IBLOG SPACE

All the rumors about an upcoming iPad 2 may just be validated with AT&T’s massive clearance on all current iPad accessories. The sale starts today and offers a whopping 50% off current iPad accessories to really clear out the inventory. Now isn’t that proof enough of an iPad 2 release just around the corner? The iPad 2 is believed to hit Apple Stores no later than April, although no official announcements have been made yet. However, with the clearance going on so early, it’s possible that the iPad 2 may make its appearance even earlier than speculated. This clearance also suggests that current accessories likely will not work with the next-generation iPad and makes us wonder just what form factor changes the iPad 2 will bring about. For current iPad owners with no plans to make the switch anytime soon, this is a good time to go shopping.

After all of the excitement surrounding Nokia’s move to abandon Symbian (the burning platform) and move to Windows Phone 7, there might be a long wait before it actually appears on Nokia’s phones. Windows Phone 7′s capabilities have some limitations that Nokia will need to deal with, and it may not be easy for them. Nokia had hoped to lower its R&D expenditure by adopting WP7, and maybe they will in the long run, but that doesn’t look likely in the near future. There are some problems that need to be addressed first. For example: Devices with WP7 must have three buttons, not four WP7 currently supports just one CPU and one screen size Third party applications in WP7 can’t multitask (something that Symbian did very well) Microsoft has been very rigid about how OEMs can build phones with WP7, but likely they had to loosed those restrictions to make this deal with Nokia. Nevertheless, making the new ecosystem work is going to take time, and if Nokia wants to get WP7 devices out this y

The latest solar powered cell phone was just announced at Mobile World Congress in Spain, the Umeox Apollo. The phone runs on Android, and would take about 2.5 hours of sunlight for refilling the battery after daily use. This is great news if you want to go camping and not be without your smartphone. The phone is headed for production, but there is no word on when it will actually be available in the US. The phone could also be great for travelling. But for daily use, leaving your phone out in the sun for 2.5 hours at a time probably isn’t realistic. More likely, the phone would charge for 10-15 minutes throughout the day in between uses. In the event the phone goes completely dead, it would take up to 17 hours in the sun to charge it back. While it is great to be able to use the sun to charge your phone, even supplementally, there are things to consider. Like, will the solar panel get scratched up in your pocket or purse? Will the phone get damaged by extended exposure to sunlight? Ma

Reports are that Apple will be purchasing $7.8 billion dollars worth of components from their competitor/partner Samsung. A report from the Wall Street Journal says that the parts will include LCD screens, NAND flash memory chips, and application processors. The batch of components looks to be intended for the next generation of iPhones and iPads. If the deal goes through, Samsung will become Apple’s supplier, even though both are competitors in the smartphone and tablet market. This type of deal is nothing new for the tech giants. There were earlier reports about Samsung building a new processing plant in Austin, with the bulk load of shipments intended for Apple .

Microsoft just announced at the MWC today what lies ahead for Windows Phone 7. Several new features are scheduled for an update due out in the first two weeks of March while several other major features should be updated by the second half of this year. Coming this March, the much needed copy-and-paste function will be implemented along with substantially improved performance, a better Marketplace interface, and CDMA support. The added CDMA support confirms plans for WP7 devices to be available through Verizon and Sprint in the first half of this year. For the major update due later this year, Microsoft intends to introduce many new features including but not limited to multitasking similar to webOS’s card-based task switcher, the ability for third-party apps to run in the background, Internet Explorer 9, and Twitter integration into the People hub. Additional updates could be possible and further details on their SDK improvements will be revealed at the MIX 11 conference in April.

Intel previewed MeeGo at MWC 2011 today and to say that industry bloggers were less than impressed would be an understatement. MeeGo is a collaboration between Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo, an announcement the two companies made just one year ago from the stages of MWC 2010 in Barcelona. Almost exactly one year later, Meego has developed very little and the future of Nokia has changed quite a lot. Nokia announced its partnership with Microsoft and adopting Windows Phone 7 platform last week, abandoning Meego as its future smartphone and tablet platforms. Many are saying that the system has not progressed nor improved from its early alpha stages in the summer. It is so far behind other systems that Nokia had no other choice but to find another OS. Intel has decided it will stay with Meego and push its development for now. Users at MWC have said the software is buggy and slow, and very disappointing. Meego utilizes a system of sliding panels that lets the user access photos, music, a

Many of us resort to our iPhones as our main camera for capturing life’s memories as they happen in a moments notice. Whether at the ball game, out at the restaurant doing some foodie blogging, or just traveling around town, the ease of whipping out your phone to capture an instance trumps lugging around a DLSR despite the lesser image quality and lack of zoom. But you might not need to compromise convenience for functionality anymore now that Photojojo has in store a new telephoto lens and case made for your iPhone. The Photojojo Telephoto lens for iPhone provides 8X telephoto zoom and is like having a 500mm Sigma lens for your phone. The lens attaches to a protective case that comes with the kit. So after replacing your current case with the one from Photojojo, you can simply screw on the lens when you need it. The lens is also fairly small and can easily fit in your pocket. The kit comes with the lens, the phone case, a collapsible tripod, and a cleaning cloth. They have two version

Intel has released its latest high-end processor, the Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition , packing six 3.46GHz cores and 12 processing threads. Capable of being overclocked to 3.73GHz using Intel’s Turbo Boost technology (and likely higher again, when the aftermarket modders get their hands on the chip), the Core i7-990X Extreme Edition comes with unlocked multipliers so that tweaking the speed is more straightforward. There’s also 12MB of cache, which can by dynamically assigned to each core, and three DDR3 channels for 1066MHz memory. Intel is recommending that the Core i7-990X Extreme Edition be paired with its X58 Express Chipset, and so you won’t get integrated graphics, but that seems something that the power users likely to eye this new flagship processor won’t be too concerned about.

A new Apple survey has prompted suggestions that the company is planning a MacBook Air 3G, with integrated high-speed cellular connectivity. The questionnaire, spotted by AppleInsider , asks a number of questions of MacBook Air owners about their use of 3G wireless, including how often they take advantage of it and what sort of modem they use – USB, wired or wireless tethering, mobile hotspot or something else. Another question deals with potential use of the 3G radio, asking what existing external 3G users do the most with their wireless. There’s also a query about what might encourage a MacBook Air owner to use 3G instead of a regular WiFi connection. Although it’s not conclusive proof that a MacBook Air 3G is on the cards, the ultraportable would be the ideal candidate for what would be Apple’s first integrated 3G chipset option. Apple confirmed at the notebook’s launch that it has already borrowed much from the technology of the iPad, including the quick-boot system, and recently

We were expecting an HTC tablet at MWC 2011 , and boy has the company delivered. The HTC Flyer is a 7-inch Android slate based on a 1.5GHz Qualcomm single-core processor running Android 2.4 Gingerbread, with a new, refreshed version of HTC Sense. Oh, and just to really stir things up, it has a stylus. As well as working as a regular capacitive touchscreen with multitouch gesture support, the Flyer’s display packs an active digitizer. Bundled is a battery-powered stylus – it uses an AAAA battery which HTC says should rarely need replacing – that’s pressure sensitive, and allows for handwriting recognition, sketching and flowing ink in the newly adapted Sense. HTC has created a new app, Notes, specifically for stylus use, into which you can paste and annotate text and photos, and then sync them wirelessly to Evernote . Notes will also allow you to record audio in a feature called Timemark, time-linking your handwritten jottings to index points along the track so that you can skip easily

HTC has announced a pair of Facebook phones at MWC 2011 , two affordable Android devices with a focus on social networking. The first of the pair is the HTC ChaCha, a physical QWERTY handset paired with a 2.6-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen, followed by the HTC Salsa, an all-touch version with a 3.4-inch touchscreen. Both the ChaCha and Salsa have a dedicated Facebook button, hard-coded to instantly share content like photos, music links or Facebook Places location links. Hit the Facebook key when you’re looking at a photo, for instance, and the ChaCha and Salsa will automatically offer to upload it. You can tag people in the image, add comments, choose whether to create a new gallery or add it to an existing photo collection, and even define privacy settings. Press the Facebook button while listening to music, meanwhile, and the currently playing track will be listed on your wall along with an Amazon link to preview and purchase it. A long press of the Facebook key pulls up Facebook

HTC’s Verizon DROID Incredible has spawned a European version, the HTC Incredible S, now packing a GSM radio into its unusually angular casing. HTC describes the style as “inside out” design, though what’s really on the inside is a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 single-core processor. Unusually, despite HTC claiming that the Incredible S will be positioned as an Android enthusiast’s device, it will actually launch with 2.2 Froyo. That will be upgraded to Android 2.4 Gingerbread “early on” the company promises, though there’s no more specific timescale than that. What you do get is HTC Sense, an 8-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash on the back, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for video calls. 1.1GB of internal storage, 768MB of RAM and a microSD memory card slot round things out. The HTC Incredible S will be the first of HTC’s “evolutionary” updates to go on sale, arriving in early Q2 2011. No word on pricing at this stage.

HTC has announced the HTC Desire S, the successor to its wildly popular Desire smartphone. Set to go on sale in mid-Q2, the Desire S keeps the 1GHz processor of the original – now Qualcomm’s single-core Snapdragon MSM8255 – and 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen, but adopts HTC’s unibody styling and gets Android 2.4 Gingerbread. There’s also a new, front-facing camera for video calls, and HTC has updated its Sense interface and widget suite with a new app called “Mirror” that, as the name suggests, allows you to quickly turn the Desire S into a mirror replacement. What you don’t get is NFC; while Google is pushing for the short-range wireless technology’s adoption by Android OEMs, HTC told SlashGear that it felt the extra bulk an NFC module would introduce wasn’t worth it given the limited availability of NFC services. There’s 1.1GB of phone storage and 768MB of RAM, together with a microSD card slot. Pricing and specific availability are yet to be announced, but we do know that Vodafone in t

The HTC Wildfire S has made its official debut, the updated version of HTC’s entry-level Android smartphone . Now running Android 2.4 Gingerbread, the Wildfire S loses some of its predecessor’s bulk – as well as the optical trackpad – but gains a new, HVGA display that should boost compatibility with apps in the Android Market. Otherwise the spec sheet looks much in line with the original Wildfire; HTC is describing the Wildfire S as an “evolutionary” update, in no small part to maintain the smartphone’s low entry price. That means no front-facing camera or NFC, either, though HTC Sense is still present. The CPU is a 600MHz Qualcomm single-core, paired with 512MB of RAM and ROM, though you do get WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The rear camera is a 5-megapixel unit with auto-focus and flash. Pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed, though HTC says to expect the Wildfire S in late Q2 2011. We’ve already had Vodafone UK confirmation that the carrier will be ranging the smartphone.

The HTC Flyer is an anomaly. So far, stylus-driven tablets have either been bargain-basement slabs with resistive touchscreens and hair-tearing usability, or expensive Windows-based machines with slick active digitizers but software more suited to desktop than pen. We’ve grown used to jabbing at our tablets with our fingers; Steve Jobs has even told us that’s the only way a modern slate really works. So where does the Flyer come in? Announced earlier today, the new tablet matches the Samsung Galaxy Tab on screen size and resolution, with a 7-inch, capacitive multitouch 1024 x 600 display. As you’d expect, you generally control Android (here 2.4 Gingerbread, rather than the Galaxy Tab’s 2.2 Froyo) with your fingers, pinch-zooming, swiping and flicking around HTC’s updated Sense UI. What’s different is the active stylus HTC has also included. It’s no plastic toothpick, as we’ve grown to hate from resistive touchscreens, and nor is it a so-called capacitive pen which mimics a fingertip f

HTC has shown off a brief demo of its home-grown video chat app for Android, as loaded onto the HTC Desire S and the HTC Incredible S . It uses the new smartphones front-facing VGA-resolution cameras, or the HTC Flyer ‘s 1.3-megapixel camera. As we’ve seen on other video chat apps, the UI is simple: a preview display of your own video feed in the lower left hand corner, a full-screen view of the person you’re calling, and then basic controls for managing the call. There’s a dedicated End Call button, audio control and the option to shut off the video. What we’re still waiting to hear is which devices you can intercommunicate between, whether you’ll need to be talking to another HTC device owner (like Apple currently limits Face Time inside its own ecosystem) or if there’ll be broader flexibility. We’ll be finding more later on in our hands-on with the new phones.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been featured at the HTC MWC 2011 press event this morning, discussing the new HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa . Appearing in a video recording, Zuckerberg referred to the persistent – and much-denied – rumors of a single, Facebook-branded device, and why that’s not the direction the social network has decided to take. “A lot has been made about an individual Facebook phone, but we’re going to see multiple devices this year,” Zuckerberg explained, referring to third-party manufacturers pushing out their own interpretations. “The ones that are best are the ones that jump in and are social from the ground up.” He described HTC as “taking the initiative” with building deeper Facebook support into HTC Sense; the dedicated Facebook button on the Salsa and ChaCha allows for instant photo uploads, location sharing and more. “We’re very happy with the direction HTC has taken” Zuckerberg continued “and we look forward to much more to come.” We’ll be grabbing hands-

HTC’s Flyer promises to bring another new angle to the Android tablet marketplace, with its stylus input and HTC’s focus on note-taking and content creation. A 7-inch slate in a slick unibody aluminum and matte-finish plastic, HTC aren’t allowing us to hold the prototypes at the MWC 2011 reveal, but from what we’ve seen we’re already impressed. Check out our first impressions after the cut. We grabbed a non-functioning prototype last week, and came away reassured by the build quality. Hardware-wise, the Flyer feels more solid than the Galaxy Tab, with a high-quality, flex-free chassis. It’s easier to hold than the Samsung, too, with two slightly raised edges when you grip in landscape orientation. In portrait, the 122mm wide body is easily held in one hand, like a traditional notebook; that makes for note-taking using the digital stylus straightforward, though we do wish HTC had found space for a silo to dock it. Instead, you have to make sure you have the bundled pouch – which has a

HTC has locked the single HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa prototype units here at MWC 2011 behind glass, and they’re not allowing our Facebook-addicted fingers to get any play right now. From what we can see, the ChaCha looks the more interesting of the pair; the physical QWERTY keyboard is nicely spaced on a surprisingly broad chassis, and the touchscreen – while small – is highly pixel dense. The dedicated Facebook button actually glows when you’re looking at something on the device which can be shared, whether that’s a photo, a link, a music track or something else. Holding it down would trigger Facebook Places, and the traditional Facebook clock widget has been updated with a friend ticker that shows their latest updates. The HTC Salsa is less exciting, perhaps, if only because it’s so familiar to previous HTC devices. With its HVGA touchscreen it’s basically an updated HTC Legend – even the 600MHz CPU runs at the same speed as the unibody handset- and so we’re expecting much the same

We’ve just grabbed some hands-on time with the HTC Desire S , and the unibody update has done nothing to diminish the best-selling smartphone’s charm. Broadly recognizable as the Desire , but with a chassis milled from a single piece of aluminum like the Legend , it’s creak and flex free. More hands-on impressions and video after the cut Responsiveness is the same as the Desire too, since it’s still a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon. Qualcomm and HTC did confirm at the press conference that the two companies were working together on multi-core models, though there’s no timescale attached. HTC Desire S hands-on The front-facing webcam is only VGA quality, but it does what you’d expect; there’s a video chat app together with a new Mirror app that shows you exactly what the camera can can see. While the production Desire S will be running Android 2.4 Gingerbread, these demo units use Android 2.3.2; the only difference, HTC told us, between 2.3.2 and 2.4 are a few bug fixes and some applicatio

Jabra has shown off some of its cool new Bluetooth gear at MWC 2011. Among the gear that is being shown off at the show is the Jabra Stone 2 and the Freeway. The Stone 2 we have seen before back in November 2010 when it first surfaced . The big feature of the Stone 2 is the voice control that allows for hands free communication and the voice system will tell the user who is calling as well and then calls can be answered or blocked using voice commands. The Stone 2 also has a wireless charger that recharges the headset on the go. The Freeway is a new device that is a first for the in-car speakerphone market and it will be coming to the US in Q2. The device has three speakers that use virtual surround sound to make the conversation clearer than ever. If you have a noisy car that extra speaker will help things significantly. The Freeway has a motion sensor that turns the speakerphone on and off when it senses the door open or close making for better battery life without having to remembe

There are loads of ultraportable projectors on the market today that business users and others can take with them on the road easily to give presentations. Once it comes time to use the projector most people end up just using a wall because a screen isn’t available. Epson has a slick new ultraportable screen for these users that will be much better than using a wall. The new screen is called the ES1000 Ultra Portable Tabletop Projector Screen and it is 50-inches wide. The screen is designed to be set up on a tabletop in about 30 seconds and weighs only 6.5 pounds making it easy to carry with you to a meeting or presentation. The screen closes into a case that is 34.5-inches long and is sized to fit easily into the overhead bin on an airplane. The screen material is bright white and promises a clear and bright image when used. You can get the ES1000 right now for $129.99.

The HTC Wildfire S is the company’s cheapest phone at MWC 2011 , but it feels considerably better than the Wildfire it replaces. Gone is the Desire-a-like design, with a more angular chassis – still plastic – that pushes the Wildfire S’ own identity as a youth device. Android – in this case 2.3.2 on the prototypes, but 2.4 on the shipping versions – runs smoothly, despite the mere 600MHz processor, and the new HVGA display is a significant step up from the QVGA of the original. You don’t get a front-facing webcam, however, which means HTC’s new video call app is missing, and otherwise Sense feels pretty much the same as before. Still, this is described as evolutionary, not revolutionary, and the broader app compatibility with the extra pixels on offer should be enough to tempt in cost-conscious users. HTC Wildfire S hands-on: What will make or break the Wildfire S, as was the case with the Wildfire, is the pricing, and from what we’ve seen in the past the carriers will be looking to

Of all of HTC’s new devices at MWC 2011 , the handset we’re least convinced with is the HTC Incredible S . The company’s “inside-out” style reminds us of a plastic pool former, and while it certainly feels unusual in the hand, we’re not the biggest fans. Generally, performance is in line with what we’re familiar with from the Verizon version of the Incredible, though the Incredible S does add in a front-facing webcam along with its GSM radios. That means HTC’s new video call app is present, along with the Mirror app. We’ve a feeling, though, that keen users will happily switch the Incredible S’ 4-inch touchscreen for the Desire S’ 3.7-inch touchscreen and Android 2.4 Honeycomb out of the box, rather than Froyo on the larger phone. HTC Incredible S hands-on: If HTC can push out the promised Gingerbread update in a timely manner, then the Incredible S will look a more tempting proposition; assuming, of course, you’re a fan of the industrial styling.

Broadcom is always on hand at MWC with new chipsets for all sorts of uses. One of the new unveilings that the company has at MWC 2011 is a new Bluetooth chip family that will add cool features to devices using Bluetooth like voice recognition and more. The chip family is the BCM2077x and includes three chips with the BCM20770, BCM 20771, and BCM 20772. All three of the new chips use low power 65nm CMOS design and support wireless stereo music and hands free phone calls with the same headset. Key features include a ROM-based solution that needs no external memory for lower cost and less bulk. The chips have noise cancellation tech for clear audio and voice recognition for voice commands. The voice prompts support multiple languages, the language tech is integrated into the chip, and the chips have fast charge tech that allows recharging in a few minutes. The BCM20770 is an entry-level handset with basic features. The BCM20771 is aimed at single mic mainstream headsets with SmartAudio c

LeapFrog has been making some really interesting and high-tech learning toys for kids for a long time. These toys are often a little geek’s first foray into the world of gadgets and electronics. The latest offering from LeapFrog has landed and it is called the LeapPad Explorer. The Explorer reminds me a lot of the VTech InnoPad that I mentioned last week. The LeapPad Explorer is a cool little tablet hat has all sorts of activities that kids can play to help them learn letters and other basic educational stuff. The Explorer also has a lot of software that can be added to expand it including books, flash cards, and lots more. There will be over 100 games available for the tablet. The tablet has a 5-inch screen that supports touch with a finger and with a stylus. The tablet is thin and very sleek, but is rugged enough to survive drops and other bumps that kids will put it through. The LeapPad Explorer will hit stores this summer and will sell for $99.99 with download apps for $7.50 and

Sonim has unveiled a new rugged mobile phone at MWC 2011 that it claims to have the world’s longest talk time called the XP3300 Force . The phone has a rugged design and works on GSM networks. It is aimed at people that work in harsh environments for long shifts and need a phone that will work the entire shift and will survive harsh conditions. The phone promises 20 to 24 hours of talk time or when used for GPS tracking the device will last up to 26 hours with MRM applications with 5-minute location interval updates. The phone has a 2MP camera with LED flash and digital zoom for job site information storage and the device can run JAVA apps. The XP3300 can be submerged in 2 meters of water and survive and can keep going after a drop from 2 meters up onto concrete. The screen on the phone is a 2-inch unit and has 1.5mm thick Gorilla Glass over it. The housing of the device is reinforced with fiberglass and it can survive salt, fog, humidity, and thermal shock. The phone is good for 800 h

Kingston has announced a pair of new secure flash drives for enterprise and business customers that carry sensitive data that needs to be encrypted. The new drives include the DataTraveler 4000 and DataTraveler Vault – Privacy Managed. The DT4000 uses military-grade encryption for health data and financial info that needs the best protection. It has FIPS 140-2 Level 2 validated for the entire cryptographic module. It will also be offered as a centrally managed drive later this year. The Privacy Managed drive allows the corporate manager to centralize all USB activity control. It uses the SafeConsole server software from BlockMaster. It also has advanced security features like password control, device state management, file audit logs, file restrictor options, and lots. The DT4000 comes in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB versions starting at $75. The managed drive comes in 2GB – 32GB.

We mentioned last week that MetroPCS was getting its first Android smartphone on the LTE network called the Samsung Galaxy Indulge . The phone sounds interesting on its own and it will ship with a microSD card from SanDisk that has 4GB of storage. The card is also pre-loaded with a full copy of Iron Man 2. The downside to the name brand microSD card with the full-length action flick is that the memory card is “intelligent.” What that means is that each time the user of the Android device uses the microSD card it will contact the MetroPCS servers and monitor their content use. SanDisk and MetroPCS says that the usage statistics are anonymous, but few people like to have their content consumption monitored for any reason. MetroPCS says the eavesdropping on the content use will allow them to personalize the content they offer to users.

SandForce has announced that at the closing of the first full year that its SSD processors SF-1500 and SF-1200 have been on the market they have shipped a million units. These processors are in use in a wide range of SSD offerings from a variety of customers all around the country. SandForce says that manufacturers using its SSD processors have shipped an estimated 100 petabytes of NAND flash into the mainstream computing market. That is enough space to store two billion four-drawer filing cabinets full of text documents! That amount of storage could also store 5,000 years worth of continuously played DVD movies. That is a huge amount of storage. “We designed the SandForce SSD Processors to kickstart the SSD market by bringing enterprise-class performance and longevity to SSDs made with cost-effective commodity MLC flash, and that’s exactly what has happened,” said Michael Raam, President and CEO for SandForce. “SSD manufacturers building products for enterprise, client, and industria