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LG’s BL40 Black Label phone captured in the wild — alongside a kid sibling
The more we see of LG’s latest Black Label handset — the mysterious BL40 — the more we want to touch it, play with it, talk on it, and put it (or, at least try to put it) in our pockets. Shots of the bizarre-yet-beautiful phone have appeared over on a German forum where we’re [...]
16
Jul/090
Jul/090
Google Now Finds Stuff Nearby Using Your Location in Mobile Safari [IPhone]
With iPhone 3.0, websites can snag your location in Safari. Now if you search for something in Google and let it see your location, it’ll show you stuff nearby that matches, like coffeeshops here. It’s just the beginning, surely. [Google]
16
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Jul/090
Roadmap for Intel’s First Nehalem-Based Mobile Chips Leaked [Intel]
Details for Intel’s new quad- and dual-core i7 and i5 chips have leaked in the form of a roadmap, so we’ve got some excellent specifics, including release dates and prices.
The new quad-core “Clarksfield” chips are the most expensive and powerful, and will be able to scale up clock speed with a feature called “Turbo Boost” [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Bill Gates calls Chrome OS more of the same, "surprised people are acting like there’s something new"
We’ve already heard from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Chrome OS, and it looks like Bill Gates has now had his say on the upstart operating system as well. Speaking with CNET News, Gates more or less described Chrome OS as just another Linux distribution, saying that “there’s many, many forms of Linux operating systems [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Google Voice for Android: Better, But Not Perfect [Google Voice]
Google’s native app versions of Google Voice for Android and BlackBerry is an example of what we want to see on ALL phones, including the iPhone and the Pre. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.
The major issue we have is the fact that text messages aren’t “intercepted” by the Google Voice app in order to [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
When Tech Gods Were Mortal Men [Gizmodo 79]
Anyone who knows tech knows certain names—Gates, Jobs, Woz, Kamen, Stringer—but before they became legends, they were busy doing, well, some curious stuff. Here’s a glance at their lives circa 1979:
Steve Jobs
Now: Just returning to daily work at Apple after a prolonged health scare, he’s still one of the most powerful—and recognizable—names in the [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXXV: Fashion A10 netbook strikes a pose, Acer-style
Sadly, plenty of folks just can’t seem to shake the notion that “netbooks” and “high fashion” go hand in hand — and clearly the KIRFmeisters of Shenzhen and environs are no exception. As if that couldn’t be any clearer, the kids at Shanzai.com have clued us in on the JingWah Digital Fashion A10, a note-by-note [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Google Voice apps now live on Android and BlackBerry, iPhone en route
There have been pretty decent unofficial hacks to get Google Voice fully functional on a variety of mobile devices for a while now, but Google’s finally taking the next logical step in its world domination strategy by releasing totally 100-percent legit first-party apps for a couple key platforms today — BlackBerry and, of course, [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
The Blank Generation: 1979 as Audio Cassette Enabler [Personal Audio]
Sony introduced the Walkman in 1979, and I got mine a year later. The Walkman boosted the profile of audio cassettes, which had been challenging LPs and 8-Tracks as a music medium. They soon dominated the music scene.
A $185 TSC-300 I bought from J&R, my Walkman was also a stereo recorder. (Note the spiffy name—even [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Leaked Intel roadmap specs upcoming Core i5 and i7 ‘Lynnfield’ CPUs
Looking for something to print out and put on your wall that demonstrates the full extent of your Intel dedication? PC Watch has some mighty high resolution charts of the company’s desktop and mobile CPU roadmaps, including a handful of chips that we haven’t seen before. On the Lynnfield / desktop side, there’s the Core [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Rumor: Acer Will Launch Their Android Phone in September [Acer]
Acer said they’d churn out one Android phone by the end of the year; that was all the way back in April, and they’ve since taken their relationship with Google’s OS to the next level. (But not too far!) It’d be far from crazy, then, for the company to hit a September release date, as [...]
15
Jul/090
Jul/090
Google Voice Apps Coming to Android and BlackBerry, iPhone Users Must Wait [Google Voice]
Google Voice, the sweet service that lets you redirect calls, transcribes your voicemails and way more, is finally coming to smartphones—but only Android and BlackBerry, for now. iPhone users, you can go have some coffee while you wait.
Vincent Paquet, a senior product manager for Google and cofounder of GrandCentral (Google Voice before its name change), [...]
14
Jul/090
Jul/090
Android x86 LiveCD now available, lets you run Android on your desktop
Sure, the whole world and Steve Ballmer might be buzzing about Chrome OS, but a dedicated duo of hackers has been hard at work porting Google’s other operating system to x86, and they’ve just released an .02 version of their Android LiveCD build. That means you’re now free to boot and run the ‘droid from [...]
14
Jul/090
Jul/090
Steve Ballmer calls Chrome OS "highly interesting," says Google "can’t make up their mind"
You just knew Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would have some choice words about Google’s Chrome OS at today’s Windows Partner Conference, and he didn’t disappoint, saying that while he finds the project “highly interesting,” the late-2010 ship date and existence of Android have him wondering exactly what it’s supposed to be. “I don’t know if [...]
14
Jul/090
Jul/090
Google Loses Guy Who Caused Steve Ballmer To Throw a Chair [Google]
Remember the incident back in 2004 where Steve Ballmer threw a chair across the room when he heard an employee was leaving Microsoft to go to Google? That guy, Mark Lucovsky, is leaving Google for VMWare.
If Google’s Eric Schmidt doesn’t up the ante and throw a table, maybe Ballmer was right in calling him a [...]
14
Jul/090
Jul/090
Researchers create robo-moth, dream of a cyborg cricket-filled future
Researchers have long turned to insects for a little inspiration when creating robots, but things have entered a terrifying new dimension this week, with two separate groups each finding new ways to meld bug and machine. The further along of the pair is a group of scientists from Tokyo University’s Research Center for Advanced Science [...]
14
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Jul/090
Dear Diary, I Saw a Wooden Workstation Today and I Think I’m In Love [Furniture]
Marlies Romberg’s Dear Diary 1.0 Workstation takes the wooden keyboards and PCs we are used to seeing and integrates them into a completely wooden workstation.
“Personally, I am fascinated by how the world is changing into a digital world. To me it seems that; the digital world is personal but not private at all. For example, [...]
14
Jul/090
Jul/090
Google Plans Three More Android Updates This Year, Named After Decreasingly Popular Desserts [Android]
Official word about Android’s 2009 roadmap has been handed down, and it contradicts the early scuttlebutt: the mobile OS will get not two, but three updates by 2010, each named for a slightly more esoteric dessert than the last.
As we’ve known for a while, the next big update will be called Donut. This will be [...]
13
Jul/090
Jul/090
More alleged Chrome OS screenshots for your viewing pleasure
Well, here we go again — another set of unverified, likely-fake Google Chrome OS screenshots has just landed in our inbox. Our tipster claims that while most apps are online, Picasa runs locally for photo and movie viewing, and the “System” tab displays the contents of SD cards and digital cameras. Do we believe it? [...]
13
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Jul/090
Meralco planning internet over power lines in the Philippines
While the concept of channeling the internet over power lines is far from new, it has yet to be implemented in any significant manner. If a top power distributor in the Philippines has its druthers, however, all that will change in the not-too-distant future. Manila Electric Company, better known as Meralco, is gearing up to [...]
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