Motorola Droid 2: Everything You Need to Know

Find out everything you need to know about Motorola's Droid 2, the successor to the original Droid and a competitor to the Droid X and Droid Incredible.

The Droid is reborn. Well, reborn again, we guess, since there have already been two other phones bearing the Droid moniker following the success of the original Droid last holiday season. The Droid 2 now joins the HTC Droid Incredible and fellow Motorola Droid X at the forefront of Verizon’s Droid lineup, replacing its predecessor. What does Motorola’s Droid 2 switch up? Take a look.

et’s start with what’s not new. The Droid 2 has the same 3.7-inch LCD, 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and 720 x 480 video capabilities as the original Droid. Even the phone’s outside dimensions and weight are identical.

However, processor speed leaps from 550MHz to 1GHz, which should make it much more competitive with the latest group of Android challengers, like Samsung’s Galaxy S. Internal storage shoots from 256MB to 8GB, while the size of the included microSD card shrinks from 16GB to 8GB, leaving them with about the same total storage capacity out of the box.

Motorola has also managed to tweak the software enough to deliver significantly more battery life from the same size batter: 9.6 hours of talk time instead of 6.4, and 13.1 days of standby instead of 11.3. It will also run Android 2.2, also known as Froyo, right out of the box, though the Droid will get an update to 2.2 shortly

Read More @ digitaltrends.com

Asus Bringing Next-Gen NVIDIA ION Infused Eee Box To UK By End Of Summer

Asus [TPE:2357] is preparing to ship the Eee Box EB1501P home theatre focussed nettop in the UK by the end of this summer or around the beginning of fall. This news was leaked earlier this week by UK tech news source Electric Pig and was later confirmed by Asus UK. Even though it is supposed to be a nettop, this Eee Box will pack quite a punch with its above average specifications.

The RAM will stay at 2GB just like the Eee Box that came before it, so will the HDD at 250GB and you can’t get away from Windows 7 either. But beyond that lies the graphics — which will be the next-gen ION from NVIDIA which is 16-core desktop graphics. It will be paired with the Atom Dual Core D525, Wireless N WiFi and HDMI out too. So if you are thinking about attaching it to your HDTV directly — you can just go on ahead.

The ION 2 graphics chip and the Atom D525 are going to really help its cause as a home theatre solution. Together they will enhance your HD video experience by quite a few notches over the previous models. Also, it will be giving you good mileage when it comes to gaming. Some of the newer games might also run on it at lower settings. So over all it is going to be good deal.

And while we wait for it to release, the original report compares it with the Mac Mini and poses it as a possible competitor. The two cannot be compared directly thanks to the hardware difference but with it costing around $600, which is below the Mac Mini’s starting price of $699. A lot of people might want to trade up if they want a Mac but I can see a lot of people being okay with this because it does more or less everything an average person would want to do with a desktop.

Via : netbook-expert.com

Linux Getting Tablet Love From ASUS and Axon Logic Hopefully More To Come

Tablet’s are becoming more and more popular by the day and companies are taking notice and are readying products that fit everyone’s desires. Even with this sharp increase in interest for tablet’s there haven’t been many Linux tablet devices being discussed by anyone. The top OS of choice for tablet makers other than the usual Windows has been Android due mainly to it’s minimal requirements and all-round touch-friendliness.

In all this commotion in the tablet community Linux has take a backseat. Until today when ASUS and Axon Logic released information on their respective tablet’s that showed Linux as an option for consumers. ASUS showed they will be releasing the ASUS Eee Tablet(pictured above) in October for $300 in a Linux model. Axon Logic a relatively unknown also released their plans for a tablet that will not only be able to run Windows and OSX but it will also run Linux, their tablet the Axon Haptic and it’s set to cost about $800.

Now these tablet’s might not be for everyone but hopefully these companies can spur on more manufacturer’s to produce more high quality Linux based tablet’s. Having more choice out in the tablet market is a good thing after all.

Via : tablets-planet.com

Asus Eee Pad EP101TC will run Android instead of Windows CE

The Eee Pad EP101TC, that was supposed to be running Windows CE, is ditching Microsoft’s operating system in favor of Google’s Android.

The Eee Pad will be on display at CES 2011, and availability will start some time in early Q1 2011.

Features that we know of at this point are a 10-inch touchscreen, a thickness of just 12.2 millimeters and a weight of 675 grams.

It’s also reported that Asus will be supplying carrier partners with preview versions of the device in December, so expect many more details then at the latest.

Needing carrier partners in the first place seems to also indicate that the Eee Pad will feature 3G connectivity and may be subsidized in some markets.

Presumably the version of Android it will be running will be whatever the next release after 2.2 Froyo will be. Whether that will be named Gingerbread or not, whether it will be 3.0 or not, remains to be seen.

Then one of the reasons for the early-2011 launch could be the OS itself – Asus waiting for Google to officially release it first (this is supposed to happen in Q4 this year).

Or perhaps Asus just want to see how well the many tablets that are set to launch in Q4 sell, so they can adjust their production volumes or the tablet’s features accordingly.

Via : unwiredview.com

Asus brings 3D Monitors with Full HD Support

sus has introduced new 23-inch monitor capable of supporting full HD video and 3D visuals with Nvidia 3D Vision technology. The new ASUS VG236H monitor has 120Hz of refresh rate and is claimed to be capable of delivering jarring-free action scene videos. With support for Nvidia 3D Vision technology, gamers can enjoy several titles in 3D while movie buffs can watch Blu-ray HD movies smoothly.

Asus has implemented Trace Free II technology in VG236H monitor that features 2 millisecond (gray-to-gray) response time and double-speed 120Hz refresh rate. This means you'll get smooth visuals during rapid action scenes and watching sports. Vibrant and vivid colors can be expected with Asus Color Shine technology and 400 nits ultra-brightness promises good quality pictures.

This full HD monitor can display 16.7 million colors and offer 100000:1 contrast ratio. With due support for Nvidia 3D Vision technology, gamers can play all games that support the technology and that too with 1920x1080 full HD resolution.

Read More @ techtree.com

PS3 and Xbox 360 games controllers get dissected in gory detail

Ever wondered what the inside of a Sony PS3 controller or an Xbox 360 controller looked like?

Well, strangely enough, that's the same thought artist Mads Peitersen had when he decided to draw what he found inside a PS3 and Xbox 360 controller.

However, something tells us this wasn't what he was expecting.

The Copenhagen based artist who says he likes Rembrandt says (unedited), "No Games or Consoles was harmed during painting."

Read More @ pocket-lint.com

Reach Xbox to Sport 360 Design, Custom Sound

Microsoft will release a limited-edition Xbox 360 console themed around Halo: Reach this fall, it said Thursday night at Comic-Con International.

The Halo-inspired Xbox will be released on the same day as the new shooter, Sept. 14. It will have all the bells and whistles of the recently released Xbox 360 redesign, from built-in Wi-Fi to a 250-gigabyte hard drive. A new paint job and custom sounds trick out the machine with Halo flair. Bundled with two similarly customized controllers and a copy of the game, the package will cost $400.

Halo: Reach is the hotly anticipated next installment in Microsoft’s key game series. The first-person shooter serves as a prequel to the events of the original Halo.

Bungie and Microsoft say that they spent a great deal of time adorning the limited-edition box with visual and audio references to the world of Halo.

“We used the ONI as the backdrop for the console,” said Bungie designer Jim McQuillan to Wired.com in an exclusive pre-show interview. McQuillan was referring to the shadowy Office of Naval Intelligence, a key part of the fiction of the popular shooter series.

Read More @ wired.com

Special Edition Fable III Xbox 360 Controller Gets Outed

ot only does the video game industry produce hundreds of millions of dollars worth of revenue every year but it also produces a sub culture reserved for just about every game genre. We have die hard shooter fanatics, we have the hardcore RPG lovers, strategy geeks, platform maniacs and much more. If you’re a gamer you’ll probably instantly associate yourself with such a group.

RPGs, in particular, have been known to have diehard, extremely dedicated players that put countless hours into grinding out quests, leveling up their character and accumulating loot. Does World of Warcraft ring a bell? However, online RPGs are not the only runners in this battle as offline RPGs too have quite the dedicated following.

The Fable franchise from Lionhead Studios is a perfect example of a prime offline RPG. First launched in 2004, Fable allowed characters to live out their virtual life in a way almost exactly the same as real life. You could get married, invest in real estate, get fat and much, much more.

Well, after Fable went on to becoming a success securing the spot of top-selling game back in September of ’04, Lionhead went on to release a sequel appropriately named Fable II. That too brought with it unique elements of non-linear gameplay new to the offline RPG genre.

Well, Lionhead is looking to change everything once again with the forthcoming Fable III which features kingdom ruling gameplay and a very unique menu system (among other things). When I say unique menu system, I mean there is barely a menu system. Clothes are changed by going into a dressing room, items are purchased off the shelf instead of through a menu and magic requires putting on special gauntlets instead of choosing spells from a HUD. It may seem ridiculous to get excited over a menu system but it’s just one feature that is making Fable III look absolutely stunning.

Considering it’s October 26th launch date on the Xbox 360 is quickly approaching, Microsoft has come forth to show off their special Fable III edition controller for the game, pictured above.

The special edition Fable III Xbox 360 controller will be out on October 5th for $69.99.

Via : nexus404.com