Apple’s New iPad: It’s All About Definition

Matthew JC Powell from abc.net has a superlative rundown on Apples new iPad: Apple has taken the wraps off its new iPad, referred to only as ‘The New iPad’, a name which will get old very fast. It adds a faster processor and 4G LTE networking, as well as the same high-definition display seen on the iPhone 4S and a vastly improved camera.

The new screen, dubbed a Retina Display because (according to Apple) the dots are too small to be distinguished by human eyes, has a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels at 264 dots per inch. This is of course more than adequate to watch full-HD movies with 1080 lines of resolution (known as 1080p). The improved camera, meanwhile, offers the ability to record in full-HD as well.

Apple also intends offering 1080p movies and TV shows via its iTunes Store, which will of course be viewable on the new device. A new version of the Apple TV set-top box was also announced, adding support for — you guessed it — viewing full-HD 1080p content.

Handling all the extra pixels will of course put a huge strain on the iPad’s processor, so Apple has upped the performance of the chip. It’s not an entirely new chip — it’s called the A5X while the chip in the iPad 2 is a plain-old A5 — but it has increased the speed and added quad-core graphics processing.

Unfortunately, the addition of 4G LTE high-speed mobile broadband will be of little benefit to Australians, as the only 4G network currently operating in Australia uses the 1800MHz band. [updated] The new iPad operates at 700MHz and 2100MHz for 4G LTE, but not at the 1800MHz presently employed by Telstra’s 4G network here. Like its predecessor, though, it receives 3G at 850MHz, 900MHz, 1900MHz and 2100MHz. Telstra CEO David Thodey has said that Telstra will be upgrading its 850MHz HSPA+ network, to provide “4G-like services” to customers using that spectrum. It will still operate at 3G speeds on 3G data networks, of course.

Nonetheless, in those countries where 4G networks exist to which the new iPad can connect, download speeds ought to be very impressive indeed. Fast enough even to download full-HD 1080p content from iTunes to watch wherever you want.

HTC One Family 2012

HTC’s new series of flagship smartphones in the form of HTC One X, S and V have overshadowed the competition in their launch at Mobile World Congress 2012. The quad-core smartphone from HTC apparently has almost everything to be the most desirable device on the smartphone market today? Among the three models showcased during the event, HTC One X is absolutely the top model of HTC’s trio of One series. HTC has packed an absolute monster in HTC One X delivering extraordinary performance. But can HTC take on the stalwart behemoths of mobile?

HTC launched the One Series in the hope of taking the fight to Samsung and Apple, the One Series, with it’s überfast graphic chips and advanced music and photography functions is hoped to dent a stitched up market. It’s a fight that HTC has been losing, sales slumped and investors dumped shares late in 2011 on concerns the firm had lost its edge.

The Taiwanese mobile tech maker is confident it’s new models – coming to market in April 2012 –  will turn around the ailing fortunes of the world’s No.5 smartphone maker, and help to boost its annual sales volumes above last year’s level. ”We are confident this year will be … a much better year,” Florian Seiche, chief of HTC’s European operations said, referring to the number of smartphones sold. ”Even with the Q1 not being the ideal fast start right out of the gate in January, which of course we would have preferred, even with that we are very confident,” Seiche told Reuters in an interview on sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Surprisingly the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has jelled well with the phone and improvements to HTC Sense has made it a much cleaner, easier to use experience than the previous version. Read the full article »»»»

The KODAK PLAYFULL Dual: A Pocket Full of Dreams

Remember Kodak? Yep, the guys that  popularized photography. Apparently they still have a basement filled with boffins, not celluloid boffins but gadget creators. Kodak has been looking for an angle for a while now, looks like they’ve found it! The KODAK PLAYFULL Waterproof Video Camera!  gives you full 720p HD video in a small, affordable package :: Read the full article »»»»

Android Everywhere: Cotton Candy The USB Computer

Cotton Candy, a stick that connects you to the clouds. Not only designed to make any device Android Smart but FXI are attempting to battle the multiplicity of log-ins and applications that’s evolving as more devices become internet connected and intelligent. Cotton Candy doesn’t just carry your data and applications but it is a single point of access for your entire online life, your online Cotton Candy.

Created by Norwegian start-up FXI Technologies -Trondheim Norway, a spin-off of Falanx Microsystems which is now part of ARM – Cotton Candy brings Android to any device. Use the HDMI to turn any TV into an Internet Connected Smart TV or bring Android to you PC / Mac by switching ends and plugging in the USB. Work blocking Facebook, no problems just plug in Cotton Candy and all of your Android applications spring to life in their own window on your PC. FXI envision Cotton Candy becoming our everyday environment, with our entire online lives lived through the USB stick. This could simplify the need to keep multiple machines up to date with the same applications or the need for multiple log-in and passwords. Read the full article »»»»

ASUS Transformer Prime: Übertablet, Portable Gaming Powerhouse and Sweet Business Suite

The ASUS Transformer Prime has already had to endure such superlatives as blazingly fast, super slim, functionally brilliant and sexy as hell, it would blush if only it weren’t true. Don’t be fooled by the name though The Transformer Prime is no child’s toy, it is in fact the must have tablet for Christmas, ASUS certainly hopes it will be anyway. Earlier this month ASUS and NVIDIA officially announced the Prime and it’s specifications. At the same time NVIDIA introduced to the world it’s brand new QUAD core chipset, Tegra 3. Only a few days after the announcement videos appeared of Google’s latest operating system – Android 4 Ice-Cream Sandwich - running happily on the Prime. Thankfully the wait for Prime won’t be long, GameStop yesterday let the cat out of the bag by listing the Prime for pre-order with the product release date of December 9. Get ready world, the Transformer Prime is about to take over Christmas.

The Prime is pushing the boundaries with firsts, the first quad core tablet, the first tablet to run Ice-Cream Sandwich. Even more importantly it may be the first tablet to pull off the split personality trick. By day with the keyboard attached the Prime is a sleek productivity machine, by night it separates from it’s keyboard doc, loosing the business suit to become an on the go entertainment guru.  The Prime’s leading edge technology may well give ASUS a generational lead over it’s competitors. ASUS has literally leap frogged a generation, the generation that it’s competition is still using. Read the full article »»»»