Boy Genius Report

LG announces the GD880 Mini and GT350

by Michael Bettiol on February 9th, 2010 at 2:19pm
Filed under: HSDPA, Handsets, LG, UMTS 3 Comments

lg-gd880-gt350

Those that crave the latest and greatest handsets from LG will have to wait until Mobile World Congress is officially under way, but for now, two new handsets have been announced by the Korean company that should prove to be popular with the masses. First up is the GD880 Mini. As the name implies, the GD880 is very petite (LG is calling it the “smallest and slimmest 3.2-inch full touchscreen phone on the market today”), but it turns out the device hasn’t exactly been shortchanged when it comes to specs; LG has managed to shove a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and 7.2Mbps HSDPA into the sleek device. Second we have the GT350. Essentially the successor of the KS360 aka Neon, the GT350 is improved by a four-line full-QWERTY sliding keypad as well as a a full 3″ WQVA touchscreen. Both phones are capable of push email and browsing the web, but the Mini has two applications the GT350 doesn’t in Social Network Connect (”which makes keeping in touch with online friends even easier than on a desktop PC”) and Social Network Feed which has built-in access to things the youth are down with like Facebook and Twitter and is integrated with Social Address Book.

Pricing for each device has yet to be made public, but we do know the GD880 Mini will be available in Europe next month (to be followed by other markets) while the GT350 will be available come April.

Apple iPhone 4G to be taller than its predecessor, sport a larger display?

by Kelly Hodgkins on February 9th, 2010 at 12:19pm
Filed under: Apple, Handsets, Rumors 68 Comments

Like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, some claimed fourth generation iPhone parts have emerged from the corn fields business district of Olathe, Kansas. The supposed parts arrived at iResQ, an iPhone repair shop, and include a front panel which iResQ notes is 1/4 inch taller than the iPhone 3GS. This small increase in size could potentially translate into an iPhone with a 3.7 inch display, a size which is fast becoming the industry standard. The front panel also has a small reflective surface right above the earpiece that, no, is not a vanity mirror but may be a spot for the proximity sensor, a location that differs from the previous iPhone models. Bad news for those that are hard on their phone and tend to break not just the glass but the LCD panels underneath, as the LCD is reportedly glued to the digitizer and must be replaced together as an all-in-one unit. We don’t need to remind you that this dual-pieced part may cost a small arm and leg to replace. Last but not least, make sure your Martini glass is lined with a bit of salt as you’ll need those extra white granules while reading the unconfirmed contents of this post.

[Via MacRumors]

Samsung announces the Monte ahead of MWC

by Michael Bettiol on February 9th, 2010 at 10:01am
Filed under: HSDPA, Handsets, Samsung, UMTS 12 Comments

Sure, Mobile World Congress kicks off in just under a week, but that doesn’t mean all the big boys are going to hold off on their product announcements. Take Samsung, for example, which today announced the S5620 Monte. Running the propriatary TouchWiz 2.0 Plus UI, the Monte features one-touch access to popular social media sites like Facebook and MySpace while supporting services such as Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Google Sync. Physically speaking we find a 3″ WQVGA capacitive touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera, 200MB of internal memory expandable via microSD and chips for A-GPS, Wi-Fi and 3.6Mbps UMTS/HSDPA. Right now it doens’t look like the Monte is North America bound simply because it lacks the proper 3G bands, but one never knows. Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.

Apple announces Aperture 3

by Boy Genius on February 9th, 2010 at 9:22am
Filed under: Apple, Breaking News, Mac OS, Photography 13 Comments

Something photographers have been waiting for; Aperture 3 finally brings all the features we know and love in iPhoto ‘09, and meshes them with a new and improved Aperture software set. We’re talking about great organizatioin features using Faces and Places, brand new Brushes that let you paint effects on images, full 64-bit support for Snow Leopard, and even Facebook and Flickr uploading — all part of more than 200 new features. Apple has a free 30-day trial on their website or you can buy Aperture 3 for $199. Still, some new MacBook Pros would have been appreciated, guys…

Nokia 5230 Nuron headed to T-Mobile on March 17th?

by Michael Bettiol on February 9th, 2010 at 8:09am
Filed under: HSDPA, Handsets, Motorola, Rumors, Symbian, T-Mobile, UMTS 8 Comments

In the days leading up to Nokia World 2009, the world’s largest phone maker announced the 5230, an affordable touchscreen Symbian S60 smartphone. At the time there was no official word whether or not it would ever make its way on to American soil, but thanks to the work of a few sneaky devils we now know that T-Mobile is gearing up to release it as the Nuron on March 17th. Pricing has yet to be passed down the corporate ladder, but we can’t imagine it would command a high price on or off contract considering it has nothing going for it in the eyes of the public other than its touchscreen and 3G connectivity. Perhaps this is one best left for the kiddies? T-Mobile’s slide doesn’t think so, however.

Sony Ericsson confirms that it will update the X10 past Android 1.6

by Kelly Hodgkins on February 9th, 2010 at 6:12am
Filed under: Android, Handsets, Rumors, Sony Ericsson 15 Comments

In a rather lengthy blog post, Sony Ericsson explained its decision to launch its long awaited Android offering, the X10, with Android 1.6 instead of the newer Android 2.1. In a nutshell, Sony Ericsson is not focused on the version of the OS as much as it is the total UI package offered by Android and SE’s proprietary OS layer dubbed the Sony Ericsson User Experience Platform. Despite its handsome hardware and slick UI, Sony Ericsson realizes that people still want the features of the latest Android OS and has confirmed that it will offer an update to the X10 and its Sony Ericsson User Experience Platform at some point after launch. It is a nice gesture, but it would be even nicer if the handset manufacturer would get the handset out the door before promising upgrades.

[Via the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog]

Google working on voice-to-voice translation for cell phones

by Andrew Munchbach on February 9th, 2010 at 2:11am
Filed under: Hardware, News, Voice 14 Comments

UK-based Times Online is reporting that Google is developing a mobile phone service that will have the ability to translate speech, from one language to another, on the fly. Google’s hoping to build off of their text-to-text translation engine — which is currently capable of translating 52 languages — and voice search technologies. “We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years’ time,” said Google’s chief of translation services. Industry experts remain skeptical, however, about the proposed timetable, “The problem with speech recognition is the variability in accents. No system at the moment can handle that properly,” said David Crystal, professor of Linguistics at Bangor University. “Maybe Google will be able to get there faster than everyone else, but I think it’s unlikely we’ll have a speech device in the next few years that could handle high-speed Glaswegian slang.” It certainly is an aggressive goal, and one we are pretty excited about. We’ll stay on top of this story and report back as more becomes available.

Android 2.1 update for the Motorola DROID rolling out this week

by Michael Bettiol on February 8th, 2010 at 11:31pm
Filed under: Android, Handsets, Motorola, Rumors, Software, Verizon 57 Comments

Motorola DROID users as a whole are a pretty happy bunch, but after finally getting their first taste of official multi-touch, we can’t help but blame them for wanting a whole lot more. The good news on this front is that Android 2.1 for the DROID will be made available next week, according to Motorola’s Facebook page. Motorola has not detailed what the update will encompass, but here’s what Engadget has been told:

The current test build is Android 2.1 version 1
The browser will have multi-touch
Google Googles is pre-installed
No visual changes to the homescreen or app drawer
Active wallpapers aren’t included, but the fancy widgets that made their debut with the Nexus One are

Most of us probably agree that things like multi-touch in the browser are big news, but we can’t help but eagerly wait to see what all the Negative Nancy’s out there have to say about some of the nifty features that will allegedly be left behind. Regardless, we’ll be sure to give you all a shout as soon as the update starts trickling out.

HTC Legend caught on film

by Michael Bettiol on February 8th, 2010 at 8:12pm
Filed under: Android, HTC, Handsets 40 Comments

Well, well, well, look what we have here: an actual HTC Legend. For those that don’t pay particularly close attention to the world of Android, the Legend can best be thought of (though by no means officially) as the successor to the Hero. A device that many of you might remember left us wanting more. Featuring a new design approach which includes an aluminum body as well as a gigantic HTC logo on the rear (HTC is typically conservative when it comes to branding), the Legend also features goodies like an optical trackpad, AMOLED display and LED flash. Our one qualm? We really miss that funky green antenna cover as seen in the initial renders of the device. Anyway, hit the jump to check out the rear of the Legend. We think it may remind you of a very popular phone that came out in mid-2007.

Dev-Team releases PwnageTool for iPhone OS 3.1.3

by Andrew Munchbach on February 8th, 2010 at 5:01pm
Filed under: Apple, iPhone OS / iPod OS 22 Comments

They’re back at it again. The iPhone dev-team has released an update to their popular jailbreaking software, PwnageTool, for Mac OS X. The new PwnageTool — version 3.1.5 — boasts the ability to properly jailbreak Apple’s recently released 3.1.3 iPhone/iPod Touch firmware. Before you get too excited, the dev-team does offer up this proclamation, “Unless you’ve personally observed a problem with the reporting of your battery percentage, there’s no reason to update to 3.1.3.” For those that feel the need for a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch with the 3.1.3 firmware follow the read link; let us know how it goes in the comments.

RIM prevails over Motorola in UK patent case

by Kelly Hodgkins on February 8th, 2010 at 2:31pm
Filed under: BlackBerry, Motorola, News, RIM 18 Comments

Motorola has been going toe and toe with RIM over alleged patent infringement both here in the US and across the pond in the UK. Motorola’s UK case focused on BIS and BES technologies, claiming that the two messaging systems infringe upon patents that Motorola holds for an RF-based message communication system. In ruling against Motorola, the judge noted that messages from BES servers were not suitable for RF transmission and that RIM’s BIS servers are physically located in Canada and are out of the court’s jurisdiction. In a further blow to Motorola, the court held that there was no inventive step and the patent itself was declared invalid. Sorry Motorola, better luck next time, we guess.

Barnes and Noble to roll out the Nook to retail stores starting this week

by Kelly Hodgkins on February 8th, 2010 at 1:22pm
Filed under: Android, News, e-book 33 Comments

It has been a little over two months since the Barnes and Noble Nook first went on sale and the popular e-reader is finally ready to make its nationwide in-store debut. With Amazon and its Kindle under assault by the book publishers over e-book pricing and the news media for its Macmillan book pulling stunt, the timing could not be more apropos with the Nook expected to be available for purchase in stores within the next few days. Folks looking to score a Nook before the Valentines Day holiday can use the online Nook locator to see which local stores have one in stock starting February 10th. Anyone looking to buy or hoping to get a Nook come Sunday?

Verizon Wireless explicitly blocking 4chan?

by Andrew Munchbach on February 8th, 2010 at 10:51am
Filed under: Networks, News, Verizon 103 Comments

4chan, the internet message and image board known for its legion of anonymous users, has been explicitly blocked by Verizon Wireless. 4chan founder Christopher Poole said, “Over the past 72 hours, we’ve been receiving reports from Verizon Wireless customers having difficulty accessing the image boards… After an hour and a half on the phone, we’ve received confirmation from Verizon’s Network Repair Bureau (NRB) that we are ‘explicitly blocked.’” The reported block is not affecting users of Verizon’s home services, such as DSL or FIOS, and is only actively dropping connections from port 80, “no other subdomain/IP/port is affected.” Memo to Verizon Wireless: “Thou shall not agitate 4chan” is one, of very few, unwritten rules of the internet. No official word yet from Verizon Wireless as to why the block was put in place.