June, 2011

Windows Phone 7 Tango and Apollo updates teased

June 29, 2011 11:25 am by Mic Wright

Categories: Mobile Phones Tags: Acer, Apollo, mango, Nokia, Tango, Windows Phone 7

The Windows Phone Mango update to Windows Phone 7 isn’t arriving until Autumn but Microsoft’s next move is already well down the pipeline.

Compai Communications which builds devices for Acer and Nokia has reportedly inked a deal to build handsets with the next update, Windows Phone Tango, onboard. Reports say it will be the final update for this generation of Windows Phone 7 with an entirely new version, dubbed Apollo, set to launch in 2012.

Click the headline to jump to the comments and tell us: what does Microsoft need to do next with Windows Phone 7?

Out TBC | £TBC | Windows Phone 7 (via DigiTimes)

World’s first automated driving centre opens in Bangalore

June 29, 2011 11:12 am by Joe Svetlik

Categories: Computers & Accessories Tags: automated, Cameras, driving centre, sensors

Nightmare driving instructors making your test harder than it already is? Maybe you should head to India, where the world’s first fully automated driving centre has opened. It’s all done with electronics, so you’re guaranteed a fair crack of the whip.

Read on for the full details. And when the robot hits the dashboard, we’d like you to apply the brake pedal.

Read more

Microsoft patents Skype call snooping tech

June 29, 2011 11:03 am by Mic Wright

Categories: Apps & Software Tags: Legal Intercept, Microsoft, patent, Skype

Microsoft has just nabbed a patent for a technology called Legal Intercept that would allow it to intercept, monitor and record VoIP calls.

It submitted the patent back in 2009 but it’s only just been granted and looks rather more intriguing since it purchased Skype back in May…

Read more

Orange Monte Carlo: the super cheap ZTE Skate arrives in the UK

June 29, 2011 11:02 am by Ben Sillis

Categories: Mobile Phones Tags: Android, monte carlo, orange, skate, zte

The Orange Monte Carlo is a pretty stupid name for an Android smartphone, we think you’ll agree. But don’t knock this phone: it’s the UK version of the ZTE Skate, a handset that promises a huge screen and the latest version of Android 2.3 for a knock down price. Details, this way.

Read more

iPhone security just beats Android claim researchers

June 29, 2011 10:35 am by Mic Wright

Categories: Mobile Phones Tags: Android, Apple, Google, iPhone, security, symantec

Symantec seems intent on stoking up a flame war with a new 23-page report comparing the security measures in iOS and Android. Apple came out top in most categories but there’s not an entirely rosey picture for either OS with malware developers setting their sights on mobile.

To complicate matters, the report reveals that iOS contains many more vulnerabilities than Android despite having suffered no known malware attacks. It seems the main strength of iPhone security is the level of curation it applies to the iTunes App Store…

Read more

BlackBerry PlayBook 10in scrapped for QNX BlackBerry?

June 29, 2011 10:02 am by Mic Wright

Categories: Mobile Phones Tags: Blackberry, BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry PlayBook 10in, QNX, RIM

Here’s a rumour that’s bound to inspire conflicted feelings among BlackBerry fans. While the BlackBerry PlayBook has received mixed reviews, a new report suggests the planned BlackBerry PlayBook 10in model will be scrapped. N4BB says RIM will make the change to focus on a new QNX-based Blackberry.

It claims that the new BlackBerry running the BlackBerry PlayBook’s QNX OS will have a 1.2GHz single-core processor like the current BlackBerry Bold 9900 and a 4.3in display.

RIM previously said that it wouldn’t launch a QNX-powered BlackBerry without a dual-core CPU inside but it could very well have changed its mind. If the BlackBerry PlayBook 10in does get ditched, the US will still see a BlackBerry PlayBook 4G in October.

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry (via N4BB)

Google+ revealed: the Facebook fighter with Apple DNA

June 29, 2011 9:32 am by Mic Wright

Categories: Apps & Software Tags: Android, circles, Google, Hangout, Huddle, IOS, iPhone, Sparks

The long-awaited Google social network (no, we’re not talking about Orkut) has finally arrived…sort of. Google has revealed Google+, a suite of social tools gunning for Facebook, but the project is only open to a handpicked pool of testers right now.

While you can’t get your hands on Google+ just yet, there’s plenty of details to chew on after the break. Read on for Google’s very pointed attack on Facebook and to find out why there’s more than a little bit of Apple DNA baked into the Google+ UI…

Read more

Chrome OS conundrum: can one survive with a browser-only Chromebook?

June 28, 2011 7:08 pm by Nick Marshall

Categories: Computers & Accessories Tags: Acer AC700, chrome os, chromebook, HP ePrinter, mac os x, Samsung series 5, Spaces

With Samsung’s Series 5 Chromebook now on sale in the US and UK and the Acer AC700 joining shortly, doubts have been raised over whether one can survive by Chrome OS alone. This largely this depends on individual usage patterns, Internet availability and applications. Can you survive with a Chromebook?

As the name implies, Chrome OS finds its bread and butter in the Chrome browser. Unlike conventional operating systems, a Chromebook lives and breaths in a full screen browser without the slightest inkling of a minimize, maximize or close button.

Read more

June, 2011

Hot chat, right here!