IBLOG SPACE

Sprint feels the noose slowly starting to tighten as it bleeds subscribers at a startling rate. The company is looking for anything to stem the subscriber losses and has announced a new prepaid wireless program that will be exclusively sold through Walmart locations called Common Cents Mobile . The big features of the plan are 7-cent text messages and 7-cent per minute mobile calls with minutes that round down. That means if you are on a call for a 1 minute and 46 seconds you are only hit for a minute of charges. The 7-cents per text message price still seems expensive, my wife could blow through a huge amount of money in a month with that pricing. The handsets offered with the plan are basic devices with voice mail, texting, and calling for customers concerned about cost. Examples are the LG101 at $19.77 and the Samsung M340 at $39.77. Prepaid cards for the plan sell for $20 for a refill card with 30 days of service and 565 voice minute or for $30 you get 60 days of service and 848 mi

Fujitsu has its own Fujitsu Forum 2010 in full swing in Tokyo this week and the company is showing off all sorts of new gear that will hit the market eventually. Among the gear are new computers, a weird bear robot we have already talked about, and other products. There isn’t much information on the technology or features of the all in one computer, but Fujitsu is showing off anew AIO rig that has a 3D camera for 3D video conferencing. The AIO clearly has a pair of cameras that work together to allow for 3D video conferencing. Fujitsu does say that glasses are required to view the 3D effects. Fujitsu is mum on when/if the AIO or any other computer with a 3D camera would come to market, but the tech behind the rig has made it out of the labs at Fujitsu so presumably it will turn up eventually.

Things aren’t looking good for fans of Skype and the next generation of Windows Mobile software, that is expected to land later this year. Skype has announced that it has stopped developing for the coming OS. This is really no surprise given that in February Skype pulled its Windows Mobile VoIP application for WinMo. Skype is focusing on developing for the iPhone, Symbian, and Android OS’. I can see Skype’s point of view on the move. WinMo is shrinking in users while the other major OS’ are starting to grow, especially Android and the iPhone.

Gateway is getting around to updating the NV series of notebooks. The first machine in the line to get updated is the NV59C09u. That rig won’t be the only one getting updates when all is said and done, both the 15.6-inch NV line and the larger 17.3-inch line will eventually see updates. The NV59C09u is a 15.6-inch machine with a HD Ultrabright LCD, Blu-ray, and it runs an Intel Core i3 CPU. The new NV also has a HD webcam and all those new features are crammed into the machine at a reasonable price of $799.99. The specific processor making its home in the updated notebook is the Core i3-330M. The notebook also has a 320GB HDD, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 6-cell battery, and the screen resolution is 1366 x 768. Other new models will be debuted in the next few weeks according to Gateway. The image above is an older NV notebook, the new one is silver.

A new netbook that has a convertible form factor is now shipping from Kids Computers called the Kids Classmate Tablet PC. The little rig might look familiar to you, it appears to be nothing more than the Intel Classmate PC that we saw back in April under the company’s brand. The Kids Classmate Tablet PC has a 10.1-inch touch sensitive display that can be rotated into tablet mode for writing or drawing or used as a normal netbook. The machine is powered by an Intel Atom N450 CPU and can be fitted with up to 2GB of RAM with 1GB of RAM standard. The machine has a 160GB HDD with SSD options. Other features include WiFi, a 1.3MP webcam, 4-cell battery, and Windows XP Home is the OS. If you opt for 2GB of RAM, Windows 7 is available as well. The price is $649 for the basic 1GB RAM configuration, which seems a bit on the high side to me for something aimed at kids. The tablet will ship on May 29.

Back when Sharp announced the KDDI IS01 Android-based MID , alongside the consumer device they also promised a version tailored for developers. That’s gone on sale in Japan now, with Sharp hoping to drum up custom applications suited to the 1GHz Snapdragon MID. Unfortunately, it’s not all good news: while the IS01’s spec sheet is positively bulging, developers won’t have access to all of the goodies. For instance, while the IS01 has an FM transmitter, 1Seg digital TV tuner, EVDO modem and phone functionality, developers won’t apparently be able to access them. Instead, they’ll get the basic Android 1.6 SDK and a proprietary Sharp API that covers “infrared data transfer, LED flashlight, camera, opening and closing [notifications], and file picker.” What’s interesting is that, while the IS01 has a 5-inch 960 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, developers are being asked to code Android apps running at 854 x 480. That’s more appropriate for regular Android smartphones, so hopefully we’ll se

After months of silence, Art Lebedev Studios have poked their head above the parapet to announce that they’re still working on the Optimus Popularis keyboard we last saw renders of in May 2008. Unlike the Optimus Maximus, the Popularis won’t use OLED for its display-bearing keys. They’ll still be full color, we’re told, just not OLED. That seems to suggest that Art Lebedev will be using LCD in some manner, but we’re still not entirely sure on any hardware details; the company is promising more of those – together with some new images – in June. As for the launch, mass production is tipped for later in 2010 with the Optimus Popularis not going on sale until sometime in 2011. Back in 2008 the company was talking about a sub-$1,000 price tag, in contrast to the Optimus Maximus’ considerable $1,500+, but it remains to be seen whether they can achieve that.

We could say that this is probably one of the biggest device launches in Sprint’s recent memory, but that would probably be considered an understatement. Announced a little over a month and a half ago, the EVO 4G is finally here in all of its official glory, and it has a release date, pricing, and a list of verified features that people all over the place will drool at. First up, you’re looking at live voice chatting. We knew it was possible thanks to that front-facing camera, and now Sprint has confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that it’s going to be one of the featured items on the device. The service won’t be brought to customers thanks to Skype, though. Instead, Qik, the popular streaming video application/service that’s available on most smartphones right now is handling the heavy lifting. There’s been some confusion about whether or not it will incur some extra charges, but right now it looks like it might be free. (Which is the best way to go about things.) Just as we specul

When we get close to the big trade shows throughout the years, there are key elements we look for. Speculation of some of the largest products on the market, for example, are some of those things. For Sony, their PSP handheld is still one of the most popular handheld gaming units on the market, so there’s no surprise that with E3 just around the corner, the rumors about a new Sony PSP are going to pick up. So, get your salt shaker ready, as we dive into this one. According to UK publication MCV , there has been a major increase in spending for marketing at two key publishers, all of which are aiming for a fourth quarter, 2010 launch of whatever it is they’re marketing. Of course, no one is able to say anything definitively at this point. Another publisher is waiting for a specific announcement from the platform holder, before they can move forward with their own announcements and marketing campaign. Though, they did dance around the talk of ongoing development for titles behind closed

If you’re a fan of eReaders, and you like knowing that you’ve got options out there, then hopefully you’ll welcome the Samsung SNE-60 eReader into a loving home. If you’re in the UK, that is. Despite the fact that the iPad is currently on it way overseas, it seems that Samsung wanted to go ahead and try to steal away some of Apple’s thunder by releasing their own eReader. Either that, or it was just bad timing. There’s nothing all that exciting about the SNE-60, but then again, if you like eReaders, perhaps there’s nothing all that bad about it, either. It’s got a 6-inch, 600×800 greyscale e-ink display, and it weighs just 315g. There’s WiFi built-in, but you shouldn’t expect to find any 3G embedded within your shiny new toy, because Samsung didn’t include it. There’s built-in memory, too, which should hold about 1,200 eBooks of your choice. There’s a MicroSD card slot if you just have to have that extra space. But the coolest feature has to be the handwriting recognition, which can b

The ongoing legal bust-up between Apple and HTC has taken another turn for the litigious today, with HTC suing Apple for alleged patent infringement. They’re not just looking for a slap on the wrist and a chunky pay-check, either; HTC have filed a complaint with the ITC requesting that importation and sales of not only the iPhone but the iPod and iPad be halted in the US. According to Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC in North America, ”we are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phone.” Apple had previously sued HTC for alleged infringement of twenty Apple patents that are all related to the iPhone, whether its UI, architecture or hardware. The likelihood of the ITC actually deciding to prevent Apple from importing some of its most popular products is – based on previous examples – highly slim. Still, HTC’s request is a sign nonetheless that they’re not going to take the C

The multi-room streaming audio market is getting more crowded, with broader availability on relatively little-known German company Raumfeld . Based on WiFi and UPnP – unlike Sonos ‘ proprietary technology – Raumfeld’s multi-room system has the by-now mandatory color touchscreen remote together with a base-station that can store up to 160GB of media itself. Alternatively you can stream from a NAS or shared folder on a networked computer, or indeed from Napster, last.fm, radiotime and other internet radio sources. Existing hifi setups can be hooked up via a Raumfeld Connector unit, or new zones can be established using the active speaker pairs that come with WiFi built in. The company also plans to add compatibility with other brands of UPnP-compliant media streamer, so you should be able to slot any existing hardware into a Raumfeld setup. We’re waiting for our Raumfeld review unit to drop; a starter package – made up of a remote and charging dock, base unit and two connectors – is £

Plastic Logic ’s first product, the business-centric QUE ereader, isn’t even in customers’ hands yet, but the company are already talking about their follow-up. They reckon they’ll have a manufacturable color e-ink display ready by the end of 2011, and headed into mass production in 2012. The panel will be based on technology the company already have “working at our Cambridge laboratory” according to Achim Neu at Plastic Logic. The announcement was made at the International Electronics Forum 2010 in Dresden last week, the same city in which Plastic Logic has set up their first $100m factory. Production of the QUE is apparently underway, with the first pre-ordered units headed to buyers this summer. We grabbed some hands-on time with the QUE back at CES in January and while – at $750 – it’s undoubtedly expensive, it’s also surprisingly usable.

Verizon’s announcement of the LG Ally comes as no great surprise – after all, we were expecting the Android handset to go up for pre-order from tomorrow – but it’s always nice to have confirmation. The Ally runs Android 2.1 on a 3.2-inch glass touchscreen, and has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 3.2-megapixel camera. It’ll land on Verizon’s network from May 20th, priced at $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and assuming a new, two-year contract. As well as the regular Android 2.1 features, the Ally will also offer LG’s own custom widgets for Facebook and Twitter access, news, weather and more. There’s also Verizon’s Visual Voicemail, a 3D app launcher, and an onboard image editing app. Storage is via microSD card, with up to 16GB cards supported. Nothing outrageous in terms of specifications, certainly, but the price should persuade a few people to step on board. Pre-orders for the LG Ally will kick off from tomorrow, May 13th.

Last week I mentioned that Panasonic had updated some of its rugged notebooks including the ToughBook CF-52 and the Toughbook CF-T8 . Panasonic has now debuted a new update to its flagship rugged computer called the CF-31 . The CF-31 is the follow-up to the CF-30 computer and replaces that older model. Panasonic claims that the CF-31 offers twice the CPU performance of the CF-30 in almost the same size package. The machine uses Intel Core i5 CPU with vPro and Turbo Boost technology. Other features include standard Intel HD graphics and optional Radeon HD 5650 graphics. The screen is a 13.1-inch XGA unit with 1000 nits brightness and a low reflection ratio. The screen is touch capable as well and the entire machine meets IP65, MIL STD 810G ratings. WiMax connectivity is optional and the machine has four USB ports, HDMI out, and a webcam. The standard model promises 11.5 hours of use per charge. The standard model sells for £3,329 plus VAT.

Carbon fiber is well known for showing up in racing cars and sports boats, but headphones? According to JVC, the strong, lightweight material is what makes their HA-S650 headphones particularly special, delivering – so they promise – audio quality that punches above their weight and, more importantly perhaps, price bracket. Are they ear salvation or will we prefer the sound of silence; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. JVC use carbon fiber for the HA-S650’s housing and diaphragm, which they reckon adds up to lighter headphones, reduced distortion and improved durability. There’s no visible weave, however, and that leaves the glossy black material looking a little too much like cheap plastic for our liking. Build quality feels reasonable, and the stainless steel headband flexes broadly without you getting the sense that it’s about to snap, but in the hand the HA-S650’s lack the reassurance that the packaging would have us believe in. As for the HA-S650’s audio performa

OWC has added some new drives to the Mercury Extreme Pro SSD line. The new drives are the largest capacity in a SSD that is offered by OWC. OWC also claims that the new SSDs offer three new features that you don’t see in consumer class SSDs typically. The features include a sustained data rate of up to 285MB/s with no speed degradation as the drive is used. The drives also feature 7% over-provisioning to maintain data integrity and they use up to 1/7 less power than other SSDs on the market. The drives use the SandForce controller and are now offered in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities. The 60GB version sells for $219.99, the 120GB is $379.99, and the 240GB is $699.99, with massive 480GB unit selling for $1579.99.

Improving performance in the data center is a big deal for many enterprises around the world. Adaptec has announced new products that promise to significantly increase performance in the data center. The new products are the MaxIQ 2405Q, 5805Q, and 5805ZQ. The 2405Q is a four-port storage controller and the other two products offer eight ports. The 5805ZQ also offers cache protection needing no battery to protect the data in the cache. The storage controllers share most of the same specifications. They all use a 1.2GHz processor. They also all have 512MB of DDR2 write cache and hybrid SSD read caching with support for multiple MLC and SLC SSDs as well as direct I/O connectivity for SATA/SAS SSDs. Adaptec has also unveiled a new MaxIQ 32GB Cache Performance kit using an Intel X25-E Extreme SSD and caching software to speed things even more. The caching kit sells for $1795, the 2405Q is $645, the 5805Q is $1215, and the 5805ZQ is $1485.

I have talked about some of the interesting external enclosures and other gear that Sharkoon offers in the past like the SATA and IDE Combo dock . Today Sharkoon has revealed a new external drive enclosure that lets you use a leftover 2.5-inch SATA HDD as a USB 3.0 external drive. The enclosure is open on the top allowing the drive to be slipped inside and a lid covers the works for improved looks. The enclosure works with any 2.5-inch drive with a height up to 9.5mm. It connects to the PC via USB 3.0 or 2.0 ports. The frame of the enclosure is made from plastic and the top of the device can be had in black, silver, or aluminum mirror finish. The enclosure measures 135 L x 85 W x 14mm H and weighs 55 grams with no drive inside. It is available right now for 28.90 euros from Sharkoon retailers.

If you are one of the folks that has been waiting (and waiting) for the Asus Eee Keyboard to finally ship, your wait is over. We reported last month that the Eee Keyboard was up for pre-order on Amazon.com for $599. The device is now officially shipping and can be ordered via the link above. In case you live under a rock, the Eee Keyboard is just what it sounds like — a keyboard with netbook hardware crammed inside. The device has a 5-inch touch screen on the right side where a number pad would be on a normal keyboard. The intention of the device is to be a compact HTPC. The CPU is an Atom N270 and the Eee Keyboard has 1GB of DDR2 RAM. The OS is Windows XP Home and the device ships with a UWB transmitter for sending HD content to the TV wirelessly. The Eee Keyboard also has WiFi, Bluetooth, and an Ethernet port built-in.

Kaleidescape is a name we have heard before, the company offers the Mini media server that landed in the UK last April. The company has now announced a pair of new players called the M500 and the M300 . The M500 is by far the most interesting of the pair and can copy Blu-ray and DVD films onto a server as well as copying CDs to a server. Once the M500 copies the content onto a server it can be played back on the M500 player itself or on the M300 player. The M500 combines with the M300 create the world’s first multi-zone server for Blu-ray content. Right now, the Blu-ray disc has to be in the tray of the M500 for the film to play on other players in the home. However, the company reports that it is working on a disc loader to make playing Blu-ray content back easier and to allow for bulk imports. The M300 player sells for $2495 and the M500 is $3995 (ouch!) and both will ship on May 18.

First batch of iPhone HD leak (mark II!) photos not good enough for you? After the furore earlier this morning, the leaked prototype has sat down for some new shots over at Tinhte, and they’ve tried plugging it into their Mac to see what iTunes and OS X reckon of it. iTunes didn’t open automatically, but once manually loaded the prototype was recognized as an iPhone in recovery mode; unfortunately it also warned that they would need an updated version of the app to actually do anything with the handset. Meanwhile OS X spotted a serial number – 002608C89DCA – but Apple’s support pages don’t recognize it. They also tried to run the Spirit jailbreak hack, but that didn’t recognize the handset either. There’s video of the handset here. Meanwhile Engadget have been joining the dots on processor chip revealed in the teardown photos and reckon it bears the same “339S0084″ and “APL0398″ markings that we’ve seen on the iPad’s 1GHz Apple A4 processor as spotted by Chipworks. There are also

Lenovo’s reassuringly green ThinkPad L412 and L512 notebooks have gone on sale, and they bring with them a pleasant boost in basic specs. Rather than the $649 Celeron base model we initially heard about, both the 14-inch L412 and 15.6-inch L512 kick off at $599 with an Intel Core i3 CPU. An upgrade to a Core i5 processor is just $150. There’s also 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 160GB hard-drive and WiFi b/g/n, along with optional integrated mobile broadband. Both models have a DVD burner, Intel GMA HD graphics and gigabit ethernet, and will ship within 9 business days.

With HP still refusing to comment on the record about the fate of their Windows 7 slate, we’re having to piece together their tablet plans from rumor, leaks and a little tantric chanting. Latest to the speculation buffet is GottaBeMobile, who have heard from “two separate and reliable sources” that the Windows 7 tablet won’t be released this coming summer, as HP instead focus their efforts on rushing out a webOS based slate codenamed the HP Hurricane . HP, the sources say, are seeing the webOS slate as being a direct competitor to Apple’s iPad, which doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. It will also be positioned as a companion device, rather than a standalone PC as the original HP Slate. The sources declined to confirm exact specifications. It’s also unclear as to whether the Windows 7 tablet is merely delayed or cancelled altogether; last we heard there was talk that development had been put on “hold”. We’ve not been shy in speculating about why a webOS tablet would be so special,

Apple’s international launch of the iPad earlier this week looks to have been a surprising success, with the expected shipping date for new WiFi and WiFi + 3G models pushed back into June. The first batch of preorders are expected to ship for May 28th, when the iPad will also arrive in stores; however, Apple’s online stores are now listing preorders as shipping by June 7th, a little over a week later. The delay has impacted UK and Canadian preorders of all six iPad variants, together with mainland Europe, Australia and Japan. It’s unclear whether the apparent stock shortage will affect availability in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore, where the iPad is expected to launch in July 2010. Meanwhile, at Apple’s US store, the iPad is listed as shipping in 7-10 days. The company have previously expressed surprise as the amount of interest in the tablet, causing them to delay their international roll-out as US stocks grew limi

Another day, another tablet rumor, and this time around it’s talk of Verizon and Google working closely to deliver an Android-based slate in time for Google I/O later this month. Both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journalclaim that more details on the iPad-rival will be released later this week. Perhaps more interestingly, considering the number of cellular-enabled devices we’re now seeing reach the market, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has tipped a new wave of data plans that would potentially see the end of “one price plan per device”. Instead, McAdam expects, new data-centric networks – such as Verizon’s LTE plans for 2011 – will treat plans as a “bucket of megabytes,” presumably that can be shared between multiple devices. SlashGear will be heading off to Google I/O 2010 to bring you all the details of any new hardware and software, when the show kicks off on May 19th. Of course, if you’re fed up of waiting for a proper tablet, you can always recreate the experience by holding your

AMD have no sooner announced their new 2010 ultrathin processor line-up, and Acer have slapped various chips from it into their latest ultraportables and netbooks. The Acer Aspire One 521 , Aspire One 721 and Aspire 1551all thoroughly plunder AMD’s new catalog, the Aspire One 521 getting a single-core 1.2GHz AMD V105 and ATI Radeon HD 4225 GPU and the Aspire One 721 packing a 1.3GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K325 together with ATI Radeon HD 4225 GPU. Finally the Aspire 1551 gets an AMD Turion II Neo dual-core processor, AMD M880G chipset and ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics. NetbookNews grabbed hands-on time with some of the new models, and you can see their videos after the cut. The 10-inch Aspire One 521 has a 160GB hard-drive and 1GB of RAM, and can apparently output 1080p HD via its HDMI port (there’s also VGA, three USB 2.0 ports and audio in/out). As for the 11.6-inch Aspire 721, that gets a 1366 x 768 display and the same ports. Finally, turning to the Acer Aspire 1551, that has an 11.6-i