Swap Rebel watch phone laughs at your wrist-mounted iPod nano

Apple's iPod nano and the Sony Ericsson LiveView may have disappointed as wrist computers, but our Dick Tracy dream soldiers on, to the point where we found ourselves taking another look at that most dubious of converged devices: the watch phone. There, we discovered the Rebel, the latest creation from UK manufacturer Swap, a quad-band GSM wrist unit with a 1.46-inch color touchscreen and a built-in camera for both video and stills. It may look like a sterile medical wristband, but that silicone strap actually hides a USB port on one end, the better to let you transfer your MP3s and MP4 video to its paltry 2GB of expandable microSD storage. The watch also does FM radio, beams audio to your Bluetooth headset and comes with the typical smattering of basic apps. Still, there's not a lot for the asking price of £189 (about $300) so you'd best be head over heels in love with the design. PR after the break, more images at our source link.

Toshiba's new glasses-free 3D display tilts images and viewing angles your way

Autostereoscopic (read: glasses-free) 3D screens sound like all the rage, but the narrow zones from which you can comfortably view their images have made them a dubious proposition. That's not stopping Toshiba Mobile Display, however, which recently came up with a novel idea for a self-adjusting display. By sticking a six-axis accelerometer in this 12.1-inch slate, the company can tilt the tablet's viewing angle as the tablet itself is tilted, letting viewers effectively look around 3D objects on screen, using software algorithms rather than the fancy lens-and-camera assembly that Microsoft's been prototyping. Toshiba figures it'll make a splash with e-tailers -- because who doesn't want to play with a prospective purchase in 3D space? -- but is mostly talking up the tech as a way to extend the limited 3D viewing angles of these sorts of displays. But enough jabber: see it for yourself after the break.

Speakal's Cool iPig blasts iPod tunes with extra badassitude

You have to go to great lengths these days to distinguish your iPod dock from the teeming horde, but that's exactly what Speakal did here. To state the obvious, it's a pig, wearing sunglasses, and filled with stereo components. The beast has four-watt stereo drivers for eyes, a down-firing 15 watt subwoofer in the belly, controls in the snout, and ports in the tail region. There's also an internal lithium ion battery good for up to eight untethered hours on a charge. We're not sure what would possess you to buy the hog, especially for its $150 asking price, but it could be just the item you've been looking for to bolster your eccentric reputation... or ward off particularly annoyed fowl.

Zombies, hearses and monster trucks mark Windows Phone 7 celebration

So what do you do when you want to launch a new smart phone operating system in a market crowded with fierce competitors who have at least two years’ head start on you?
You have a parade!

Or at least you do if you’re Microsoft.
Friday on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, scores of people, dancing zombies and at least one monster truck that said "Windows Phone Pride" filled the streets to celebrate the Windows Phone 7 operating system.
The zombies seemed too busy walking like zombies and doing the "Thriller" dance to consider that the battle for market share would be uphill — up a very steep hill.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC Universal and a parade-throwing Microsoft. Our headquarters is on the Microsoft campus, which is why I was able to enjoy the celebration from our newsroom.)
For a moment I thought that the corporate pride-building parade was actually a funeral procession when I saw a hearse.
Then I realized that there were pallbearers behind it carrying an iPhone.

Consumer Reports says it still won't recommend iPhone 4

Consumer Reports says it still won't recommend the iPhone 4 — especially now that Apple said it will end its free "bumper" program for everyone Sept. 30.
"Putting the onus on any owners of a product to obtain a remedy to a design flaw is not acceptable to us," the magazine said on its electronics blog Monday. "We therefore continue not to recommend the iPhone 4, and to call on Apple to provide a permanent fix for the phone's reception issues."
Apple said Friday it is discontinuing the bumper program at the end of this month for all new iPhone 4 purchasers because the number of users having problems related to the phone's antenna and reception "is even smaller than we originally thought." However, "a small percentage of iPhone 4 users need a case, and we want to continue providing them a Bumper case for free," the company said on its website.
"For everyone else, we are discontinuing the free case program on all iPhone 4s sold after Sept. 30, 2010. We are also returning to our normal returns policy for all iPhone 4s sold after Sept. 30. Users experiencing antenna issues should call AppleCare to request a free Bumper case."
In July, Consumer Reports surprised many when it said would not recommend the iPhone 4 because of the antenna issue. At that time, it said Apple needed to come up with "a permanent — and free — fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4."
The antenna on the phone, unlike those in the three previous models, is wrapped around the phone's casing. Some have described it as a design flaw because those who grip it in the lower left corner can cover part of the antenna, diminishing the phone's reception. Rubber bumpers, or phone cases, provide a barrier to that human interference.
Days later, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would offer free rubber bumpers — a retail value of $29 each — to anyone who bought an iPhone 4 in order to fix the problem.
At that time, Jobs said that the free bumper program would only last until Sept. 30.
But Consumer Reports is not mollified, calling the requirements for consumers who will still be able to get a free bumper more onerous.
"The offer that takes effect next month is less consumer-friendly in several respects," the magazine said. "First, if you are 'experiencing antenna issues' with your iPhone 4, Apple says, you'll need to call the company to request a case. And where the current program allows owners a choice of seven cases, including some from third-party manufacturers, the new program only offers Apple's own Bumper, a frame-like cover that runs around the edge of the phone."
Consumer Reports said the bumper works, and works well: It "successfully mitigates the iPhone 4's reception issue, which was a weak point in the phone's otherwise-stellar performance in our tests. And we agree with Apple that not all iPhone 4 owners will experience reception difficulties with the device."
But asking owners to find a solution to a product problem — instead of a company doing so — is unacceptable, the magazine said.

Boxee Box ditches NVIDIA's Tegra 2 for Intel CE4100, pre-orders start today at $199

The wait for the Boxee Box is nearly over -- pre-orders begin today -- but before you drop a stack of change on D-Link's half-sunk cube, know that there's no longer an NVIDIA Tegra 2 under that tiny hood. At the last minute, Boxee switched to the Intel Atom CE4100, the same up-to-1.2GHz Sodaville chip powering Google TV. That's not all, as manufacturer D-Link told us our good friend Avner Ronen may not be able to keep his promise -- though the company still expects the Box to hit the streets at under $200, we're now looking at a $229 suggested retail price. What could possibly have happened to make these drastic changes? We visited Boxee in person to get an explanation, and you'll find the surprisingly simple (yet NVIDIA-damning) answer right after the break.

Update: We just learned that Amazon will be selling it for $199, though the MSRP will remain $229.
At a rendezvous in San Francisco, Avner Ronen told us the decision to abandon Tegra 2 was about performance and nothing more: "The major problem we had with the Tegra 2 was support for high-profile HD playback," he said. "You can do high-profile VC-1 with Tegra 2, but not H.264." It was a problem of bitrate, he told us, and while NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra T20 was apparently not up to the task, the team had internally tested Intel's CE4100 decoding streams at up to 90 megabits per second. The newly revamped Boxee Box is now capable of 1080p H.264 playback at 60fps, and... well, that's actually about it. While you'd think that gutting a system might involve a few more tweaks, we were informed that otherwise the Boxee experience is exactly the same, and and you can see for yourself just how little has changed hardware-wise in our gallery above. There's still hardware-accelerated Flash 10.1 playback, the same speedy UI and codecs, the same QWERTY-packing RF remote and all the same ports -- though it does have a freshly updated tally of over 400 apps, plus that new HTML5-compliant WebKit browser.

UC Berkeley researchers craft ultra-sensitive artificial skin, robots dream of holding eggs

Researchers and engineers have been toiling on synthetic skins for years now, but most of 'em have run into one major problem: the fact that organic materials are poor semiconductors. In other words, older skins have required high levels of power to operate, and those using inorganic materials have traditionally been too fragile for use on prosthetics. Thanks to a team of researchers at UC Berkeley, though, we're looking at a new "pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires." The new 'e-skin' is supposedly the first material made out of inorganic single crystalline semiconductors, and at least in theory, it could be widely used in at least two applications. First off, robots could use this skin to accurately determine how much force should be applied (or not applied, as the case may be) to hold a given object. Secondly, this skin could give touch back to those with artificial hands and limbs, though that would first require "significant advances in the integration of electronic sensors with the human nervous system. Dollars to donuts this gets tested on the gridiron when UCLA and / or Stanford comes to town.

Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki resigns, the search for a new smartphone chief begins

Holy moly, it's all gone topsy turvy over in Nokia's camp. After Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was given his marching orders on Friday, this week it's the turn of Anssi Vanjoki -- who only recently became the company's Mobile Solutions leader -- to announce his departure. Anssi has handed in his requisite six-month notice along with the following statement:

"I felt the time has come to seek new opportunities in my life. At the same time, I am one hundred per cent committed to doing my best for Nokia until my very last working day. I am also really looking forward to this year's Nokia World and sharing news about exciting new devices and solutions."

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to recognize that Anssi's sudden desire to explore new opportunities is at least in part motivated by Nokia's choice to install Stephen Elop as its future CEO at the expense of good old OPK. Still, you've got to think there could've been a better time to announce such heart-stopping news, maybe after your company's most pivotal Nokia World convention in recent memory?

[Thanks, Ted] Anssi Vanjoki resigns from Nokia
September 13, 2010


Nokia Corporation
Stock Exchange Release
September 13, 2010 at 9.30 (CET +1)

Espoo, Finland - Nokia announced today that Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President and a member of Nokia Group Executive Board has given notice of resignation from Nokia. Vanjoki, who currently heads Nokia's Mobile Solutions unit, has six months notice period and he will continue in his current tasks for the time being.

"I felt the time has come to seek new opportunities in my life," Anssi Vanjoki says. "At the same time, I am one hundred per cent committed to doing my best for Nokia until my very last working day. I am also really looking forward to this year's Nokia World and sharing news about exciting new devices and solutions."

iPad headed to Target on October 3rd?

It's not quite the definitive proof that some boxes spotted in the wild would be, but a tipster has sent us a few pieces of a puzzle that seem to suggest that Apple could be expanding the iPad's retail presence into Target stores just in time for the holiday shopping season. That includes a list featuring a mysteriously unnamed product that's set to become available on October 3rd (in six different versions, no less), and a series of images from a Target PDA (like the one pictured above) that seemingly show that the item numbers match the iPad prices exactly, and that it will be located in the Digital Audio section -- that's apparently also how e-readers like the Kindle are classified, in addition to iPods. Smoking gun? Not exactly, but it's certainly enough to get us to keep our eye on this one.

Apple Cinema Display goes to 27 inches, 16:9 aspect ratio

Having reached a grand old age in the rapidly cycling tech world, Apple's 24-inch LED Cinema Display is today getting itself a new sibling. The new 27-inch display clocks in at a 2560 x 1440 resolution, sports a 16:9 aspect ratio, and does it all for the (not so) low price of $999. That might not sound like a steal, but Dell's similar U2711 (both offer IPS at the same resolution) actually retails for a hundie more at $1,099. For the price Apple includes a built-in iSight camera, a three port powered USB hub, and a universal MagSafe connector for charging up your MacBook. Like the 24-inch before it, Apple has really built this display to be the ultimate MacBook or MacBook Pro companion, since a single cable breaks out into the USB, Mini DisplayPort (with audio support), and MagSafe plug that are just about all your laptop requires when sitting down at a desk. PR is after the break, and the screen will start shipping in September.

AT&T claims it will be 'the premier carrier' for Windows Phone 7

Without question, AT&T's wireless growth these past few years has been largely based on iPhone -- and with apparently good reason, if you look at the numbers. As far as other platforms go, however, it's not been as rosy. Android's relation with the carrier, for example, is a story woven with years of hesitation, some questionable releases, and a rival that's fully embraced it to notable success (releases like the Captivate and Streak suggest a stronger future). So with all that in mind, what we're hearing from AT&T in the wake of Windows Phone 7 is decidedly more committal. Here's what a spokesperson told PC World this week: "We'll be the premier carrier for Windows Phone 7" (emphasis ours). Strong words, but we still haven't heard concrete plans from anyone, including Microsoft, on what's going on with the release. Whispers care of our friend Michael Gartenberg suggest AT&T has "signed up for 8 million" phones and our own eyes have espied some launch materials, but we'll just have to see. Your move, Ma Bell. Assuage our doubts, k?

P.S. It's also worth noting that, after the Kin debacle, Microsoft and Verizon aren't exactly BFF, meaning rival AT&T's "premier" claim isn't likely to be contested by the one carrier with more subscribers.

Apple Magic Trackpad first hands-on

So it's real, and... it's a trackpad. What seemed like it might have been pure rumor and some good Photoshopping just a short while ago has magically (ha ha!) transformed into reality. If you're wondering what the Magic Trackpad is like to use -- get ready for a shock. It feels just like using a slightly larger version of a MacBook or MacBook Pro pad. And we mean exactly, right down to the multitouch gestures and whole-pad click. Yes, it clicks. There's also a new gesture, if you're keeping track -- a three-finger move that lets you drag windows around (very helpful), though you give up the functionality of being to navigate stuff like iPhoto galleries with a swipe (it's an option you can toggle in preferences -- you have a choice). We're going to be doing some serious testing with the new peripheral, but for now, feast your eyes on the pics below.

Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999

So shall it be written, so shall it be done. The Mac Pro has at long last proven rumors of its impending refresh accurate, as Apple has just updated its most powerful hardware with even more grunt. As we'd heard previously, that means you can now get dual-CPU rigs that offer a full dozen cores to play with, courtesy of Intel's Xeon server-class chips, though in order to get in on that game you'll have to splash a cool $4,999 entry fee. The quad-core starting price is still $2,499, though the eight-core machines have jumped up to $3,499, with both variants getting mild speed bumps to 2.8GHz and 2.4GHz, respectively.

Perhaps the most welcome upgrade is on the graphical front, where the Radeon HD 5770 takes up the mantle of default GPU, with additional options for a pair of such cards or a step up to a 1GB HD 5870 alternative if you're keen on maxing out those frame rates. Memory isn't neglected either, with choices ranging all the way up to 32GB of RAM, 4TB of conventional HDD storage, or an array of four 512GB SSDs -- though you're probably better off not asking how much that last one will set you back. The comprehensive specs can be found in the full press release after the break.

Apple Battery Charger gets official: a battery charger, only you know, better (update: hands-on)

Apple's just slipped something into its iMac update press release that we didn't want to go unnoticed: a battery charger. Apple's AA battery-powered lineup now includes the wireless keyboard, the Magic Mouse (which seriously burns through the juice) and the Magic Trackpad, and for $29 you can score a dedicated charger for all that gear. The Apple Battery Charger comes with six long-lived NiMH rechargeable batteries which apparently have a lifetime of up to 10 years.

Update: We just had a chance to get a quick hands-on with the little guy, and well, it's a battery charger. Apple tells us the charger has the lowest vampire power draw of any charger on the market -- the idea is for users to keep two batteries in each of their peripherals and two in the charger, so they can quickly swap out as the cells run out. Interestingly, the batteries are some of the only Apple products in recent memory that don't have an Apple logo on them -- they're just plain silver with "Rechargeable" printed on them. The charger itself has slightly nicer charging contacts than the usual spring-and-flap arrangement, and it features the same removable flippy-prong AC plug as Apple's laptop and iPad power adapters, so you can theoretically swap it for a longer power cord if you like.

HP Android tablet coming later than you think, or not at all

Although nothing official has come from HP on this front, we got some pretty solid word back in April that the American giant was mulling an Android tablet. As it turns out, what with the WebOS acquisition that followed and HP's dogged commitment to Windows 7, that Googly project has apparently slipped out of the limelight in HP HQ. Word from All Things Digital is that there'll be nothing forthcoming this year (as was tentatively expected) and if an HP Android tablet is to materialize, it'll have to come in 2011. The company seems to be in the midst of reallocating resources to its higher priority projects, and who knows, should that rumored Hurricane tablet blow us all away, Android might never gets its chance to shine at all.