Miniguru Keyboard Axed, Not Coming to Retail

At the beginning of the year, we showed you a concept for a new keyboard, called the Miniguru. With plenty of features to make typing purists out there happy, we were pretty excited about the possibilities it brought to the table. But, alas, today we are reminded all too well that a concept is just a concept, and they can come to an end all too quickly. Just months after its debut, it looks like the Miniguru keyboard isn’t coming.

Guru’board, the intelligent folks behind the customizable keyboard, have declared that they have essentially lost faith in the idea that they will be able to sell the initial production line. Because of that, they’ve decided to scrap the project altogether, thus putting an end to the Miniguru. The keyboard itself consisted of mechanical key switches so that it made that familiar typing sound that most touch-typists enjoy so much. The keyboard itself was completely customizable, built to keep your fingers on the home row at all times. We wish we would have been able to see this come to market, but everything happens for a reason. Right?

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Acer Stream due August 3rd tips UK retailer

Acer’s Stream Android 2.1 smartphone went into a stealth mode of sorts after its official launch at the end of May, but UK retailer Expansys has just announced that the handset should be arriving on August 3rd. They’ll be the exclusive source of the Stream, in fact, priced at £399.99 ($610).

That gets you a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, like the Nexus One, together with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera capable of 720p HD video recording. There’s also an HDMI port to hook up your TV and watch the resulting footage, together with DivX playback, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS.

Triband – 900/1900/2100 – HSDPA/HSUPA together with quadband GSM/EDGE round out the wireless connectivity, and there’s 2GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot to augment it. Keeping things ticking over is Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Acer hasn’t confirmed when – or if – the Stream will get an Android 2.2 update, which leaves us mildly cautious, but on specs alone the smartphone looks pretty tempting.

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Seagate Momentus XT Review

As storage goes, the choices for your new drive have generally been pretty straightforward. On the one side there are traditional HDDs, mechanical drives offering plentiful capacity but with performance and ruggedness compromises; on the other, there are SSDs, which address the speed and sturdiness questions, but are far more expensive per gigabyte. Into the middle comes the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid, a platter-based HDD paired with flash memory that, the company promises, can give SSD-style performance with the relative low cost of an HDD. Too good to be true? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.

Seagate start off with their Momentus 7200 HDD – available in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB capacities – which as the name suggests spins at 7,200rpm; it has 32MB of cache and a SATA 3Gb/s interface. To that they add 4GB of solid state SLC NAND flash storage, all in a 2.5-inch drive that’s 9.7mm thick.

Naturally there’s more to it than just two types of storage bolted together. Sitting in-between is Seagate’s Adaptive Memory technology, which basically tracks which applications and data are most frequently accessed and then moves them to the 4G of flash storage. That way, while not everything is as instantly accessible as on a regular SSD, the files individual users require most often are prioritized.

As a result of that personalization, the benefits of the Momentus XT over a regular hard-drive aren’t immediately visible. In fact, out of the box the hybrid drive is in line with the performance of the Momentus 7200 it’s based upon, reasonable for a 7,200rpm HDD but well short of a traditional SSD. Over time, though, Adaptive Memory learns which files are being used most frequently, and builds up a custom, persistent cache of them within the flash store. The net result is a system that gradually gets faster the more you use it.

There isn’t a long wait to see the effect, either; after a handful of reboots the time it took our test machine to load into Windows 7 was effectively halved. Commonly used programs like Firefox, Photoshop and Word saw their load times almost quartered, while the local cache of our email inbox was available significantly sooner than with a regular HDD. As for basic read/write performance, that’s on a par with a regular Momentus 7200 HDD: read speeds averaged out to 94.7 MB/s, while write speeds averaged at 85.4 MB/s.

Although there have been flash-augmented HDDs before, the Seagate is distinct by virtue of its standalone Adaptive Memory technology, which means your PC or Mac simply recognizes the Momentus XT as just another drive; the caching is completely system agnostic. Where the Momentus XT’s hybrid technology doesn’t work is in situations where you’re consistently accessing a changing array of data: obviously the drive needs time to track use and build its cache accordingly. For pure speed – not to mention ruggedness, since there are still spinning platters involved – an SSD is still the best option.

Nonetheless, the Seagate Momentus XT is – for regular users, whether consumer or enterprise – a real step ahead of traditional hard-drives. With a street price of $129.99 for the 500GB ST95005620AS model it offers a strong balance of performance and affordability (for the money you’d get a mere 64GB of true SSD storage), and more impressive is the noticeable difference it makes to a regular system. At a time when boosting RAM or even CPU can lead to merely incremental differences in system responsiveness, the Momentus XT is that rare and surprising product that actually does what’s promised on the box.

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AT&T activate 3.2m iPhones in Q2 2010; Apple to blitz iPad/iPhone 4 waiting lists this weekend?

There’s no doubting that there has been huge demand for the iPhone 4 and the iPad, and that Apple are having trouble keeping both devices in stock. AT&T has just announced activation figures for the new iPhone 4, and preorder sales were a whopping ten times higher than those of the iPhone 3GS a year ago. Meanwhile, BGRhas heard that Apple is ramping up for a barnstorming weekend where it will try to work through the “Priority Lists” of customers waiting for either an iPhone 4 or an iPad.

“On June 24, AT&T began offering iPhone 4, the most powerful iPhone yet. Preorder sales of iPhone 4 were 10 times higher than the first day of preordering for iPhone 3GS a year earlier. For the full second quarter, AT&T iPhone activations totaled 3.2 million, the most quarterly iPhone activations ever. Approximately 27 percent of those activations were for customers who were new to AT&T” AT&T

AT&T made $30.8bn in revenue over the past three month period, activating a full 3.2m iPhone handsets (presumably a mixture of iPhone 4 and 8GB iPhone 3GS devices). Meanwhile 3G-capable postpaid devices on the network rose to 29.7m, a huge 98.2-percent increase year-on-year.

Meanwhile, if Apple’s plan to clear its waiting lists works out, it could see an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 iOS based devices sold over the course of the weekend. Apparently stores are currently managing Priority Lists of 250 to 750 people still waiting for their choice of iPad configuration, and 500 to 1,500 or more waiting for iPhone 4 handsets. Employees have supposedly been told to prepare for a busy few days, with Apple considering opening early on Sunday to accommodate the extra shoppers.

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Microsoft “Be What’s Next” tagline revealed at MGX

Microsoft has used its MGX conference to launch a new tagline for the company, “Be What’s Next”, and they’ve illustrated it with some slick new logos that, sadly, won’t be seeing a public release. Engadget spotted a promo from the event on YouTube – since pulled, though they grabbed a copy which you can see after the cut – and have since been contacted by Microsoft to confirm that the tagline is indeed something they’re going forward with.

Unfortunately, while Microsoft’s logos probably are overdue for a refresh, the company has no plans to use these squiggles to do that. They’re “a standalone treatment to show the flexibility of joined brands” apparently, and something thrown together just for MGX.

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Shuttle XPC Barebone SH55J2 SFF PC content with Core i3, i5 and i7 CPUs

Shuttle’s latest small-form-factor PC has been unveiled, and the XPC Barebone SH55J2 manages to offer compatibility with Intel’s Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 CPU ranges. The first machine to support all socket 1156 Core variants, the SH55J2 is compatible with the onboard GPU found in certain Core i3 and i5 processors, and has both HDMI and VGA outputs; alternatively a PCI Express socket can take a dual-slot discrete graphics card.

Ports include nine USB 2.0, an eSATA/USB combo connector, analog and S/PDIF audio, gigabit ethernet and a multiformat memory card reader. Inside there’s a 3.5-inch hard-drive bay and a 5.25-inch optical drive bay. The supplied PSU is a 300W unit, and there’s a heatpipe cooling system.

The Shuttle XPC Barebone SH55J2 is available in Europe now, priced at €251 ($320). Obviously you’ll also need to budget for a processor, hard-drive and DDR3 RAM if you want a working system.

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Barnes & Noble NOOK for Android released

Barnes & Noble has pushed out their promised NOOK app for Android, synchronizing ebook content across from the company’s standalone ereader together with their existing software readers, together with allowing access to the B&N eBookstore. NOOK for Android – a free download from the Android Market or available atwww.bn.com/nookforandroid also automatically takes you to the page you last read (though not if you’re using the iPhone client).

There’s also LendMe support, multiple fonts, font sizes and page orientations, and a choice of page turn animations. Meanwhile B&N plan to rename their current eReader apps on other platforms to fit with the NOOK brand, including the standalone readers and the NOOKstudy app.

You’ll need an Android 1.6 smartphone or higher to install NOOK for Android, and a B&N account to use the eBookstore and sync your existing content. Alternatively the app is compatible with regular ePub texts.Update: Barnes & Noble has been in touch to point out that, while the new NOOK for Android app supports ePub texts download from the B&N eBookstore, it doesn’t currently support other ePub files (i.e. such as may have been sideloaded onto your phone).

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ASUS Xonar Xense soundcard & Sennheiser PC350 headphones promise superlative gaming audio

ASUS has outed its latest soundcard, together with a partnership with audio manufacturer Sennheiser, and the two companies reckon their Xonar Xense system is the perfect match for demanding gamers. Consisting of the ASUS Xonar Xense One audio card and the Sennheiser PC350 headphones, the setup includes first person shooter-optimized surround sound, Dolby Headphone 5.1 and Xonar GX2.5 support, and 6.5mm studio jacks rather than regular 3.5mm sockets.

The promise is that having been developed in parallel, the soundcard and headphones will bring out more detail than “random audio card/headphone combinations”. Whether that’s true or not remains to be heard; what we do have are hard specs.

The ASUS Xonar Xense One has 7.1 channel surround sound support (with a splitter cable included in the box), analog and digital inputs, and connections for front-panel audio ports. Meanwhile the Sennheiser PC350 headphones support a 10 – 26,000Hz frequency range with less than 0.1-percent distortion and have a boom microphone. No word on pricing; we’re waiting to hear back from ASUS.

Update: ASUS tells us the bundle of both Xonar Xense soundcard and PC350 headphones will retail for around £210 ($320).

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Ranger charger has cable managers that look like toy army men

I really hate it when the cable from my mouse puts so much weight on the mouse that it moves when I take my hand off it. I really, really hate it when the charger for my iPhone falls off the desk and I have to go digging to find it.

To keep that from happening you need some kind of weighted cable management system. I have seen plain ones before from companies like Razer but iida has a cool new set of cable management things called Ranger.

The Ranger cable managers look like those green plastic army men that most of us played with as kids. They are attached to an external charger with a long cable of 1.5M. You can plug the cable from the charger into compatible devices to charge on the road. The Ranger is available in Japan for 1880 yen plus tax.

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AT&T order 8m Windows Phone 7 handsets?

While our opinion of Windows Phone 7 was somewhat mixed, it looks like AT&T are a whole lot more enthusiastic about the new smartphone OS. According to Altimeter Group analyst and SlashGear columnistMichael Gartenberg, a trusted source has revealed that AT&T has apparently signed up for eight million Windows Phone 7 devices ahead of its holiday season launch.

The specific manufacturers of the AT&T devices are unknown – LG, HTC and Samsung are among the crowd we know are working on handsets running the new Microsoft OS – as is the timescale over which the carrier expects to be selling them. Gartenberg also believes that the AT&T deal isn’t a Windows Phone 7 exclusive, which is probably a good thing from Microsoft’s perspective if they want to catch up with the market saturation of rival smartphone OSes.

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New Toradex Colibri module squeezes Tegra 2 computer onto SODIMM-sized board

We might still be waiting for the first Tegra 2 tablets to arrive, but computer module specialist Toradex are looking to put NVIDIA’s next-gen chipset into even smaller packages. Having graced these pages before with an ultra-compact Atom based system on a credit-card sized ‘board, Toradex are now promoting their Colibri Tegra T20 Module [pdf link], which does the same thing only with a dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9.

In fact, Toradex fit the dual-core Tegra and drivers for a touchscreen, 1080p HD output over HDMI, a WSXGA+ LCD display, camera, audio I/O, SD card, USB host and 10/100 ethernet – among several others – onto a SODIMM sized board. That’s just 67.6 x 36.7 x 5.2 mm, and consuming under 2W of power.

There’s also 256MB of RAM and 1GB of flash storage squeezed on. Toradex envision it being used in embedded systems that require high-definition and 2D/3D graphics capabilities (it’s pin-compatible with previous, less potent Colibri boards for straightforward upgrades), and will start shipping samples in Q4 2010.

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LucidPort unveils new USB302 USB to SATA Bridge chip

A company called LucidPort has announced a new USB 3.0 to SATA bridge controller that claims to be the lowest power-consuming chip of its kind called the USB302. The chip supports USB Attached SCSI Protocol and claims to run 20 to 100% faster than USB 3.0 devices using legacy mass storage drivers.

The chip can be configured in many ways according to the marker and has lots of features. Those features include automatic fan control, automatic standby timer, write protection, one touch backup, safe power down, and Blu-ray drive support.

The chip needs only a single voltage (3.3V) and a single 30MHz clock source to operate. The controller features USB Stream Protocol support and uses a 6x6mm 48-pin QFN package.

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Samsung debuts PL200 point-and-shoot digi cam

Samsung has unveiled a new point-and-shoot digital camera that is very thin and comes in at a budget price. The camera is called the PL200 and it has a 14.2MP sensor and many other features. Samsung unveiled the ST600 and ST100 digital cameras yesterday.

The camera can record HD video and has a large 3-inch rear LCD with 230k pixels. The lens has 7x optical zoom and the camera measures 3.9″ x 2.3″ x 0.83″ when the lens is closed. Other features include dual image stabilization using optical and digital tech.

The video resolution is 720p and the camera has smart auto modes for still shots and video recording. A wide range of features for better photos are integrated into the camera like blink detection, face detection, beauty shot, and smile shot. The camera is set to launch in September for $179.99.

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Qualcomm works with Medical Platform Asia for 3G wireless health care modules

Qualcomm and Medical Platform Asia (MedPA) have announced that an agreement has been signed that will have the two firms working together to provide medical devices that have integrated 3G wireless modules for people in rural areas who need healthcare services. Qualcomm is implementing the new program through its Wireless Reach initiative.

The program will allow 300 remote residents to send critical health care information to doctors over 3G wireless networks. Among the parameters the tech will let the users send to care providers are blood pressure, weight, and distance walked.

MedPA will be giving the residents the equipment and will distribute the tech through MedPA’s affiliate medical facilities. The goal of the program is to help improve medical access to patients who can’t easily travel to a doctor’s office.

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Panasonic 3D Viera RT2B 3D TV gets Blu-ray and HDD recording

3D TVs are flooding the market, though consumer adoption of the sets is still rather slow going. As the sets get more features, they do become more appealing in the eyes of many consumers. Panasonic has announced a new addition to its line of 3D Viera RT2B plasma TVs that have been unveiled in Japan.

The new 3D Viera RT2B set has support for 3D viewing using active glasses and has a Blu-ray recorder crammed inside the set. The TV also has a HDD recorder as well allowing viewers to record programs to the TV and burn them to Blu-ray disc when desired.

The set comes in both 46-inch and 42-inch sizes. The launch date in Japan for the sets is August 27. Official pricing is unknown, but TechOn reports the street price is expected to be the equivalent of just under $5100 for the 46-inch set.

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Samsung and Toshiba support standardized NAND spec for fast DDR memory

Samsung and Toshiba are both putting their weight behind a new standardized NAND specifications for high performance applications. The new NAND toggle DDR 2.0 specification will be for a DDR flash memory with a 400 Mbps interface. Toshiba announced earlier this month that it was starting a joint venture with SanDisk in a new NAND flash production facility.

The current toggle DDR 1.0 spec uses a DDR interface with a conventional single data rate NAND design. The chips using this specification have a 133Mbps interface. The new NAND using toggle 2.0 will offer 400Mbps interface for an improvement of three times over the DDR 1.0 spec.

The new NAND using the toggle 2.0 specifications will provide a ten times increase in performance compared to 40Mbps single data rate NAND still in use today. Support for the new spec will make for faster acceptance of toggle DDR memory with designers of hardware and applications according to both firms.

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Sharkoon combines a geeks love for golf with PC cooling

When it comes to computer hardware, there are lots of non-traditional products out there that are intended to serve a specific function, but do it with a flare of style. For instance, all computers need cooling fans of some sort to keep the air inside moving and your gear running cool.

You can put in a plain old fan that is black plastic or if you are the sort that cares about style as much as function you can opt for the LED lit models or something even more different like the Sharkoon 140mm fan that is made to look like a golf ball. I guess there are probably plenty of people out there who like both golf and PCs that might find this fan interesting. It would be perfect for your Caddy Shack case mod.

The golf ball fan spins at 800 rpm and can move 93.85 cubic meters of air per hour while producing 12.4 decibels of noise. The frame of the fan is black and the fan itself is a dimpled white plastic that looks like a golf ball. The fan ships with screws and other items needed for mounting and will set you back 12.99 euros.

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Unlocked Dell Streak release imminent

Dell has announced that its Streak Android MID is set to arrive in the US in unlocked form later this month, though the company is still yet to confirm pricing. The 5-inch Android tablet is currently available for pre-sale registration; we’re yet to see it launch on AT&T as was tipped to occur earlier in July.

As with the European Streak, which we reviewed last month, the US version has a 3G modem (suited to AT&T’s 3G bands), WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and GPS, along with a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and an LED flash, a front-facing video call camera, and a customized version of Android 1.6. Dell has promised an update to Android 2.x later in the year, though there’s no definitive timescale for its release.

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VIA tosses AMOS-5000 series embedded PCs onto market

VIA has gobs of hardware that it offers for just about every use you can imagine. The company is big into embedded PCs and other markets and has unveiled its latest embedded PC design kits with modular expansion boards along with chassis development kits. The new development kits are for the AMOS-5000 series.

The kits allow the developer to design for a broad range of application specific and fanless EM-ITX devices. The AMOS-5000 series dev kits offer specific expansion models for the VIA EM-IO line with extendable aluminum chassis kits. The kits allow the developer to design embedded OEM and ODM fanless embedded box computers.

The new dev kits include the VIA AMOS-5110 for advanced multimedia applications. The kit has advanced graphics and video processing with DirectX 10.1 graphics, 256MB of GDDR3 RAM, and support for VGA, dual DVI, and dual HDMI outputs. A number of other kits in the series are for other applications like connectivity and communications and a kit for industrial applications.

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Panasonic 3D consumer camcorder due for late July unveil

Panasonic are preparing to unveil a consumer-level 3D camcorder, tipped as being the first to the market by a big-name manufacturer. The company is yet to provide details about the new model, but has confirmed a Tokyo press event on July 28th and that it will be far more in line with their current, 2D range in terms of bulk, than their existing AG-3DA1 professional 3D camcorder (pictured).

It will also be considerably less expensive; the Panasonic AG-3DA1 has an MRSP of around $21,000, well out of the range of consumer models. Beyond that, specifications are unclear; we’re guessing Panasonic will be aiming for as close to Full HD video as possible for the budget, given their 3D-capable VIERA range of HDTVs support such resolutions.

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LIVE Xbox 360 versus PC tournament plans canned by Microsoft?

Microsoft has apparently scuppered plans to allow PC and Xbox 360 gamers to take each other on, using the company’s LIVE service to connect titles available for both platforms. According to Rahul Sood, CTO of HP’s gaming business, the Microsoft project was intended to promote PC gaming, but canned after testing showed those using PCs consistently bested their console counterparts.

That wasn’t just because they were better players in general – in fact, according to the rumors Sood has heard, Microsoft purposefully selected mediocre PC gamers to take on “the best console gamers” – but because of the extra accuracy involved when using a PC and mouse versus a console controller. Microsoft supposedly felt that “it would be embarrassing to the XBOX team in general” if they’d gone ahead with a commercial launch, and so the idea was scrapped.

While the authenticity of the rumor can’t be confirmed, if true it’s a disappointing move by Microsoft and one that PC gamers are already bemoaning. Their argument is that Microsoft could have ended up promoting PC title development as the advantages of the platform became so obviously clear.

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Netflix PS3 disc-free update coming; Hulu Plus is “a direct competitor”

Netflix are promising an update to their PS3 streaming client sometime within the next three months, complete with a new UI that’s loaded onto the console rather than requiring a disc as with the current implementation. That’s just one part of the company’s attempt to take on the Hulu Plus challenge; according to NewTeeVee, Netflix are seeing slowing DVD subscriber growth as more users turn to streaming. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings puts that down, in part, to an increase in TV content.

“In terms of streaming content, we are rapidly expanding our TV shows available for streaming and since our last call we have added thousands of TV episodes from new deals with Fox, MTV Networks and Warner Television. These shows include all seasons of 24, Futurama, Lie To Me, The Chapelle Show, Nip/Tuck and Veronica Mars, and in a few weeks all seasons of The Family Guy will be available to stream as well. We see TV shows as equally important to our franchise as movies.” Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix

However, rather than just duplicate content that users can access on Hulu Plus, Hastings says Netflix plan to leverage their industry weight and secure exclusivity deals with content producers. That could make Netflix the service to turn to for new TV shows and movies, though the CEO didn’t mention which producers they might be in talks with.

Hulu Plus offers a $9.99 per month subscription plan giving access to full seasons of TV shows, HD quality and access on mobile devices from Apple’s stable. According to Hastings, Netflix are seeing increased movement toward their $9 per month subscription plan, which offers a single DVD per month but full streaming access.

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FCam adds RAW and HDR capture to Nokia N900

Mobile photography could get a shot in the arm thanks to the combined efforts of Stanford University researchers and Nokia Research, who have pushed a new open-source digital photography platform out the door. FCam – or “Frankencamera” – is initially available for the Nokia N900, and unlocks high-end functionality like RAW image capture, full manual controls and low-light imagery through combining multiple shots of varying ISO and exposure settings.

FCamera is an example camera application that uses FCam libraries and drivers. It is released in source code to serve as a starting point for programmers to create their own camera applications.

Low-light Assistant helps in situations where there is not enough light to avoid the choice between a quick exposure that will look sharp, but dark and noisy, and a long exposure that will have enough light, but likely be blurry. Instead, the app captures two images in rapid succession and then automatically combines them, resulting in a photo that is both bright and sharp.

HDR Capture helps in situations where there is too much light, such as a portrait of a person with a bright sky behind her. The camera takes up to three images with different exposure settings and combines them to an image that shows the details of both the foreground and background objects, without under or over-exposing any of them.

Meanwhile there are various ongoing projects yet to spit out a working program as yet, including one looking atcapturing the movement of playing cards tossed into the air, using two independently controlled flashes. Thanks to the open API the FCam team expect other photography-minded developers to jump on board, and hope to extend the platform beyond just the N900.

The end result could be a higher standard of images coming out of mobile devices, and when you consider the sort of optics available in upcoming models like the Nokia N8, that can only be a good thing. The FCam project picked the N900 because “it runs a version of Linux almost as complete as that installed on personal computers,” says Nokia’s Kari Pulli, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that versions get ported across to other Linux-based devices such as Android phones.

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FLO TV up for sale as Qualcomm look to cut loose mobile TV

Qualcomm may still be storming ahead with their Snapdragon mobile chipsets and wireless modules, but poor old FLO TV isn’t bringing home the bacon. The mobile TV service – which hasn’t won much in the way ofindustry admiration – is struggling to gain traction, and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs has admitted that the company is in early discussions with others with regards a potential sale.

“It will get done in the next year but I don’t think I can be much more specific than that” Jacobs revealed during the Qualcomm financial results call, declining to mention who might be interested in FLO TV but saying there had been “a lot of interesting discussions.” Unlike data-based TV streaming, which uses carriers’ 3G connections, FLO TV uses its own chunk of the wireless spectrum; that means more control over the distribution, but it also adds extra expense.

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Microsoft starting the Windows Phone 7 love at home

You can’t accuse Microsoft employees of not drinking the Kool-Aid, or at least their employer making sure there are plenty of jugs of it about. According to a senior marketing manager at Microsoft, every employee will be getting a Windows Phone 7 handset.

We’ve already heard that there is plenty of variety when it comes to smartphones at Microsoft, with many staffharboring a soft-spot for the iPhone despite the fact that the company will now only reimburse service fees for those using a home-grown device. Still, we reckon there’ll be a few more contented people when the Windows Phone 7 boxes arrive; check out our technical preview for more details.

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iPhone Heading to T-Mobile Before Verizon?

Apparently there’s still some room for a rumor mill about the iPhone 4 and T-Mobile to exist. That’s good. We hate it when our mills get shut down. Just takes away all of our fun. Today’s nugget of joy comes from Cult of Mac, and it goes on to say that the iPhone, not necessarily the iPhone 4, mind you, is definitely coming to the fourth largest wireless carrier in the United States. Well, consider us interested.

The source, apparently, is a “highly placed source” within T-Mobile, and obviously they need to remain anonymous, or else bad things would happen. But, according to this source, it looks like the talks between Apple and T-Mobile are closer to being completed than anyone would have ever imagined. Here’s the quote:

“Talks between Apple and T-Mobile are at an advanced stage, our source says, and it’s 80 percent likely that the iPhone will be coming to T-Mobile in Q3.

The source works at T-Mobile but asked not to be quoted directly and to remain anonymous because they aren’t authorized to talk to the press.”

Obviously, there’s a lot of questions. For one, why aren’t we hearing something more official if it’s supposed to launch in the third quarter? That ends this September. So, pretty much right around the corner. There’s no word on whether or not the current generation of iPhone 4 is even compatible with T-Mobile’s 3G network, and that’s pretty important. Additionally, as the title suggests, it may not be the iPhone 4 at all. It could be a new version of the iPhone, or something “older.” More questions, which go hand-in-hand with the rumor mill, right? Right. We’ll stay atop the situation, and see if anything changes.

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Skype Updated for iOS4

The applications just keep on coming for iOS4, and there’s no slowing them down. Today’s app is one you might have heard of: Skype. Yep, that’s right, one of the largest VoIP providers out there just got a brand new version for Apple’s shiny new mobile Operating System, and it brings with it a plethora of changes and features. Dig in after the break to find out just what they are.

The version number is 2.1, first of all. And, obviously one of the biggest features is that it’s going to let you run the software in the background, no matter what else you find yourself doing. What that means, is that you’ll be able to get updated to your Instant Messages, as well as receive calls even if you’re not running the app, or you find yourself playing some Plants vs Zombies. Additionally, Skype will keep working even when the phone is locked.

Furthermore, you will be able to stay on your call, even if you find that you need to look at something else other than your contact’s calling card picture. However, a word of caution: multitasking is obviously only available on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. So, you iPhone 3G owners out there (we know you’re still out there), no Skype multitasking for you (at least, not officially). We’re still hoping video chat makes an appearance at some point, but we won’t hold our breath for too long. Calls are still free, too, by the way, and so is the app itself. So, go get to downloading and let us know what you think of the changes in the comments.

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HP TouchSmart tm2 Adds Core i5 Processor to List of Features, Available Now

Back in May, there was a pretty robust rumor making its way around the Internet, saying something to the extent that the HP TouchSmart tm2 convertible laptop would be getting a big improvement in the processor department. It launched “back in the day” with Intel’s Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor, and the rumors suggested that Intel would be supplanting that with their own Core i5 CPU. And, sure enough, that’s finally happened.

Coming after the launch of the Core i3 CPU variation just a few months back, the i5 is a welcomed addition to the line-up. It still features that same 12-inch multitouch touchscreen, but it can now be installed with a 1.2GHz Core i5-430UM CPU. You can then pair that with an integrated Intel graphics card, or if you’re feeling rambunctious, you can choose the model installed with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5450. Both variations have 4GB of DDR3 RAM pre-installed.

Right now, the TouchSmart tm2 looks like it’s going for about $800, give or take a few bucks, so if you’re in the market for a new toy, this may be your next impulse purchase.

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FloBi Shows Robots Can Have Feelings Too

No, not real feelings. Thankfully. But, at least they can try. Meet FloBi, a robot head that’s specifically designed to show a wide range of emotions, just by the doll-like features put upon it. Unlike a lot of robots out there that have “human-like” features, where testing for one particular reason or another is paramount to the robot’s very existence, that’s not necessarily the case with FloBi. As far as we can tell, it’s just a fun experiment for some students and researchers.

FloBi is being created out of a university in Germany, the Bielefeld University to be exact. What it does do, oddly enough, is not absolutely terrify us by its doll-like looks, and non-human appearance. Sure, despite the fact it’s showing some kind of expression, the robot still looks overall expressionless, but that may just be because of the design, and not the expression itself. The researchers are even able to change FloBi’s perceived gender by switching out some pieces here and there, thanks to clips and magnets.

Between its head and neck, there are 18 movement points. There’s also a magnetic actuator inside the robot’s head that will move the lips. (If it starts talking on its own, we might have to call shenanigans.) The eyebrows, lips, eyes, eyelids, and neck can all move independently of one another, so that should add just a bit more lifelike behavior to FloBi, if that’s what you’re looking for. There’s cameras in each eye, and probably best of all, there are LEDs inside the robot’s cheeks that will help it reproduce a “blushing” feature. Yes, that’s right. FloBi can blush.

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Microsoft and Epic Games Let You Decide the Fate of Carmine in Gears of War 3 for Charity

Gears of War is by far one of the most popular video game titles on the planet. It’s a success, in every sense of the word, for Microsoft and Epic Games, with the first two installments amassing millions of copies sold, and some of the most highly rated games to ever get released. And now with the third one about to drop onto shelves (relatively speaking, mind you — it’s not tomorrow, by any means), there’s one question on everyone’s mind: How’s the rookie going to die? Well, turns out that the rookie, also known as Carmine, will have his Fate decided this time around. And by you.

Anthony and Benjamin Carmine are part of the same lineage. They were the Carmines –the rookie– in the first and second game, and they both befell a terrible death. In essence, these guys are the Red Shirts of Gears of War (a Star Trek reference), and so far they haven’t made it to the end titles. And, while Clayton Carmine is all set to crack some Locust skulls in the next installment, that doesn’t necessarily mean his digital character has to follow in the footsteps of his previous brethren.

Starting July 29th, you will be able to make your way into the Avatar marketplace on Xbox LIVE and buy a shirt for your digital representation. One shirt says “Save Carmine,” while the other clearly states “Carmine must die.” Straight to the point. The former is black, while the latter is red (which are pictured above). And yes, the shirts will cost you a few Microsoft Points, but that’s actually the reason we’re giving any mention to this at all. The money you spend to get that shirt, and determine the survival of Carmine, is actually going to a very good cause: the Child’s Play Charity.

If you haven’t heard of Child’s Play, it’s a community-based industry charity that’s specifically designed to better the lives of children all over the world. Child’s Play has been building its network of hospitals for several years now, and they’re working with upwards of 60 of them now, and working closely with its donors to raise millions of dollars, as well as build collections of video games, consoles, toys, and other items to sick or needy children all over the planet.

If you’re willing to donate to a charity that’s as popular and powerful as Child’s Play, but don’t know any other way to do it, then there’s no easier way than to grab a shirt from the Avatar market. You don’t even need to wear it (but why wouldn’t you?). All of the proceeds from the purchase will make its way to Child’s Play, and you’ll even be able to brag to your friends that you helped decide the fate of one of the most iconic (if not completely permanent) characters in the video game industry.

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Plextor PX-B120U USB-Powered External Blu-ray Drive Costs Only $100

Getting a Blu-ray player now-a-days isn’t the hardest thing in the world, but it can still be one of the more expensive things you do. Sure, there are alternatives, but some times you just want to be able to get a Blu-ray player, and nothing else. Well, if you’re in the market to get your laptop to play Blu-ray movies, then Plextor probably just made your day. They’ve introduced their brand new PX-B120U, and it’s a completely USB-powered Blu-ray player.

Although the PX-B120U is only powered by its USB cable, that doesn’t mean you won’t get the full effect. The player is still perfectly capable of reading Blu-rays at 4X, and if you really want to watch other things, like an HD movie, you’ll be happy to know that there’s Cyberlink Power DVD software pre-installed, which means you can do just that. Furthermore, if you’re favorite movie hasn’t been released on Blu-ray yet, and you’ve only got it on a standard DVD, the external player will upscale it for you to a something-like HD quality.

The drive itself will read your Blu-ray from a top-load mechasnism. It only gets really interesting when you take a look at the price. For $100, you’ll be able to connect this and go (hopefully), which should make watching your favorite high definition flicks pretty simple. And while we have a price, it doesn’t look like the new model has been included on their site quite yet. So, hopefully that changes soon.

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Samsung DualView ST600 and ST100 Break Cover, Due Some Time Soon

It’s camera day, apparently. Hot on the heels of another line-up of cameras getting announced from another company, we’ve got Samsung pulling the curtain up and revealing two brand new models for their DualView line of cameras. These are the cameras with those front-facing screens, so you can watch yourself take a picture of yourself. Just in case your Facebook needed another drop-down shot of yourself, at least now you’ll know your face is perfectly in line. Please welcome the Samsung DualView ST600 and ST100 into the family, folks.

Both cameras feature a larger front display, measuring in now at 1.8-inches, and they’re packing a 14.2MP sensor with ISO 3200 sensitivity. On the back, you’ll find yourself a roomy 3.5-inch display. That display has a gesture-based user interface touchscreen, so hopefully you’ll never get bored as you take your next photo. Both cameras also feature 720p video recording, and face recognition software that can pick up to 14 visages on its own, or you can choose up to 6 on your own.

The differences comes in the lens, and price. For the former, the ST600 rocks that 5x wide angle optical zoom, protruding from the face of the camera. While the ST100 has a 5x optical zoom, but it’s of the internal variety. As you can see from the image above. As far as pricing goes, the ST100 will cost you a cool $349, and the ST600 $329. No word on when these cameras will actually make it to the retail market, but you should expect to see plenty of colors when they do.

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Google Nexus One Officially Sold Out from Store

We heard a couple of days ago that the Nexus One, the first “superphone,” was going to meet its end within the official Google Phone Store; and while we assumed that it wouldn’t last long, we’re still surprised to see that it happened this fast. Just two days later, and Google’s letting everyone know that the last Nexus One has already been sent out, leaving the digital store shelves blank and uninviting.

But that doesn’t mean you’re completely without options. You just need to be near the wireless carrier KT in South Korea, or Vodafone in Europe to get your hands on one. Oh, and there’s still some chance that Google will ship them out to registered developers, so that’s another route. But, alas, you won’t be ordering it from the short-lived Google Store. Hopefully you got one when you had the chance.

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Froyo roundup: DROID 2 to launch with Android 2.2; updates for Galaxy S and Vodafone Nexus One dated

Lashings of Froyo rumor over the past twenty-four hours, with talk of Android 2.2 headed to various high-end handsets. First off, spyshots have tipped the Motorola DROID 2 as launching on Verizon with Froyo preloaded according to Droid-Life, rather than the Android 2.1 OS we’ve seen on the DROID X, while elsewhere there’s talk of Android 2.2 updates for existing devices.

That includes a Froyo update for the Vodafone Google Nexus One as early as next week, with the carrier-branded device finally getting what unlocked users have been enjoying for a few weeks now. Handy, since Google has announced that they’ll soon not be offering the unlocked version themselves, leaving it up to carrier partners to supply the phone.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S is tipped to get Android 2.2 in September 2010, in France at least. That’s particularly good news, as we found the Galaxy S’ processor to have plenty of promise when we reviewed the smartphone and expect Froyo to only make things better. Remember, if you want to keep up to speed on Android, check out Android Community our sibling site; they’re pretty darn obsessed over there.

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Gaikai cloud-gaming service gets Intel cash to put Mass Effect in your browser

Looks like OnLive could have some competition in the form of Gaikai, another cloud-computing service that promises performance gaming without a console. Unlike OnLive, which uses a standalone box, Gaikai streams games directly into your browser; we’ve already seen it streaming WoW to Apple’s iPad. Intel Capital has just invested an unspecified amount [pdf link] into Gaikai, which will use the company’s hexacore servers and SSDs.

Another partnership, with Limelight Networks, will give Gaikai the flexible infrastructure it needs to funnel gaming through to end-users. The concept behind cloud-gaming is straightforward: rather than having a console or games PC which you have to upgrade or maintain, the games run on remote servers: the visuals are squirted over the internet to a low-powered viewer (either a standalone box in the case of OnLive, or a browser plug-in with Gaikai) while your control movements are sent back.

Gaikai has already inked a deal with Electronic Arts, which will see EA titles like The Sims, Mass Effect and Medal of Honor available via the service; in short, this isn’t just like playing Farmville in your browser. Availability is currently via beta invitation only

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Swetha Basu Prasad Stills Gallery 27710

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Piyush Sahdev as Lawyer – Pratigya Mann Ki Awaaz

Pratigya Mann Ki Awaaz is one of the hot favorite serials among the Indian Television viewers. Actors are getting recognized by their characters they played in the serial. Either take the example of Arhaan Behl or Pooja Gaur , both are known with their character’s name Krishan and Pratigya. Some of the artists get themselves reestablished through this serial, like Anupam Shyam. Parvati Anil Sahgel , who is playing the role of Komal got a good break, as of now she is well known face on Indian Television. This all is just because of this serial.

Piyush Sahdev is the new character who has been introduced recently in the Pratigya serial as Lawyer Amit Mathur , who will fight the case for Pratigya’s father against Sajjan Singh ( Anupam Shyam). Piyush Sahdev is well known model turned actor. He was last seen in the serial Meet on Sony Channel. Till now in the serial Pratigya he is able to grab the attention of the viewers because of his smart look and strong character. In the coming episodes it is sure that he is going to give tough competition to other Male leads and will play a vital role in giving twist in the story of Pratigya serial.

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