IBLOG SPACE

The rumors are flying all over the place about what Apple might have up its sleeve for the next iPad. We keep hearing rumors that there will be a smaller screen iPad called the iPad mini surface. We have also heard the rumor that the iPad mini will be cheaper, but not smaller. The latest rumor comes from the supply chain and claims that LG display and AU Optronics have both sent samples of screens to Apple according to the rumors. The screen samples are supposed to be 7.85-inches. This rumor bothers me on a couple levels. With the recent death of Steve jobs, who always said a 7-inch didn’t make a lot of sense would Apple roll out a smaller screen tablet? It wouldn’t be the first time Apple did something that Jobs said didn’t make sense or wouldn’t happen though. It would make more sense to us to see a tablet the same size as the current one with less storage and cheaper hardware. Apple has been throwing money at suppliers to get the price of the hardware inside down. Still, the sup

NTT DoCoMo hasn’t just confirmed that the Google Galaxy Nexus is coming in a few hours time, but apparently the specifications we can expect to see in the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset. According to what’s apparently a printed flyer distributed by the carrier, gpad.tv reports, he new flagship will indeed have a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display running at 1280 x 720 resolution, and be powered by a 1.2GHz TI OMAP4460 processor. There’s also said to be 1GB of RAM and 32GB of integrated ROM, while connectivity includes UMTS/WCDMA with up to 14.4Mbps downloads and 5.76Mbps uploads, WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. In a minor surprise, the primary camera is tipped to be a 5-megapixel unit (with 1080p HD video recording support), though it’s always worth remembering that there’s more to a good photo than how many megapixels you pack. We’re hoping Samsung has done some hard work on the optics system, though, to make the most of what the Galaxy Nexus has. Finally, there’s a 1.3-meg

The taping out of a new processor is one of the points on the map to full production of a new processor. This step has to be completed before the new processors can come to market. ARM and TSMC have announced that they have completed tape out the first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 multicore processor. Going to a smaller build process is very important to allowing processors to have better performance while producing less heat and consuming less power. Both ARM and TSMC have completed the implementation from RTL to tape out on the new processor in six months. The process was able to be completed so quickly thanks to the TSMC Open Innovation Platform 20nm design ecosystem, claims TSMC. The Cortex-A15 has low power consumption and high performance with an advanced feature set. The Cortex-A15 processor will be used in all sorts of products including smartphones, tablets, mobile computing, digital home products, and other devices. The test chip was implemented with a commercially available 20nm

This week Virgin Galactic officially opened its spaceport with a bizarre dedication event that had people hanging from the roof with ropes and dancing on the windows. You can see the bizarreness in the video at the bottom of the story. A group known as Project Bandaloop danced around on the glass sideways. It was a very bizarre display. Apparently, Sir Richard Branson even rappelled off the building. At least he didn’t dance on the glass. The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space is in New Mexico and the governor of New Mexico was on hand as well for the odd festivities. Part of the dedication included fly over demonstrations by WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo. Apparently, Branson and his kids Sam and Holly will be the first commercial passengers on SpaceShipTwo. The official name for the facility is Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space and that is a mouthful. I would have went with Mos Eisley.

I think many people are like me and since the mid to late 80′s have thought about Buick as the sort of car that grandparents would own. I haven’t seen anything that Buick makes that was appealing to me since the 1987 Grand National. Buick is trying to work its way out of the idea in younger people’s minds that it makes cars for old people. One of the ways it is doing that is by making cars that look and perform better. Buick is also working to get tech into the cars that younger and more tech savvy drivers demand. One of the tech items that Buick is adding to its cars is Pandora radio. Pandora will be featured in the Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse in 2012 and all 2013 models will have Pandora. The web radio service will be available to drivers using connectivity to their own smartphone. The Buick cars have a 7-inch or 8-inch touchscreen inside with high resolution. The driver can connect the smartphone to the screen and car via Bluetooth or USB. Once connected, the driver can access P

RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has defended the company’s compensation offer of free apps not cash for customers impacted by the BlackBerry outage last week, though has admitted RIM may still compensate carriers. “We’re very focused on these carriers and making sure they’re satisfied with the service operation” Balsillie told Bloomberg, “making sure we comply with all of our agreements with them and making sure we have their trust for the service going forward.” Some carriers had already committed to giving subscribers compensation for the downtime, despite RIM’s terms of service for BlackBerry Messenger and other functionality expressly denying any responsibility. It’s unclear what form the carrier compensation might take, though some sort of subsidy or payout to not only cover any costs incurred but to leave the operators feeling generally warm and fuzzy about RIM seem likely. Analysts previously estimated that the overall server fiasco could cost RIM in the region of $100m. As for the

I will say that of all the three Back to the future flicks my least favorite was definitely the third installment. I much prefer the original Back to the Future flick. Still, I always liked the DeLorean time machine that Doc Brown cooked up. The floating Mr. Fusion packing Delorean from the end of the original was my favorite. If you like the third installment where the DeLorean took Michael J Fox back to 1885 to save Doc Brown and you are loaded, you can own one of the cars actually used in the filming of the third film. A memorabilia shop in Hollywood has one of the three remaining DeLorean cars used in that third film and the car is up for auction. Apparently, there were seven of the cars used to film the movie and the one you can purchase was used in the 1955 drive-in movie scene. The car is up for auction with a price starting at $600,000. The proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

A new Netflix competitor, VDIO, is in the works by the same team originally responsible for Skype, and is currently in closed beta within the UK. Spotted by, and then confirmed to, GigaOm, VDIO is the handiwork of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the duo behind streaming music service Rdio and, according to the company, “ is run by a team with experience from Skype, Napster, Microsoft, TV Guide, and Apache.” The exact form that the VDIO service will take is unclear, however. Currently the site only offers a selection of animated loops from movies and TV shows licensed by Warner Bros., AMC, Showtime, Sony and Fox, suggesting VDIO has some impressive content deals already inked, together with a “Login using Facebook” button. Click that and, if you’re in the UK, you’ll be told that VDIO is “coming soon to the UK”; those outside of the UK will have to wait a little longer, with the company saying that “initially” the roll-out is limited. That’s perhaps a sensible move, given Netflix i

If I were rich, this is the system I would buy to play Battlefield 3 on. This thing has some of the most intense and realistic playing action I have ever seen. The player stands in a room with a dome wrap around screen surrounding them. The system has five HD resolution projectors, surround sound, and a freaking paintball gun inside. The lucky geeks at The Gadget Show in Britain got a chance to play a game on the thing. The player stands in the center of that room and walks around on an omni-directional treadmill so they stay in the center of the room. Whatever direction the player walks, that is where the character moves on screen. The gun the player holds fires the on screen bullets. The enemies on screen can also fight back and when you get shot, you actually get shot with a paintball gun. That way you can feel the pain when you get hit. Talk about cool. I want to play, but I prefer to skip the being shot with a paintball gun part.

If you are a fan of the T-Mobile Network and you have, your sights set on a new tablet with a low price you want to keep your eyes on the Huawei MediaPad. This little tablet has turned up on the FCC website and is headed to T-Mo. The tablet has some nice features, but the best feature may be the price said to be $200 on contract. The tablet uses HSPA+ and 3G connectivity getting you on the faux 4G network. The processor is a 1.2GHz unit and that tablet rocks a 7-inch display. The screen resolution is 1280 x 800 and it has dual cameras of unknown quality and HDMI output. The operating system is Android 3.2 Honeycomb. This sounds like a solid smaller screen tablet offering for those that like media on the go. The normal price for the tablet is said to be $500, making it overpriced for today’s market off contract. The Kindle Fire tablet will sell for the same $200 with no contract but lacks 3G connectivity. The launch date for the MediaPad is unknown, but it should be soon.

Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has prematurely confirmed Google and Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, the first Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone, set to be officially revealed in a few hours time in Hong Kong. According to the carrier’s tweet, NTT DoCoMo will be “among the first” to launch the Galaxy Nexus, expected to take place at some point in November. Unfortunately there’s no specification detail included, which means we only have the previously leaked and rumored data to go on. That’s suggested a 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD display, curved chassis and 1.5GHz dual-core processor, along with NFC, high-speed cellular connectivity and an 8-megapixel camera with Full HD video recording. NTT DoCoMo does have an LTE network, so it’s possible the Nexus Prime could pack 4G too. There have been rumors of a Verizon exclusivity deal in the US, though so far unconfirmed, but that might imply that the Nexus Prime would be a World Phone, like the iPhone 4S, combining CDMA and GSM/UMTS supp

Microsoft could one day encourage Windows Phone owners to stroke their hardware more discretely, if a Microsoft Research project called PocketTouch spawns a commercial system. Intended to allow smartphone users to control their devices without removing them from a pocket or bag, PocketTouch uses a custom capacitive touch sensor that can track gestures through fabric: by coupling it with Microsoft’s existing Ink digital handwriting recognition system, and a range of preset movements, incoming calls can be quietly responded to with SMS messages and PMP functionality controlled. The project is the handiwork of Scott Saponas, Chris Harrison and Hrvoje Benko, who tested their touch sensor case with 25 commonly-used fabrics. Each material has a different impact on the accuracy of the sensor, but with some tweaking PocketTouch proved capable of recognizing a handwritten message traced out by a fingertip one letter at a time. Software running on the smartphone, meanwhile, takes those input

An Apple supplier has warned that unexpected factory downtime could well impact MacBook Air production, as well as possibly supplies of certain HTC smartphones. The manufacturer, Chinese firm Catcher Technology Co., was forced to temporarily close a production facility after nearby residents made complaints of a “strange odor” seemingly coming from the plant, the WSJ reports. “Shipments to our customers will inevitably be affected” company president Allen Horng confirmed in a press conference. “We already asked [customers] to make adjustments to their [casings] procurement” Horng continued, though whether Apple and others will be able to find alternative supplies at short notice is unclear. Apple’s MacBook Air ultraportable uses a specially milled unibody aluminum chassis that allows the company to significantly reduce bulk and weight; a similar milling process has also been featured in some high-end smartphones from HTC. Both companies may struggle to keep to their own production

Canon has revealed its latest DSLR, the Canon EOS-1D X, an 18-megapixel camera packing dual DIGIC 5+ processors and Full HD video recording. Weatherproof and targeting professional photographers, the EOS-1D X replaces Canon’s existing EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS-1D Mark IV DSLRs, adding 61-Point High Density Reticular AF, 14-bit A/D data conversion and 12fps continuous shooting at full resolution (in JPEG mode). There’s also a new Multiple Exposure feature, which captures up to nine shots and combines them into a composite image with the best elements of each, all in-camera. It’s also possible to use the same system with a previously-taken RAW image file. Phase detection AF and face-detection are both supported, and exposure is controlled using a huge 252 zones for general metering or 35 zones for low-light metering. The regular ISO range is 100 to 51,200, but the EOS-1D X offers ISO 50 and 102,400 at H1 and 204,800 at H2 for specialist use. Canon has reworked the UI, including shifti

Though Hulu’s owners and directors weren’t satisfied with bids from big players like Yahoo, DirecTV and Amazon and ended up scrapping their plans to sell the company, that doesn’t mean they’re resting on their laurels. The various figures in control of Hulu are considering an initial public offering, putting the three-year-old company in direct competition with other premium video services. Hulu tried an IPO last year when it was evaluated at $2 billion, but plans fell through. An IPO would be odd for such a young company – for example, the earliest estimates for a Facebook IPO are hovering around 2013. That says nothing of Hulu’s unusual structure: the company is jointly owned by News Corp (Fox), Disney (ABC), and Providence Equity Partners, and run by its own directors and executives. That said, t might be just the ticket for a relatively small company competing in a hot market. An infusion of cash could help it stave off aggressive moves from Netflix and Amazon, while still keepin

If you needed any more evidence that Amazon is building its own digital media empire, here it is. The New York Times reports that the online retail giant will publish over 120 books this quarter alone, both on its Kindle e-book platform and traditional physical copies. That puts it in the odd position of competing with some of its biggest suppliers, the traditional publishing houses that have been around for decades. These aren’t self-publishing hobbyists or first-time authors, either – Timothy Ferriss, best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek is among them. A memoir by Penny Marshall is rumored to have cost $800,000 in rights alone, a sum that Amazon paid happily. Reports from the industry indicate that the company is aggressively headhunting authors from established publishers, leading an agent to comment that “Everyone’s afraid of Amazon.” And why shouldn’t they be? With the number one e-book reader on the planet and apps servicing hundreds of millions of smartphones, tablets

After posting some downright amazing sales numbers earlier today, free adoption of the iPhone 4S’ most important addition has reached its own milestone. One out of every three Apple devices across the iPad, iPhone and iPod lines is currently running the new iOS 5, at least among those devices that qualify for it. That’s the iPhone 4 and 3GS, the iPod Touch’s third and fourth generation, and all current models of the iPad. Even for a free upgrade, the adoption for iOS 5 has been phenomenal. Initial upgraders swamped the iTunes servers last Wednesday, clamoring to run the new operating system even before the iPhone 4S officially went on sale. All this despite the fact that the iPhone 4S’s most talked-about feature (literally), Siri, only works on the new hardware – not that it’s impossible to convince it to run on older versions. Between a host of new upgrades, including the fee-dodging iMessage, iCloud, a new Notifications Center, and many, many others that current Apple devotees get

Eastman Kodak has not handled the transition to digital photography as gracefully as its competitors, but when your company’s over a century old, staying nimble isn’t as easy as it used to be. Of course, a company with that much history has an overabundance of intellectual property, and that fact might help Kodak stay relevant in a market that has been outpacing it for several years. Kodak has announced a deal with IMAX to license its laser projection patents to the movie company, allowing it to more effectively project digital films on its gigantic screens. For Kodak, it means some much-needed cash to the tune of $10 million, plus undetermined royalty payments for at least ten years. That’s an important chunk of change for a company whose stock has lost three fourths of its value in the last year – shares were up an eyebrow-raising five percent on the news. The licensing deal is part of a $250-350 million plan for the company to pay off its considerable debt. On IMAX’s part, the n

Believe it or not, the once completely dead DMC motor company will be returning with a 2013 edition of the original DMC-12 made popular by the epic Back to the Future series of science fiction films. This car has been a cult classic even before the first Back to the Future film came out in 1985, but shortly after its initial creation the DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt – since then the DMC group has been re-started (in 1995) and this current project is being done in collaboration with electric-car startup Epic EV. As they’re saying on the official DeLorean news distribution site: “this sucker’s Electrical??” Set to have more than just a few upgraded bits inside and out of the car, you’ll find this brand new DMC-12 sporting an iPhone dock, a full leather (or pleather) interior, built-in display for GPS navigation, and a wholly stripped-down and simplistic look on the innards. This isn’t your Back to the Future car, but you won’t regret that it isn’t! There are a few press photos

Earlier today we were given a few more clues as to what we’ll be seeing at the big Motorola news conference tomorrow in New York City – a device by the name of DROID RAZR now seems rather likely, a new crowned king of Verizon LTE devices, soon to be in our hands. But what have we gathered as far as specifications go? How big is the display, what’s going on with the camera, and what sort of processor is inside? And most importantly, will the full package equal a device that’s going to entice those who also have had the choice of picking up a dual-core smartphone from Motorola since early this year with the original Atrix, the USA’s first dual-core smartphone? As you may be aware, there’s also an Atrix 2 out there right now, complete with a lovely smooth overhaul and the newest version of Motorola’s vision for Android for a user interface. The Motorola DROID BIONIC was supposed to be the king of all machines – and if you’ve got all the Motorola machines it connects with, it certainly i