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Monday 10 January 2011

Video: Hands-On With Xperia arc [ 10-01-2011 19:07 ]

Author: Serge Novikov Source: SE Product Blog Translation by: Paul Smith

The Sony Ericsson Product Blog have posted up a rather nice hands-on video of the new Xperia arc, the company's latest Android device.

We'll get to the video in a bit, but let's take a look at some of the information given in the posting about the device. First of all the much talked about 'Android 2.4' seen running on an Xperia arc ... it's not Android 2.4. Sony Ericsson are saying that the appearance of the 2.4 version number was due to a 'misconfiguration'. Ok fair enough, but at least the device will ship with the latest version of Android, Gingerbread 2.3. That's a big step up from the awful situation the X10 was placed in when it launched with Donut, two generations of Android out of date.

Continuing on the theme of Android mention was made of the update cycle, namely that there will be one this time around.

It’s too early to officially give detailed comments around specific later Android versions for XperiaTM arc during its lifecycle but the changes we have made to our way of working with Android puts us in a good position to make sure that Xperia arc will get later versions in a timely manner.

The above quotation indicates that Sony Ericsson recognises the huge gaffe they made in gimping the X10 with outdated software and the ridiculous wait that ensued for an upgrade to another outdated version of Android. It's also a clear indication that the Xperia arc will actually be updated at some point so all in all a huge step forwards from the X10.

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Android 2.4 Ice Cream - Launching This Summer? [ 10-01-2011 18:46 ]

Author: Irina Turina Source: Pocket-lint Translation by: Paul Smith

You remember that Sony Ericsson arc that was spotted running Android 2.4? Ok so Sony Ericsson are apparently saying that it was all a mix-up and that a 'software corruption issue' was to blame, but the real deal Android 2.4 is coming, supposedly in the summer.

The new version, codenamed 'IceCream' should launch around June or July with an announcement on it expected at the Google I/O event in May.

Google have commented that Android updates will see a slow down from the past hectic pace the company has kept, with two major updates each year. Now that leads to some confusion here because Gingerbread was launched in December, Honeycomb is due to enter the world this month so a June launch for IceCream would bring the tally of major releases to three within 6 months ...

... ah but wait, the current thinking is that Honeycomb is going to see little action on the smartphone front. Instead it will be largely confined to tablets, at least so the word on the street would have us believe.

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Something Involving An iPhone Is Happening Tomorrow [ 10-01-2011 18:35 ]

Author: Irina Turina Translation by: Paul Smith

Ok so I admit it, I am not in the least bit interested in the expected arrival of the CDMA iPhone tomorrow. However, as a tech blogger I do have to do justice to what is a big story and at least mention it so here it is ...

There may be a CDMA iPhone arriving tomorrow.

Alright fine I'll expand on that a bit more. First of all don't get your hopes up for some shiny new product that features all sorts of new bells and whistles, there is a very good chance that any CDMA iPhone announced tomorrow will be the same plain old iPhone 4 we all know and love/hate except that instead of GSM it will be CDMA.

For those wondering whether it might feature LTE support that's also unlikely to be on the cards. The American network it will launch on, Verizon, has spotty, at best, LTE coverage and quite frankly it's probably not worth Apple's time bothering with it until coverage has reached sufficient levels for customers to care about it.

The unveiling is allegedly tomorrow, but the actual launch is not too far behind according to the latest rumours. Early February, possibly the 3rd, is being touted at launch day. That would make sense given that Apple will probably announce an iPhone 5 in the summer so getting the CDMA iPhone out the door as soon as possible will be vital if they hope to actually sell any.

As for the rest of the rumours surrounding this e.g. Jobs might show up at the event, the CDMA iPhone might be white, they delve too deeply and too greedily into the realm of Apple fanboyism for me so I will bow out of this post now.

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Android App 'CancerBlock' Wants Your Money To Put Your Phone Into Airplane Mode [ 10-01-2011 17:35 ]

Author: Irina Turina Source: Textually Translation by: Paul Smith

With app stores getting bigger and bigger it's little wonder that some fairly crappy apps end up appearing, but for the most part they're just mindless rubbish, fart apps, etc. Well one Android app I've come across goes beyond that and into the realms of being a pathetic, intentionally frightening con.

The app? It's called 'CancerBlock'. The name is presumably designed to both catch your attention and instill a sense that without this app you are running the risk of getting a tumour from your mobile phone. The app itself is pretty simple, it turns off the radio functionality of your phone at various intervals. In other words it puts your phone into Airplane mode. Oh and they want to charge you $3 to do that. The app makers do say that 10% of the money will go to cancer research.

The thing is that the health risks of mbile phones have not been conclusively established. One study says they pose a risk, another says they don't. However, this app ignores that and attempts to get your cash by presenting itself as some sort of health boost. The terminology used throughout the app only adds to the idea of fear being promoted here; phrases like 'CancerBlock' and 'Radiation reduced by ...' aren't exactly phrases that put people at ease.

My advice? Block CancerBlock.

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Video: PlayStation Phone Gaming [ 10-01-2011 17:24 ]

Author: Irina Turina Source: EDGE via SE-NSE Translation by: Paul Smith

With the PlayStation phone almost certainly about to be unveiled in the near future the leaked pictures and videos just keep coming! Here we have another look at the handset's gaming credentials as the user in the video tries out Resident Evil 2 and Ridge Racer.