IBLOG SPACE

Orange UK has confirmed launch details for the Motorola ATRIX , which will be landing as a carrier exclusive in early May. Available free on agreements from £35 ($57) per month and above, the dual-core ATRIX’s HD Multimedia Dock and notebook-like Lapdock will also be on offer. The Lapdock – which has a full-sized keyboard, 11.6-inch screen and battery – will be priced at £299.99, though subsidized on certain tariffs (and business users will get it free with the ATRIX in certain deals). As for the HD Multimedia Dock, that will be offered with a remote control and a USB keyboard/mouse set as part of the “Work and Play Kit”, normally priced at £129.99 but £49.99 throughout May. Upgrading Orange subscribers will get the Work and Play Kit bundled free, meanwhile. If you’re still on the fence about the handset, check out our full ATRIX 4G review . Press Release: Orange Unveils Pricing And Availability For Motorola ATRIX™ The World’s Most Powerful Smartphone Motorola ATRIX™ will be available

Samsung is looking to challenge Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 with a significant processor push that will take chipset speeds to 2GHz and broaden availability across manufacturers. According to a Samsung exec quoted in the Maeli Business Newspaper , the company intends “to release a 2GHz dual core CPU-equipped smartphone by next year,” going on to suggest that the handset “will have the data processing capacities of a regular PC.” The chip responsible for that hitherto-unseen grunt is still in development, but may not be limited solely to Samsung’s own range of handsets. Instead, the company is believed to be considering making Exynos chips available for other manufacturers, in an attempt to take on Snapdragon and Tegra 2 as the mainstays of the smartphone SoC industry. Exynos is the new branding for Hummingbird , announced back in February 2011, and builds on Samsung’s Cortex-A9 expertise. Recently the company confirmed it would be overclocking the Galaxy S II from 1GHz

Having been spotted in the wilds over the weekend, the Samsung Galaxy S Android 2.3 Gingerbread update has now splashed down in the UK. Carrier Vodafone is seemingly the first to offer the new firmware, which brings the updated Android keyboard, UI and other enhancements to the Super AMOLED smartphone. The software is released via KIES, Samsung’s PC app for managing handsets, with an OTA notification if the global release is anything to go by. We’re currently updating KIES to see if our open-market generic Galaxy S is ready to play with Gingerbread; let us know how you get on with the install in the comments.

HTC hasn’t been short on new smartphone launches this year – the HTC Sensation most recently, the HTC EVO 3D last month, and then five new phones back at MWC 2011 – but Windows Phone has been conspicuous by its absence. According to a new, leaked promo caught by Pocketnow , however, HTC is readying a beastly photo-focused Windows Phone handset with a whopping 16-megapixel camera. Video after the cut Full specifications of the smartphone are unknown, beyond the high-resolution camera and a dual-LED flash. The smartphone pictured looks just like the Android-powered HTC Desire S only with Windows Phone buttons; that could be a placeholder, or it might be that HTC is looking to borrow the Desire S’ slick styling for its new device. Such a route has been seen before, with the Windows Mobile-based HTC HD mini being repurposed as the HTC Aria . Of course, there’s more to a camera than the core sensor – it doesn’t matter how many pixels you can capture if you’re grabbing them through sho

Want an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer ? If you answered yes, it looks like you weren’t the only one; according to ASUS , a combination of “unprecedented demand” and the requirement to do unspecified “additional testing” has meant that the first UK batches of the Honeycomb tablet have sold out. What impact that will have on the US launch remains to be seen. ASUS says that “the UK is the global launch partner and will continue to see the largest volumes of stock globally” which certainly implies that other regions, like the US, may have to wait a little longer before they can grab the transforming tablet. Exact release dates for the US are yet to be confirmed. The new wave of stock – including both the tablet section and the battery-equipped keyboard – is expected in the UK at the end of this month or in early May. More on the Eee Pad Transformer in our hands-on report . ASUS Eee Pad Transformer demo: Press Release: Eee Pad Transformer — stock availability update APR 18, 2011 After unpreceden

Want an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer ? If you answered yes, it looks like you weren’t the only one; according to ASUS , a combination of “unprecedented demand” and the requirement to do unspecified “additional testing” has meant that the first UK batches of the Honeycomb tablet have sold out. What impact that will have on the US launch remains to be seen. ASUS says that “the UK is the global launch partner and will continue to see the largest volumes of stock globally” which certainly implies that other regions, like the US, may have to wait a little longer before they can grab the transforming tablet. Exact release dates for the US are yet to be confirmed. The new wave of stock – including both the tablet section and the battery-equipped keyboard – is expected in the UK at the end of this month or in early May. More on the Eee Pad Transformer in our hands-on report . ASUS Eee Pad Transformer demo: Press Release: Eee Pad Transformer — stock availability update APR 18, 2011 After unpreceden

Want an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer ? If you answered yes, it looks like you weren’t the only one; according to ASUS , a combination of “unprecedented demand” and the requirement to do unspecified “additional testing” has meant that the first UK batches of the Honeycomb tablet have sold out. What impact that will have on the US launch remains to be seen. ASUS says that “the UK is the global launch partner and will continue to see the largest volumes of stock globally” which certainly implies that other regions, like the US, may have to wait a little longer before they can grab the transforming tablet. Exact release dates for the US are yet to be confirmed. The new wave of stock – including both the tablet section and the battery-equipped keyboard – is expected in the UK at the end of this month or in early May. More on the Eee Pad Transformer in our hands-on report . ASUS Eee Pad Transformer demo: Press Release: Eee Pad Transformer — stock availability update APR 18, 2011 After unpreceden

Philips may be producing some of the more curious HDTVs around at the moment – its Cinema 21:9 range of super-widescreen sets, such as the most recent Gold model , are particularly eye-catching – but it seems converting that curiosity to purchases continues to escape the company. According to Philips’ latest financial release [pdf link], it will be spinning off TV production to a joint-business with existing partner display manufacturer TPV , leaving it with just 30-percent of the company. “Finding a solution for our Television business was our top priority and we strongly believe that the intended 30% / 70% joint venture with TPV that was announced today will enable a return to profitability for the Television business, and an increased portfolio focus for Philips in health and well-being. Philips has been active in the TV industry for many decades and the long-term strategic partnership with TPV shows our commitment to the continuity of Philips televisions for our consumers and trad

Of ASUS’ recent tablet announcements, it’s the Eee Pad Transformer that has caught most attention here at SlashGear; still, there’s the Eee Pad Slider waiting in the wings as well. According to an Intel spec sheet – since pulled – spotted by Liliputing , however, the Slider may be coming in two forms: the Tegra 2 version we’ve already seen , and a model using Intel’s Atom Oak Trail CPUs. According to the press page Intel published last week at the launch of the new Atom Z670 processor , the Eee Pad Slider is among the various tablets to use the Oak Trail chip. Intel yanked the page, but neither it nor ASUS has given any official comment as to whether the Slider’s inclusion was a mistake or a premature confirmation. Whether a Z670 Slider would keep the Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS already shown on the Eee Pad, or be intended to allow ASUS to switch to Windows 7, remains to be seen. A Windows-based Slider would be better positioned to take on Samsung’s Sliding PC 7 at potentially a lower

HP is apparently readying two self-branded media download stores for launch with the incoming HP TouchPad , the HP Music Store and HP Movie Store. According to an official presentation unofficially shared with PreCentral , the Music and Movie Stores won’t just offer on-device downloads, but use a “smart algorithm” to handle intelligent caching. While all of the content bought will be stored in an online cloud locker, that intelligence will try to make sure that the music users are most likely to want to listen to is cached to the device as well. The streaming system is also expected to support HP’s smartphones, though it’s expected that it will require webOS 3.0. Palm had previously partnered with Amazon for the Amazon MP3 Store, which was preloaded on the Pre and other smartphones. This new system, however, allows HP more flexibility in their media partnerships, as well as better fitting multimedia content into the overall Synergy strategy.

Samsung is reportedly looking to dump its hard-drive business, in an attempt to refocus in areas of stronger growth such as flash storage, in which the company has seen recent wins from industry heavyweights like Apple. According to the WSJ ‘s source, Samsung is hoping to sell its traditional hard-drive business for $1.5bn, in a move that would leave it focusing on solid-state drives instead. According to the WSJ, Seagate was potentially interested in the platter-drive side of Samsung’s business, but no deal has been finalized. Samsung will apparently accept under $1bn, the insider claims, though the company has declined to comment on the reports. Meanwhile, what are believed to be Samsung’s mSATA “blade” SSDs have been spotted in recent MacBook Air models, differing from the original Toshiba Blade X-gale flash storage first found inside the aluminum ultraportable . According to Anandtech [ via 9to5Mac], that could add up to a surprise boost of speed for the newer machines: Samsung’s