Archive for December 2010
Google Nexus S Coming: There Is In Fact A Demand!
Think back to some of the earlier stages of the Android operating system. Back when it even possibly being a competitor to Apple’s dominant iOS mobile software was just a fairytale. There was a phone called the Google Nexus 1 which became Google’s first stride into the hardware business. It’s main purpose was to give every other Android phone on the market a kick in the pants (or wherever you would kick a phone) to get to work and actually try to compete with the iPhone. It did an incredible job at doing that as we saw newer Android phones like the Droid series, Samsung, and many others. And once that job was done, the legendary Google Nexus 1, which had made headlines, was quietly discontinued and lost out of memory. Then somewhere in the blogosphere and social media globe, ideas came together asking when will a new generation of the Google Nexus be revived to compete with current Android phones and the current iPhone?
The Google Nexus S was nothing but a rumor at first but now it has official been announced by Google for release. This is a whole new generation of Nexus taking on a whole new set of features. First of all Apps are going to be an even bigger feature for the Nexus S as opposed to when the Nexus 1 was released the Android App Store didn’t have nearly as many applications as it does now. Tens of thousands of new applications and a whole new set of hardware like a higher resolution camera, a front facing camera, gyroscope, and a faster network will make it a sellers market and a consumers paradise.
Another great point to bring into the light about the new Nexus is it will be running the latest and greatest version of Android that has been dubbed Gingerbread. New hardware running much more improved software is always a great match for when you want to showcase some of your latest advancements. Samsung has proven with devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S and Tab that it is no stranger to Android OS and that this new take on the old Nexus phone will be no challenge.
However, the few problems facing this phone are of course the same we’ve seen for most. First is that a great phone like this or the iPhone is always cut short by the carriers. In this case T-Mobile got a hold of one of the possible future Android winner of the year with a 2 year contract for users. They didn’t even let the phone get access to their new and upcoming HSPA+ and 4G networks surprisingly. What better way to advertise your new networks then with a hot new phone. You can of course buy the phone unlocked but then you end up losing another $400 just on the phone. And then of course Samsung didn’t give it the King of Processors either. It retains a 1GHz Hummingbird which most likely will not see the next holiday season after Apple gets an update to it’s current 1GHz A4 Chips.
Now overall this didn’t look to be the revolution we may have wanted but it definitely is something to look forward to come December 16th. A whole new operating system with a new set of hardware to match. Sure the carrier could have been better like Verizon or even AT&T just to get a bit more world coverage through a quad-band connection but at least it’s running on T-Mobiles up and coming network. We still have hope for the carrier but the phone probably has all the hype it’ll need for a while. At least until other Android phones start getting better.
Hey! You Got Projector In My Camcorder!
How many times have you been told this lately? Well, if you are the proud owner of the BenQ DV S11 then you may get this a lot. But if not, then you may seriously want to look into one of these wonderful little pocket camcorders for yourself. Measuring up to be a size quite similar to your household cell phone and the all-famous Flip Mino HD camcorders, this little guy can shoot 1080p video right out of the box. It is fully touchscreen and provides a great LCD for viewing content for later. But one of the biggest tricks up it’s sleeve is the fact that all within this incredibly tiny package of a camcorder they managed to fit a tiny little projector. I actually hesitated to say the work “tiny” because when you turn it on it’s anything but tiny. This built-in projector can display up to 50” of all your prerecorded glory. The days of huddling around a single individual in a hallway or at the kitchen table are over. Now just sit down on the couch with a few of the relatives and whip out your camcorder after a full day of shooting. Dim the lights, find a big, flat, and preferably whitish wall and enjoy the show. You won’t even need to get cables and wiring to hook it up to a TV. Any flat surface will do, as long as it is semi-dark. This camcorder is also hooked up to take awesome looking photographs. You have the options of 5 or 16 MP and the photography is great looking but it still really is much more of a camcorder device due to it’s screen.
So looking at this you may be wondering where could this guy go wrong. Well, the fact that it is all relying on a touch screen and no physical buttons that the screen is going to get just a bit smudgier than usual. Also the camera has no real zoom with that wonderful 1080p lens taking up most of the room along side that projector. You do have a 100x Digital Zoom for video and a 60x for photos but do not be fooled. That is simply a way to get uneducated consumers excited about a Zoom that is like a telescope and will look as clear as one too. What it really does is just stretches out the image 100 times and calls it a zoom. So you lose a good bit of quality from a 5x digital but being it’s 100 it probably wouldn’t be worth it to get your kids soccer game from all the way inside the car. And other then just a few minor setbacks as in people who are used to an autofocus and manual controls can go somewhere else, the camera looks to be holding itself in a very great place right now. The camera is currently available in Hong Kong for $2,399 HKD which comes down to about $300 American. The ETA for one of these showing up in the states is unknown to a lot of people. If you can find a way to get one on the web then you will definitely have to send us the link so we can all get one too. Like I said, you would be a proud owner with one of these.
Mac App Store Looks To Make A Pre-Christmas Appearance
The next gold rush for developers is just about here. First it was the iPhone and iPod Touch. Then it was the even more popular iPad. Now, the Mac is getting back into the action with the opening of the Mac App Store. Developers will now have power and ability beyond what they ever had on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad could have ever given them. When Steve Jobs announced this store he said it would be native to OS X Lion but we would be getting an earlier release sometime within the next 90 days. Well, it’s just about been 90 days in a few weeks so are we looking at a great Christmas present to all Mac owners or is this another White iPhone mash up?
From the looks of things, Apple is actually a bit ahead of schedule according to a few inside sources. What the sources are saying is that Apple is pushing developers to get their apps ready by today and then hoping to get the Mac App Store launched by the December 13th timeframe. If anything, this would definitely bring in those holiday numbers Apple is famous for during this time of year. It would also raise my wish list to several Mac App Store gift cards.
There are a few skeptic points to this vendetta (and by skeptic points, I mean difficult facts). The biggest one being that the Mac App Store would require, not recommend but require, a new update to Mac users for software and MacRumors has already reported that Mac OS 10.6.6 has been seeded to Apple developers so this may not be our luck for getting those couple thousand perfect gifts that we’ve been looking forward to. But this is the time of holidays and miracles. Maybe it just might happen and we also might see a White iPhone after all.
