IBLOG SPACE

If you are a watch geek, this one will get your watch lust up I reckon. What you see here is an interesting digital watch that has a little generator inside that powers the watch by the motion of your arms. This self-powered style watch has been around for a long time in the mechanical watch world where the motion of your arms keeps the watch wound up and working. The watch has dual sapphire crystals with one of the digital watch face and the other over the rotor for that little micro-generator that keeps the thing powered up. The watch stays powered for 45 days so it won’t go dead overnight on you. The watch features LED backlight, dual time zones, alarms, and a perpetual calendar. The watch also has some sort of OS behind the scenes. That would mean that updates might come to add other functionalities to the watch as well. It’s cool looking for a digital watch. The big downside to this watch is the price; it sells for $5,500. The black watch is a limited edition. A silver version

Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus, who set up the intelligent digital personal assistant company that went on to be acquired by Apple in April 2010, reportedly left Apple shortly after the launch of the iPhone 4S earlier this month. Although yet to be confirmed by Apple, Kittlaus’ decision to leave was “amicable” and had been planned for some time, AllThingsD‘s sources say. Other “key” members of the Siri team are expected to stay with the company. Kittlaus’ LinkedIn profile still currently lists the exec as director of iPhone apps at Apple, as well as involvement with various NGO and non-profit groups and schools. According to the sources, he will now work on developing “new entrepreneurial ideas” as well as spending more time with his family, who are based in Chicago. Siri was spun out of voice recognition research begun at the SRI International Artificial Intelligence Center, part of a DARPA-funded project in AI. It couples conversational computation with a Nuance-powered speech reco

Apple has shared a video of the “Celebrating Steve” memorial event held on the company’s Cupertino campus last wednesday, October 19, a 70 minute film with speeches from new CEO Tim Cook, design wizard Jonathan Ive, and members of the Apple board. The event – which saw Apple stores close for the day, and employees all over the world tune in to a streamed livecast – was a celebration of Steve Jobs, who passed on October 5. In addition to speeches and reminiscence from the high-profile participants, which included former presidential hopeful and board member Al Gore, several musicians performed at the event. Coldplay, Randy Newman and Norah Jones all made appearances. You can watch the Celebrating Steve video at Apple here, though so far it only seems to be working in certain browsers; Safari will play it, but Chrome won’t. More details of Steve Jobs’ life have been shared over the past few days, as excerpts from a biography were revealed ahead of its general release today. In the bo

Compal is the latest Android user to sign a patent licensing deal with Microsoft, following Samsung and Quanta in agreeing to pay the software giant for its Android and Chrome devices. The news, Microsoft says, means that more than half of the world’s ODMs (Original Design Manufacturing) producing Android and Chrome hardware are paying them for the privilege of doing so. Meanwhile, Microsoft also takes the opportunity to criticize rivals that aren’t as forthcoming in protecting manufacturers who use their software. “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Compal, one of the leaders in the original design manufacturing, or ODM, industry. Together with the license agreements signed in the past few months with Wistron and Quanta Computer, today’s agreement with Compal means more than half of the world’s ODM industry for Android and Chrome devices is now under license to Microsoft’s patent portfolio. We are proud of the continued success of our licensing program in resolving

Netflix has announced it will be launching its streaming TV and movie service in the UK and Ireland in early 2012, offering on-demand video for a monthly fee rather than on a per-title basis. Already operational in North America, Netflix allows PC and Macs, many standalone internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players, smartphones, tablets and other devices to access its streaming media catalog. The company has faced criticism in recent weeks over abandoned plans to split its DVD business under a new brand. In an attempt to better differentiate between legacy physical media rentals and the new digital content delivery, Netflix planned to spin off the disc-based business under the new name Qwikster. Subscribers to both types of service would be billed separately and forced to manage their rental queues and accounts on two separate sites. However, user uproar caused Netflix to backtrack on the Qwikster scheme. DVD rentals won’t even make it to the UK and Ireland in Netflix’s new system;

Facebook has struck back at accusations that the social network is maintaining so-called “shadow profiles” of unregistered users, claiming the only information kept is an email address and name so as to later flag-up new members. The Irish subsidiary of the site will be investigated by the Irish Data Protection Commission this week, with other allegations including that it saved copies of messages users had deleted, and according to the Guardian could face a fine of up to €100,000 ($140,000) if found guilty of data protection breaches. However, Facebook has strongly denied any wrongdoing, as well as the extent of its information gathering. Communications and Policy Manager Mia Garlick told The Register that, in fact, the only information on non-users that is used in any way is their email and names. That, she says, is so that new sign-ups can be highlighted to friends that may have searched for them by name and/or email at a previous time, or indeed invited them through Facebook’s sh

As I’ve said here before, I’m an avid gamer, and I’ve owned just about every game console that has hit store shelves. And each device — yes, even the 3DO — I have been impressed and entertained with in one way or another. So, when I hear industry experts or veterans talk about the death of game consoles, I can’t help but get a little upset. After all, consoles have been a key part of my life for as long as I can remember. But then I think clearly about the arguments being made for the death of game consoles and I just start to laugh. After all, that’s all you can do when you hear such nonsense, right? One of the central arguments for the death of game consoles in the near future is the growth of downloadable content. Supporters of the idea say that as more titles become available to download, the need for physical media will decline, and thus, the need for a device to play that media will be eliminated. In the relatively near future, they say, we’ll be able to download games to o

Sony may finally be loosening up its grip on the PlayStation suite platform. Currently, the platform is only available to Sony-branded Android devices, including the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Sony Tablet S and Sony Tablet P. In an interview at the AsiaD conference, Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman Kaz Hirai confirmed that the company was working on having the platform available on other non-Sony devices. Hirai said that the PlayStation Suite platform “isn’t an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family.” He also confirmed that the company was “in discussions with non-Sony companies to bring them onboard.” It’s not clear when that would be as the company’s own next-gen portable gaming device, the PS Vita, isn’t set to launch until late this year in Japan and early next year for other markets. Back in September, Sony announced that it will be releasing an SDK for the PlayStation Suite so that game developers could create one game that would run on all PS C

The recently launched iPhone 4S is now available on the top three major US carriers, but T-Mobile is still left out in the cold. And sadly, earlier this week, even regional carrier C Spire Wireless announced that it would be getting the iPhone 4S, making it the fourth carrier in the US to offer Apple’s next-gen smartphone. This seems like a big slap in the face for T-Mobile, which has issued a statement today to clarify why it still does not sell the iPhone. T-Mobile senior VP of marketing Andrew Sherrard explained that the company does not carry the iPhone because it will not run on T-Mobile’s 3G or 4G networks. The carrier has asked Apple to develop an iPhone with compatible hardware, but apparently that request hasn’t been answered. “Ultimately, it is Apple’s decision,” said Sherrard. It may seem odd since plenty of unlocked iPhones currently run on T-Mobile, but those subscribers face the trade-off of only being able to access T-Mobile’s slower 2G/EDGE network. Hence, T-Mobile

In an announcement that basically confirmed what everyone on earth already knew, Verizon let known that the Galaxy Nexus would be coming to the top carrier in the USA by the end of 2011. The date at which the device will be released OR put up for pre-sale is not yet known, but we can bet that the specs will be sticking from when we saw them first earlier this week in Hong Kong. The Galaxy Nexus is a Samsung device that will be Google’s hero phone for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, an operating system that brings together functionality from both tablet and smartphone Android OS versions for one future system. The Galaxy Nexus will be available by the end of 2011 running Verizon’s speedy 4G LTE network and will be working at what Verizon says is 5 to 12 megabits per second with upload speeds at 2 to 5 megabits per second in LTE coverage areas across the USA. This device will feature a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display at 1280 x 720 pixel resolution and will have a 1.2GHz dual-core pro

There’s a new feature in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that has quite a few people having a heard attack with glee – the ability to “hide” applications that you’d otherwise not be able to get rid of. These apps are generally calls bloatware because they’re added to the basic build of the device and cannot be deleted by the user (unless of course they hack the device.) What this new function will bring is the ability to shut these apps out of your device ALMOST entirely – save for the amount of space they take up in a very rudimentary sense. What you might not know is that both the Motorola DROID RAZR and the DROID BIONIC both have this ability already – no Ice Cream Sandwich required! Before we continue, I must disclose that I’ve not had an extended time with the DROID BIONIC – if you’ll take a look at the reviews here and over at the other site I’ve reviewed for in the past, Android Community, you’ll see that it was Vincent Nguyen and Cory Gunther who took that review on when the d

Among several interesting revelations, the new biography on the late Apple co-founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs, reveals his plans for a future Apple TV. And by that, we don’t mean just another iteration of the current Apple TV set-top box, but a full-fledged Apple-branded television set designed on the same principles of simplicity and ease of use that have made Apple’s other products so successful. Biographer Walter Isaacson revealed that during an interview with Jobs, the Apple visionary told him that he wanted to create an integrated television set that would work seamlessly with other devices and the iCloud. It would be simple, elegant, and incredibly easy to use. ‘I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could ima

Apple’s refresh of the MacBook Pro was originally rumored for a September launch, but in the midst of all the iPhone 4S craziness, Apple has pushed back the notebook update. And now, the refresh could launch in early November, although some tips suggest that it could arrive as soon as next week. So if you’re in the market for a new MacBook Pro, best to hold off for a bit to get the latest internals. The refreshed MacBook Pro is expected to look the same externally but it will sport faster processors with the latest Intel Sandy Bridge chips. Intel recently refreshed with a new Core i7 line that’s been clocked much higher than current processors. The latest 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz, and 2.7GHz could replace the 2.0GHz, 2.2GHz, and 2.3GHz processors in the current 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros. This MacBook Pro refresh is also expected to include Bluetooth 4.0, which has much lower power requirements. The current MacBook Air and Mac mini already come with Bluetooth 4.0 as does the recently launc

As many HTC devices as possible is what HTC is saying they’re going to try to update to Ice Cream Sandwich in the coming weeks – or at least that’s what they’ve got in mind. This week has been both the formal introduction to Ice Cream Sandwich as a final build and a showing of the hero device for this version of Android, and now HTC wants in on the party with an announcement on their plans for the immediate future. Through their Facebook page they let the world know the basics about upgrading a device to a new version of Android as well as what they basically have in mind for how they’re going to do it and how many devices they’re going to do it to. HTC spoke in generalities for the most part today saying that they are “looking closely” at the new operating system’s features and functionality so that they might further determine their plans for upgrading all of their devices. They note that they are an “industry leader in providing fast and consistent upgrades” to their Android devic

Originally announced back at Google I/O for a summer release, the Google TV 2.0 update still isn’t here, but it looks to be getting close. Screenshots of the Google TV update have surfaced, revealing a more streamlined interface complete with the promised 3.1 Honeycomb platform and Android Market. There’s even already TV specific apps, including QVC for Google TV. Google TV hasn’t fared very well so far, but that may change soon with this new update, which will unify the development platform for Google TV and Android tablets by using Android 3.1 Honeycomb. This way developers can create apps that work on both tablets and TVs as well as apps specific to Google TV. Users will have access to these apps through an integrated Android Market. A developer preview SDK for the new Google TV was released back in August with the final add-on SDK released two weeks ago. The screenshots look promising, but it’s still not clear when the update will be rolled out or what caused the delay. Perhaps

It’s been several years now since Blizzard Entertainment played an April Fool’s prank on its World of Warcraft base by saying the fifth race in the game would be panda-humanoid in flavor – today we find that in their newest WoW expansion, it’s no joke. There’s a whole new expansion for World of Warcraft coming out soon by the name of “Mists of Pandaria.” This race of fuzzy lovable killers has since the first “JK” announcement made several appearances in both WoW and StarCraft II, and both story characters and a playable Monk class will be coming with this next expansion pack. Blizzard vice president Chris Metzen has described the land of Pandaria, the new China-inspired country that comes in this expansion, as a peaceful place. This peaceful place, he says, is then ruined by the players that come in with the expansion. So basically Blizzard is daring us to be evil, essentially. The announcement of this expansion game at this year’s BlizzCon, taking place this week, and it is said tha

Now that the iPhone 4S is out of the way, it’s time to speculate on Apple’s iPad 3. According to Macotakara, a “reliable Asian source” is saying that Apple will release the next-gen tablet about a year after the iPad 2, marking a debut no earlier than March 2012. And from leaked shots of alleged iPad 3 components, it appears that Apple will equip the new iPad with a smaller dock connector. The most common rumor so far surrounding the iPad 3 is that Apple will use a higher resolution Retina Display. Back in July, there were tips from the supply side suggesting that Apple was preparing an iPad 2 Plus, or an a more advanced version of the tablet with 1080p HD capabilities for late 2011. Another iPad by year-end seems doubtful given Apple’s usual product patterns, but a higher resolution display on the iPad 3 seems likely. However, Macotakara’s source could only confirm that the iPad 3 will be the same size as the current iPad 2 and was not able to say whether it would indeed sport a R

Though this particular Google doodle doesn’t necessarily do anything all that fantastic when it comes to Web 2.0, it was and continues to be the utterly engaging artwork that Mary Blair had mastery over that continues to be the center point on this, the 100th year since she was born to this earth. If you don’t recognize the style of the work that Google has replicated here, you’ll certainly know the background illustrations from these classic Disney films: “Cinderella,” “Peter Pan,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Once again Google hits on a reminder of what was certainly a gift from beyond in this lovely artist. Blair has also recently been honored via a lecture by the name of “Mary Blair’s World of Color – A Centennial Tribute” as given at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by a collection of big contemporary names. On the panel for this lecture were Eric Goldberg who was a supervising animator for Disney’s “Aladdin” and the director of “Pocahontas,” Peter Docter who was th

It’s time for all you mobile gamers out there to have a brand new heart attack because Shadowgun is newly optimized and ready for release on NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor-toting Android devices. October 26th is the time and $4.99 is about to be the price – and let me tell you right now, it’s worth every penny. Madfinger Games tells us that the game will eventually be released on all Android devices (provided they’re powerful enough), but we’re in it for the Tegra – optimization for the win! If you were here on the 5th of October you know that we’ve already gotten our hands on this miraculously entertaining third-person shooter for a full review of the near-complete build. Have a look at the full review post or simply look below for the video that comes with it to see what you’re in store for. Also note that we’ll have ANOTHER look at the game the day of release with the full build in place – not too much should be different, but you never know! This is one of a suite of games

If you didn’t believe it before, you sure will now, as Samsung has officially announced their intent to have the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus made available in the USA starting November 13th for $399.99 USD. This tablet is one of a rather large family of tablet-sized devices put out by Samsung in recent months, this one replacing the original Samsung Galaxy Tab as the company’s 7-inch tablet hero. This device will be available through Best Buy, Amazon, Tiger Direct, Fry’s, and other “fine retailers” come November and will feature an app by the name of “Peel” which works as a smart remote TV application for all your entertainment purposes – tap away! This tablet, for those of you unfamiliar, is a 7-inch display having Android 3.2 Honeycomb-toting device that weighs in at 345g and is just 9.96mm thin. Inside you’ll find a lovely 1.2GHz dual-core processor and to compliment the Peel application they’re promoting the device with, this tablet has built-in infrared capabilities so that you’ll insta

It’s time to get real with iPhone 4S‘s Siri, ladies and gentlemen, finding the one truly important use for the voice assistant in an app by the name of Beeri. It is here that you’ll finally, after all this time, be able to tell your iPhone to get a beer for you. Apple I can’t believe you guys didn’t think of this earlier! It’s the greatest set of commands and execution in the history of computers – and beer! What Beeri does is work with Siri to take in the command “pour me a beer,” first of all. When Siri hears you ask for a beer in such a way, she sends a command to Beeri’s Twitter account which then works with Beeri’s onboard Arduino Uno w/Wi-fi shield. Are you lost yet? In this case, what this means thus far is that once you’ve spoken to your iPhone, there’s some Twitter action that goes on that’s then picked up by the physical machine representation of Beeri. Once your Beeri sees this command: beer time! Have a look at this video to see how well it all works! Once you’ve seen

I've often heard people say, film-making is nothing short of a gamble. And as any gambler will tell you, you've got to gamble huge to triumph huge. Going by this logic, Shah Rukh Khan is The Supreme Gambler of the year. What's at stake, beside the big money invested in RA.ONE of course, is a dream, a vision, an aspiration to make a film which appeals to kids and kids at heart. In short, attempt a film that appeals to the universal audience. At the same time, it ought to raise the bar for Hindi films. Also at stake is SRK's once-unchallenged supremacy as the reigning idol of Bollywood and that elusive thing called reputation. When you invest your repute in your dream project and stick your neck out, you expect nothing short of a mega-success. Movies like KRRISH and ROBOT initiated the trend of superhero films in India, with fantasy making deep inroads into mainstream Hindi cinema. Now RA.ONE raises the bar, takes not a step or two, but a giant leap and adheres to int