Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

It appears that Asus is putting a lot more out than just good computers.  Their new 3.5G HSDPA smartphone, the P552w, looks very terrific. 

The P552w has to its credit the first finger-friendly Glide UI user interface, which was developed by none other than Asus.  This interface includes programs like Asus Today, Anytime Launcher, EziPhoto, and EziMusic.

It will be pre-installed with Google Maps and ASUS SMS Location Link software.  There is also a Calendar option which can organize and display the thumbnails of photos users have taken, even the dates when they were snapped.

Its internal specs include a 624MHz processor, 256MB storage, 128MB RAM, and its set up for tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900MHz).  Other features include GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, microSD card expansion, and a 2-megapixel camera.  It is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. 

Unfortunately, there is no word for the as far as the price, release date, or availability. 

Via [SlashPhone]

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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Smartphones, the name given to devices that combine a phone and pda in once device capable of doing everything from editing spreadsheets to browsing the internet, were once the fastest growing segment of the mobile industry. The Blackberry, iPhone, and Palm Centro are all popular devices in this category.

Both RIM, makers of the Blackberry, and Palm saw a 7% decrease while Nokia and Apple saw their stocks fall 5 and 4% respectively.  The report from Gartner Inc showed sales growth of 16% which is a dramatic drop from the 55% growth the market enjoyed at this time last year. Not surprisingly, the dismal economy is to blame.

“The current economic environment continues to negatively impact the market, limiting consumer spending and replacement purchases in general,” wrote Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner

Worldwide sales of smartphones reached over 32 million, with 25% of that being North American sales. With the recent release of the new 3G iPhone, the much anticipated release of the HTC Touch Diamond coming soon, and the long overdue release of Palm’s new Linux based OS due in early 2009, I don’t think smartphone stockholders have too much to worry about.

Read [MarketWatch]

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Section: Computers, Networking, Security, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites

You have FaceBook and MySpace and YouTube…..and now…A-Space.  Only unless you have top level clearances, you won’t be joining this social networking site. Well, let’s hope that’s how it really goes down. (Kind of scary that the government thinks the internet is secure when you really think about it).

The soon to be launching A-Space program is a site for analysts working within the 16 US intelligence agencies. “It’s every bit Facebook and YouTube for spies, but it’s much, much more,” said Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis.  “It’s a place where not only spies can meet but share data they’ve never been able to share before,” Wertheimer said. “This is going to give them for the first time a chance to think out loud, think in public amongst their peers, under the protection of an A-Space umbrella.” Ummm….an A-Space umbrella? I sure hope it can weather a decent storm.

Obviously, data protection and hackers are a concern. Someone getting in there that isn’t supposed to be in there. What about a double agent? It’s not like this never happened before. (Let’s think Robert Hanssen) They say they are taking measures to prevent this, and going to be watching behavior patterns of the users on the site. “We’re building [a] mechanism to alert that behavior. We call that, for lack of a better term, the MasterCard, where someone is using their credit card in a way they’ve never used it before, and it alerts so that maybe that credit card has been stolen,” Wertheimer said. “Same thing here. We’re going to actually do patterns on the way people use A-Space.”

The IOC is Web based rather than a full desktop client, and with the different involved agencies, has 16 different security waivers that moves across 16 differently-configured firewalls. Even once a user is “cleared” to access the site..that doesn’t mean he or she has full access. There are still all different levels of clearance, or “compartments” different users are permitted to access. Apparently, they plan to eventually make A-Space capable of holding documents which are actually even several levels above Top Secret, and certified at a level that 95% of all intelligence can be stored there. They plan to tag important related words and phrases using a system called TagConnect, labeling them by usefulness. Related documents will be recommended to analysts, kind of like when you shop online, you get recommendations made based on past browsing history.  Wow…somehow…this just makes me think, man they’re making it simple for any bad guys to find exactly what they’re looking for.

Yep, they can add friends just like you do on your favorite social networking site.  I wonder if they are gonna have all the little smiley faces and “mood right now” thingies too.  Current mood….super stealthy.

Read [CNN]

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FROM APPLETELL - As expected, today Apple launched a new version of iTunes to go along with their revamped iPod line, and during the Apple Event, Steve Jobs simply could not shut up about the newest iTunes feature: “Genius.” What Genius does is analyze the music and video in your iTunes library (provided… MORE »

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FROM APPLETELL - Kevin Rose’s spy shots turned out to be correct! The 4th generation iPod Nano is exactly like the spy shots we’ve seen in the last week or two — it has an aluminum oval design, with a longer screen. Jobs claims it’s the “Thinnest iPod we’ve ever made”, and “You’ll… MORE »

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Section: Audio, Accessories, Audio Receivers, Home Audio, Speakers, Video, DVD Players/DVRs

Philips showcased their new home theatre device recently at IFA 2008.  Granted, it kind of looks like a cross between a pet’s feeding dish, a humidifier, and a soccer ball…and one might think “what can this really do?”…but it’s getting some decent feedback.

The CinemaOne is one of the smallest home theatre devices out there.  It contains a DVD player, a CD player, an iPod dock, a five channel amplifier, four speakers (featuring the same soundbar technology found in their Ambisound line) and a subwoofer which is built into the base.  It can output in just about any kind of format, including DivX and WMV, and you can control the iPod with the included remote. There is also a USB 2.0 port. The DVD player comes with 1080p scaling and Dolby Digital and DTS support as well. Not bad.

No confirmed release dates seem to be out at this point. I’ve seen rumors of September through January. Keep an eye out for updates of confirmation and pricing.

via [techradar]

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FROM APPLETELL - I for one was really hoping for GPS in the new iPod Touch, but it seems that didn’t make Apple’s list of necessary updates.

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FROM APPLETELL - Apple is promising big things with the new iPhone. Though, they pretty much jumped right over it.

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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

Still nothing official coming from the HTC camp, but it looks like the replacement to the Touch has been determined and it has been dubbed the HTC Opal. With the details coming from what is mentioned to be a leaked PDF from HTC, the Opal is stated to be running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional along with the latest TouchFLO 3D interface.

So far, it sounds pretty good, but the specs are not all that impressive considering this is rumored to be a follow-up device. According to the leaked PDF, the Opal is expected to feature a 2.8-inch 240 x 320 QVGA display, 2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and a microSD card slot. Additionally it will also offer 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM and be powered by a 200MHz TI OMAP 850 processor.

Keep in mind that this PDF is dated July 3, which means that its about two months old now and that these are not official or final. Which means that these specs could be changed in the final version, if they have not seen a few improvements already. As you would expect nothing has been mentioned about availability or pricing.

Read [SmartMobileGadgets] Via [coolsmartphone]

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Section: Computers, Laptops

Toshiba unveiled not just one but seven new notebooks which all belong to its SS RX2 notebook series. These are models T9GG, T9G, T8GG, T8G. T7GG, T7G, and S7G. All seven notebooks are packed with a 12.1-inch LCD screen with a 1,280 x 800 WXGA resolution, 1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300 processor, Intel GS45 Express Chipset, 2GB of RAM which can be expanded up to 3G, Wi-Fi, a fingerprint sensor, SD/SDHC card slot, three USB ports, one e-SATA port and a DVD SuperMulti Drive.

If you’re wondering what makes these notebooks different from each other. Well, it’s got something to do with their storage capacity. The T9GG and TG will each have a 128GB SSD, while the remaining 5 models will each have a 160GB hard drive standard.

As for these notebooks’ release date, the T8G, T7G and S7G are expected to hit store shelves on September 20 while the rest of the four notebooks will be available sometime in November. Now, Toshiba must be having a hard a time deciding on how to price these notebooks individually as it hasn’t yet announced how much they will cost.

Via [Akihabara News]

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