IBLOG SPACE

TomTom has announced that it has updated the navigation app for the iPhone and iPad with some cool new social features. If you get lots of event invites or check-ins from your friends that you want to go to the app can now grab data from those invites and check-ins. That means you can navigate from where you are directly to where they are. The app also integrates with twitter as well so you can navigate to the places your twitter pals are. Those that already own the app, the update will be offered at no cost. Drivers will also be able to share their destination and arrival time via Twitter, Facebook, email, and text message. The update will land in Q1 2012. It will also have updated maps, Map Share update capability, the ability to route you quickly through traffic, and offers alerts for speed cameras. It will also integrate with contacts, photos, music, and email.

The T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 710 has gone up for sale today, though you wouldn’t know if it you dropped by the US carrier’s site: there’s no mention of the Windows Phone 7 handset until you dig through the smartphone range. Priced at $49.99 with a new, two-year agreement and available in black and white, the Lumia 710 runs Windows Phone 7 Mango on a 1.4GHz single-core CPU with a 3.7-inch WVGA screen. There’s also a 5-megapixel main camera with 720p HD video recording though, unlike the AT&T Lumia 900 announced earlier this week, no front-facing camera. You also get HSPA+ but not LTE, though T-Mobile USA still throws a little 4G symbol in the status bar anyway. Preloaded apps include Nokia Drive and ESPN, along with T-Mobile TV for streaming video and Nokia Music for streaming audio. We grabbed some hands-on time with the Lumia 710 when Nokia initially announced the smartphone, back at Nokia World 2012, which you can see here. We’re hoping T-Mobile wakes up soon and starts pushin

One of the most popular Konami game franchises that has been around for a long time is Metal Gear Solid. A new version of one of the older PS2 titles is ready to head to the Nintendo 3DS game console soon. The game is called Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. The game is an updated version of a PS2 classic, and it has some interesting features. The game will support the 3DS Circle Pad Pro accessory, and it is set in the jungles of the 60s. Naturally, the graphics are tweaked from the PS2 version with 3D jungles and settings. The game is also made to take advantage of the split screen format. The inventory that Snake carries is now on the bottom screen, below the action for easy access. The game makes stealth a key need for completing missions. To support that need for stealth the game allows the user to use a camouflage photography system. The player can take photos of things in their environment and use them to make camo clothing for Snake in the game. How well the camo will work

Google‘s Eric Schmidt has again denied there is any fragmentation problem within Android, claiming that the platform instead shows customer-friendly “differentiation.” Speaking at CES this week, where many manufacturers revealed devices running older versions of Android but promised Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades at some point later this year, Schmidt argued that “differentiation is positive, fragmentation is negative,” PCMag reports. The deciding factor, he claimed, was that apps ran across devices on different iterations of Android. “Differentiation means that you have a choice and the people who are making the phones, they’re going to compete on their view of innovation,” Schmidt argued. “They’re going to try and convince you that theirs is better than somebody else.” The proliferation of Android devices over the past eighteen months, Google’s rapid update cycle, as well as vendor attempts to differentiate their phones and tablets by modifying the core OS, has left multiple version

The North American International Auto Show is going right now in Detroit bringing with it the first glimpses at new car models and concept vehicles that may make it to showrooms in the future. Lincoln showed off its new MKZ concept in Detroit, and the car doesn’t look much like the concepts you would expect. In fact, the MKZ Concept car looks like a refreshed version of the existing car and completely showroom ready to my eyes. The car will hit dealers later this year. It has a more refined version of the split-wing grill that was introduced in 1938 on the Lincoln-Zephyr. The car has a roofline that is supposed to be a move away from the traditional sedan style. It also has a panoramic glass sunroof that spans from the windshield to the top of the backlight and is integrated into the sedans superstructure. That is cool, but a similar glass roof on Ford Mustangs lets in an insane amount of heat in warm climates. Inside the car is room for four people. The transmission has a push but

Foxconn has been under intense scrutiny in the past after workers committed suicide by jumping from the top of the factory. Allegations have included long working hours and little pay. According to an anti-government website in China, 300 workers at a Foxconn factory at Foxconn Technology Park in Wuhan threatened to jump from the top of the building. The event is said to have happened on January 2 and was incited by Foxconn not granting the workers compensation they were promised. A group of workers was allegedly given the option to leave their positions with some compensation or remain at Foxconn with no raise. Most of the group allegedly accepted the option to leave with compensation.

There are a couple interesting rumors swirling at CES 2012. The two rumors are separate, but interconnected making them all the more interesting. iLounge is claiming that its EIC was able to check out the iPad that will be launching this year the day before CES kicked off. According to Jeremy Horwitz, the new iPad is so similar to the existing iPad 2 that most will not notice the difference. He claims that the only clues are a scant 1mm thicker tablet and a slightly larger camera on the back rimed in silver. He does note that the higher resolution screen makes the update easy to identify from the front and the camera sensor for the back is the new one the iPhone 4S carries sans flash. With Apple having no official presence at CES, this may sound a bit off, that is until you consider another rumor.