Mobile Technology

ARCHOS has confirmed release dates and pricing for its new breed of G9 Android Tablets, which hold the promise of satisfying mobile storage junkies thanks to spacious HDD options being available. The only change to the specs announced in June is that the new ARCHOS tablets will launch with Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) instead of 3.1. Read More

Sony has taken the wraps off its first Android-based Walkman media player - the Z-1000. Running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), Sony's would-be iPod touch rival comes well spec'd with its 4.3-inch WVGA (480x800) touchscreen, NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core CPU platform and 512MB of RAM. Read More

Introduced back in May, HTC's 4.3-inch Sensation flagship smartphone will soon be available in an upgraded version, in the form of the Sensation XE. It comes as the first product from HTC to be manufactured in partnership with Beats Electronics. Featuring Beats Audio technology and a remote-equipped pair of Beats by Dr. Dre earphones, the Sensation XE packs a faster dual-core 1.5GHz CPU and a higher capacity 1730 mAh battery. Read More

Developed by the Teehan+Lax Labs team, the Touch Vision Interface is an interesting idea that looks at using a smartphone's camera to manipulate other screens such as LCD monitors, laptops or TVs. Using the onboard camera, the system would send touch input coordinates in real time from the smartphone's touchscreen to a video feed displayed on the secondary screen. Read More

Symbian slowly ceases to be Nokia's pride and joy after the deal with Microsoft that will see Windows Phone become the primary operating platform, but the operating system is certainly not dead yet. Upcoming updates to Nokia's Symbian Belle operating system will include a number of free apps from Microsoft, while some of the programs will come as native for the first time outside the Windows platform. Read More

In April 2010, Steve Jobs’ outlined why Flash would not be permitted on iOS devices in his “Thoughts on Flash” open letter. While Jobs made some valid points in terms of Flash’s proprietary nature, security concerns, and the fact it drains the batteries of mobile devices, the popularity of the Skyfire 2.0 mobile web browser and standalone VideoQ Flash video player showed that there were still plenty of iOS users keen to Flash video on their mobile devices. Now Adobe has finally come to the party with its own solution that will allow Flash video content to be viewed directly within Safari on iOS devices. Because Adobe will use a similar technique to that of Skyfire, users of Android and Playbook mobile devices will also benefit in terms of battery life. Read More

Once when I was visiting Montreal, I went into a restaurant and discovered that the menu was entirely in French. Not wanting to admit that I couldn’t read the language, I was instead forced to order the only two things I recognized the names of: Caesar salad and calamari. Had smartphones been around at the time, I definitely could have used Purdue University’s new food translator app. It not only translates the names of foreign-language dishes, but it also tells you what they are and what’s in them. Read More

There’s no doubt that a soundtrack can significantly enhance the immersiveness and emotional impact of films and TV programs. But can some audio accompaniment do the same thing for books? New York City-based startup Booktrack thinks so and has released an iOS app – with an Android app also on the way - that adds soundtracks to eBooks. As the user reads they can listen to ambient background noise relevant to the book’s current setting, specific sound effects synchronized to the text as it is read, and music. But does a soundtrack “boost the reader’s imagination and engagement” as the company states, or does it just create another distraction to be overcome when delving into a book on the bus on the way home? I decided to download the app and find out. Read More

Acer has announced its next Ferrari-branded product in the form of the liquidmini Ferrari Edition smartphone, which features a 3.2-inch screen and runs Android 2.3. The new arrival will expand Acer's lineup of products featuring the Ferrari logo, including laptops, LCD monitors and last year's Liquid E Ferrari Edition Android-based smartphone. Read More