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Sony Ericsson Pushes Two Android Phones, Xperia X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro

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Over at the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson suprises everyone by launching two Android-running mobile phones – Xperia X10 Mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro. I said exciting because before this announcement we’ve been hearing only about the Xperia X10 Mini being a compact version of the Xperia 10 smarthpone. But we’ve never knew that the X10 Mini will have a twin, the X10 Mini Pro.

So what makes these two mini Xperia X10 different from each other? Nothing much really, except for their colors. the Mini will be available in black, pearl white, lime, pink, red and silver. The Mini Pro on the other hand will sport either a black or red color design. The Pro will also be sporting a QWERTY keyboard while the Mini will sorely rely on touchscreen for inputing method.

Both compact phones as we said will be running the Android OS, unfortunately it’s only version 1.6 and not the latest Android version yet. Fortunately, both phones will be loaded with a 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor so that will probably make them perform faster than usual Sony Ericsson mobile devices.

Other features are pretty standard Sony Ericsson stuff including quad-band EDGE support, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2GB microSD card, 5 MP camera and so on.

What’s pretty major is Sony Ericsson’s Timescape which both phones have. Timescape is a pretty nifty system that will enable you to integrate your contacts in one place, making it simple to access call history, Facebook, Twitter, messaging and other communication services.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro will be available sometime in Q2 this year.

Via

Originally posted on February 14, 2010 @ 5:44 pm

Adobe Demos AIR on DROID, Announces Flash 10.1 Support Soon

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Here we have Adobe’s contribution to the ongoing Mobile World Congress.  And what contribution it is as Adobe demoes something that might possibly give the Android platform an edge over Apple’s iPhone OS – Adobe AIR running on Droid.  Since the demo looks quite well,  it follows that other Android devices including Google Nexus One will be to run Adobe AIR apps as well. Likewise, Adobe also announced that Flash 10.1 will soon be available for Android devices as well as iPhone.

With Adobe AIR, developers will have access to a feature-rich environment when developing their rich applications outside the mobile browser of Android devices and on multiple operating systems via individual marketplaces and applications stores. Adobe AIR  will bring about mobile apps that are optimized for high performance on mobile screens and takes advantage of the capabilities of native devices.

Adobe AIR will also allow developers to include multi-touch, accelerometer, geolocation, and other functionality offered by existing mobile OS into their own mobile AIR apps. It also let developers to create contextual apps with different display screens, device-speficif interaction techniques, mobile platform specific functionality and network access and bandwidth differences.

In addition, Adobe also announced that Flash 10.1 will soon be available on Android devices such as DROID and Nexus One as well as other mobile platforms including the BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile. Interestingly, while the iPhone was not mentioned as part of those mobile platforms that will support, Windows Mobile was included in the list despite the fact that Microsoft may not be supporting it on Windows Mobile 7.

Or perhaps this is just a miscommnication?

Originally posted on February 15, 2010 @ 10:18 am

Oh Joy! Disney Pixar Announces Toy Story 3 Video Game

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Alright Toy Story fans. Probably by now, you’re all eagerly anticipating the release of our favorite Disney Pixar film, Toy Story 3. We’ve long waited for this third installment. In fact I forgot when the last Toy Story movie was released. And while you’re waiting for June 18 which is the movies show, why not indulge yourself first into some video gaming goodness with  Toy Story 3: The Video Game.

In addition, Toy Story 3: The Video  will have a new gameplay mode called Toy Box. This is basically a virtual box of toys with an open-world sandbox-style of gameplay.

The Toy Box replicates the experience of playing toys when we were just kids. Toy Box mode wing  brings cowboys, space rangers, dinosaurs, and little green aliens which used to be possible on children’s imagination. The game also features a story mode which is congruent with the storyline of  TS3.

And you know what’s making this more exciting? It’s the fact that will be released on various gaming platforms including Wii, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360  video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC, Nintendo DS and PSP (PlayStation Portable) system.

An app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is also coming that will allow you to play, personalize and stay connected. Toy Story 3 Video Game also contains trailers, countdown clock, movie information, ticketing, and light games and activities..

Alright folks, what is it going to be? To infinity and beyond?

Originally posted on February 16, 2010 @ 12:00 pm

Google Chrome Tablet Could Be the iPad’s Worst Nightmare

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If  these concept pictures of what seems like a Google Chrome tablet is close to becoming a reality, I would have entitled this post with something like – “Move over iPad, here comes Google Chrome Tablet.” But unfortunately, this Google Chrome Tablet is just part of Google’s testing procedures in trying to perfect the Google Chrome OS which is about to be released this year.

The pictures were created by the folks at the Google Chromium projects website.  The pictures were believed to be proof of Google’s way of finding the best device that can fully utilize the Chrome OS. In other words, this is not about hardware but rather about a software product.

Actually if Google will put this into the drawing table it would be a close competitor of the iPad. And with the negative feedback that the iPad got after it was announced, Google could very well take advantage of the situation and come up with a better tablet PC.

Interestingly, the documentation on the Chromium project website notes that the tablet device running on Google Chrome OS should have 5 to 10 inch display with fully optimized touch features. In addition, other features such as multi-touch gestures, docking panels, high-res display and visual exploration were also noted on the documentation. These, plus some other features all point to one thing – that Google Chrome OS would run well on tablet PCs.

The question now is, would Google also make the Chrome OS available on a tablet device? It is currently under negotiation with HTC for the development of the Chrome netbook, so a Google- HTC  tablet might be possible as well.

If that happens, then the iPad will be in serious trouble .

Originally posted on February 2, 2010 @ 8:10 am

Apple iPad Launch Video Available Now

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If you didn’t catch Apple’s big event this morning, well the full video coverage is now available online in  low, medium and hi res. Go ahead fanboys, check it out and relive the moments again if you’ve already watched it live somewhere.

Take a gander at how Steve has unveiled Apple’s latest product. How did he refer to the iPad again? – “a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price” and ” The best way to experience web, email, photos and video.” I’m pretty sure none of us will agree to those two statements. But hey, it’s a marketing campaign, so what can you expect?

And if you have no idea what the iPad is made of, here’s a quick rundown of its specs:

  • 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
  • 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
  • Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
  • Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously
  • 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip
  • Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Optional 3G

What? You’re not impressed? How about full support for existing iPhone/iPod apps? iTunes connectivity and media management? Or perhaps its best feature (IMHO) – the iBooks application. It will allow you to purchase e-books from various major publishers and read them of course on the iPad.

Alright, alright. You are probably not impressed.  Just be contented with the fact that Steve has just  given us big boys a new toy to play with until we grow tired of  it.

Before I forget, here are the links to the videos of this morning’s Apple Event. Enjoy!

Originally posted on January 27, 2010 @ 11:08 pm