IBLOG SPACE

The folks at Millennial Media have found that inside the third quarter of 2011, Apple’s iPhone and ranked first in devices for mobile ad impressions, while the total for Apple’s iOS was HALF of that of Android as a whole. While the 56 percent had by Android led the way on ad impressions in Q3, BlackBerry sat in third with 13 percent, and Symbian and Windows Phone devices had just 1 percent of ads for each. Meanwhile the same period listed by devices comes up with iPhone has the clear lead with 12.55 percent of ad clicks. One must note that iPhones have been bulked into one single device – that’s the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 3GS, and all the rest, while the rest of the devices are separated into their own single devices. But here’s the thing, ladies and gentlemen, no group truly takes advantage of the idea of a single device being updated incrementally with essentially the same name throughout its entire expanded life. It’s sort of like Pop art – “I could have done that,” “yeah, bu

Google updated its Government Requests tool today with new data from January to June 2011 that reveal the number of user information and takedown requests the company receives from government and law enforcement agencies around the globe. It’s also the first time that Google has released the number of users or accounts specified per request. The service is part of Google’s Transparency Report initiative that attempts to provide metrics on how government policies affect online communication. The update reveals a surge in the number of user data requests and takedown requests in the US. Requests for user data has increased 29 percent from the previous reporting period, while requests for content removal has increased by 70 percent. During this latest reporting period, Google complied with about 93 percent of the 5,590 user account information requests it received in the US, involving more than 11,000 users or accounts related to a criminal investigation. Google also complied with 63

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has decided to rebrand its new Bluetooth 4.0 standard, which has recently launched on the iPhone 4S and has been available on the latest Mac Mini and MacBook Air. The new naming scheme adds the categories Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready to help clarify device compatibilities, although it now seems only more confusing. Bluetooth Smart devices pertain mainly to sensor-type devices like heart-rate monitors that run on a button-cell battery and were designed for limited and specific tasks. And hence, due to their lower power consumption, they cannot connect to traditional Bluetooth labeled devices, but only to Bluetooth Smart Ready devices. The iPhone 4S, Mac Mini, and MacBook Air are considered Bluetooth Smart Ready devices, which can also include Bluetooth 4.0 equipped tablets, PCs, and TVs. These Bluetooth Smart Ready devices can connect to traditional Bluetooth devices as well as Bluetooth Smart devices. Therefore, you may start noti

This week it was announced that Samuel J Palmisano will be switching roles from Chief Executive to chairman while Virginia M Rometty will take over the Chief Executive, all of this taking place at IBM. Analysts say that Rometty’s lead rival for the taking over of the roll at IBM was Steven A Mills, another senior vice president inside the company who has led the group’s profitable and ever expanding software division. Meanwhile Rometty will now be one of the highest-profile female executives in corporate America. Rometty has a degree in computer science from Northwestern University and joined IBM in 1981 as a simple systems engineer. In between there and here she had a series of management jobs, these including working with clients in everything from manufacturing to telecommunications and back down to banking. Rometty worked on the purchase of firm PricewaterhouseCooper Consulting for $3.5 billion back in 2002, and in 2009 she became the senior vice president and group executive for

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has just granted Apple a new patent today for its “Slide to Unlock” iOS gesture. The patent application was filed more than a year before the very first iPhone and refers to the unlocking gesture in broad terms as when “contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture for unlocking the device.” The patent was filed in December 2005 and is credited to Apple’s senior VP for iOS, Scott Forstall along with engineers Imran Chaudri, Bas Ording, Freddy Allen Anzures, Marcel Van Os, Stephen O. Lemay, and Greg Christie. The filing includes illustrations similar to how the gesture control is implemented on iOS with a simple left to right graphical switch, but the description defines the patent more loosely. According to the wording, it would appear that all current smartphone unlocking designs from Android makers could face some legal trouble ahead. “A device with a touch-sensitive display may be unlocked via gestures performed on t

The team at Amazon.com have released information surrounding their third quarter sales as well as reporting to stock holders that their four new Kindle devices will blow away consumers for the holidays. Financial results for the third quarter ended in September 30, 2011 showed operating cash flow increasing by 19% to $3.11 billion for the 12 months trailing that date, while the 12 months in that timeframe ending at September 30 in 2010 ending up just below that number at $2.62 billion. Net sales had a similar jump at 44% to $10.88 billion in the third quarter while the same quarter last year yielded $7.56 billion. On the other hand, net income decreased 73% to $63 million in the third quarter of 2011 while net income in the third quarter of 2010 was $231 million. That’s a pretty big drop, if you did not know. It’s of course at this point in the presentation, right after dropping that relative bomb, that Amazon lets the board know that the Kindle Fire is doing really, really well. Hav

Starting at the beginning of next year it seems that Acer will be amongst the first manufacturers to update their existing devices to the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This information comes from Tablet Online who, when speaking with Acer Poland, was told of the release schedule with two devices specifically on the tip. Those two devices come in 2 flavors each, that making this Android 4.0 update ready for dispersal on the Acer Iconia Tab A500, A501, A100, and A101. These tablets may well be the first Android tablets on the market with Ice Cream Sandwich. Previous reports had Acer placing Ice Cream Sandwich updates in 2012 in a very general way, this Polish report has January as a specific date for an update for the four tablets (two models) in question. Today has really been a day for Ice Cream Sandwich news with talks of the new Google mobile OS being ported to the Samsung Nexus S and the first Android 4.0 device Galaxy Nexus on sale in England with a shipping date set for No

It looks like HP is still undecided about its TouchPad tablet. Despite the company’s announcement back in August that it would discontinue webOS hardware, rumors now suggest that under Meg Whitman’s lead as HP’s new CEO, the company could revive the tablet by powering it with Windows 8. According to some HP employees, the company is currently testing the TouchPad with Windows 8 as part of a “proof-of-concept.” The HP sources revealed to FoxNews that the hardware team has been busy testing the Windows 8 developer release on the HP TouchPad and that there have been internal discussions about resurrecting the tablet or even building a completely new device to run Windows 8. This seems to go against HP’s plans to spin-off its PC hardware unit, making a transition into enterprise software as was announced back in August. It also continues the confusion as to what HP plans to do with webOS, which it had initially insisted that it would continue to support and develop. But the company is

D-Link announced a new line of mini adapters today for its PowerLine home networking solution. These adapters plug into any home outlet and use the existing electrical wiring to extend your wireless home network signal. This helps to deliver a secure and reliable network connection to devices throughout your home or small office where it may normally be inhibited, such as by a concrete wall or by being on a different floor level. The new additions include the PowerLine AV Mini Adapter (DHP-310AV), which is a single adapter unit that can be added to any existing PowerLine Network. There’s also the PowerLine AV Mini Adapter Starter Kit (DHP-311AV) that comes with two units and the PowerLine AV 4-Port Switch Mini Adapter Starter Kit (DHP-348AV) that lets you setup a new PowerLine Network right out of the box. The mini adapters can deliver up to 200Mbps speeds over existing electrical wiring, making it a great solution for high-bandwidth applications such as when used with the Boxee Bo

Before tomorrow’s big Nokia keynote in which Stephen Elop is set to drop some heavy bombs, a couple of them appear to have left the hatch a bit early. Photos here show both the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Lumia 710, both of them set to run Windows Phone in some form or another. The first of these two, the 800, is also known as the Sea Ray in previous reports, while the 710 has previously been code-named Sabre. Both devices appear to be set to launch in European markets this November with a USA launch date set for next year. The Sea Ray has previously been seen in no less than two videos and is said to possibly be running a Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor. This device is 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm, weighs in at 142 grams, and is said to be able to sit idle with its battery for upwards of 390 hours if photos leaked today are to be believed. This device will now be called the Nokia Lumia 800 and again, will be running Windows come tomorrow’s presentation. Also take note that this device

In what very well may be an invitation to be the first to see the HTC Rezound, (aka the HTC Vigor,) HTC tells of their “latest innovation.” What we’ve got here is an invite as sent out to press which has the reverberations of sound emanating from the “HTC INVITES YOU” text in green down to two logos, one for HTC, the other for Dr Dre’s Beats. Beats and HTC joined forces several weeks ago in an effort to bring greater sound quality to HTC smartphones everywhere and we’ve already seen Beats on HTC in Europe – could this be the ushering in of fine quality music on smartphones right here in the states? Yes, I think so. Check out a device that’s got Beats but more than likely won’t be coming to US shores for a while, that being what’s currently called the HTC Sensation XL, then note that even though HTC has joined forces with Beats, the Beats roll on in HP devices as well. Compare the invite above to the one received for England back in September and you’ll find that this one isn’t quite

It’s time for the long-awaited next step in the evolution of modern combat in the Battlefield series, this time set along the border of Iraq and Iran as well as several remote locations in the direct sequel to 2005′s Battlefield 2, here simply called Battlefield 3. The game was released today, or this morning, rather, depending on how ravenous you were or are in anticipation of playing the game, and is able to run on Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and EA Mobile has even confirmed that there’s an iOS port out there somewhere in space. Though we’ve heard that the game works exceptionally well on the PlayStation 3, you’ve got to know in your heart that the desktop version will bring you the highest amount of action. The PC release is exclusive to EA’s Origin platform, and sales SHOULD be started at all of your local retailers. This game will work with both single-player campaigns, as well as multiplayer matches. In cooperative mode you’ll be sitting in one of four roles: assault, sup

Just this morning it was confirmed that Rockstar games would be producing the fifth in one of the most notorious game series of all time, Grand Theft Auto – now it’s time to let our hopes run wild. There are quite a few features in previous games that are what we’d call nearly unexplored avenues. Small bits of gameplay that would, if allowed to expand, would create a whole new playground for the future of GTA. Below are just five of these items that we’re hoping Rockstar will explore further for GTA:V. First there’s the idea that Rockstar would bring back the idea of multiplayer missions with free roam. Inside Grand Theft Auto IV’s multiplayer mode, you were either able to play Free Roam where you drove around the city, shot people in the head, or a combination of the two, or game mode where missions where the main objective – and that’s what you aimed to do. What the game Red Dead Redemption, not on the GTA timeline but made by some of the same people, introduced was free roam multi

John McCarthy didn’t single-handedly invent what we now know widely as Artificial Intelligence, aka robot brains, but he did coin the term back in 1956 and is certainly one of the founders of the A.I. research field. Not only this, McCarthy was also a professor at Stanford University and a PhD in mathematics. The creator of the programming language Lisp passed away this week at the ripe old age of no less than 84 years. The creators of the robot race shall never die, so is their legacy and their contribution to the eternal memory of mankind. This fellow was the first to propose and support the idea of selling computers in a sort of time-sharing way in which both applications and computing power could be sold like utilities – yes, the utilities you’re thinking of, water, electricity, etcetera. You know that term “cloud computing”? That’s right along the same lines. He’s been a frequenter of Usenet forums working with enthusiasts around the world for several years, and he wrote a rathe

RIM’s PlayBook tablet didn’t do very well on the market, but it is still available unlike the TouchPad. RIM has recently shown off the second version of the PlayBook OS reports BGR and the final version of the OS for PlayBook users to download is said to be landing by the middle of February 2012. This is the update that lots of PlayBook owners are dying to get that brings support for two key things to the tablet. The key support is for Android apps, native email, and PIM access as well. BGR notes that RIM’s Jim Balsillie has announced on the last RIM earnings call that the PlayBook would get an update this month. This is where the BGR source comes in with claims that the 2.0 update is pushed until mid-February. The source BGR sites claims that the problem RIM is having has to do with the ability to allow a user’s BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook work with one BBM account. The solution as of now according to the source will be two independent BBM apps for the smartphone and tablet

Asus has launched a new N Series range of notebook computers in Europe and the new series has nice features for multimedia fans. The new range of notebooks has SonicMaster audio tech inside for better audio for movie and music fans. That audio tech was co-developed with Bang & Olufsen ICEPower. B&O is a big name in high-end audio. The notebooks are also bundled with an external subwoofer to give bass to your movies, music, and games. Other than superior audio, the new line of netbooks will sport polished metal frames and glossy covers. The downside to those glossy covers will be lots of fingerprints though. The machines will also have powerful hardware under the hood. Asus is packing the N series with various Intel second gen Core processors and they will have NVIDIA Graphics. Optimus technology will help the machines get longer battery life and performance when needed. The new N series range of notebooks starts at £649 and will be offered in stores and online.

If you are having fun with Siri on your iPhone 4S ThinkGeek is teasing with a new accessory that won’t hit until April 18 of 2012 if all goes well. The device is called the Iris 9000 voice control module for iPhone and Siri. It looks like that glowing evil eye of HAL. The device will let you control Siri from across the room and is activated with a wireless remote. When you press the wireless remote Siri will chime and you can tell the phone what you want to do. The mic is supposed to be sensitive enough to work from across the room. The attached dock and mic will also allow you to make hands free phone calls as well. Iris has an embedded speaker so you can hear your calls and voice commands. The red glowing eye flickers with the voice of Iris 9000 as it speaks. It connects to the wall with an included power adapter and will only work with the iPhone 4S. The device is a ThinkGeek exclusive. You can sign up for email reminders on Iris 9000 and it will sell for $59.99 when it launche

If you use a radar detector for your ride that is from Escort or Beltronics a new power cord is launching soon from Escort that will fit more than a million of those radar detectors already in the wild. This cord does more than just hook the radar detector to your power source. The Escort Live SmartCord Live bundle will connect your detector to the cloud for real time updates on just where the man is in your town. The SmartCord Live is a power cord that will replace the cord on existing compatible detectors. The cord has Bluetooth connectivity inside and will connect to either Android smartphone or the iPhone using an available app. When connected to your smartphone and the detector senses a laser speed detector it will automatically upload that data to the cloud and warn other drivers in the area. This allows the smartphone running the app to show a laser detected indicator before you are in range of the speed trap. The alerts the system sends are displayed with band, signal stren

Strategy indecision and dowdy profit predictions have seen Netflix shares plunge overnight, as the company reaps a lackluster harvest on its 800,000 subscriber loss. Having admitted yesterday that it faces at least two quarters of loss in early 2012, as it launches its UK and Ireland streaming service, Netflix faced more than a third being wiped off its share price in aftermarket trading, investors selling up and stock dropping by almost 36-percent. As for the greater-than-expected subscriber loss, Netflix believes many customers had been turned off by the price increases earlier in the year. Losses were expected, to some extent – Netflix had downgraded its expectations to 21.8m streaming-only subscribers and 14.2m DVD subscribers – but the actual figures announced, of 21.5m streaming and 13.4m DVD, still surprised the market. In a letter to Netflix shareholders [pdf link], CEO Reed Hastings admitted that the push into the UK and Ireland will be followed by a fallow period on expan

Nintendo has announced that it has two new bundle packs coming in time for the holiday season that pack in the DSi XL and some games to get players going. The new DSi XL bundles are available in blue or rose color is and they both offer the same games inside. The only difference between the two is the color of the DSi XL with one aimed at girls and the other at boys. The main game that is included with the bundle packs is the Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem title. This game has players helping Mario to rescue Pauline by guiding the Mini Mario through over 200 puzzle levels using the stylus on the touch screen. The game lets the player download additional levels as well. The DSi XL bundle also has Brain Age Express: Math, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, and Photo Clock pre-installed as well. Either of the bundle colors will sell for $169.99 and will be available starting November 6.

MeeGo is dead, Nokia has basically said, and yet the Finnish company seems reluctant to let the “ex-platform” go. Finnish magazine Tietokone claims sources at a retailer and an operator, each working closely with Nokia, have confirmed there is an N9 successor on the roadmap, though exact details as to what the device might be are unknown. The N9 has been criticized by reviewers – ourselves included - for the paucity of apps available for the MeeGo platform. Now, it seems, Nokia is doing something about that itself: earlier today, the company released a Spotify app for MeeGo that, according to the company, “is developed and maintained by Nokia in cooperation with Spotify.” While it’s not unusual for a firm to feather its nest at launch by paying developers to produce apps to support a new platform – we saw Microsoft do similar at the release of Windows Phone – it seems somewhat strange that the Finnish company might bother for a platform that a) is seen as a dead end, and b) already o

Fujitsu has announced a new feature for its line of ScanSnap document imaging scanners. The new feature allows the ScanSnap S1500, S1500M, S1300 and S1100 to send documents directly to the iPhone or iPad. The uploading to the iOS devices is thanks to a new app called ScanSnap Connect. The scanners also got the ability to scan files directly to Salesforce Chatter and SugarSync as well. Before the scanners will support any of the new features, they will need to be updated. Once the scanners are updated they will have icons for “Scan-to” that will allow the scanner user to choose where the documents are scanned. The user will be able to Scan to Mobile from that point. The ScanSnap Connect app will work with devices running iOS 4.2.1 or later. Other new options will include Scan to Salesforce Chatter, Scan to SugarSync, Scan to Evernote, and Scan to Google docs. These new options will be great for the mobile worker that needs access to the documents in different places.

If you are flying on an commercial jet that has Gogo in-flight internet, you can access the Ford Mustang Customizer page and customize your own Stang while you are in the air. The customizer allows you to pick any of the Mustang models including the V6, GT, Boss 302, and Shelby. Access to the Mustang Customizer is free. Why would you want to access the Mustang customizer in flight? It’s cool to make your own custom Mustang anyway, but once you customize your own you can share it on Facebook and then for the entire flight you can access Facebook for free as well. That will probably be more appealing to most than just working up your own Mustang. The special promotion starts October 21 and ends on November 18. There are 78,791,049,216,000 different possible combinations on the Ford Mustang Customizer. The user can choose from different wheels, decals, body kits, grills, and more.

Spotify has released a mobile app for MeeGo, allowing those lucky few with a Nokia N9 to access the streaming music service. The app – which also works on the N950 developer device - supports streaming over WiFi, EDGE and 3G, as well as support for offline playlists where tracks are cached in the N9′s own storage for playback when you’re without a data connection. The N9 already comes preloaded with access to Nokia’s Ovi Music store, allowing paid downloads on a per-track or per-album basis. However, Spotify relies on a subscription, a single monthly payment - $9.99 or €9.99 – granting access to the company’s full catalog of streamed tracks. Interestingly, according to the app description at Nokia’s Ovi Store, the new software “is developed and maintained by NOKIA in cooperation with Spotify” rather than being the sole handiwork of the music company itself. That might suggest that Nokia is doing some coding work of its own, trying to feather the N9′s app options and make the platfo

Few games have been so loved by fans and so hated by anti-video game violence advocates as the Grand Theft Auto franchise. It’s been a while since the last new video game in the franchise surfaced. A few weeks back the GTA III title hit the iPhone and Android with an action figure in the bundle. Rockstar Games is now teasing the next major installment in the franchise called Grand Theft Auto V. We have no real details on the game at this point and the big splash page for the game at Rockstar.com is simply the game logo and a teaser that says “Trailer 11.02.11.” That is only a few weeks away and then we will get our first glimpse at what the story line will be and what era the game is set in. Fans of the franchise should be excited and we will keep an eye out for that trailer to launch.

We have already seen and heard a lot about the slightly weird attachment for the 3DS that adds an extra circle pad to the device. In Japan, the device is known as the SlidePad and will launch alongside the Monster Hunter 3G video game. The Japanese price for the attachment works out to a bit under $20 here in the States. We haven’t heard anything about the attachment for the portable system in the States until now. According to Capcom, the attachment will hit the US and it will be called the Circle Pad Pro on this side of the pond. Capcom also states that the Circle Pad Pro will be available in the US when its 3DS game Resident Evil: Revelations launches. Nintendo has applied for a trademark for the Circle Pad Pro name in Japan and slide pad expansion as well. I am still a bit dubious on this attachment. I would like to see one in action and figure out if it makes gaming better before passing judgment. There is no word on what the attachment would cost here in the US, but it will p

Garmin has launched a new iPhone and Android fitness app, Garmin Fit, allowing exercising smartphone users to track their progress while running or jogging. Fit is a $0.99 download, and automatically syncs with Garmin’s Connect online portal to keep a record of goals and share workouts with contacts. Meanwhile, the ANT+ iPhone Adapter spotted clearing the FCC earlier this month has also been made official, priced at $49.99. With the adapter in place, Garmin Fit can monitor heart rate and cadence using the company’s various wireless accessories; without it, the app alone can measure speed, pace, distance, time and calories burned. There’s also music playback control from within the app, as well as support for answering calls and text messages without losing track of your workout. Once you’ve finished – or, in our case, staggered to a halt, gasping and wheezing and wishing you’d never got out of bed that morning – you can then tell the app what the weather was like and add any releva

The idea of little nano-generator chips inside all sorts of products for harvesting small amounts of energy to operate low power circuits is very appealing. This is a particularly important technology for sensors in things like security systems and other uses that only need tiny bits of power to operate. Being able to harvest that power from solar energy or vibration makes the sensors much easier to install. There are a myriad of uses for this sort of tech other than sensors. TI has announced a new highly efficient boost charger IC for nano power energy harvesting that is able to harvest energy in the microwatts to milliwatts range. The IC can harvest energy from a variety of sources including solar, thermoelectric, electromagnetic, and vibration. That energy can be stored in things like batteries and super capacitors. The new IC is called the bq25503. TI says that when the new IC is used in a solar panel powering a handheld device operating in indoor light conditions the new boost

If you are a Linux fan, you will like this. The Linux kernel has been updated to version 3.1 and with the update comes some nice new features that will make Linux more usable for different things. Two main new features have been added to version 3.1 of the kernel that will give Linux geeks something new to play with. The first of the new features is support for Wiimotes. With motion controls baked in, the kernel can be used for all sorts of things you can control with your Nintendo remotes and more gaming support. The second new update is the addition of NFC technology. Those are the two big tweaks, but the new update also has more to offer. Other changes include improved support for Intel Ivy Bridge and Cedar Trail platforms. Power management is also improved. Better power management means that battery life will be longer in devices running the new kernel. The new kernel is available for download right now.

I think in every place I have ever lived I have stood in at least one room and wondered why the builder put the cable outlet in that spot. Generally, if you want the cable outlet on another wall you end up having to get a new outlet added to the room or running a cable under the floor or across the room. If you live in an AT&T U-verse area you will have a new option starting on October 31 that will make it a snap to get your U-verse box in any room you want, on any wall, without having to use wires or cables even if that room has no outlet. The device that will give you this flexibility is the AT&T U-Verse Wireless Receiver (PDF). AT&T claims this is the first wireless receiver in the industry. The wireless receiver opens a world of possibilities for TV fans. For instance if you want to watch the big game out on your patio, you can move your set and the wireless box outside with no issues at all. The single receiver can now serve multiple rooms as well. AT&T also says

This is a very wild idea to me and I don’t think that many people would get behind the idea of an aircraft powered by a conventional nuclear reactor. However, if it were a new kind of nuclear energy that produces little radiation the support for a massive aircraft powered by a reactor using low energy nuclear reaction or LENR technology might make such an aircraft possible. LENR has been researched for decades and according to NASA Langley energy expert Joe Zawodny experimental evidence has proven LENR might be an extremely clean energy source. The hope is that a LENR reactor might be fitted inside an extremely large aircraft that would stay in flight on a semi-permanent basis. The aircraft would fly using its LENR power plant with a normal chemical fuel reservoir for backup energy. The aircraft in the concept drawing above has two landing strips on its back. The flying machine has such a massive size that other normally sized aircraft could take off from the ground, land on the back

Amazon’s loss-leader strategy with the Kindle Fire ereader tablet, as well as a growing US sales tax bill, could lead to significantly reduced income this quarter analysts have predicted. The retailer is expected to announce earnings figures today, but already there are concerns that Amazon’s net income may be just half of Q3 2010, according to an estimate average crunched by Businessweek. Part of the issue is the $199 Kindle Fire, hardware sales of which Amazon is believed to be taking a loss on, and instead relying on subsequent digital media sales to buoy profits. iSuppli estimated that Amazon spends almost $210 making each Kindle Fire, the 7-inch Android-based tablet it announced in late September. Although Amazon has used Google’s mobile OS, the software has been heavily reskinned and modified to integrate with the retailer’s cloud storage, streaming media services and Kindle ebook platform. That, the company is betting on, will make owners more likely to purchase content and of

Tokyoflash has revealed its latest unusual timepiece, the Kisai Seven, but rather than come from the oddball drawing boards of the company’s Japanese designers, it’s actually the handiwork of a fan. UK designer Scott Galloway turned to Tron for his initial inspiration, submitting the concentric circle design as a fan concept last year; little did he know, Tokyoflash would decide to manufacture it. Compared to some of the company’s other watches, which demand deciphering and calculations before you can tell whether you’re late or otherwise, Kisai Seven is very straightforward. The inner ring shows hours and the outer ring counts 5 minute blocks; the L-shaped bars underneath both show 1-4 minute modifiers, allowing you to figure out the exact time. The plastic body is attached to a polyurethane strap with a seamless butterfly clasp, and you can trim the strap to fit. Both white and blue LED versions are available, each recharged via USB, and there are several display settings so that

Turn down the lights and turn up the heat: it’s sexy time, and your thermostat is crooning Barry White songs at you. Controlling the temperature of your AC or heating is not usually something we give more than a few moments thought to, but if stealth startup Nest Labs - led by ex iPod chief Tony Fadell – has its way we’ll be cooing over a tactile, glowing eye, the Learning Thermostat, that responds not just to our prods and twists, but historic usage patterns and even weather forecasts. Serenading you with back-catalog tracks from the Walrus of Love isn’t quite in the Learning Thermostat’s repertoire, but what it can do is arguably even more impressive. While traditional thermostats are generally ignored, the Nest team suggests, the current breed of smart thermostats – complete with features like web access and remote control – are simply too complex for most users to bother getting to grips with. That means, while they’re tremendously capable for those few who spend the time familia

Rumors around Apple’s TV set ambitions continue to flourish, with the latest being suggestions that the software engineer responsible for iTunes has now turned his attention to developing an Apple-branded HDTV. Jeff Robbin, involved in both iPod and iTunes development, is reportedly leading the Apple television drive so Bloomberg‘s sources would have it, though the project is said to be still a top secret one within the company. Speculation around an Apple HDTV has flourished in the past week, after it was revealed that Steve Jobs told his biographer that he had “finally cracked” how to make television as usable as iPods and the iPhone. That tidbit – “It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine” – had analysts queuing up to voice their opinions on what the long-rumored TV might bring. Yesterday, it was suggested that Apple would integrate Siri and FaceTime into an iOS-based HDTV chassis, using the voice control system to intelligently search live, recorded and streami

According to ABI Research firm its become apparent that inside the second quarter of 2011, Google’s mobile OS Android has accounted for 44 percent of all app downloads while Apple’s iOS only accounted for 31 percent, this indicating a jump not only in Android usage but in app sales on the whole. ABI notes that Android also had a whopping 36 percent jump in phone shipments over the previous three months as well. Could this be the first sign of the apocalypse? Fanatical sources all say yes, definitely! Meanwhile the ABI Research team stays conservative about the taking over of the world by Android in the face of Apple. Dan Shey, practice director of mobile services at ABI, notes “Android’s app downloads per user still lag behind Apple’s by 2 to 1.” This of course means what there has to be one whole heck of a lot of new Android device purchasers out there buying up 1 app per every 2 a single iPhone user downloads. Of course that includes Android tablet and iPads as well. ABI continued

Not just today, but back in September, as the record states, the Android Market reached its 500,000 app submissions mark, while just 315,000 apps sit out for sale today. The month of September 2011 is said by market research firm research2guidance to both be the home of that 500,000 app submissions market and a new record for per-month applications in the Android Market. This compares to what the Apple iTunes (iOS) App Store currently has for app submissions, 600,000, with approximately 456,000 apps in that market today. These numbers add up, according to research conducted by Appfire, to be more than 1 million apps created thus far and submitted to the app stores combined, with under 800,000 available for download inside September. Appfire collected numbers adding up to 1 million and 800,000 independently of research2guidance, so we can expect the REAL numbers to perhaps fall somewhere right down the middle of the two findings. Why is there no perfectly clear number? Quite simply be

According to leaked advertising plans, Nokia may not be releasing its Windows Phone 7.5 Mango devices in the US until 2012. That means the much anticipated Nokia N9 look-alike called the Nokia 800 along with the Sabre and Ace, which are all expected to be unveiled at this week’s Nokia World conference, may only be available in Europe and other parts of the world in time for the holidays this year. The leaked ad plans were revealed by AdAge, which claims that Nokia is still currently evaluating ad agencies for the US launch of its Windows Phone devices. It’s looking specifically for a San Francisco-based digital agency to further expand and develop its global “Amazing Everyday” campaign in the US. The advertising concept focuses on how the Nokia Windows Phone devices will be able to capture the “billions of little adventures” each day and how it “makes it easier to find them, to take part in them and to share them.” However, the US campaign isn’t planned to kick off until 2012, wh

Netflix reported its Q3 earnings results today and although the numbers were positive, they won’t remain so in the upcoming months. CEO Reed Hastings has admitted that the company’s recent stumbles, including price hikes and the now canceled plans for Qwikster, were ill received, tarnishing the company’s “hard-earned reputation.” Actual revenue reached $822 million, up 49 percent year-over-year, while profit hit $62 million, up 63 percent from the same period last year. However, the company projects to be hit with a loss of between $60 to $70 million in Q1 of 2012 due to its expansion into the UK and Ireland. Partly due to the price hike, Netflix lost 800,000 subscribers last quarter in the US, leaving it with 23.8 million subscribers, of which 21.5 million subscribed to streaming and 13.4 million subscribed to DVD rentals. The company noted that only seven percent of new Netflix streaming customers chose the DVD option. Netflix is set to lose Starz content, but Hastings downplay

Here in the USA the very first smartphone to carry a dual-core processor was the first ATRIX from Motorola – what we’ve got now is a wholly new device by the name of ATRIX 2 from AT&T, complete with a different brand processor, bigger display, and a whole new set of accessories to complete the package. The original ATRIX 4G lead the way for Motorola with what they called Webtop, a form of operating system that came from the smartphone but was displayed on either the big-screen TV, the home PC monitor, or the brand new “Lapdock,” a laptop with the ability to plug the smartphone in to the back of it — there’s a whole new Lapdock (or two!), accessories galore, and the form factor on the ATRIX itself is wholly changed. There are a few oddities in specs when you consider the differences between the original ATRIX and the new ATRIX 2, the first being the fact that although this new device is 4.3-inches instead of 4.0, it still has 960 x 540 pixel resolution. For the lay person this mig

Smartphone sales in the third quarter slid for the first time in the US. According to Morgan Keegan analyst Tim McCourt, the slump may have been caused by the delay of the iPhone 4S launch. Effects on iPhone sales by consumers holding out for the next-gen device were expected, but the wait also affected Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone sales. Instead of a summer launch, Apple presented the white iPhone 4 and delayed their iPhone 4S for fall. This along with rumors of an iPhone 5 have caused disappointing earnings results for Apple last quarter as customers waited for the major hardware update. But following the release of the iPhone 4S, the company is seeing a slingshot effect with record sales of the new handset. However, Android sales also slid despite having several major new releases last quarter, which McCourt sees as a sign that many of the consumers holding out were waiting to switch to the new iPhone. He also believes that there may be over saturation of very high end

One of the first Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets, the HTC Radar 4G for T-Mobile will go on sale starting November 2. The smartphone will also be the the first Windows Phone handset to support T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. The device is priced at $99.99 after a mail-in rebate along with a new two-year contract. The HTC Radar 4G sports a 3.8-inch WVGA display on a white and silver unibody chassis, featuring a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera that also boasts a 28mm f/2.2 aperture wide-angle lens with single LED flash. For more details and images of the device, make sure to check out our hands-on. It’s the smaller of two upcoming HTC Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets that include the HTC Titan, which features a massive 4.7-inch display. Both phones were first unveiled at IFA 2011, and Microsoft has planned various events in five major US cities throughout the next two months to introduce

Today the FCC has posted a listing as filed by Motorola for a tablet that should be on its way to USA markets inside the year. That’s generally what happens when a device from a big company such as Motorola hits the FCC in such a manner, and with what can only be described as a near blackout of details surrounding the tablet device in the FCC listing here, we must assume that its top secret nature was found to be important enough by Motorola and the FCC to keep it hidden. We know a piece of the FCC ID, that being IHDP56MJ3, the serial number KFLC140080, and that’s about it. Motorola was the first group to be chosen by Google to run the very first tablet-based Android system as a hero – are they up to some sweet designs once more? Though the Motorola XOOMho, the original Honeycomb tablet that is, will now be tossed down into a pile of bones by your average Android super hater, it remains a powerful customer in our still-new-to-dual-core mobile landscape. By the end of the year though

Apple has long been rumored to be working on its own HDTVs and the recent revelations from the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson has reignited that speculation. Analysts believe that Apple already has prototypes flowing through factories in China and that those HDTVs would be integrated with iOS, Siri, and FaceTime. Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White issued a note to investors today, reiterating his previous belief that Apple’s HDTVs are already in early stage pilot and prototype production. White also noted that the hardware refresh for the current Apple TV set-top box may have been delayed due to plans related to the Apple HDTV, which could launch sometime in 2012. “We believe the TV experience is in need of greater simplicity and innovation, providing Apple with opportunity to yet reinvent another product category and develop even closer ties with its customers,” wrote White. Estimating that the LCD TV market would generate about $102 billion in 2012, White belie

With the Nokia World conference just two days away, the Finnish handset maker has released a video revealing what goes into making its gorgeous unibody Nokia N9 smartphone. Although the N9 runs the MeeGo OS and will be available only in limited markets, Nokia is expected to unveil a near identical version running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango that has long been rumored as the “Sea Ray” or Nokia 800. The Nokia N9 features a unique pillow shaped chassis with a front side covered entirely by a Gorilla Glass encased 3.9-inch touchscreen display without any physical buttons. It also sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear-facing camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual-LED flash. Inside, it’s powered by a 1GHz TI OMAP3630 processor and 1GB of RAM. For more details on the device, make sure to check out our full in-depth review of the handset. Unfortunately, the Nokia N9 will be restricted to certain markets and will not be available in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. This is

Today Dropbox and HTC have announced their new partnership that includes, first and foremost, the Dropbox app being pre-installed on all HTC Android devices from now on as well as an included 5 GB right out of the box! Dropbox is a cloud-based business that stores files for you, all of these files accessible wherever you have a Dropbox app installed. For the desktop, that means that you’ve got a special folder on your desktop that can be accessed everywhere else you’ve got Dropbox. For Android, that means ultra-easy file transfers to and from your device! The Dropbox app has been a savior for your humble narrator on many occasions due on the whole to its super simple nature and ease in use. Transfer any sized file (inside your limit) with ease, share folders with whomever you want (even if they don’t use Dropbox) and now make your mobile life one step closer to total oneness. HTC and Dropbox have not yet let known if they’ll allow users who’ve already got HTC devices in their hands t

It appears that the folks at Vuzix have come one step closer to creating a perfect pair of displays in eyeglasses as they today collaborate with Nokia to enter into a technology license agreement to both develop and create see-through waveguide optics for near-eye display systems. This agreement is for head mounted displays as well as video eyewear, all of this based on Nokia’s see-through EPE (Exit Pupil Expanding) optics technology. Will this bring your glasses into the display-toting future for a much easier way to tap into the science fiction of tomorrow? Let’s see! The agreement at hand will have Vuzix performing research and development for see-through waveguide optics and near-eye display systems for products for their own line, but will also have Nokia able to access these products and components for use in their OWN products. Could this mean that MeeGo will go into my goggles in no time? Nokia, listen to Paul Travers, Vuzix President and CEO, and see the future for Nokia wor

What HTC is revealing here is a compact version of an EVO with no less than a 4-inch qHD display, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and world phone capabilities. It also connects via WiMAX for that brand of 4G speed, and will cost you $99.99 with a two year agreement. So what’s the deal with this phone, it’s only got a single-core 1.2GHz processor and a 5 megapixel camera? It’s another mid-range wallop from HTC, that’s what it is, and given the solid one for all and all for one design of the EVO range, we’re expecting a lot, even IF this device is simply a strange remix of the original EVO 4G. Will EVO users feel the need to upgrade? Is it considered an upgrade when the display gets smaller? Compared to the original EVO, you’ve got some very similar specifications in from of you: 4-inch display on the Design, 4.3-inch display on the original EVO 4G, similar processors: both single-core Qualcomm Snapdragons with the original EVO clocked at 1GHz and the Design clocked at 1.2GHz, but that’s wher