Digital Technology News, Camera, Camcorder and Cool Gadget Reviews

Google has announced that it will merge the smartphone and Tablet editions of its Android operating system, combining the best features of both into a single OS.

This will happen in the next version of the smartphone operating system. Currently, the smartphone OS is Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), while Tablets will run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Strictly speaking, there will also be one more edition of the smartphone-only OS, Android 2.4. This will let applications designed for dual-core Tablets run on single-core smartphones.

Android 2.4 will retain the Gingerbread codename. It may come as no surprise that the combined smartphone and Tablet version of Android will be called Ice-cream Sandwich.

As well as combining the two operating systems, Google announced that there will be a new version of Android every six months. We can only hope that as well as pushing out such frequent updates, Google can persuade handset manufacturers to match the pace. Currently, many smartphones lag far behind the latest release.

Recently HTC introduced the world’s first 4G phone which will likely enter the market in summer.

The HTC EVO 4G will support streaming voice calls and data with blazing speeds. So let’s compare: 600Kbps (HTC 3G) vs 6Mbps (HTC 4G). Can you imagine the difference?

Besides 4G technology feature HTC Evo is also unique for its 8MP (instead of a 5MP) camera and HTC’s capacitive multi-touch with Sense UI.

HTC EVO 4G goes to the next generation with the Android OS, but just imagine a phone with Android and a 4G technology.

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Here I would like to introduce Acer’s new 10.1-inch Aspire One D260 netbook which has dual-boot capability with Android and Windows, likely XP. An update to the Aspire One D250. At the same time, Acer revealed a netbook running on Chrome OS is also due in the summer of this year.

The netbook is powered by an Intel Atom CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB of HDD. Aspire One D260 features a 0.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a card reader and include 3G broadband support.

Both Acer neoTouch P300 and neoTouch P400 run on Windows Mobile 6.5.3, with the former having a 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, while the Acer beTouch E110 and E400 run Android (1.5 Cupcake and 2.1 Eclair respectively) with the E110 having a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen and the E400 having a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen.

Across the board there’s 3G and Bluetooth, while on the E110 lacks WiFi b/g.  No vast processor speeds here, though; at most you’ll get 600MHz.  All have a 3.2-megapixel camera together with GPS and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Acer expect the neoTouch P300 and beTouch E110 to arrive in March 2010, with the beTouch E400 following on in April and the neoTouch P400 dropping in May 2010.

ICD has announced the “Ultra” tablet, which aims to be the smaller variant of it’s (still unreleased) “Vega” line of tablets. The Ultra is pretty much what any gadget fan would want in a tablet, with Android, Tegra processing, and a big 7″ touchscreen display.

The Ultra will be packing NVIDIA’s Tegra T20 chip which includes a processor, memory and graphics rendering all on a single die, also known as “system-on-a-chip”, which is aimed at smartphones and mobile devices, like the Ultra tablet. The Ultra will ship with Android 2.1, and buyers will have a choice as to if they want a capacitive or resistive touchscreen. Read the rest of this entry »

If you had doubts that Android was taking over the world, this should help to convince you otherwise as Google’s OS (which was only released one year ago) is now spreading to the ebook reader market, as Netronix is planning to release eBook readers sporting Android.

Netronix, a Taiwan company better known for their network equipment, have recently ventured into eBook readers. Their current incarnation is selling well, with them reporting to DigiTimes that they are moving 60,000 a month. Read the rest of this entry »

Archos is already famous for its Archos 5 and Archos 7 Internet media tablets but that’s not a secret anymore. Either device can be exactly the Internet companion you expect it to be. But will those Archos tablets stand a fighting chance once Apple’s tablet and Microsoft’s Courier come out next year? Read the rest of this entry »

Innovative Converged Devices have confirmed that they are set to release what they term as a ‘low cost’ tablet in 2010 in the form of the ICD Vega Tablet which as well as running Android 2.0 – the same OS as the Motorola Droid, incidentally – will also feature Nvidia’s Tegra chipset.

Set to become available initially with a 15.6” display, with 11” and 7” models also set to be made available, Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the Saygus VPhone V1, the mysterious Android smartphone that was spotted clearing the FCC earlier this week?  The company have followed up the less-than-perfect FCC shots with some glamour photos of their own, and while opinion on the V1’s looks is split – one Android Community comment suggested it “looks like a VCR” – we’re still interested to see the fruits of what looks likely to be the first Verizon Open Development device.

Saygus haven’t confirmed which exact version of Android the VPhone V1 is running, but interestingly in one of their photos the handset is shown with part of HTC’s Sense interface.  The semi-circular pad at the bottom of the homescreen, with a Phone button flanked by menu and widget-shortcut keys, has only been seen on HTC devices before now, such as the HTC Hero. Read the rest of this entry »

While the US goes DROID crazy after Friday’s launch of the Android 2.0 smartphone, O2 Germany are not far behind when it comes to the GSM version.  The Motorola MILESTONE – as the DROID will be known outside the US – was spotted on the carrier’s site last week and officially announced on Monday; it’s now being listed on the O2 Germany site, priced at €549.99 ($816).

Interestingly, the MILESTONE comes with an 8GB microSD card, whereas the DROID on Verizon comes with a 16GB card; however we found that the class 2 microSD supplied with the CDMA handset proved too slow for judder-free high-resolution video playback. Read the rest of this entry »