IBLOG SPACE

The iPhone 5 rumor mill continues to churn through leaks, speculations and our mortal souls, with word this morning that September may not be the launch month after all. Despite multiple sources claiming September as the likely release window and that AT&T was readying staff for just that, a new nameless tipster has told AllThingsD that we shouldn’t expect the fifth-gen Apple handset until sometime in October. “I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks,” the source is quoted as saying, “but it’s not for an iPhone launch.” The original leak suggested that AT&T was pushing to get all staff training complete by early September, in time for a high-profile event; that seemed even more likely, given Apple itself had hinted at the possibility of a big September release during its financial call last month. The new source said October would be the actual release month for the iPhone 5, though declined to give a specific date. Further insiders suggested it wo

There is some bad news surfacing today about the anticipated game Diablo III from Blizzard. Blizzards is making fundamental changes to the way the game will be played and how items in the game are purchased and traded. One of the changes being made to the new title is that no mods will be allowed. That means none of the custom games that we generally see with titles like Diablo III. The move to make any mods to the game forbidden is blamed on security. The use of bots or mods is expressly forbidden in the terms of use. One of the changes that isn’t that surprising is that the game is online only. You will not be able to play the game offline. Dial up users are doomed and there is no more building up a character offline and taking it online after you learn the ropes of the game play. Noobs that come around after the game is well established will be cannon fodder for the higher ranks. The game will also see the end of your ability to gold farm for loot to buy the powerful weapons you nee

Google is doing well with its Chrome browser in Britain. The browser has apparently racked up a bunch of users in Britain. The browser grabbed up about 22% of all web surfers in the UK and was able to squeeze by Firefox to grab the number two spot in browsers in the UK. As in many areas, Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser in Britain, but IE is losing ground to other browsers like Chrome. The fourth most popular browser in Britain is Safari with about 9% of the web users in the country. Part of the reason for the uptick in use for Chrome is the commercials that Google runs on the TV in Britain. Apparently, Chrome is the first Google product to be advertised in Britain on TV. However, The Guardian attributes much of the success of the browser to the speed it offers. Lars Bak is the engineer that is responsible for the speed of Chrome and he thinks the browser could be faster still. It’s good to see Google is working still to improve Chrome. Right now Chrome is the third

Foxconn has been making a bunch of Apple gear for a long time now. The company has hoards of workers in China that build iPhones, iPads, and a bunch of other gear for Apple, Sony, and Nokia in what is often alleged to be harsh conditions. The company was besieged at one point by a rash of workers jumping from the building to their deaths. The company has also had problems with leaks of new products ahead of launch. Foxconn has apparently decided that people are too much trouble so it is looking to replace some of the human workers with robots. The number of robots is impressive to say the least. Foxconn is eyeing a million robots in its factories in the next three years. Foxconn says that the move is to cut the rising labor expense and improve the efficiency of the production line. The robots will be used to do simple tasks like spraying, welding, and assembling that are currently performed by humans. Right now the company has 10,000 robots in place and plans to increase that to 300,00

Best Buy’s Insignia brand of TVs blessed with the TiVo interface and streaming functionality have been revealed, offering access to YouTube, Netflix, Facebook and more, but without demanding a TiVo subscription. The newInsignia Connected TV range will kick off with two models initially – $499 for a 32-inch set, and $699 for a 42-inch version – each supporting 1080p Full HD and 120Hz refresh rates, and using LED backlighting. There’s also Audyssey and SRS sound processing, and integrated support for Rocketfish wireless sound, promising uncompressed digital audio input to the TV or output to speakers. Connectivity includes the usual variety of HDMI, composite, component and others, and there’s a remote in the box too. The most interesting part, though, is the software, and while the new Insignia sets won’t function as TiVo DVRs, they do get access to streaming services. Netflix, CinemaNow, YouTube, Pandora and Napster are supported, assuming you have the relevant accounts, and there are

HTC’s promised Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for the original Desire has been released, though it’s not the simple OTA upgrade we’re now used to. Heavily modified so as to fit the memory confines of the Desire – which had originally prompted HTC to cancel the update, only changing its mind after owner outcry - the Gingerbread ROM has been stripped of several HTC apps, the official Facebook app and even all of the wallpapers beyond the default choice. HTC will be offering the missing apps separately, as well as the wallpapers, and the Facebook app will be available to download from the Android Market. Any operator customizations previously present have also been stripped away, and HTC warns that SMS/MMS may not work post-update; we’ve a feeling that’s because the company’s engineers may have taken out the default settings list to save more space, which would simply be a case of re-entering them, but it could be a sign of something more limiting. That, perhaps, is why HTC is only recomm

If you hadn’t realized, we’re waiting on a touchscreen Nokia, and that’s just what the Finns have given us today: unfortunately, the new device is the Nokia 500, a Symbian Anna based phone, rather than the N9 or “Sea Ray“. Still dressed in the old-fashioned Nokia styling, rather than the new polycarbonate slickness of the MeeGo handset, the 500 at least sees a speed boost with a 1GHz processor. That may not sound much in the scheme of dual-core 1.2GHz Android uber-phones, but Symbian has always been light on its processor demands. Even high-end flagships, like the E7 and N8, made do with more humble chips coasting along at 680MHz. The obvious casualty on the 500 would be the battery, then, but Nokia reckons users will see 5-7hrs of talktime, over 450hrs of standby or up to 35hrs of music playback. Other specs include a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen running at 640 x 360, a 5-megapixel camera on the back, 2GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. Connectivity includes pentaband

An “upcoming releases” flyer for the UK arm of retailer Blockbuster has seemingly confirmed the release date of the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s upcoming replacement to the PSP. The document, forwarded to IGN by an anonymous UK gamer, suggests that the Vita will drop on October 28 2011, in the UK at least, in both WiFi-only and 3G + WiFi forms. All Sony will say is that the Vita is on course for a “phased global release” this holiday season, though has declined to be any more specific than that. It’s also unclear whether that means all regions will see the PS Vita on shelves in time for Christmas 2011, or if some will have to wait until early in the new year. The latter seemed to be indicated by some Amazon pre-order reports back in June. Sony officially confirmed the PlayStation Vita back at E3 2011 in June. The handheld – which until then had been known by its internal codename, the Sony NGP - has a 5-inch OLED touchscreen, a touchpad-style controller surface on the back panel, and vario

Google is rolling out the ability to “star” posts in Google+, as part of the company’s continued tweaks of the new social network. The option – which is not currently available on all accounts, but which seemingly began to appear when users accessed Google+ on Sunday night – works much as it does in Gmail, keeping a list of starred posts for easier location later. Update: Unfortunately it looks like this is an extension, rather than an official update. More details after the cut. As well as the new star button, which is found just underneath the drop-down menu in the top right hand corner of each post, there is a “Starred” option added to the bottom of the circles list in the left menu list from which you can review them. The addition addresses a frequent criticism of Facebook, in that it can be difficult to return to a particularly useful or meaningful topic at a later date, without having to scroll through the timeline. There’s no word from Google as to when everybody will get acces

The latest Flash rival has arrived, and bizarrely it’s from Adobe itself. The company has launched Adobe Edge, currently in pre-beta, blending HTML5, JavaScript, CSS and more to create online animations and interactive gadgets. Described as building on the HTML5 output already present in Creative Suite 5.5, Edge creates HTML5-based content that will work not only in desktop browsers but in mobile browsers such as those found on Apple’s iOS-based iPhone and iPad. By looking to HTML5, Adobe could effectively bypass Apple’s moratorium on Flash support, which seems unlikely to lift any time soon. Although Flash is supported on recent Android devices, Google itself uses more HTML5 for its own web-apps, and online heavyweights such as Facebook are believed to be using the technology – instead of Flash – for things like the Facebook iPad app and the much-rumored Project Spartan. Edge consists of various drawing and text tools, into which SVG, PNG, JPG and GIF graphics can be imported. A timel

If you’ve been following Nintendo news as of late, you know that the company is in trouble. During its last-reported quarter, its revenue slid considerably, it posted a loss, and hardware sales plummeted. In order to revive the ailing 3DS, Nintendo was forced to cut its price from $249.99 to $169.99. With all these troubles, I can’t help but wonder if it’s time to sound the alarm on Nintendo. At this point, the company is hard-pressed to find a single business unit that’s operating even close to where it should be. And if it can’t jumpstart 3DS sales, there’s a good chance that Nintendo will find itself limping to the launch of the Wii Unext year. "Sony and Microsoft will have the luxury of seeing the Wii U in action" Speaking of the Wii U, I’m not so convinced that it has what it takes to be a success. I think that the device’s controller will be a standout feature that will attract a host of consumers in the short-term. And its graphical capabilities should appeal more to t