Mobile Technology

While there are plenty of stands for tablets that are designed to sit on a flat surface, such as the TabGrip, what happens when you’re on the bus or reclining on the couch? You’ll have to hold the device in one hand and do all your touching and swiping with the other, right? Well, those days could be over thanks to an innovative multi-purpose tablet stand called the PadPivot. With a curved base that sits as comfortably on a desktop as it does on the tablet user’s thigh, the PadPivot is designed to provide hands-free support to a tablet so users can devote both their hands to the important touchy tasks at hand. Read More

The wait will soon be over. Apple has sent out press invitations for an event on October 4th in which it's expected to introduce iPhone 5. Apple's new CEO Tim Cook, who succeeded Steve Jobs last month, is likely to preside over the "Let's talk iPhone" gathering and indications are that the killer feature of the new smartphone will be an extensive voice control system called the Assistant. Read More

T-Mobile has announced that it will soon offer a highly spec'd smartphone with its 4G (HSPA+) network support in the U.S., in the form of the HTC Amaze 4G. Slated for an October 12th release, the Amaze features a 4.3-inch qHD (540x960) touchscreen, along with an 8-megapixel camera equipped with several features tailored for fans of smartphone photography. Read More

Samsung has revealed its first smartphone to run Windows Phone 7.5 (a.k.a. Mango), in the form of the Omnia W. Powered by a 1.4GHz CPU, the Omnia W boasts a 3.7-inch WVGA (800 x 480) Super AMOLED display and will likely compete with the recently announced Mango-based HTC Radar. Read More

Despite their somewhat stuffy image, libraries have generally embraced new technology, with public Internet access and library catalogs stored on computer databases the norm. The ability to search a catalog online means we no longer have to traipse down to the local library to see if a book we’re after is available or not. Now bookworms won’t even have to physically go to the library to actually borrow a book with the news that more than 11,000 local libraries in the U.S. are set to lend eBooks that can be viewed on Kindle eReaders and devices running the Kindle app. Read More

HTC has unveiled its new Android 2.3-based smartphone, the HTC Rhyme. Although the unit is not gender specific in any particular way, available colors and accessories such as HTC Charm might suggest it is primarily aimed at the fairer sex. The smartphone comes with a 3.7-inch WVGA super LCD touchscreen and a refreshed HTC Sense 3.5 user interface. The Rhyme will be hitting Verizon Wireless in the U.S. on September 29. Read More

NVIDIA promised us back in May that its Kal-El Project quad-core system-on-a-chip platform for mobile devices would come as a "battery-friendly" solution, although without giving details at the time. The company has recently outlined the secret behind Kal-El's energy efficiency - it's a technology called Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing (vSMP), which is based on an extra fifth "companion core" designed to perform less demanding tasks in the background. Read More

Having installed the very best hi-fi equipment in an acoustically optimized music room, the arrival of the mobile music player was perhaps of marginal interest to the dedicated audiophile. With its Icon iDo digital iDevice amp, however, California's NuForce may well persuade said audio junkies that its time to invest in one of Apple's portable entertainment centers. The iDo sneaks behind the scenes of the device soundstage and grabs the original audio data, runs it through its own 24-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and offers listeners audiophile-grade CD quality tunes via headphones or home hi-fi music system. Read More

Smartphones are in the process of replacing cameras, phonebooks, land lines and maps ... and wallets are next. First announced in May but just launched today, the Google Wallet free app allows its users to store electronic versions of their credit cards on their smartphone, and pay for items simply by tapping their phone on a near field communication (NFC) reader at a store’s front counter. Read More