Thursday, December 23, 2010

iPad 2 rumored to have flatter backside, smaller bezel, "wide-range" speaker

According to Japanese Mac blog MacOtakara, the next-gen iPad will have a flatter backside and smaller bezel compared to the original iPad. The "iPad 2" will also have a larger "wide-ranged speaker" located behind a mesh speaker grille.

MacOtakara notes that their Chinese source has told them the next iPad will be three millimeters smaller than the original, but the display will stay the same size. That means the bezel surrounding the iPad's display should shrink substantially. The rear case has been flattened to be more like an iPod touch, which should make it easier to lay on a flat surface. Though I didn't mention either of those things in my list of things I'd like to see in the iPad 2, a smaller bezel and flatter rear case would definitely improve the iPad's design, and if this image from MacOtakara accurately represents the revamped speaker, we can expect much better sound out of the next iPad as well.

MacOtakara's source claims production of the iPad 2 has already begun, with orders scheduled to begin shipping to Apple by mid to late January. This aligns well with an earlier iPad 2 shipping date rumor from Digitimes. MacOtakara also notes that, while "unreliable information," the next iPad may have both front- and rear-facing cameras, with the rear-facing camera having the same resolution as the iPhone 4.

[via AppleInsider]

iPad 2 rumored to have flatter backside, smaller bezel, "wide-range" speaker originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/23/ipad-2-rumored-to-have-flatter-backside-smaller-bezel-wide-ra/

FIRST SOLAR FINISAR FEI COMPANY FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL

TUAW TV Live at 5: The Christmanniversary Show

Today's TUAW TV Live marks two special events -- the upcoming Christmas holiday and the first anniversary of the show.

Yes, believe it or not, TUAW TV Live has been on the air almost every Wednesday afternoon since December 23, 2009, with commentary, demos, live reviews and the occasional guest. Today's show will feature more of the same, with some live and recorded demonstrations of new software and accessories for your favorite Apple products. And of course we'll have a lot of the regulars visiting and hanging out in the chat room.

To join in on the fun and usually educational show, come on back to TUAW just before 5 PM ET (2 PM PT, 10 PM GMT) and you'll find a post containing the live streaming video, the chat room, and instructions on how to join in if you're on an iPhone or iPad.

TUAW TV Live at 5: The Christmanniversary Show originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/22/tuaw-tv-live-at-5-the-christmanniversary-show/

HYPERCOM HEWLETT PACKARD CO HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS GOOGLE

Firefox Friday: On life after Aza, making your own browser, beta 8, bigger bug bounties, and more!

The open source community shudders with equal measures of saddening loss and anxious anticipation. Mozilla Firefox, one of the most important open source projects, has lost a very big player, and no one quite knows how extensive the repercussions will be.

Aza Raskin, the creative lead behind most of the magic in Firefox 4, resigned earlier this week to pursue the humanization of health care with startup Massive Health. Few details of the new venture have emerged yet, but Aza has reassured me that he is leaving "on great terms" with Mozilla, and he's positive that his beloved Panorama will be well looked after.

As for what Raskin's leaving means for the long term health of the open source and open Web movements, it's hard to say. Mozilla, in general, has always been one of the most important, humanist Web advocates, and Firefox 4 was a major proponent of this year's frantic we're-more-hardware-accelerated-than-you cockfight between Mozilla, Google and Microsoft. Without Aza to drive innovation in Firefox 5, will Google and Microsoft be left to battle it out for the crown -- and will the Web as a whole be less innovative?

Continue reading Firefox Friday: On life after Aza, making your own browser, beta 8, bigger bug bounties, and more!

Firefox Friday: On life after Aza, making your own browser, beta 8, bigger bug bounties, and more! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/17/firefox-friday-on-life-after-aza-making-your-own-browser/

VERISIGN VERIFONE HOLDINGS VEECO INSTRUMENTS VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATES

LiteLocker lets you leave those Christmas lights up all year

There are a few asshats in my neighborhood that put up Christmas lights last year and just left them up. One of the guys even left his wreath and garland around the door all year. I guess it was a short cut to decorating for this year, but its’ dumb to drive by in May [...]

Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/YytbeetXiCE/

TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS

Navigon updates MobileNavigator North America with new features and iPad friendliness

Here's a nice holiday present from Navigon. MobileNavigator for North America has just caught up with features recently added to the regional versions. In version 1.70 you now get an animated Active Lane Assistant and travel and restaurant guides through Zagat, which is a US$5.99 in-app purchase. Also added is the ability to report changes in roads to Navigon for verification and distribution in a map update.

The new version of the app is universal, so it runs on the iPad as well as the iPhone. You can now share stored favorites between all of your iOS devices, allowing you to plan a trip on your iPad, for example, and transfer that info to your iPhone via email.

MobileNavigator North America currently sells for $44.99. No date yet on an update to the USA only version, but it should arrive soon. The update is free for all owners of the Navigon North America app.

Navigon updates MobileNavigator North America with new features and iPad friendliness originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/22/navigon-updates-mobilenavigator-north-america-with-new-features/

NOVELLUS SYSTEMS NOVELL NETWORK APPLIANCE NETGEAR

Sony Buying Back Chip Plant from Toshiba

So waaay back before 2008, Sony had control of a chip plant in Nagasaki, a semiconductor plant to be more precise, a plant which that year they sold to Toshiba Corp. Sony now plans to buy BACK that plant from Toshiba so that it might strengthen it’s complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor business. All of [...]

Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/8qXwkAez_7w/

MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL. CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Hands-on: Tubeify mashes YouTube, Billboard, and Last.fm

Tubeify

While YouTube offers its own solution for music-lovers, it is not ideal if you're more of a listener. After all, YouTube leans towards watching videos, and its interface is geared toward that task. Still, YouTube does carry an awful lot of musical content, and there must be a better way to harness this wealth of content and make it into a personalized radio of sorts. Indeed, this is what Tubeify attempts to do.

The service is invite-only at this point, but I got my invite immediately upon asking for it. I then took it for an extensive spin, and produced the gallery which you can see at the end of this post.

Selection

While YouTube does carry a ton of music, it doesn't have everything. For example, a simple search for King Crimson completely stumped the system. It came up with the Last.fm record for the album, but since YouTube did not contain even a single track, it wasn't very useful.

Continue reading Hands-on: Tubeify mashes YouTube, Billboard, and Last.fm

Hands-on: Tubeify mashes YouTube, Billboard, and Last.fm originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/08/hands-on-tubeify-mashes-youtube-billboard-and-last-fm/

QUANTA COMPUTER RESEARCH IN MOTION ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS SAIC