Category: GMail

Earlier today, Samsung announced that the Galaxy S II is upgradeable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in select markets including South Korea, Hungary, Poland, and Sweden. The company confirmed that other European countries are going to receive the update in the near future, but failed to confirm how soon and who exactly will receive it.

An official tweet states that Samsung officials admitted that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade will become available for download in the UK and other European markets as of March 19th , but it may be released as soon as the first rollout will be completed in the aforementioned countries. Still, Samsung Galaxy S2 owners will have to rely on the “March 19th” date therefore they shouldn’t hold their breath over a sooner launch date.

As of March 19th, Londoners will get the chance to experience the latest version of Android, however, Samsung warned consumers that not all of them will receive it at the same time. The South Korea-based company added that availability depends on carriers therefore you should contact your cell provider if you want to find out more information.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is available for OTA download, and the process will remain the same for future countries therefore Samsung Galaxy S II owners should check for new updates under the device’s settings. Other tablets and smartphones including the Galaxy Note, Galaxy SII LTE, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 will also be upgradeable in the coming weeks.

The latest Android version come packed with features including Android Beam, Face Unlock, improved notifications screen, new visual effects, new font, the ability to uninstall pre-loaded apps, WP7-like People app, new Gallery app, and a photo editing tool among others.
DeviceMAG

We’ve already heard from Rovio that they plan to put Angry Birds Space on iOS and Android, as well as the Mac and PC desktops. But, can we also expect to see Angry Birds Space on the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS? Rovio says that both of those are a possibility.

Speaking to gaming blog Joystiq, Rovio chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka said that they wanted to bring Angry Birds Space to “all the screens”. He said:

With all our games, we’re going for all the screens: Smartphones, tablets, TVs, the web, so we really want to bring Space to all the screens as well. As always, we have limited resources, so we can only do iOS, Android, PC and Mac for the launch, but the other platforms will follow shortly after.

Rovio is bringing their insanely popular bird-slinging franchise to the Nintendo 3DS sometime soon, and that includes the older games as well as Angry Birds Space sometime in the future. But, what about the Sony PlayStation Vita? Vesterbacka said that they would be watching the sales numbers of the Vita to see how the gaming handheld did in the market, but he added ultimately, the decision would be up to Sony.

We can’t imagine why Sony wouldn’t want the insanely popular Angry Birds on their new gaming platform, but from the start, the PlayStation Vita has occupied a strange middle ground between tablet and gaming handheld. It has a big 5-inch screen, quad-core processor and apps like Facebook, Twitter and Netflix, but the web browser is terrible compared to iOS and Android and Sony doesn’t seem interested in opening the platform up like iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7.

But, for the rest of us, Angry Birds Space is set to be released on March 22, 2012.

TFTS – Technology & Gadgets

Apple unveiled the new iPad two days ago at a special media event, and the new device is a major product refresh when compared with its predecessor. One of those improvements is the new dual-core A5X processors that packs quad-core graphics, apparently capable of offering a better video experience than current NVIDIA Tegra 3 – although that fact is currently disputed by NVIDIA.

Why does the iPad need a much stronger processor? Because of the Retina Display that packs four times more pixels than the previous displays used by the iPad and iPad 2. Such a high resolution requires a lot more power under the hood, and that’s where a custom faster CPU with a more powerful GPU comes in. The new iPad is also rumored to pack more RAM, which would also be required to sustain that Retina Display.

We assumed that the A5X chip that was designed for the iPad 3 will also be used by other 2012 iOS devices including the iPhone 5/6, which will probably be called the new iPhone, and why not, by the iPod touch 5G, in case Apple will launch one.

Now Macworld reports that some analysts belive the new smartphone will not use such a processor. The sixth-generation iPhone will surely come with Retina Display on board, just like the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S did in the past, but since the device uses a much smaller display, a special A5X chip would not be required:

Apple may have purpose-built the A5X specifically for the new iPad’s improved screen, said Linley Gwennap, founder and principal analyst of The Linley Group, who emphasized he was still sorting through the information about the new chip Wednesday.

“I think that this new chip is probably just for the iPad,” Gwennap said. “It looks like they planned ahead for this.” […]

Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research, also sees the current A5X as an unlikely candidate for the next iPhone, which won’t require as much graphics processing power as an iPad. The current iPhone has a display density of 326 pixels per inch, greater than the latest iPad’s 264 pixels per inch, but the iPhone has only a 3.7-inch display.

“There’s no technical reason to make the iPhone display better,” McCarron said.

So far Apple has used the same custom processor in the devices launched during the same product cycle, an A4 chip for the iPad and iPhone 4S and an A5 chip for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. It will certainly be interesting to see what kind of CPU the new iPhone will offer later this year. Will it be a dual-core custom A6? Or maybe a quad-core A6?

TFTS – Technology & Gadgets

Haven’t you noticed the absence of Apple’s iTunes gift cards from Best Buy? The online retailer is no longer showing the gift cards in their product listing. They are Apple’s largest retailer partner, and the partnership has a history of several prideful years.

Until recently, Best Buy used to sport iTunes gift cards for unbelievable price cuts – at the range of 15 to 20 percent. Now, a search for iTunes gift card on Best Buy ends up with three results – one for a how to DVD, and a couple for Creative’s Sound Blaster accessory.

Meanwhile, the retailer continues to sell other Apple’s products such as iPods, iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, and various Apple accessories including Apple TV.

The reason for the absence of the gift card is not clear, as yet. A rift could be a possible villain, but such estimation doesn’t bear sense considering the presence a wide range of other Apple’s product in Best Buy’s list.

The retailer has even listed the newly introduced iPad 3. So, that also hints that a rift isn’t the reason.

Someone could view this move in the backlight of launch of the new iPad and Apple TV, but again that doesn’t seem to connect rationally. And, the worst part is that neither Apple nor Best Buy has said a word about this issue.

You might remember Apple’s famous rift with Costco over the pricing of their devices. But such a disagreement is unlikely here, since Best Buy is Apple’s largest partner in the field, and the partnership has done exceptionally well in expanding Apple’s market throughout the world. However, truth won’t hide for too long.
DeviceMAG

Well, Intel is hatching improved chips day by day. They have to, with the increasing competition right now present in the chip making scenario. But do you know what their biggest challenge is?

If you are saying TI or NVIDIA, you are wrong. According to the recent statements from the top bosses from Inlet, they are finding memory bandwidth as the major challenge ahead.

When they recently launched the new Xenon E5, they touted about the I/O improvements of the new chip very much. One of the key features was the latest 10 Gb/sec Ethernet controller.

However, the challenge of the memory bandwidth is rising for the chip maker as they add more cores to their chips to make them powerful. The question is about getting enough bandwidth to keep these additional cores active.

Intel is focusing on increasing I/O bandwidth and putting components directly to the processor die so that I/O will be closer to the processor.

When it comes to integrating memory controllers, it is the right approach sometimes than adding one more core.

Intel feels that integration is an expensive business and they can go only as far as die area finance allows. But integrated memory controllers are often cheaper than a separate chip.

Adding more functionality to dies will bring in high performance chips in the future, but, they have to be cautious.

One thing is that they have given extra care to confirm that the functionality it put on-die is perfect before it goes out of the door. It may also delay the frequency with which they are churning out new chips.
DeviceMAG

Google Play may not be a great name for an ebook store, but it’s the perfect name for a game platform. Right now, you can only download Android games from Google Play, but that may change in the future.

“By next year, we will not be (…) talking about Google+ Games, Chrome Web Store games, Games for Native Client and Android games, we will be talking about Google games,” says Punit Soni, Google Product Manager.

The Google Games platform is supposed to be launched later this year. “Soni also indicated that they were planning on making Google Games truly social, offering Hangouts for video communication, mobile games, and better distribution and discoverability for games,” informs Android and Me.

Hopefully, the new platform will bring more high-quality Android games, powerful games in the Chrome Web Store and some addictive Google+ games. It would be nice to pause a game on your phone or tablet and continue playing it on your computer.

Google provides a cross-platform library for writing games and creating Java desktop apps, HTML5 web apps and mobile apps for Android and iOS. The PlayN library was used to create the HTML5 version of Angry Birds.

In addition to developer tools, Google also has services like App Engine, AdMob and In-App Payments to host and monetize games.

Google Operating System

A few days ago we heard from various sources that Apple’s third-generation tablet will not be called the iPad 3, a name we’d expect for this product, but rather the iPad HD, as Apple is interested in highlighting the most important characteristic of the tablet, a high resolution display or Retina Display.

At the time two iPad case makers said the device will be called the iPad HD, with that moniker being confirmed by an analytics application, Tapatalk, which spotted the iPad HD name in use.

Now CNET seems to confirm the fact that the iPad 3 will be called the iPad HD:

A developer who’s previously provided reliable information with respect to things Apple and otherwise tells us the next iPad uses the HD moniker instead of going with “iPad 3.”

On the other hand the report says that Apple has not shown any interest in purchasing iPad HD domains that have already been registered by third parties around the time the iPad was launched. On the other hand, since Apple tries keeping things under the radar until the very last minute, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the company purchase those domains only after the new iPad is launched.

Why is Retina Display so important for the iPad 3 that Apple will change its name to iPad HD? There are various factors to consider, including hardware and additional Apple products.

On the hardware side, a Retina Display, or 2,048 x 1,536 resolution, means that the new iPad has to pack some shiny new internal components, particularly a faster CPU, more RAM and a GPU capable of increased video performance which will work together to sustain Retina Display capabilities. Therefore the iPad HD should be ready to offer an even better/faster tablet experience.

The cameras of the device should be significantly upgraded to support the higher resolution. The back camera will be offering more megapixels out of the box and HD video recording support, while the front camera should offer HD video recording for FaceTime.

As for other Apple products, once Apple releases the iPad HD with Retina Display it means that it will have to offer customers a lot more HD content from its iTunes store, something the company is probably already working on. At the same time, a new Apple TV – the tiny box, not the rumored HDTV – will have to be launched to support the HD capabilities of the new device, including HD video streaming via AirPlay.

In short, we really don’t care what Apple will call its future tablet, but since it seems ready to move from the expected iPad 3 moniker to a special iPad HD name it only shows that the company is putting a lot of emphasis of its new iPad model. What’s probably clear though is that the iPad via the iPad 3/HD will continue to dominate the tablet business this year as the competition is not even really trying that hard like this time around last year to come up with an iPad alternative.

TFTS – Technology & Gadgets

While MSI may not be as big a name in laptops as, say, Dell or Lenovo, they do manage to put out some href="http://nexus404.com/Blog/2012/01/05/msi-launches-a-pair-of-new-gaming-laptops-msi-brings-out-its-gt783-gt783r-gaming-laptops-complete-with-free-games/">pretty impressive laptops, especially those of the “gaming” variety. And while calling your hardware “gaming” pretty much gives you license to jack up the price 30 percent and hope no one notices, you’ll also get a pretty impressive array of specs with that. Thankfully, that’s just what we’re looking at with the MSI GT780 GX laptop.

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id="more-79811">

The reports that emerged are of a very much unofficial nature, so feel free to take them with a grain of salt as they may well change ahead of their targeted release date. But still, we’re looking at some pretty href="http://nexus404.com/Blog/2011/09/07/msi-unveils-the-gt780dxr-gt683dxr-gaming-notebooks-msi-g-series-notebook-lineup-expanded-to-include-the-gt780dxr-gt683dxr-both-models-are-available-from-today/">impressive hardware here by href="http://nexus404.com/Blog/2011/08/01/new-msi-gaming-laptop-to-emerge-soon-the-msi-ge620dx-gaming-laptop-offers-big-sound-and-video-as-part-of-its-spec-list/">every standard, especially if this one actually comes out looking how the early reports project.

The MSI GT780 GX is said to be a tricked-out version of the GT780 DX, which would make some sense, and will bring in a 17.3 inch display showing at a 1600 x 900 resolution, though you can even elect to bump that up clear to 1920 x 1080. That by itself would make many happy, but backing up that impressive display will be an Intel Core i7 Extreme Editions 2920XM processor, which cl0cks in at an almost disturbingly high 4.16 GHz in the Turbo mode. Naturally, that kind of clock speed has some pretty high heat involved, thus it’s even got a so-called “Cooler Boost” heat sink to keep the scorching to a minimum. Further, it’s also offering up 16 gigs of DDR3 RAM, space sufficient for a pair of 750 gig hard drives, a GeForce GTX 570M graphics card with a further three gigs of DDR5 RAM onboard, a Steelseries keyboard, THX sound, and a nine cell battery.

This all adds up to “really potent laptop”, though sadly, being as MSI hasn’t even officially acknowledged this one’s existence yet, we don’t know just when these will be coming out, or how much we’ll have to shell out to lay hands on one when they do. Still though, it’s going to be some pretty hardcore gaming laptop for those interested in laying hands on one.

But what do you guys think? How much would be too much for the GT780 GX? Would you buy one anyway? Whatever you think about this new laptop, hit the comments section below and tell us what you think!

TFTS – Technology & Gadgets

When you’re discussing early sales of a new console, people will frequently use the past to make a point. We saw that happen a lot in the first few months the 3DS was available – you’d hear people say things like “the 3DS is selling better than the DS was at the same point in its life, and look how the DS turned out!” all the time.

Generally, people who make these comparisons are making valid points. Consoles prove time and time again that it’s impossible to judge how well a particular one will do over the course of its life simply by looking at a few weeks (or even a few months) of sales data. Just for fun, however, the folks at VentureBeat and Statista have taken the data from the first week of PS Vita sales in Japan, Europe, and North America, and put it up against the first week sales data for the DS, 3DS, and PSP.

As you can see from the graph above, the PS Vita comes up short in the US, with the three other handhelds outselling the Vita in their respective first weeks. In Europe, the PS Vita managed to beat both the DS and 3DS, but comes in a distant second to the PSP, which makes us think that Europeans more often prefer Sony handhelds to Nintendo handhelds. Finally, the PS Vita was bested by the 3DS and the DS in Japan, but managed to top the PSP’s week one sales by a significant margin. Sadly, when those three regions are combined into one worldwide figure, the PS Vita comes in last place.

VentureBeat and Statista’s graph also shows us the best-selling handhelds of all time, with the DS taking the number one spot. Nintendo handhelds round out the top three, with the PSP taking four place and the 3DS coming in fifth.

All in all, these are interesting graphs, and they do something to remind us that a console’s early performance isn’t indicative of how well it will perform throughout the rest of it’s lifespan. Take a look at the PSP numbers for Japan, for instance. In its first week, the PSP wasn’t doing so hot, and then later on in life exploded to become a massive hit in Japan. So have hope, Sony fans, because the PS Vita may bounce back in a big way before everything is said and done.

What do you think of these graphs? Head down to the comments section and let us know!

TFTS – Technology & Gadgets

Yesterday we showed you title="Assassin’s Creed 3 Box Art Confirms American Revolution Setting [Ubisoft Reveals Assassin's Creed 3 Box Art, Main Character Appears To Be Native American]" href="http://nexus404.com/Blog/2012/03/01/assassins-creed-3-box-art-confirms-american-revolution-setting-ubisoft-reveals-assassins-creed-3-box-art-main-characters-appears-to-be-native-american/">the box art for Assassin’s Creed 3, a brand new assassins game coming from Ubisoft that is set during the American Revolution. And today we have a few screenshtos that were posted on Reddit alongside various details about the latest game in the franchise.

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id="more-79758"> /> As we told you yesterday, the main character of Assassin’s Creed 3 is Native American in part, the son of a Native American woman and a British soldier. His name is Connor and he will fight the redcoats. Here’s the full list of details about the story of the game, as posted on Reddit:

• The new Assassin is the son of a Native American woman and a British soldier. His calls himself Connor, but his birth name is Ratohnhaké:ton. Born into the Mohawk, he eventually crosses paths with the Assassins in his search for righteousness. /> • Connor is quiet and stoic, letting actions speak for words rather than conversing with others. In contrast to Ezio, Connor is a freedom fighter who acts in the name of justice rather than on personal revenge. /> • Settings will include Boston, New York and a large countryside. The countryside will be the setting of about 1/3 of the game, and will be the location of many events during the game. The countryside will be about 1.5 times as big as Rome in Brotherhood. /> • The protagonist will fight on the American side, with primary allies George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Lee. However, this does not mean that the Americans are the good guys and the British are the bad guys. Templars are everywhere…

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• There will be seasons in the game, meaning that the sun will shine during summer and the landscape will be covered in snow during winter. /> • Fighting and stealth will be completely re-innovated, with Connor being compared to a “predator”. The player will be able to climb trees and other natural elements, and dual-wielding weapons such as a dagger and a mohawk is now also an option. /> • Animals will be present in the woods, like deer and bears. The player will be able to kill them and pelt their skins, to sell them later with the reformed economic system of the game. /> • There will be puzzles similar to The Truth, only they will not be given by Subject 16.

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• Desmond will go into the new Animus 3.0 and will find himself going into “significant events”. /> • 100% sync in memories returns, though this time you will be rewarded when you complete memories to 100%. Checkpoints will also be introduced to mission replay, meaning you don’t have to replay an entire mission to get that 100% sync. /> • The Brotherhood, or Assassins Guild, will return in some form, albeit differently than we have seen before. /> • There will be no more Mercenaries, Thieves, Courtesans, Romani or other factions, but there will be a replacement for them. /> • Den Defense will not return.

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We’ll bring you more details about Assassin’s Creed 3 once Ubisoft makes them available, as the company is yet to confirm them. In the mean time, looking at some of these images, which show an assassin that looks tremendously similar to the one we’ve seen in the box art the other day, I can’t help but have a deja-vu feeling. Is it just me or do you also expect Mel Gibson to appear from the forest wielding a Mohawk of his own in The-Patriot-style?

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TFTS – Technology & Gadgets