Smartphone

Among the electronic goodies unveiled today at CES 2012 in Las Vegas was LG’s new 4G LTE Verizon smartphone, the Spectrum. The phone’s big selling feature is its 1280 x 720-pixel high-definition display – it is billed as “the first smartphone for Verizon Wireless to feature a 4.5-inch True HD In-Plane Switching (IPS) display, the same display technology used in premium LG HD televisions.” Read More

The future technology depicted in the various Star Trek TV series and films certainly holds a lot of appeal for many of us – who wouldn’t want to teleport to Hawaii, live out their fantasies on a holodeck, or enjoy some instant gourmet chow straight out of a replicator? It looks like the Star Trek item that we’re the closest to seeing become a reality, however, is the medical tricorder. This May, the X-PRIZE Foundation proposed a US$10 million Tricorder X-PRIZE, with the intention of encouraging the production of consumer devices that can assess a person’s state of health. The first potential contestant, which already has a tricorder in the works, is a tech start-up by the name of Scanadu. Read More

In terms of display size, smartphone manufacturers are faced with striking a balance between a size that is big enough to be comfortable to view and type on and one that is still small enough to fit inside a jacket packet. Advances in imaging technology have enabled miniature projectors that provide extra screen size in a compact form factor. This has led to a flood of such devices appearing at CES in recent years, such as the SHOWWX laser pico projector. CES 2012 doesn't look like being any different with QP Optoelectronics announcing it will debut its LightPad that adds a keyboard and bigger display to a smartphone at the world's biggest consumer electronics show this coming January. Read More

Many modern outdoors folk are conflicted beings that live by diametrically opposed principles. On the one hand, they spend top dollar for the newest, lightest gear on the market to keep their muscles and joints moving freely. On the other, they fill up their featherlight packs and jackets with all kinds of single-function, redundant or just plain unnecessary devices in the name of being "prepared." Getting more function out of a single device is the quickest way to resolve this problem and the tw700 from German company Tak Wak achieves this by blending several of your most important outdoor devices - GPS, walkie talkie, camera and tracking system - into one rugged, waterproof, trail-ready package. Read More

Fashionistas can have their phone and use it too. The third phone to come out of the partnership between PRADA and LG 3.0 was unveiled this week in London. The slim and stylish handset runs Android's Gingerbread OS. A distinct PRADA influence is evident on the phone's design. The handset exhibits clean and sharp lines with the design house's signature Saffiano pattern, typically etched into its leather goods, adorning the back of the phone. Read More

The first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone will soon be available in its country of origin on Wednesday. OK, technically the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is made in Asia, but the latest Google phone carrying the anticipated Android upgrade traces its software roots to California. Fans there and in the rest of the United States have eagerly been awaiting its arrival while watching the device's global rollout pass them by. Read More

The world's first handheld GPS to use the Android mobile operating system is gearing up for release. The All Sports GPS from Holux is also the first handheld unit with WiFi capability. The idea is to fuse smartphone capability into a handheld GPS, allowing users to download GPS apps directly without having to hookup to a computer. Read More

Although we may think of smartphones as being like tiny desktop computers, they do have at least one key difference – in order to save battery power, many of their functions are hardwired into highly-efficient dedicated processors, instead of taking the form of software. Because smartphones perform so many functions, however, not all of them can be hardwired. As a result, designers of mobile devices must decide which functions will be handled by software, and which by hardware. Computer scientists from MIT have recently devised a system that should make those designers’ jobs a lot easier – if they’re willing to adopt it. Read More

The cameras on most smart phones tend to be rather simple affairs so it's not surprising that savvy inventors have dreamed up numerous add-on attachments such as mini-microscopes and wide/telephoto adapters. They do tend to be rather elaborate and brand-specific, however, not to mention somewhat pricey. Not this one though - the Macro Cell Lens Band is a simple close-up photography solution that has two definite pluses - it works on any camera equipped phone and it's very inexpensive. Read More