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Motorola Xoom 2 images leak, pointy corners no longer part of standard equipment

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Looks like Motorola has developed a fetish for beveled corners recently. After the Photon 4G and the recently leaked 7-inch tablet, another Motorola device has leaked on which the company has cut corners, literally.

This time we are looking at leaked images of the alleged Motorola Xoom 2, the successor to the not-so-popular Motorola Xoom tablet. Unlike the previously leaked tablet this one seems to have a 10-inch display just like its predecessor. Read more »

Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY gets 720p video recording, automatic display brightness adjustment

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The headline may come as a shock to some but it’s true. It seems in an effort to make a great gaming phone, Sony Ericsson forgot to add some basic features in the Xperia PLAY that are expected in a phone that costs as much as it does.

Thankfully, the error has been corrected and after the latest firmware update, the Xperia PLAY is now capable of recording videos in 720p resolution, that too with continuous auto-focus. Read more »

Facebook introduces Timeline, Music and a whole bunch of other things

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It was a big day for Facebook yesterday as they announced a raft of new features for the world’s most popular social networking website. Mark Zuckerberg himself announced all these new features at the Facebook f8 keynote yesterday, which included stuff like the new Timeline view and integration with music and video services, among other things.

Let’s start with Timeline. Timeline will be your new Facebook profile page but instead of just showing your latest posts and info it will show your ‘stories’ as Facebook likes to call them, that will stay there regardless of the new content coming in. Read more »

Windows 8 secure boot to make dual-booting difficult, Linux users grimace

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If you like to run your favorite Linux distribution alongside a copy of Windows on the same machine then you might want to stay away from Windows 8 computers. Thanks to a new secure boot in Windows 8, dual-booting might just become a thing of the past.

Now before I begin explaining, let me say that this will affect only those devices with a ‘Designed for Windows 8′ logo on them, so you can still install Windows 8 on your current computer and dual-boot it. The reason it won’t work on these branded computers is because of the UEFI or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface that these machines will be having instead of a traditional BIOS. Read more »

Nikon announces V1 and J1 mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, priced upwards of $650

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It seems Nikon has finally decided to join the mirrorless interchangeable lens bandwagon with the announcement of the Nikon V1 and J1 models. Both models feature a new CX-size 10.1 megapixel sensor with a 2.7x crop factor, 1080/30p video recording, 1200-fps slow motion capture mode, 3-inch LCD and an ISO range of 100-3200.

The J1 comes with a built-in flash, auto-noise reduction for videos, 73-point AF system, which Nikon claims is the fastest in the world, dual-core EXPEED processing engine and the ability to record videos for up to 29 minutes. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus images leak, runs Honeycomb on a 7-inch display

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It seems the old Samsung Galaxy Tab will soon be getting a successor. TmoNews has managed to acquire some hands-on images of Samsung’s next Honeycomb tablet, purportedly called the Galaxy Tab Plus (SGH-T689).

The device is said to have a 7-inch Super AMOLED or Super AMOLED Plus display with a resolution of 1024 x 600. It will also be running on a Cortex A9 and Honeycomb 3.2. Read more »

Amazon Appstore drops US-only status, spreads to Europe, Australia and India

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One of the biggest competitors to Google’s Android Market is the controversially named Amazon Appstore. One of the main reasons for its popularity has been the free app that Amazon gives away everyday to users.

Unfortunately, so far the service has been limited to residents of the US. But not anymore, because it seems now the Appstore is expanding its reach to a wider customer base. Read more »

AT&T’s 4G LTE network goes live, available in only five markets as of now

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As promised, AT&T flipped the 4G LTE switch on Sunday. This is not the first time you’ll be experiencing LTE on AT&T’s network, however, as certain areas in the US have been enjoying this for a while now. It’s just that now it’s official.

However, if you were expecting a lot more areas to get LTE after the official launch then you will be a bit disappointed as currently it’s only available in five states. Read more »

Facebook introduces subscriptions, improved friend lists

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Taking a leaf out of Google+’s book, Facebook has added a couple of new and useful features. First is subscriptions. Earlier, you had to be friends with someone to read their posts on Facebook unlike on Google+ or Twitter where anyone can read anyone’s post.

With subscriptions, you can now go to someone’s Facebook profile and subscribe to their posts, so that they start appearing on your timeline without the need for the two of you to be friends. You can choose how many and what kind of posts appear on your. For example, you can disable Farmville posts from the said person if that irks you. Read more »

Ricoh announces GR Digital IV point and shoot, features a 28mm lens and image sensor-shift stabilization

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Ricoh has launched a new high-end point and shoot camera, called the GR Digital IV. This new camera features a 10 megapixel sensor and a 28mm/F1.9 lens, the latter is something you don’t often see on point and shoot cameras.

The GR Digital IV also adds an image-sensor shift type image stabilization, a first for the series. There is also a new Hybrid AF, which uses an external AF sensor with 190 AF points coupled with the conventional CCD contrast AF gives an auto-focus time of just 0.2 seconds, approximately half of the GR Digital III. Read more »

Thunderbolt support announced for Wintel platform, should be here in 2012

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Apple’s implementation of Intel’s Light Peak technology is going places. Intel has now announced that they will be bringing the technology to Windows-based computers as well, with companies like ASUS and Acer joining the bandwagon and getting their products ready for a 2012 launch.

Being the same essential technology, Thunderbolt on these other devices will work the same way as it does on the new range of Mac computers. It will have the same specifications and features that Apple touts for its new range of Macs and will work with the same set of accessories. Read more »

PlayStation Vita Japan launch date announced, NTT DoCoMo to provide 3G connectivity

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Sony has announced the launch date for the highly anticipated PlayStation Vita. The device will be launching in Japan On December 17 this year. Unfortunately, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, we are still looking at an early 2012 launch.

For the 3G connectivity, Sony has partnered with NTT DoCoMo, who has a couple of plans on offer. The 20 hour plan will cost ¥980 ($13) and the 100 hour plan will cost ¥4,980 ($65). Read more »

Download Windows 8 Developer Preview right here, back up your current installation while you’re at it

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We have been itching to get our hands on Windows 8 – which is still just a working title, by the way – ever since the first screenshots surfaced. But when Microsoft officially unveiled it to the public yesterday the itch turned into a proverbial rash.

Luckily, we won’t have to wait for long to try it out for ourselves because Microsoft has has finally released the Developer Preview on their website for everyone to download. Read more »

Nintendo announces analog pad thingamajig, Misty Pink edition and 3D video recording for the 3DS

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Continuing their efforts to woo handheld gamers (and failing spectacularly at it), Nintendo has announced one of the most awkwardly designed accessories known to mankind for their 3DS console. The add-on analogue pad doohickey is supposed to make up for the fact that Nintendo forgot to put one in while designing the 3DS.

The analog pad has its own pair of built-in AAA batteries and will even get a handful of games to makes itself useful, such as Monster Hunt 3 G, Biohazard Revelations, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Acecombat 3D Cross Rumble, Dynasty Warriors VS and Kingdom Hearts 3D, starting November and into next year. Read more »

Fusion Garage Grid10 gets a $200 price drop, launch date pushed back to October 1

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It seems these days if you are a tablet manufacturer other than Apple, the only way to get your device noticed and start flying off the shelves is to give ridiculous discounts on the price.

After the HP TouchPad fire sale a few weeks back, Fusion Garage, who were planning on announcing their Android-based Grid 10 tablet this month has decided that their original $499 and $599 price tags for the Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi + 3G model was perhaps a bit too ambitious. Fearing they may have another JooJoo on their hands, they have announced a rather generous price-drop. Read more »