IBLOG SPACE

LG has announced a new premium 3D TV that has some nice features. The new set is called the LW980S and it uses advances CINEMA 3D tech from LG and has a NANO Full LED backlit screen. One of the coolest features of the set of those that are looking for 3D capability is that the TV uses passive glasses. That means you won’t have to buy those expensive and bulky active glasses. The passive glasses also don’t have to be plugged in to charge. The set is “Flicker-Free” certified buy Europe’s TUV and Intertek testing agencies. That means the set will be easier on the eyes and have great image quality. LG claims that the set has wide viewing angles as well making it easier to watch from different parts of the room. LG doesn’t offer all the hard tech specs on the set at this time. It does note that the TV uses the NANO Full LED panel that has a thin film printed with tiny dots to more evenly disperse the light across the screen for clearer and smoother images. The TV has a TruMotion 400Hz refre

ASUS’ successor to the Eee Pad Transformer is due in October, according to the latest leaks from the Taipei supply chain, with the company keen to commercialize on the success of the first-gen Honeycomb tablet. To avoid the manufacturing shortages that saw production unable to keep up with demand first time around, DigiTimes reports, ASUS has contracted two touchscreen suppliers rather than the original one. Specifications for the Eee Pad Transformer 2 are still uncertain, though earlier rumors suggested that ASUS would be using NVIDIA’s next-gen quadcore Kal-El ”Tegra 3″ chipset to offer a significant power boost over the existing Tegra 2 model. That SoC would apparently be running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the next major update of the open-source platform. Even with a new model on the horizon, ASUS still expects demand for the current Transformer to boom. Having shipped around 400,000 units in Q2 2011, company estimates are reportedly targeting 1m units in Q3. At the same time exis

Nokia reportedly has one further MeeGo device in the pipeline, set to follow the Nokia N9. The Nokia MeeGo developer team is still active, NetbookNews‘ source inside the company tells them, and preparing at least one more device running the open-source OS, though it’s unclear whether that will be another smartphone or a MeeGo-based tablet. Previous Nokia comments and roadmaps for MeeGo, which suggested a range of devices were on the cards, have led to speculation that this second tipped model to use to the platform will be a tablet. MeeGo v1.2, with support for tablets – as well as netbooks and in-car systems – was released back in May. Still, those roadmaps were formulated well in advance of Nokia’s decision to switch to Windows Phone, and in the aftermath MeeGo was relegated as a lab experiment rather than something the Finnish company expected to be its long-term salvation. Our own hands-on time with the N9 left us impressed with the OS and keen to see more devices running it, thoug

As expected, HP has begun pushing out its OTA TouchPad update, bringing webOS 3.0.2 to the 9.7-inch tablet. The new firmware boosts performance and reliability, HP claims, in addition to boosting attachment rendering speed in the email app and tweaking how punctuation is automatically added in when you type words like “can’t.” There are also speed boosts to the calendar app, streamlining the process when adding new events and searching through existing appointment. Album art in the music app is rejigged, and there’s reportedly less chance of skipping when the 1.5GHz dual-core processor is occupied elsewhere. Similarly the photo/video viewer performance has been smoothed out, and you can now set desktop wallpaper directly from the gallery. There’s a full changelist here, and the OTA update shouldn’t delete any of your data as it works its magic; if you want to know exactly what’s going to happen, HP has laid out all the details here. For more on the HP TouchPad, check out our full revie

Samsung has moved to clarify the situation regarding sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and the agreement it came to with Apple earlier this week, denying that the settlement will delay the launch of the Android slate. According to Samsung’s official comment, AusDroid reports, the “mutual agreement” between the Korean firm and Apple only covers sales of the US version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, a variant it never intended to offer in Australia. Instead, Samsung will push ahead with the new Australian variant, which presumably differs in certain specific ways so as to be free from overlap with the contentious patents Apple is complaining about. The exact nature of the differences between them has not been specified at this stage, though Samsung isn’t the only firm to have modified its Android line-up so as to be less legally uncertain. HTC is also believed to have modified its 2012 range so as to limit its potential damages. Apple Inc. filed a complaint with the Federal Court of Aus

Finally all of you Skype lovers out there can bring Skype to the fullest with the Skype for iPad app released just today on Apple’s App Store, available for download now for free. This version of Skype is built specifically for iPad, able to call, video call, on instant message anyone back and forth using Skype’s easiest to use interface yet! Skype Credit will work as well, allowing users to call mobile devices as well as landlines for what Skype Software notes are “really low rates.” You can join Skype from your iPad or sign straight into your account, whichever applies to you. If a user already has a Skype account, their Skype contacts will already be synced when they first sign in on the iPad app. If instead they’ve got a Skype account with no contacts (or if they’ve got any amount of contacts, of course,) they can add new contacts with a few taps of the screen. One touch call, video call, or messaging is set up instantly, and moving through recent calls and instant messages in one’

Apple’s much anticipated iOS 5 and iCloud, unveiled at WWDC 2011, are promised for a September launch. And with only one month away, Apple has opened the doors to its iCloud.com web interface for developers. The website launch is still in beta and revealed not only several web apps, including Mail, Calendar, and Contacts, as well as an interesting iOS-based interface, but also revealed the storage and pricing options for the upcoming iCloud service. When the iCloud was announced, it was said to offer up to 5GB of free storage in the cloud, but little was said about whether the service would offer additional storage, and if so, how much that would cost. Today, we find out that the there will be three additional storage options for iCloud users, which are added on top of the 5GB of free storage. For $20 a year, you can add an extra 10GB of storage for a total of 15GB in the iCloud. For $40, you can add another 20GB, while $100 will allot you an extra 50GB. Additionally, the images stored

The legal battle between HTC and Apple continues with a new lawsuit filed in the UK. HTC Europe has filed a complaint against Apple with the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division in London. The complaint was originally filed on July 29, but the exact details of the case have yet to be revealed. Just two weeks ago, the US International Trade Commission (ITC), in a preliminary ruling, found HTC to beinfringing on two of Apple’s patents. This was after Apple filed its second complaint against HTC seeking to block the import of the infringing products, which include both smartphones and tablets. HTC has since also filed a complaint against Apple with the ITC, which has found Apple to be infringing on the S3 patents that HTC recently purchased. However, those patents only affect Apple’s desktop Mac platform and does not affect its more lucrative mobile iOS platform. This leaves very little negotiating chips for HTC to reach a settlement with Apple. And although HTC has figured out workar

Seagate is now offering an Android app for its GoFlex Satellite WiFi-enabled hard drives. The battery-powered external hard drives are designed to be ultra portable and to work seamlessly with your mobile devices, including both smartphones and tablets. But up until now, only an iOS app was available. Users of the GoFlex Satellite hard drive have been able to easily access files on the drive via a web interface, but now with an Android app, the process is even easier. But even without the apps, the hard drive itself is really neat as users can access it by being within the WiFi range of the device without needing to connect to the internet or a cellular network. Now with all the data throttling of “unlimited” data plans and the switch to pricier tiered data plans these days, the GoFlex Satellite could be a great solution. This is especially so for those that get dinged by data limits due to streaming large amounts of movies and other video content while on the go. Instead of streaming,

Microsoft and Nokia have announced that they are holding a joint event later this month in Cologne, Germany. The party is set for August 17 and promises “exciting actions and surprises” that will make it an evening to remember. Free food, free drinks, live act, and DJ, what else could you ask for? Well, maybe Nokia’s first Windows Phone Mango device? Microsoft’s Windows Phone Mango update was recently released to manufacturing, which supports a rumored September launch of various Mango devices. A Fujitsu-Toshiba handset with Mango has already been officially revealed, but it’s set for a Japan-only release. Nokia’s Mango device, codenamed the “Sea Ray” was leaked in June when Nokia CEO Stephen Elop unveiled the handset in an internal meeting. The device appears near identical to the Nokia N9 that runs on the MeeGo OS, featuring a sleek button-less front-face covered with gorilla glass on a pillow-shaped body sporting an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Another video of the Sea

Sony’s first entries into the tablet market are the codenamed S1 and S2 Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets. The company has already revealed them to the public with plenty of teaser videos and even a press preview, although most details on the tablets still remain a mystery. Today, however, some new information on these slates have emerged. According to CNET, a source familiar with the company’s plans for the S1 and S2 tablets, says that the duo will be available in both 16GB and 32GB models. The S1 tablet will have both a Wi-Fi-only model as well as a Wi-Fi and 3G model. The S2, however, will only come in a Wi-Fi and 3G capable model. Additionally, the source points out that the S1 will feature a 9.4-inch IPS display with TruBlack and Bravia display technologies as well as a full-sized SD card slot. And when probed about battery life, the source mentioned that the S1 is “comparable to the iPad 2.” Accessories such as a dock and at least one Bluetooth keyboard are planned for the tablet wit

New images of a fake iPhone 5 have surfaced that could hint at the design of the real deal. The pictured device is purported to be a clone of the iPhone 5, which means that it could be designed based on leaked specs within the industry. If so, the fake could be a preview of what to expect come September or October. The device isn’t even trying to pretend to be a leaked original, but instead, is openly a clone that goes for 699 Yuan or $108. It runs a JAVA-based OS, plays MP3s, connects via WiFi, and has a storage capacity of 64GB. It also has a camera and a flash with a body that’s only 7mm thick. Spec leaking in China certainly isn’t unheard of, even from the likes of Foxconn, considering what happened with the iPad 2, when accurately designed cases for the tablet were available before its launch. So, a mockup or clone of the actual next-gen iPhone could indeed be produced to accurately represent the real thing. However, unlike the recently revealed iPhone 5 silicone cases, this clone

Verizon is now offering a special discount for customers that purchase a smartphone with a new 2-year contract between August 1 and 31. The discount is for $50 off a 3G or 4G tablet purchased at the same time. This combo package applies to all Android tablets offered through Verizon as well as the iPad 2, with the only exceptions being the original iPad and the WiFi Galaxy Tab 10.1 It’s not surprising that Verizon is ramping up its promotional efforts for data-heavy devices after recentlydiscontinuing its unlimited data plans. It’s not clear whether the discount only applies to data-connected tablets as opposed to just buying a full-priced tablet outright, although the former would make the most sense to lock in more data plans. The offer is available to both new and existing customers that are eligible for upgrades. Verizon also made sure to point out that the promotion is available to small businesses as well as its own employees. The promotion will be especially timely for Samsung w

The Apple TV set-top box is getting a major update today with the addition of two new features. Users can now purchase and stream TV shows directly from iTunes via Apple TV and they can also playback Vimeo video content. However, the update is only available for the second-generation Apple TV. The iTunes TV Show streaming feature should be a welcome addition for Apple TV users, who have so far been restricted to renting TV shows from ABC and Fox. The new feature lets users purchase and stream content directly from the media hub, while also allowing them to access and stream content that they’ve previously purchased from iTunes. The Vimeo support now lets users access the portal via the internet section of the media hub, similar to how YouTube videos can be accessed. Users not only can browse and playback Vimeo videos, but they can also access their Vimeo account inbox and mark videos for watching later. If you own a second-generation Apple TV, you should be able to download and install

Several gaming publishers have been granted license today to release a new video preview of Diablo III, one of the most widely anticipated and longest-waited-for games in the history of MMORPGs, in its beta form. This Preview features each of the different playable character classes including the classic Barbarian followed by the Witch Doctor, Demon Hunter, Wizard, and Monk. This video mainly shows the masses of different spells and abilities available in this newest installment of Diablo, but also goes into Followers – the NPC allies you’ll be able to work with in your journey through the environments overrun with demons in your journey towards the end. We got a glimpse earlier today at what we’d be working with in Diablo III as far as new features in the game, including real money trading, a PVP mode, and the complete absence of an offline mode. What this video shows off is how very similar this game will be to its predecessors in both gameplay and overall look while at the same time

Last month the generous folks over at carrier Three offered one SlashGear reader the opportunity to take away HTC’s latest superphone, the Sensation. Taking part was easy – just heading over to Google+ and getting involved in the conversation there – and now we have a winner. Getting up to dual-core speed with the HTC Sensation is Andrew Jackson, who was picked by the random generator and got back in touch with us earlier today. In fact, he tells us he’ll be giving the smartphone to a friend who still languishes with an HTC Legend, and we can’t think of a better upgrade! If you weren’t lucky this time, fret not: we’re lining up more SlashGear giveaways for the very near future. And if you’re desperate for an HTC Sensation – and we can’t blame you – you can find all of Three’s deals on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone here.

Sony may have denied it had plans to imminently launch a new range of ereaders, but the company will need to move fast seeing as how supplies of the existing range are apparently exhausted. According to the official SonyStyle store, the Reader Daily Edition, Reader Touch and Reader Pocket are all out of stock, having been recently discounted across the board. That means, if you want a Sony branded ereader, you’ll have to look to resellers since the company’s own cupboards are bare. Last month, rumors circulated that Sony was planning to refresh its Reader line-up ahead of the S1 and S2 tablets, with two new models priced between $180 and $300. WiFi was expected – presumably to be used to automatically download daily newspaper and digital magazine content, as with the existing Reader Daily Edition – though there was no mention of 3G connectivity. Sony followed up those rumors with a semi-denial, saying that ”since we have historically released new Readers every year since our initial l

Ex-Nokia smartphone chief Anssi Vanjoki has expressed his horror at the current trajectory of the Finnish firm, suggesting that “my hair stands on end as I follow Nokia.” Speaking to newspaper Kauppalehti in the aftermath of Nokia’s dreary Q2 2011 financial results announcement, Vanjoki suggested that “no company can have its golden age last forever.” Nokia revealed it had suffered an operating loss of €487m ($692m) and net sales of €9,275m in the three month period, down 7-percent from Q2 2010. What income it did see was boosted in no small way by patent settlements, with Apple believed to have contributed handsomely to the €430m of licensing-related income that quarter. Vanjoki was a frontrunner for the Nokia CEO position after former chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was ousted from the firm. However, the Nokia Board opted for ex-Microsoft exec Stephen Elop – who promptly led the company into the loving arms of Windows Phone 7 – and Vanjoki resigned, claiming “the time has come to seek new

Hulu has been in the news lately with rumors swirling of some of the biggest names in the tech world eyeing the purchase of the video streaming site. Perhaps the most cash rich name in the rumored purchase hat is Apple. Hulu has now been accused of patent infringement by Rovi Corp. Rovi alleges that the program guide on Hulu infringes on its patents. Rovi is claiming that it obtained the patents in 2008 when it purchased Gemstar-TV Guide International company. This is the company behind streaming services like Blockbuster On Demand and CinemaNow. Rovi is already licensing the tech to Apple, Microsoft, Comcast and other companies. Rovi is claiming that Hulu’s use of the patents is damaging its business. Rovi is seeking compensation for the lost licensing fees Hulu hasn’t paid and triple that amount in damages. Hulu has offered no official comment at this time. The suit was filed in Delaware. I wonder if this will affect the potential purchase of Hulu.

LEGO + Star Wars + Remote control = Awesome. A dude going by the name Ickelpete has apparently been working on the bot of awesome you see here since last year. The dude has work in progress pictures on his flickr page that go back to last summer showing him at work on various parts of this little droid. The finished product appears to be life-size. It’s made out of a bunch of different bricks and has all the little touches for the movie droid. It’s too bad it can’t project a tiny Leia on the ground too. Its remote controlled and has a middle tripod leg that comes out of the droids belly when it needs to motivate and it can then move forwards and backwards. The dome can also twist and turn. This may be the coolest LEGO project in the Star Wars universe. It even has flashing lights on the dome. Pete constructed the robot for the LEGO Space event at the National Space Center UK. I hope he won a prize because the droid is epic. Popout

The teenage LulzSec hacker arrested by British police last week has been released on bail this morning, despite investigations discovering the personal details of 750,000 individuals on computers seized from his home. Jake Davis, who is believed to be LulzSec spokesperson Topiary, was granted bail after the judge took into account his age, clean record and the “considerable shock” of his arrest and the media’s reaction to it, The FT reports. Davis appeared at the court in London wearing Neo-style sunglasses and clutching a copy of Free Radicals: the Secret Anarchy of Science . The exact details of the data Davis was storing on a Dell laptop and 100GB external drive have not been revealed, though are said to include email address and documents. Among the charges included involvement with the Sony PlayStation Network hack, the Serious Organized Crime Agency hack, and attacks on newspaper websites operated by News International. In his defense, Davis’ lawyer suggested that the hacker was,

If you are a HP TouchPad owner that has been wondering where that WebOS update that was supposed to be here by the end of July, the wait might be over today. HP is supposedly set to start rolling out the update to all users. The tip that the update was starting the roll out today came via Twitter. The person from HP that tweeted the news about the update was Richard Kerris, GP head of developer relations. Kerris simply tweets that the update was starting to roll out this morning. We don’t know what the update will bring, but we suspect it will be an attempt to address the issues we saw in our review and other things that early adopters complained about. Noted issues include stuttery video performance, issues with auto-correction, device rotation, messaging, email rendering and web browsing. Pretty much everything needed tweaked. Presumably, there will be a change log with the update when it hits today and we will have a clear idea what the update changes. If you get the update, let us

Lindsay Boo Barrasse may well be the ideal geek girlfriend me thinks. She’s hot and she took it upon herself to construct a Princess Leia costume. Why did she make the costume you ask? Does it really matter? She’s hot and dressed like Princess Leia. Granted I would have been more impressed had she created the gold bikini Jaba made Leia wear. Still, Lindsay created a very cool costume and it is made out of duct tape. I assume the tall boots she already owned, they don’t appear to be cobbled together from tape. The trademark Princess Leia hair donuts are actual rolls of black duct tape on a headband of some sort. Lindsay topped the costume off with a toy laser gun and went out on the town. Check out all the photos to see the costume for yourself. If anyone knows Lindsay, ask her to get some gold duct tape and ping us with the follow-up Jaba costume.

If you have been thinking about getting a new iPhone you might want to wait a bit and see how things shake out. There are some rumors and a leaked screen shot from Radio Shack that suggest that the iPhone is about to get a price cut. Apple often slashes the price of older gear as it gears up to release the new replacement for the devices. All the rumors are pointing to a September launch for the iPhone 5 giving roughly a month before the launch is the rumor is accurate. The price of the current iPhone 4 being reduced would make sense in the face of the new device coming. The Radio Shack screen shows the 8GB 3GS for $19.99, the iPhone 4 16GB at $169.99, and the iPhone 4 32GB at $269.99. Target is also rumored to be cutting the prices of the smartphones and the cuts are very similar. Sources put Target’s iPhone 3GS at $19.99, the 16GB iPhone 4 at $149.99, and the 32GB iPhone 4 at $249.99. Obviously, the prices would be with a new contract. Another tip claims that you can trade in an iPho

The Nintendo 3DS has been in the news recently with the announcement from Nintendo that it was slashing the price of the console. The console dropped to $170 from the original price. Those that paid full price for the console will get free content to make up for the extra money spent. Nintendo has made another interesting announcement about the 3DS and the Wii U consoles. The portable and home console will both get the ability for paid item transactions for games. The new paid transaction model is supposed to land by the end of the year. The tip comes from Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata. Iwata says that Nintendo will be selective in the use of the tech for its own titles, but it is looking forward to being able to extend the life of a game via DLC. Iwata also again noted his concern over free to play games fearing that they would undermine the value of paid offerings. Iwata also notes that Nintendo is looking for e-Shop transactions to grow by five to ten percent from current levels over th

Networking researchers have used LED lighting to distribute Full HD movies to notebooks, smartphones and other devices, in a system that could join WiFi and PowerLine networks in shuttling high-speed data around the home and office. The optical WLAN co-opts white LEDs used for regular illumination to transmit data at up to 100 Mbit/s, by flickering it more rapidly than the human eye can see. It’s the handiwork of the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI in Berlin, Germany, where researchers have been looking at communications alternatives as part of the EU’s OMEGA Home Gigabit Access project. The lighting units – which rely on normal LEDs and a simple modulator to control the flickering – each have a roughly 90 square foot range, while any gadget wanting to receive the signal is outfitted with a simple photo diode. It’s not the first time we’ve seen LED lighting used for line-of-sight networking. Back in 2008, the US Science Foundation gave an $18.5

We have a ton of DIY projects that are really interesting rolling around the geeky tech world this month. I have already looked at a few of them recently and another one has caught my eye. If you ever wished you could just take control of President Obama and make home say what you want to hear for a change a this Obama speech keyboard is for you. The keyboard looks normal enough and the builder hacked it with samples of words from the president’s inaugural speech in 2009. When you press the keys, you get samples of the president’s voice saying each word. You can make him speak random gibberish if you want or you can attempt to string together actual sentences. It looks like both the white keys and the black keys have their own words strung together. I wonder what the president would say if you hit the keys in the order needed to play chopsticks. Check out the video below to see the presidential keyboard in use.

I really like to see the cool hacks and projects that people come up with using Arduino. We have seen everything from robots to this set of air drums using the Arduino system for control. The DIY guy behind this cool project is Maayan Migdal and he used Arduino and a MIDI device. The drumstick you see in the guys hands are section of wood cut from a garden rake. Each of the sticks has a USB port and an accelerometer as well. The stick in the left hand is for the hi-hat and the right stick has two modules that allow it to work for the snare drum and crash cymbals. The person also took care of the bass with air foot pedals using some hacked flip-flops. The flip-flops have a pair of sensors inside with the left foot handling the bass drum and the right has a light sensor for the hi-hat pedal. This set up is really cool. Check out the video below to see the system in action. This thing sort of reminds me of the Korg Wavedrum we saw back in April.

There is word coming from industry sources that points to Samsung gearing up for some new devices in the second half of 2011. According to one industry source, Samsung is buying a huge quantity of touch sensors that are used in the making of 4-inch AMOLED screens. Samsung has reportedly purchased 30 million of the touch sensors. The sensors are being ordered from Chunghwa Picture Tubes and other Taiwanese sources. The shipments of the sensors are said to start in the second half of the year. While the sensors are set to be used in 4-inch AMOLED screens Samsung is also ramping up to produce 7-inch AMOLED or possibly Super-AMOLED screens on its own 5.5G line in the second half of the year. Samsung showed off a prototype AMOLED at FPD-International 2010 with a resolution of 1024 x 600. Samsung has stated that it wants better resolution than that prototype could muster leading to suspicion that the screen that enters producing in the second half of this year will be a Super-AMOLED. These s