Gadget and Techno Updates
Posts tagged industry
Velocity ships first mainstream Android tablet in September
Aug 23rd
Posted by admin in Uncategorized
Velocity Micro committed itself to the world of tablets late on Friday by opening preorders for the Cruz Reader. The seven-inch Android 2.1 slate is now due to ship both online and to electronics stores in early September for $200. The wider-aspect Cruz Tablet ($300) and child oriented StoryPad ($150) are due to ship later the same month.
At seven inches, the Cruz Reader is intended both as an e-book device and as a general media player. It has just an 800×480 resolution like many regular-sized smartphones, but in a 4:3 ratio better suited to reading text. Velocity Micro also preloads More >
Virgin Mobile to have $40 true unlimited data plan
Aug 23rd
Posted by admin in Uncategorized
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile this weekend prematurely confirmed a major revamp of its Broadband2Go data plans that could see a return to real unlimited data. Rather than the four plans offered today, it would simplify to just a $40 unlimited monthly plan and a $10, 100MB 10-day plan. IntoMobile has added through a leaked memo that the changes will go live on August 24.
Both MiFi routers and modems should work with the cap-free access.
The switch would escalate the competition among carriers for mobile data. Clear and Virgin’s US parent Sprint offer unlimited Internet, but only for their still-rare WiMAX services. On More >
Best Buy to push hard on iPad, other tablets for holidays
Aug 23rd
ipad camera adapter
Best Buy’s mobile lead Shawn Score in an interview on Friday said the store would “make tablets a focus” for the holiday this year. The big-box chain hopes to associate itself with tablets and will put more attention on the iPad and its yet-to-ship competitors. Alternatives to Apple would be important, Score told Forbes, as those who use Android or BlackBerry phones might want tablets based on the same platform.
“Customers need to have choice on operating systems,” he explained.
The executive didn’t expect a large number of tablets to ship, but a number are either close to launch or More >
Smartphone data use up 50% in just six months
Aug 10th
Data use on a typical US smartphone has shot up 50 percent in just half a year, a newly published study by analyst Chetan Sharma has discovered. In the first half of 2010, the average bandwidth used climbed to 230MB, or enough to eclipse AT&T’s cheaper plan introduced at the very end of the period. The usage is some of the heaviest in the world, as Japan and Korea have further 3G reach but use it significantly less.
iphone 4
The US as a result has become “ground zero” for data use in the world and is a testbed for policies around More >
Google special event Thursday may bring Android video calls
Aug 10th
htc evo 4g
Google today sent notice of a special event at its Mountain View campus on Thursday to unveil a “couple of cool new mobile features” that may bring video calling to Android. While the company has so far only said that mobile product lead Hugo Barra will lead the event, sources suggested Tuesday night that it may be video chat integrated with the mobile OS. A second option raised by AllThingsD may be a clone of Find My iPhone that would help Android owners track, lock down or wipe a lost handset.
A video chat feature would be a quick More >