AT&T has introduced a GPS-enabled USB device, the USBConnect Velocity from Option. The Velocity is the first GPS-enabled LaptopConnect device from AT&T, opening the door to location-based applications, AT&T said.

Option offers a free software application, the Option GPS Control Panel, that leverages location-enabled sites such as Yahoo! Maps and Bing for directions and local points of interest. Option GPS Control Panel is available for download on the Option support web page. Additionally, through TeleNav Track LITE and Xora GPS Locator from AT&T, enterprise customers can add tracking and location awareness, improving response time by locating the closest worker to a service call, AT&T said.

The device features an integrated micro SD-card slot, making it a portable storage device that allows users to carry the data and files they need.

This may also have a viable market here in the UK, but it’s gonna take a while until we’ll get to play with one in our trips.

Source: GPSWorld

Source: Engadget.com

We know it looks cool, it can surf the web and display books and movies, but that doesn’t mean you should buy the first iPad available.

Pricing starts at $499 for the model coming out in March 2010. It has 16GB of memory, letting you store plenty of video, songs and games. You can double the memory (32GB) for $100 more and quadruple it (64GB) for $200 more. If you like apps, games, music, and lots of video, aim for the 32GB model.


The first released iPads will only work with a WiFi network, so you have to be in a location with wireless Internet (home, coffee shop, deli, etc) if you want to use the web.

If using the web pretty much anywhere interests you, wait until the end of April. It’s then, for $130 more, you can get the 3G and WiFi model. Paired with a data plan from AT&T, you can access the web on the road, at a bus stop, and so on.

Visually, the WiFi iPad and the 3G/WiFi iPad don’t look much different. The 3G model has a black piece of train in the upper back portion of the unit, most likely where the receiver is for the wireless data. On the WiFi unit, the back is all white with no black trim.

Moving on, the iPad has no physical keyboard, which means you type on the screen similar to the iPhone. Because the iPad is larger, however, it should be easier to do. For those that are tactile and need to feel the buttons, Apple plans on releasing accessories that will let you hook up an actual keyboard while the pad sits upright on its own in a stand.

Also just like the iPhone, it is not expected the iPad will support Flash technology. The lack of Flash will also prevent you from navigating some websites and making use of special interactive features on others.

The battery will give you 10 hours of video watching on a full charge. It lasts longer if you’re just listening to music with the screen off. But after a year of heavy use, the battery probably won’t last as long due to normal wear and tear. Eventually you’ll have to pay Apple to replace the battery since it’s internal and non-removable by the user.

If you just like reading and are thinking about using the iPad as an “e-book,” don’t be took quick to look over devices like Amazon.com’s Kindle. The Kindle has a cheaper price tag and has a paper-like screen that some say is friendlier on the eyes. With the iPad, you’re looking at a monitor similar to that of a computer.

Also, if you’re considering replacing your laptop with the iPad, take into consideration the lack of a keyboard and other ports/drives. By the time you hook up all the desired accessories and a dock to make the pad stand on its own, you might be carrying around a case that’s the same size as a normal, fully-functioning laptop.

Make no mistake - the iPad is a sleek, fun device that will be great for consuming media, but your best bet is to wait for it to go on display in the Apple Store so you can hold in your hands before making a purchase.

Source: MyFoxHouston

Aava Mobile offers reference designs for smartphones and tablets with capabilities similar to those of a computer. The reference design it is showing at MWC is intended for system manufacturers and carriers that want to customize both the hardware and software. The design is based on the Intel Atom Moorestown platform.

Aava Mobile reports that functioning devices measure 64mm x 125mm and are 11.7mm thick letting the company lay claim to the title of world’s thinnest x86 smartphone device. The reference design is aimed at Moblin 2.1 and Android for the OS options with plans for support of MeeGo in the future. Features include an extended touch screen, full HD video capability, micro USB port, HD video conferencing, dual mics, 3D sound and UI, GSM capable, and it has GPS, WiFi, compass, and an accelerometer.

Source: SlashGear

The LG Mini, LG’s slimmest touchscreen phone ever, has just been unveiled ahead of Mobile World Congress next week, and it’s headed to Europe. Read on for specs, deets and photos!

LG’s just outed the LG Mini, or LG GD880, in time for the world’s biggest mobile show, and while it’s not giving out dimensions, the pictures certainly match its claim that the LG Mini is its slimmest touchscreen blower yet.

The display itself on the LG Mini is 3.2-inches wide, and the phone packs a five megapixel camera, HSDPA and Wi-Fi for super fast web cruising, GPS, and LG’s new Social Network Connect software to get your Facebook and Twitter fix on the go. There’s no official word on the operating system yet, but we’d expect it to use LG’s S-Class interface, as seen on the LG Arena.

The LG Mini is out in Europe in March, but before that, it’ll be on show at LG’s press conference next week in Barcelona, along with LG’s next Android phone, the LG GT450, and a “next generation smartphone”, the LG GW990, that won’t be released in Europe. We’ll be right there to catch every minute and bring you a hands-on ASAP.

Source: ElectricPig.co.uk

Ironically, so far Microsoft has never made any public statement confirming or denying the existence of Windows Mobile/Phone 7 or that it will be launched at MWC.

However, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer and other Microsoft officials have hinted indirectly that the device will be released some time in 2010.

Market reports also suggests that Microsoft might end up showing only the user interface at MWC and will leave the actual developer/functionality stuff for the later date.

Leaked details of the Windows Mobile/Phone 7
With Windows Phone 7, one of the main concerns is that it will not support multi-tasking. Reportedly, it also lacks flash support. Anyways here are some of the leaked details of for Windows Phone 7:

- Windows mobile user interface will be similar to Zune HD.
- The browser will be based on IE7 codebase that will also include some of the IE8 functionality.
- Installation of apps only from the Marketplace and not from SD storage card.
- Xbox 360 gaming integration.
- It will provide support for social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
- OEM interfaces would not be allowed on the device.

As per rumors the Windows Mobile 7 devices are expected to ship in September of 2010 but nothing is yet officially confirmed.

Microsoft to restrict smartphone interfaces?
If rumors are to be believed then Microsoft is planning to set regulations to restrict carriers from uploading their own applications on its new Windows 7. By making such a move Microsoft wants to compete with its rival Apple in the smartphone market.

Analysts believe that this move by Microsoft could force both manufactures and carriers to drop the Windows Mobile operating system in favor of Google’s Android OS.

This development might force Microsoft to sell the phone directly to the end-users in the same way as Google is selling its Nexus One smartphone currently.

A broad file system might be dropped for more centralized and simpler storage area. The new OS will also easily tap into social networks, giving developers more option to write games using the same code as Xbox 360 games.

Apple is expected to unveil its new 4.0 OS in May 2010 for the iPhone.

Source: The Money Times

The case follows on a long-running dispute under which IPCom has tried to charge Nokia for using the patents, but the U.K. court ruling shows that the claims were unreasonable, Durrant told Dow Jones Newswires.

A number of related patent cases are still ongoing, said Durrant, adding that Monday’s win is “very important” for Nokia.

Durrant said Nokia now aims to get the majority of its related legal costs recovered, but declined to comment on how much money would be involved.

IPCom wasn’t immediately available to comment.

By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires

The companies on Monday announced a concept smartphone that users can interact with by squeezing and tilting it, the companies said. Interacting with the phone usually occupies both hands, but the Fuse concept phone makes it possible to select and load applications using just the one hand holding the smartphone, the companies jointly said in a press release.

The phone’s input functionality is based on accelerometers and sensors that make single-handed interaction possible, the company said. Users can tilt the phone up and down to navigate a list of applications and squeeze on the sides to stop the scrolling. Rolling the finger on the back of the phone helps select an application, and squeezing it can start the applications. This reduces the need for placing the finger on the touchscreen to run applications, Synaptics said.

There are force and capacitive touch sensors on the sides of the phone that enable directional panning and scrolling. The phone also has accelerometers and haptics technology on the front glass and the sides of the phones, Synaptics said.

The phone looks like a conventional smartphone. It has a 3.7-inch high-resolution AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) screen that can display images at 480 by 800 pixel resolution. It also includes a multitouch touchscreen interface. The OS and 3D interface were developed by companies including TheAlloy and The Astonishing Tribe.

Fuse runs on an Texas Instruments’ OMAP 3630 processor. The application processor is based on Arm’s Cortex-A8 design and includes a PowerVR SGX graphics core that is capable of 2D and 3D graphics, according to a reference design on Texas Instruments’ Web site. Synaptics declined to comment on the operating system running in the phone.

This phone is a prototype and won’t be available on the market, a Synaptics spokeswoman said. It is intended to be a concept design for other companies to reference when developing smartphones.

Fuse is a follow up to the Onyx smartphone, a concept handset designed by Synaptics and other companies in 2006. Onyx offered a capacitive touchscreen as an alternative to keys for users to interact with smartphones. The touchscreen concept has caught on, though some technologies, including answering calls by placing the phone on a cheek, have not yet reached smartphones.

Synaptics doesn’t develop smartphones. The company is most known for developing input technologies for mobile devices and laptops, including touchscreens and mousepads.

The Fuse phone will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas between Jan. 7 and 10, Synaptics said.

Source: PCWorld.com

The new Sony mobile also serves a lot of multimedia and browsing stuff that includes windows media player, Sony Ericson media player, play now arena, album art, 3D and motion gaming, video streaming, video viewing, YouTube application, Internet Explorer, Google search, Pan and Zoom, and Web feeds. Even before the start of the launch Broadband service providers like Vodafone has announced that 8.2 pixel camera mobile will be ready for a launch with its contract by the beginning of 2010.

Source: BroadBandSuppliers.co.uk

Partnering up with voiceskins.com, Uncle Snoop will now be launching his own GPS system. The VoiceSkin will be available for download for drivers that utilize the TomTom GPS navigation systems.

Using the application, drivers will be able to be directed to their desired location with the rapper’s actual voice navigating them turn-by-turn. Keeping things personal, users will also have th chance to download a “Points of Interest” file which will contain some of Snoop’s favorite spots in his nesting grounds of Los Angeles.

Adding his own flavor to the technology, users will hear the rapper give directions in his own way by stating things such as “Keep left ahead, and you’ll be bona fide, as well as “Turn around when possible and keep it G, ya dig?”

Always expect the unexpected from the Doggfather as he adds something to look out for as Christmas season begins.

The countdown continues. Only 7 days left until Malice N Wonderland finally hits stores.

Source: HipHopWired