New MacBook Pros Due In A Couple Of Weeks
According to believable sources, Apple is planning to bring the new MacBook Pros into the market in a couple of weeks from now, which will mean the second generation MacBook will be out in the first week of March. Apple has already put the units into production and the shipments are getting ready for the first week of March. Apple had initially thought of launching the new MacBooks in the second week of February, but a delay from Intel’s side with regards to the delivery of Sandy Bridge processors eventually delayed Apple’s production and release date too.
Now that the flaw in the processors has been rectified and the production started, one can expect that Apple would want to launch the new McBook Pro on the 1st of march which would be a Wednesday. As we know, Apple likes launching their products on Wednesdays.
Will iPhone 5 Have A Slide-Out Keyboard?
The latest rumor about the iPhone 5 is that Apple is testing a prototype with a keyboard which would apparently slide out. Apple is apparently testing three prototypes, one among which is one with the sliding keyboard. Well, if the rumor which is based on the news from a Taiwanese website were to be true, then Apple could be striking a huge blow at RIM Blackberry. Blackberry users have shown their disinterest in Apple iPhone just for the very fact that Apple lacks a keyboard. Now, if the keyboard were to come along on the iPhone 5, there is every chance that Blackberry would experience a further decline in its market share. The rumor about the prototype which was also tweeted mentions of a hidden keyboard that would slide out when required.
Other improvements in the upcoming iPhone 5 could be a 1GHz processor and better camera (could be 8.1 mega pixel camera) while keeping the rest of the features intact. Let us wait and see.
The Official Samsung Galaxy S II Specs
The Samsung Galaxy S II was released at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a little earlier today. According to reports, the new handset is looking fabulous with impressive hardware like a 1 GHz Samsung dual core processor, 8.1 mega pixel camera, Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen that measures 4.27 inches. Also , the phone is very slim, if not the slimmest.
Other hardware specs of the phone include HSPA connectivity which encourages high speed downloads and browsing experience, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, Near Field Communication chips, 1GB RAM and a 2.0 mega pixel camera to the front which enables video chatting. Along with the Galaxy S II, Samsung has also released the next generation Galaxy Tab Tablet which runs on Android 3.0 or the Honeycomb.
More smartphones and tablets are also due at the Mobile World Congress in the next two days. We will have to wait and see which one meets the users’ expectations.
Sony Xperia Play, Finally Here
After all the rumors and the reports of the inside sources, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play has been officially launched yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Sony Xperia Play, the first ever smartphone to be certified by Sony Playstation is based on Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread. Xperia Play comes with the Playstation Suite that would allow users to access Playstation content on the phones. Also, the phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor.
Other features of the phone include a multi-touch display screen which would slide to reveal the gaming controls that include a touchpad, directional pad and the typical Sony select buttons. The smartphone would enable 3D gaming at 60 fps and 50 new games from 20 publishers are going to be released for the phone along with the older classics.
Both the GSM and CDMA versions would be hitting the markets soon.
Adobe Flash Player 10.2 For Android 3.0
Android’s growing popularity is making everyone design products for the OS now. Adobe is planning to do a mobile compatible flash player for Android 3.0 based tablets. Flash Player 10.2 – the mobile version of the flash will be integrated into the hardware allowing it to decode the video which would save the battery power by a fair margin when compared to the software doing the decoding.
Also, Blackberry devices are also expected to get the Flash Player 10.2. At the moment, the version is being tested intensively on the Motorola Xoom, various other netbooks and the Blackberry PlayBook. As of now, this version of the flash is going to be released for the above mentioned devices, while the other devices have some compatibility issues which will be dealt with accordingly.
Adobe has already mentioned that Android users across the world have downloaded the flash version for their devices 20 million times in the six months after the launch.
Samsung and Sony Ericsson Grace The First Day At the Mobile World Congress
The Mobile World Congress has finally kicked off. On the first day at the MWC in Barcelona, the South Korean giant Samsung and the Japanese giant Sony showcased their range of new smartphones and tablet devices based on Google’s Android OS. While Samsung showcased its Galaxy S smartphone and the next generation Galaxy Tab tablet, Sony Ericsson unveiled its Xperia Play – the playstation induced mobile phone. Sony is also planning to ship the new gaming handsets soon.
The MWC which is going to last two more days is going to see many more mobile products in the next couple of days with the like of RIM, Motorola and HTC eagerly waiting to unleash their products. No doubt, Android is the leading phone OS in the world right now and it is topping every other OS at the moment by some margin. But, Apple’s products are in the waiting and anything can happen.
HP TouchPad Features
HP unveiled its tablet – TouchPad last week. So, what is new and different in this one when there are so many other tablets available in the market? One thing for sure that is different about the TouchPad is its OS. It is not Android, not Windows and of course it can’t be iOS. HP is using its own WebOS 3.0 which we got to see on the Palm-Pre and the Pixi smart devices.
The features of the TouchPad include a 9.7 inches touchscreen with a dual core processor, a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, a 16 or 32 GB memory and Wi-Fi. As of now, we do not know which carrier would be marketing the TouchPad. Some other multitasking features include a dedicated notifications bar, resizable keyboard, social photos and a JustType feature which is similar to Apple’s universal search bar on its iDevices.
We will have to wait and see how the Palm tablet fares when compared to their smartphones.
iPad 2 To make Use of Samsung’s PLS Display ?
Based on inside sources, The Korea Times has reported that Samsung will be supplying their PLS (Plane to Line Switching) display to Apple which will be used in the making of. Right now, Apple is using the IPS (In-Plane Switching) display which are bought from several other companies amongst which there is LG too. The PLS LCD displays were unveiled by Samsung in November 2010. Seems like Apple is apparently impressed with the viewing angles of the PLS which are much more improved when compared to the present IPS displays in the iPad.
But, the earlier rumors have said that the next generation iPad was going to possess the same retinal display as its predecessor. This is because, using higher pixel levels would endanger the battery life considerably.
We will have to wait and see which rumors would become reality now.
Can HP Do An Apple With Its TouchPad?
HP’s new tablet – TouchPad which runs on WebOS 3.0 was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress at Barcelona this week and the tablet actually looks very impressive when compared to most of its contemporaries. The TouchPad which is going to be made available this summer has to face a tough competition from both Android based tablets and the iPad 2. Though a bold move to introduce a new OS amidst the iOS and Android (taking into account that Nokia has also joined hands with Microsoft abandoning its own Symbian), this strategy might work for HP in the long run if not the near future. Analysts who got a look at the TouchPad are actually amazed at the user interface (UI) and the framework that the tablet possesses.
If all should go well for HP with regards to its WebOS, it should be able to replicate what Apple had done in the markets. Way to go, though.
Sony NGP To Be Priced 299$?
According to rumors, the Sony NGP has been listed for a price of 299$. Sony unveiled their next generation play station portable this month in Tokyo and ever since there has been enough speculation about its price. Earlier, even gorumors reported that the NGP was going to cost 350$. There were other rumors that were doing round after the prototype was launched that the price of NGP was going to be 599$. But, Sony quickly dismissed it. But as per GameStop’s databases report, the NGP has been listed for 299$.
According to GameStop, the Nintendo 3DS is going to cost 249 $ which could have prompted Sony not to price the NGP too heavily. A 50$ difference in the prices of the twoi hand held consoles might also go down well with the gamers, if the rumor about the price were to be true.
Fingers crossed, fellow gamers.