Google has joined with Samsung to produce the Galaxy Nexus (TBA). This new phone will be the first to run the whole redesigned Andriod 4.0 or a.k.a Ice Cream Sandwich. Why they named it that I have no idea but it was bad naming. Yeah, what's your phone running? It's running "Ice Cream Sandwich". Really Google? I'm going to have to give you an F for your failure in naming the new Andriod 4.0.
Now let's talk about some of the features on this new phone. It will be sporting a 4.65 inch; 720p high-definition sAMOLED curved Contour Display, LG LTE or HSPA+data, a 1.2GHz dual core processor, NFC technology for instant sharing of content and Google Wallet support. It also has Face Unlock a feature that gives you access to your phone using nothing but your mug, and a 5 megapixel rear camera with a LED flash boasting a single-motion panorama capability and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing cam, and 1080p video recording.
I think I found the phone that will be replacing my Google Nexus One?
I haven't written about a new phone in a while. It seems that they're all the same just with a couple of difference specifications, however, that doesn't mean that a few differences can't make a big difference. The Samsung Galaxy Note (TBA) is one of those phones. This phone is equipped with the world’s first 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED Display
(WXGA 1280×800, 285ppi). It sports a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 8MP
camera with LED flash, 2MP camera on the front, full HD video recording /
playback support for MPEG4, DivX, Xvid and more. Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, optional
NFC, A-GPS, microSD card slot and a 2,500mAh battery.
It also has an old school feature of the stylus with a new and improved process. What Samsung calls the S Pen which is a digital pen
that is very accurate and produces thin lines without bleeding, which can make you replace the notepad you always bring with you.
The Table Drum Augmented Audio App allows iOS devices to turn that constant finger drumming into digitized drum sounds, in real time. The app works like a drum pad instead of the other apps out there where you have to tap the screen to trigger a sound. All you have to do now is tap away anywhere you like and the app uses the microphone to listen for the taps from your fingers. It can distinguish between 4 different sounds. So the sound of your finger tapping your desk at work could be the bass, while tapping on your coffee cup could be your high hats.
If I had an iPhone I would definitely get this app so I could annoy my coworkers around me with my sweet drumming skills. This apps is now http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifavailable at the iTunes Store for $3.99, so if you have an iPhone get this app today and start virtually drumming away.
I know some of you have been waiting for this rumor to become a reality and it has. Sony has officially unveiled the Xperia Play($TBA). The Xperia Play will be the first PlayStation certified device. The Play will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, features include a 854×480 pixel capacitive multi-touch TFT LCD display, 5.5 hours of gaming time on a single charge and a 5.1MP camera and a certified Playstation slide-out controller. Powered by 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7 single-core CPU, 512MB of RAM and comes with an 8GB microSD card. Did I also mention that upon its debut there will be 50 launch titles that will be available plus it will come loaded with a "legendary" Playstation One title, which, Engadget reports it will be Crash Bandicoot.
So here becomes the real blur between dedicated mobile gaming devices and smartphones. Let the gaming begin. Is this a phone that you would be willing to rock out?
Pulse news reader is an elegant application for iPhone, iPad and Andriod devices. It incorporates colorful panning story bars and fills them with content from your favorite sources. Pulse redefines news, giving you the opportunity to experience the news you desire from traditional sources, your favorite blogs and social networks – all in one beautiful interface.
I have been personally using this app for a while now. It makes checking my content easy and it gives it a more professional look. I even like how I can share right from my phone in this app without having to go to another app to share it. The guys at Alphonso Labs got it right when they set out to make mobile content less frustrating and more user friendly as well as visually pleasing.
Sony yesterday announced at the CES 2011 their new Sony Ericsson Experia product line, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. Now I'm not a fan of Sony Ericsson phones but I have to give it to Sony on this one. The design of this phone is sleek with the arc on the back hence the name of the phone.
So here is the info I'm sure your waiting for. It has a 8.1 mexgapixel camera with Sony's Exmor R back-illuminated sensor and its suppose to shoot impressive photos and HD videos (720p). It's running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it's sporting a 1 GHz Qualcomm CPU, 512 MB of memory and a 4.2 inch multi-touch display which Sony calls it the Reality Display which is really the Sony's BRAVIA Mobile Engine, which does real-time noise reduction, sharpness, color management and contrast enhancement on the picture. It has 854x480 pixels resolution and is covered with a scratch-resistant glass. It's also has a 3.5 mm audio jack as well as a HDMI and USB ports. It has a microSD card slot capacity up to 32 GB and it comes with an 8 GB micro SD card.
Sony Ericsson Xperia arc will be available in selected markets, including Japan, from Q1 2011.
I don't own an iPhone 4 or an iPad but if I did I would definitely be getting one of these Pantone cases. Any designer would agree. Monaco-based Case Scenario has linked up with Pantone and as a result, you get nine colors for the iPhone 4, ranging from the deep Pantone Blue 7462 to the juicy Pantone Pink 226. For iPad, the Fall fashion colors are Pantone Black, Pantone Cool Grey, Pantone Blue 7462 and Pantone Red 711.
If your looking for more licensed tech ideas they also have the Pantone color Library App for the iPhone. There is also the myPANTONE X-Ref App which would be good for those that are looking for ways to convert screen RGB color formulations into paints for print and your home.
Now for the people that are like me and don't have an apple product then your still in lucky. Pantone offers other products that range from bikes, storage bins, kitchen containers, and of course those all time favorite coffee mugs.
If you end up getting a crappy gift from your aunt Sally this Christmas. Then take it back and get you one of these products. It's got to be better than that sad excuse for a polyester sweater with reindeer on it.
It will soon be upon us the New Google Nexus S. The Nexus S is the next generation of Nexus devices, co-developed by Google and Samsung. It will have the latest Android platform (Gingerbread), paired with a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor and 16GB of internal memory only. It will make Nexus S one of the fastest phones on the market. It comes pre-installed with the best of Google apps and enabled with new and popular features like true multi-tasking, Wi-Fi hotspot, Internet Callling, NFC support, and full web browsing. With this device, users will also be the first to receive software upgrades and new Google mobile apps as soon as they become available. Another great feature about the Nexus S is that it's unlocked and will work with any GSM carrier. The Nexus S, which goes on sale Dec. 16, will sell for $529 as an unlocked phone without a contract. It will also be available for $199 with a two-year service agreement with T-Mobile.
Table.Connect has been working on the first iPhone Table. So if your iPad is just not big enough don't worry soon you can get a whole table. This is how it works. The iPhone is attached via standard dock connector. You need to also have the Table Connect App for it to work. Then the entire content of the iPhone’s screen will be projected onto the multitouch table, still giving full access to all the touch gestures using multitouch technology. If you want to continue following the progress of the prototype then follow them on twitter or check their site.
Johan Loekito and Samsung worked on a concept project to make sure that you don't lose your mobile phone ever again. Cause I'm sure in this day and age we don't watch our phones like hawks. It's called Samsung Proxima and it's a concept that involves a cellphone with a wristband acting like a docking station. This watch also has a proximity sensor on board making the wristband emit a tone or vibrate if the phone is too far from it. This also helps the user find the device with a single button press. The Proxima also is able to detect other users with the same phone in your area and lets you contact them. I'm sure that with something like this you can change the settings to turn this feature off if you wanted. I think the design on this concept is slick but for the other uses I'm not really sold on it. What do you think of this concept design?
I found this on Behance and had to share this concept of exploring the future of mobile computing. It was done by Mark Law who is a creative designer working in all sorts of fields from industrial design to interaction design, branding and graphics. He Completed this for Intel, Oregon. I agree with a lot of this video in that the world of computers and smart phone interaction should be developed more and the concept might not be to far off.
The time has come for this video to be shared. It was directed and created by Chris Wang. It's actually a viral campaign, and half website content made for Else Mobile Phones. The time has come acts as an intro for a new mobile device. It seems that this company is looking to utilize many new features that are not being used due to real world: complexity, usability, and the endless menus preventing them from being used. So they created a new phone called ELSE to address these issues, with an entirely different approach. You can go to the site and see a small demo of the phone and also get the specs for it.
I also have to give props to the creator of this video because the cinematography on the videos is amazing with its darker vintage look and it's technological data being portrayed all over the place. Plus it's kind of moving and you're hoping its for a new movie but nope it's a commercial.
The other day I was check out the ISO50 blog and saw that Ghostly was doing a giveaway and seeing how I'm a fan of that label I had to check it out. When I was checking out their store I came upon the Card Speaker($75). This speaker is no bigger than credit card and as thick as a blister pack of chewing gum, the Card Speaker puts most every mp3 accessory to shame with its good looks and crisp fidelity. It was designed by IDEA International with the concept of being a speaker that wasn't a pain to carry around and easily accessible. It comes in either black or silver, with a mirror-polished back, and includes a protective carrying case, a 3.5 mm connection plug, and a USB battery charge cable. The speaker has an operating time of approximately five hours on a two-hour charge.
There are now a number of apps like PocketGuitar, Virtuoso, Ocarina and DigiDrummer which can make your phone into a virtual symphony. So today I found a couple of people who have put down there instruments and have picked up there iPhones, iPod Touches and other devices that can generate sounds.
iBand
The first band is iBand who are truly unique group of musicians. The band's first YouTube video generated over 4.8 million views. Their song "Vitality has also been a huge hit. The applications that they choose to use are iAno, PocketGuitar, IphoneSynth and BeatPhone.
The Mentalists
The Mentalists are a group of girls from the UK that play great covers only using their iPhone and their voices. They have covered songs like "Kids" by MGMT and "American Boy" by Estelle. Their favorite apps are NLog Synthesizer, MiniSynth, RetroSynth, DigiDrummer Lite and Ocarina.
In being that it's 2010 we have seen that phones are now becoming more like little desktops in our hands. We have also over the years gotten use to having a camera built in to our phones. But now with high tech phones you can do more than just take a picture. In having a phone with the rich software applications that run on devices like the iPhone and Android, you get lots of cool new ways to put your cameraphone to good use.
Cameraphones are becoming a form of digital photographic memory, in which you can take a picture of basically anything that interest you. Now, with the right apps, you can also use your phone to scan barcodes and store them, and even translate and recognize text. You can even map out the location that you took the picture at and share it with multitude of social networks.
Google Goggles is a brand new application for Android phones that lets you search the web with an image. You just point your phone at an artwork, a book, DVD, or CD cover, a landmark, or a logo, and Goggles will return search results for that item. You can even point your phone at someone's business card, and Goggles can automatically add that person's name, address, phone number, email address and web site to your address book. Eventually, Goggles will be able to translate written text as well. So you could point your phone at a sign or menu in another language and get back Google Translate's translation.
What I am liking about the new cellphones like the iPhone and the Andriod is the barcode scanner which can scan a barcode on any product and give you prices from all over the web as well as retail outlets near you. Google Shopper is a similar application on Android: point your cameraphone at either a barcode or a book, CD, or DVD cover, and Shopper will show you prices and review of that product from around the web instantly.
Then their is the square bar code called QR Codes, are becoming a popular way to transmit information like web links and phone numbers directly to a phone without any typing. If your local coffee shop has a barcode in the window, for example, you could scan it on your phone and can instantly find reviews and more information without tapping a key.
Their is also a application that works on the Android that lets you store images of membership cards or big box store club cards that you use over and over again. Instead of crowding your keyring with your grocery, pharmacy, and movie rental place club card, take pictures of each one and store them in an image file on your phone. Then you can just have them scan your phone and Bam! You just saved tons of space on your key chain
The iPad is due to come out this weekend and if you thought that was awesome. Then check out this app made for the iPad. It is theMixr App ($TBA) which is a multi-touch DJ mixing app. It offers a virtual dual turntable main interface, allowing for scratching, reverse play, tempo and pitch adjustment, live EQ and effects, the ability to record your mixes, and the ability to cue tracks.It looks to also have a nice library interface for you to create your own DJ crate album and custom library with simple and elegant lists. DJ App for iPad. Feels & functions like authentic turntables. Mixr gives you a DJ experience unlike anything you've ever experienced. Beautiful interface, professional mixing. If you decide to get one of these iPad this is a must have app.
Foursquare is a app for the iPhone, Blackberry, Palm and Android phones in which it allows you to tell people where you have checked-in at. From the Foursquare website they state people use foursquare to "check-in", which is a way of telling us your whereabouts. When you check-in someplace, we'll tell your friends where they can find you and recommend places to go & things to do nearby. People check-in at all kind of places - cafes, bars, restaurants, parks, homes, offices.
Foursquare offers points when you check-in to different places as well. Find a new place in your neighborhood? +5 points. Making multiple stops in a night? +2 points. Dragging friends along with you? +1. If you are always going to the same spots you could earn the title of Mayor. If you do earn that title Foursquare has a list of freebies that they mayor can get at those spots. It is a interesting application that can keep your social status updated and lets people know where you are and what your doing. Many of these types of programs are popping up now in 2010 so the question is do you want to join in on the fun?
Just had lunch with a friend and we were talking about comics. That's right comics cause well let's face it there awesome. He started talking to me about a program that would allow you to read comics on your iphone. So I thought why not let others know about this sweet app.
Panelfly which is a free app (App Store Link) let’s you purchase, read, and download your comics right from your iPhone or iPod touch. It has some of the biggest names in comics including Marvel and they have hundreds of titles to pick from. Panelfy’s has a well-designed interface which makes reading each issue as easy as possible. Now if you’re thinking that the iPhone or iPod touch is just to small then no worries. Panelfly will be available on the iPad in March of 2010 to give you a bigger experience.
Side note: Tycho Song "The Daydream" playing in the background.