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Showing posts from February 12, 2012

Does Apple really need to launch iPad 3?

Do you want your new  iPad  to have a soft, seductive voice? Do you want that voice to tell you what the weather will be in Copenhagen tomorrow? Do you want her to send e-mails to your lover for you? Apple, you see, is reportedly, allegedly, rumoredly  announcing a new iPad in March . Naturally, many speculate that this will be called the iPad 3, just as many speculated that the last year's  iPhone  would be the  iPhone 5 . That turned out to be the iPhone 4S. So why shouldn't one believe that the new iPad will be the iPad 2 and a half? The iPhone 4S enjoyed improvements that amused the hard-core, dual-core tech community. But there was only one reason that it caught the imagination of real human beings. That reason was Siri, the occasionally moody personal assistant that makes you feel like Ari Gold. Surely then, the first supposition would be that Siri would migrate to your iPad, so that you can demand the New York Times from her and she will purr and hap

Google promises 'big announcements' for Google TV

Google is teasing us with a promise of "big announcements" tomorrow regarding Google TV.                             "Get ready for Monday, we have some big announcements!" the Web giant cryptically teased late Saturday from its  Facebook page . Google representatives did not immediately respond to requests for more information, so it looks like we will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the company has up its sleeve. Perhaps the company will take the wraps off consumer gear the company is reportedly developing. The company is working on a home entertainment device that would "stream music wirelessly throughout the home" and be marketed under Google's name, according to a  Wall Street Journal report  last week. Google has dabbled with consumer products before and has met with mixed results. Google TV is software intended to power smart TVs and other Web-connected devices but that effort has largely foundered. Google was also behind th

Googleplex expansion to include 'Experience Center,' test labs

Google has big plans for Googleplex.      The company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters will soon welcome a 120,000-square-foot "Google Experience Center" that will serve as a combination private museum and meeting area, according to a  San Jose Mercury News report . The $120 million expansion will also reportedly house labs to test secret projects such as the company's "@home" project--rumored to be a home entertainment device. The Google Experience Center would allow the Web giant "to share visionary ideas, and explore new ways of working" with up to 900 guests at a time, Google said in documents filed with the city of Mountain View and viewed by the newspaper. "The Experience Center would not typically be open to the public--consisting of invited groups, and guests whose interests will be as vast as Google's range of products, and often confidential," Andrew Burnett, an architect working on the project, explained in

Apple iTunes chief accepts Steve Jobs' Grammy

Steve Jobs was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award last night for his contribution to the music industry. The Recording Academy  announced in December  that the late Apple co-founder would receive one of the organization's Special Merit Awards for helping "to create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books." The award was accepted by Eddy Cue, who was recently promoted to senior vice president for Internet software and services:  On behalf of Steve's wife, Laurene, his children, and everyone at Apple, I'd like to thank you for honoring Steve with the Trustees Grammy Award. Steve was a visionary, a mentor, and a very close friend. I had the incredible honor of working with him for the last fifteen years. Accepting this award means so much to me because music meant so much to him. He told us that music shaped his life...it made him who he was. Everyone that knows Steve knows the profound impact that artist

Samsung Galaxy Mini may get low-end sibling

It looks like the Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 might soon be getting a low-end sibling.                       The Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 S6500--codenamed Jenna--could make its debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month, according to a  leaked promotional image  sent to GSMArena. The specs attached to the image shows some improvements over the original; the new device sports a bigger, 3.3-inch screen with higher resolution, a faster 800MHz processor, and 3GB of storage. Along with rounded corners, the device will feature the same 3MP camera and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity as its predecessor. Another throwback is its operating system: the new smartphone will run  Android  2.3 Gingerbread. No word on a retail price, but the image reportedly includes a label that says "February 2012." With HTC expected to offer seven phones this year running the new Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, would you buy a phone that is expected to run the older vers

Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab 2, Ice Cream Sandwich and all

                                            Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 2. Samsung has announced the follow-up to its 7-inch Galaxy Tab. Dubbed the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) , the 7-inch  tablet  sports  Android  4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and a 1GHz dual-core processor. The Galaxy Tab 2 will come with both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. On the software side, Samsung's upcoming tablet will ship with its Hub services, including Music Hub to access over 17 million tracks, and Readers Hub for acquiring e-books. The offering will also come with Video Hub, which Samsung says, will allow users to rent or buy over 1,000 films. The Galaxy Tab 2 will also become the first mobile device from Samsung to ship with its AllShare Play service. AllShare Play allows users to stream multimedia content to the tablet from their PCs, Samsung smartphones, or third-party cloud drives. The service also supports device-to-device and device-to-cloud transfers. Nearly every smartphone and tablet Samsun