, hope and promise of that device, then this new one is quite literally iPhone’s ‘Second Coming’” Jim Goldman reports for CNBC.
[Via CNBC]

Drobo by Data Robotics has been one of the best external back-up solutions available in the market. Today, Data Robotics improved their already superior storage solution by adding FireWire 800 port for faster data transfer. The Drobo comes equipped with new processor for faster data transfer and larger, quieter case fan. The company says that the new Drobo will have 2X the transfer speed and it is faster than ReadyNAS or comparable LaCie models. The price stays the same for the new model at $500 without hard drives. A two 1TB hard drive setup will cost you $900 and four 1TB hard drive setup will be priced $1,300. Data Robotics is clearing out the first generation Drobos for $350 without hard drive, $750 for two 1TB hard drive bundle and $1,075 for four 1TB hard drive bundle. Now the only thing stopping Drobo from becoming the ultimate back-up solution is over the network data transfer using WiFi. For more information visit Drobo’s website.

Apple has updated its iPhone pages with more information about iPhone 3G launch day procedures at Apple Store. All the Apple stores will open at 8:00 am for the launch day and specialists will be on hand to offer help on iPhone personal setup, choosing a phone model, selecting rate plan and preparing your new hand set to make calls, browse web and receive email. Apple has also updated a list of what to bring to Apple or AT&T stores when you are ready to purchase your iPhone. In order to purchase the new iPhone you will need a credit card, your social security number, a valid government issued photo ID and your current wireless account number and password or PIN (if you are new to AT&T). Apple also advises the current and new iPhone users planning to buy an iPhone under corporate account to purchase iPhone directly from AT&T stores. The iPhone 3G accessories available at the launch are iPhone 3G Dock, Bluetooth headset, USB power adapter, Bluetooth travel cable, Dock connector to USB cable, iPhone 3G Universal Dock Adapter 3-pack and iPhone TTY adapter.

Hasselblad, the high-end camera maker known for their very high pixel count (like the old 39-megapixel H3D) has launched their latest 50-megapixel beast H3DII-50. The camera uses a 36mm x 48mm Kodak sensor that is twice the size of the sensor normally found in other full frame DLSR. At full 50-megappixel resolution the camera generates a 300MB image file at 1 Frame per second rate. The camera supports ISO 50 to ISO 400 and ISO 800 with Hasselblad’s Phocus software. The H3DII-50 will also support full range of Hasselblad lenses. Though Hasselblad has not announced the price of the new camera, but you can guess the prices, as the company on its website states that you can upgrade your H3DII-39 to the new H3DII-50 at a cost equal to the difference in list price. The list price of H3DII-39 is $37,000, so H3DII-50 will be greater than that for sure. The camera will ship in October 2008 and you can get more information here. 

Acer today announced the Aspire X1200 a compact desktop aimed at entertainment systems. Acer says the small but powerful desktop uses NVIDIA GeForce 8200 integrated (on-board) graphics chip allowing users to enjoy high-definition movies, games and surround sound. The desktop measures 14.4” x 10.6” x 4” and has a rack friendly enclosure. The system can be configured with AMD Athlon X2 processor up to 2.6GHz, Up to 4GB memory and 500GB hard drive. The system comes with 9 USB ports (5 front and 4 back), 14-in-one media card reader, IEEE 1394 port, front audio ports, 7.1 surround sound out ports (back), Ethernet, HDMI and VGA. The Aspire X1200 is shipping now for a starting price of $449 and you can get a desktop with 22-inch monitor for $699.99.
[Via Business Wire]

BMO’s analyst Keith Bachman said in his investment note that Apple may have shipped more than 2.5 million Macs in last quarter, which would result in 39% year-over-year growth. That is more than three times the industrial average of 12.2 percent. According to Keith, the two main reasons for higher growth rate for Macs are competitive pricing and Windows Vista. The 2.4GHz Macbook sells for $1299 only a few dollars more than the average price of a comparable 13” notebook that is $1,292. Additionally the user satisfaction ratings for Vista have been really weak. Resulting in more than 50% of recent customers buying Macs are first time buyers. Bachman also believes that initially there will be iPhone 3G shortage between launch and the end of July. Apple will release their quarterly financial results by end of July; we will get the exact number of Macs the company sold then.
[Via Appleinsider]

Canon today revealed US launch info for the new Rebel XS camera. Canon will primarily sell the entry-level digital camera as a kit version with an image stabilized 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 EF-S lens for $699. Canon will start shipping the bundle in August. The 10.1 megapixel camera will have an automatic dust removal system, 7-point autofocus, three frames per second continuous shooting mode and 3” LCD screen with live preview.
Canon will sell the EF-S lens separately for $200 and has also introduced a new faster SpeedLite 430 EX II external flash for $330.
[Via Macnn]

An iPhonePortugal Forum user has posted photos of unboxing of the new iPhone 3G. The phone comes with power adaptor, plug point adaptor, USB cable and headphones. Engadget has even posted picture of the mysterious SIM removal tool. The unit appears to be a demo unit supplied to the store. The forum user who posted the pictures says that the Internet speed is quite good and the App store is not online yet. Another website Gadgetomac has posted photos of a working iPhone 3G demo unit in a Swiss retail store. From the photos it looks like iPhone’s back will be a finger print magnet. It is believed that demo units have arrived at AT&T stores also and they will be opened on Thursday.

BlackBerrySync has posted images of BlackBerry Thunder’s UI, sent to them by anonymous source. BlackBerry Thunder also known as BlackBerry 9500 is the highly anticipated iPhone competitor that will feature a 360 X 480 resolution touchscreen. The images leaked show the working media UI of Thunder. The device will run on BlackBerry OS 4.7 and will have great multimedia capabilities. Its Media player will be able to Sync with the iTunes and come with portrait video player for watching movies. The thunder will implement a carrier based music store similar to iPhone’s iTunes store. It is rumored that the thunder would initially come in CDMA version only and hence my guess is it would be a Verizon device and will have the V CAST service offered by Verizon for music and media content.

Apple had informed all the developers that they must submit their applications by 12 pm PDT today, to be considered for inclusion in the App Store launch. After the deadline is reached, developers can submit their applications, but they won’t be included in App Store at the time of launch. Tech Crunch has posted that some app developers believe that the Monday deadline is imposed because Apple might launch the App Store few days before July 11th, the day when iPhone 3G will be launched. Most developers will only get few hours notice prior to the launch of the App store and the store can be launched as early as Tuesday. It will be a pleasant surprise if the App store and iPhone Software 2.0 is released tomorrow. As always no one really knows when the App Store will go public, but I am sure it will be launched this week.

Since the iPhone was released last year accelerometer has become the new crazy in the mobile industry. Sony Ericsson and Nokia have introduced phones using accelerometer to control applications and now its Samsung’s turn. The company will launch their M3510 phone that will feature an accelerometer for shake-and-twist gesture controls. Other features of the phone are 2” LCD screen, 2-megapixel camera, FM radio, Music player, 20MB on board memory, microSD slot, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack and GSM/EDGE connectivity. The candy bar phone will measure 4.29” x 1.8” x 0.38”. It will compete with lower end Sony Ericsson Walkman phones. The phone should be priced around $350 when it is launched later this year.
[Via BGR]

Kakaku has released results of a survey done by the company through a price comparison portal for electronics. Around 8,000 people (90 percent male) responded to the survey and were asked question about the upcoming iPhone. Over 50 percent of the respondents said that they would definitely purchase one or at least intend to. Out of this group over 45 percent are not current Softbank subscribers. Kakaku says, when looking at the survey in the context of overall Japanese mobile industry, more than 28 percent of all Japanese mobile users are tempted to switch carriers to Softbank for the new iPhone 3G. The main reasons cited by the respondents for wanting an iPhone were its design is superior, its interface seems easy to use and its functions seems interesting. If the survey results come true, then Apple will definitely hit a home run in Japanese mobile market with the iPhone.
[Via Macnn]

Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision, confirmed in a blog post the launch of Readius for autumn of this year. The CEO said that the goal of the company was to get larger displays into pocket size mobile devices. The company uses the rollable display technology to achieve this. The Readius is the first pocket eReader based on the technology that can be neatly wrapped into a pocket-sized device. Radius is designed for eBooks, eNews, RSS feeds and receiving emails. It will have 3.5G data connection to download pre-ordered content and instant news updates on the go. Actually the device is very similar to Amazon Kindle but way smaller so that you can keep it in your pocket. The company has not yet announced price for the device. To get more information about the device visit their website.

A Chinese blog has posted images of prototype casings of the upcoming MacBook Pro. It is believed that Apple will redesign the MacBook pro lineup using design clues from MacBook Air and iMac. The photo shows the top and bottom casing of the new laptop. The design of the casing resembles a bit to MacBook Air, but with few notable difference. It looks like the logo of the prototype will not be backlit like present MacBooks. The screw configuration of the bottom case does not match with MacBook Air, the laptop believed to be the inspirations for the new design. There is no explanation why there are holes in between Apple logo. Though not show in picture the blog claims that the new MacBook Pro will have keyboard similar to the MacBook Air. We don’t know whether the photos are real or not. But we know that very soon Apple will launch their redesigned MacBook Pro (mostly by end of this quarter or early next quarter). 

Microsoft and Yahoo have been doing want it, don’t want it dance for past six month. Last month Microsoft said that it would not buy Yahoo, as the cost Yahoo was asking was too high. But Microsoft can’t leave Yahoo alone, according to a letter released by Microsoft on Monday. The company is supporting activist investor Carl Icahn’s efforts to unseat Yahoo’s board. Microsoft also confirmed its interest to explore a bid to buy the entire company or just the search assets with the new board.
Microsoft’s Letter:
In the past week, we have had the opportunity to discuss with Carl Icahn the prospects for a possible agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo.
Despite working since January 31 of this year, as well as in the early part of last year, we have never been able to reach an agreement in a timely way on acceptable terms with the current management and board of directors at Yahoo.
We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election, Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo, such as either a transaction to purchase the "Search" function, with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company.
As Mr. Icahn notes in his statement today, it would be premature to discuss at this time important details such as the price or other terms of a possible transaction. We respect the right of Yahoo's shareholders to determine the destiny of their company, and we do not intend to engage in ongoing commentary on these issues in advance of Yahoo's shareholder meeting.
As we explained on June 12, when Yahoo announced an agreement with Google, we believe that our proposed search acquisition and partnership would have delivered superior value to Yahoo's shareholders and the marketplace as a whole.
We have not changed our position, even as we continue to move forward with our own online search and advertising offerings. We therefore welcome interest by Mr. Icahn in pursuing this and other discussions.
While, of course, there can be no assurance of a future transaction, we will be prepared to enter into discussions immediately after Yahoo's shareholder meeting, if a new board is elected.

O2 has starting accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 3G on its website. The bad news is they are already out of stock due to huge demand. The website now instructs users to come back on 10th July for more information. O2 will starting selling the iPhone on July 11th in their stores on first come first serve basis and will be only available for individuals signing up for a contract. Pay as you go service options for the iPhone will be available later this year (mostly by end of 2008).
In New Zealand, Vodafone has sent out an email informing their customers that the iPhone will be launched at 12:01 am on July 11th in three Vodafone stores. The stores that will carry the iPhone at 12:01 am are Queen St in Auckland city, Lambton Quay in Wellington and Colombo St in Christchurch. Other Vodafone stores will start selling the iPhone at 9:00 am through out the country. Vodafone will start taking online orders at 12:01 am on the same day. The company also informed customers that they will release complete price and plan details tomorrow at 10 am on its website.

Rumors are that T-Mobile is planning to launch their 3G services in 27 top markets on October 1st 2008. Currently, T-mobile 3G service is available in limited areas (mainly New York City and few other cities) and there is confusion on whether the service is for data only or voice is also included. According to TmoNews.com the service will be launched in 27 additional markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Miami. T-Mobile has officially not give any statement related to the matter and we will only come to know if the rumor is true after T-Mobile announces the launch. But it is high time for T-Mobile, both AT&T and Verizon are planning to implement 4G in next two years, and T-Mobile has just started 3G-network rollout.
[Via BGR]

Depending on what news website you visit, you will get different impressions about Amazon Kindle’s sales. If you go to Amazon’s press release or Amazon's top electronics section you will get the impression that it is the best selling electronic product since iPod. But if you visit any news website like Seeking Alpha or UPI you will get mixed opinions. No news website is saying that Kindle is an out-and-out success. Amazon has also not released any sales numbers for the Kindle even though it has been on the market for more than six months. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos issued a press release calling the Kindle a “huge success” and a “revolutionary” device. But again he didn’t announce any numbers. Steve Weinstein an analyst with Pacific Crest told the San Francisco Chronicle that Amazon moved 40,000 units per month of Kindle so far this year and could sell between 700,000 and 800,000 of the devices by end of 2008. Now the problem with these numbers is that if Amazon wants to achieve 800,000 Kindle sales this year, they have to more than double their sales for next six months. Even If Amazon is selling 800,000 Kindles this year, I don’t think it’s a high success, it might be moderately successful product but anything less than a million per year is not huge success in today’s market.

Rogers, the iPhone carrier in Canada announced their insanely high iPhone data prices few days ago. The data prices are so ridiculous that many Canadian consumers are enraged by the iPhone plans. An online petition has also been launched at Ruinediphone.com and more than 40,000 peoples have signed the petition in first seven days. Well as you would have guessed by now, this negative attention to the iPhone is not making Apple and Steve happy. According to BGR, Apple isn’t pleased with Rogers, due to their high iPhone data prices and no unlimited data plan. The rumor is Apple has informed Rogers that they will be diverting a large percentage of their iPhone stock that was destined for Canada. Rogers has even fired the additional staff that they hired for iPhone launch. According to the rumor, Rogers will only get 10-20 iPhone per store for launch day. BGR says, Apple is either attempting to strong-arm Rogers into lowering their data tariffs and making the iPhone more accessible to average consumers, or they really have simply given up and are abandoning the Canadian market in favor of a European market. I hope Apple forces Rogers to lower their iPhone price plan, it will be very good for consumers.

Intel has posted an article “Unwelcome Advice” on its research blog, advising software developer to focus on developing software for multi-core and terscale processors. The author Anwar Ghuloum says that he frequently talks to external developers about Intel’s on going research in multi-core and terascale computing. The discussion typically goes in one of two directions. The developer wants minimal amount of work to tap dual and quad core performance…and perhaps stretch it to dual or quad socket systems. The second direction is discussing how to scale performance to Dozens, hundreds and even thousands of cores.
Intel says that most mainstream application developers still go for first path and the advise to design software for the second path is usually unwelcomed. Anwar advises the developers to start thinking about tens, hundreds and even thousands of cores in algorithmic development and deployment pipeline. He says that similar choices should be made for libraries and programming languages. Last year Intel showed 80 core teraflops research chip at their developer’s forum. The reason why Intel showed a research project that was at least 4 years way from a market release was to give a hint to developers where the processor future was heading. I think developers must start considering massive multi-core processor for development of the applications.