R2-D2 Droid 2 gets official at $249

The Droid 2 came into this world with the expectation of becoming the next best Droid to hit the market. After the original Droid’s success the Droid 2, surely faced some big shoes to fill. While it has not created the buzz the original created, for obvious reasons, the Droid 2 seemingly has had a successful launch. But what about the R2-D2 version that we have heard about since the days of rumor, well my young Jedi’s the time has come to make your D2 an R2-D2!

Verizon has officially announced the launch of their new R2-D2 branded Droid 2. The device is priced at $249 with the signing of a new two year contract, and a $100 mail in rebate. There is no indication of the off contract or retail price of the R2-D2 and it is rumored that the option will not be available. However, guesstimates put the retail price of the unit at around $650 according to Droid-Life. The Droid 2 R2-D2 will be made available on September 30th, some Verizon stores will be opening at midnight the 29th expecting hordes of young Jedi’s that have been waiting this day. The price of the new device will get you a new contract as well as a cool looking device and if that wasn’t sweet enough, a perfect companion for R2-D2 a Star-Wars themed docking station. The handset will also come equipped with a slew of different Star-Wars themed, live wall papers, sounds, widgets, photos, and even a binocular app. Details from the press release;

* R2-D2 notification sounds and ringtones
* Four live wallpapers
* R2-D2 Clock Widget
* “The Best of R2-D2” video with the original Cantina music
* Exclusive Binoculars App

While the rumor of the new R2-D2 Droid 2 running a 1.2 GHz processor is not noted or even mentioned, it will surely show face in the near future. Also with the new Star-Wars themed phone comes some goodies to all Verizon customers that run Android 2.1 or higher. The new Empire Strikes Back app will be made available for 2.99 and will test your knowledge of the series. Along with the following goodies,

* Bounty Hunt Visual ID: Find and capture images around the Star Wars universe to unlock hidden content
* Sound and Photo Gallery
* Live Wallpapers: Blast the Probe Droid, Luke Balancing Yoda, Navigating the Asteroid Field, Watch Bespin’s Cloud City
* Trivia Challenge: Answer trivia questions about the Empire Strikes Back
* Widgets

Via : blog.wirelessground.com

Verizon’s Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 limited edition officially arrives

If the original Droid 2 is too boring for you, Verizon has you covered with the Motorola Droid R2-D2 limited edition, which has just been officially announced.

Available at Verizon starting September 30 (this Thursday), the Droid 2 R2-D2 will cost $249 after a $100 mail-in rebate (new 2-year contract agreement required).

Featuring a cover painted to remind us of the R2-D2 Droid from Star Wars, the smartphone is offered with a Star Wars media dock and wired stereo headset, and is packaged “in a custom box resembling carbonite.” It also features exclusive content: R2-D2 ringtones and notification sounds, an R2-D2 Clock Widget, live wallpapers, a Binoculars App, and “The Best of R2-D2” video.

Via : unwiredview

Sony Ericsson’s LiveView Accessory Gives You a Quick Look at Your Phone

Accessories for devices these days are usually run-of-the-mill. Aside from a few cool ones from Samsung – such as the keyboard dock for the Galaxy Tab and the USB-HDMI out for their Galaxy S devices – they are always pretty much the same. Sony Ericsson’s come up with a cool one for their Xperia phones, however, called LiveView. This isn’t the official marketing term, but I like to call it a “bundle of joy the size of a pocket watch.” Too corny for you yet? I know, it’s early and I haven’t had my McDonald’s roasted coffee.

Anywho, LiveView is a small LCD screen that – at a glance – shows you a count of notifications on your device from different sources such as email, Twitter, Facebook, calendar reminders, missed calls, and more. It even allows you to control your device’s music. Take a look at the video above to get the full gist of things.

It communicates with your device using Bluetooth and it’s said that the battery will last four days on a full charge – not too bad. They list official support for all of their Xperia devices, of course, but profess that it works with many other brands with Android 2.0+ so a long list of those of us without Sony Ericsson phones don’t get left out. I hope this wasn’t the exciting announcement Ericsson’s CEO was talking about last week. I still want my PSP Phone. Nevertheless, this is still pretty cool. Anyone looking to snatch one up?

Via : phandroid.com

BlackBerry’s PlayBook Tablet

BlackBerry’s PlayBook Tablet – The maker of BlackBerry, Research in Motion (RIM), has revealed at a developer conference on Monday its newest gadget which is the PlayBook, a tablet computer. It will be released in 2011.

Currently, the tablet market has been dominated by Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and its famous iPad, however, the other tech companies are still trying to cash in as well.

The co-chief executive of RIM, Mike Lazaridis, said at the BlackBerry Developer conference in San Francisco that every successful professional has a great PlayBook. He did not name the price.

The PlayBook tablet features a 7-inch screen, Flash-capable video and a front and rear high-definition camera. It is thin with a measurement of 9.7 millimeters and it weighs 0.9 pounds. Furthermore, it includes a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. It is compatible with HDMI video output and Bluetooth, as well as microHDMI and microUSB.

As of now, the PlayBook can connect to the Internet only via Wi-Fi. However, RIM said it plans to offer 3G and 4G models sometime in the future. Despite of this, Lazaridis still said the company’s goal was to offer an uncompromised Web experience.

Although the tablet won’t use RIM’s newly launched BlackBerry 6 operating system, it has been built around a new platform from QNX Software Systems that has been acquired by the company earlier this year.

Via : keenobservers.com

Blackberry PlayBook: the latest competitor for iPad

esearch in Motion (RIM), the makers of the Blackberry, have revealed details – and images – of the PlayBook, the machine they hope will prove to be an iPad killer. The tablet device won’t go on general sale until early in 2011, however.

The new handheld machine was revealed at at RIM's annual Blackberry developer’s conference in San Francisco yesterday with some pomp. Despite its name, RIM president Mike Lazaridis claimed the PlayBook was the "world's first professional tablet".

He said: "RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems.

"The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia."

The PlayBook is the third entry into the market dominated by Apple since it launched the iPad in April this year. At the beginning of this month, Samsung launched its own offering, the Galaxy Tab.

The spec for the PlayBook contains no great surprises: it is pretty much as rumours and leaks had painted it. The seven-inch screen is 2.7 inches smaller than the iPad’s and the same size as the Galaxy Tab's.

The PlayBook is significantly lighter than the iPad at 400g to Apple's 680g – 730g, and just 20g heavier than the Galaxy Tab. It is also expected to be slightly cheaper than Apple’s machine.

PLAYBOOK, THE SPECS:

7in touchscreen

• BlackBerry Tablet OS built on architecture by recently-acquired QNX

• 1 GHz dual-core processor

• 1 GB RAM

• HD video playback

• HDMI video outputJuly 7 2008:

• Bluetooth 2.1

• MicroHDMI and microUSB ports

• Support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1

• Dimensions: 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″

• Weight: 400g

• Able to connect to BlackBerry Enterprise Servers

• Pairing with BlackBerry handsets

• Ability to connect to 3G network on existing BlackBerry data plan


Via : thefirstpost.co.uk

BlackBerry announces PlayBook tablet

BlackPad sounded a bit too much like the name of a children’s book pirate for us. But PlayBook just sounds like a children’s book. And that’s the name BlackBerry has bestowed on its new 7in tablet, due to launch early in 2011.

BlackBerrys have always had quite good names – Curve, Pearl, Bold, Storm, Torch – so we’re not sure where the kindergarten-themed PlayBook fits into that lot. Luckily, that’s where our complaints end. RIM’s new tablet looks ace in every other way.

Designed as a sibling device to a BB smartphone, it runs a new tablet-specific version of BlackBerry OS, and hardware includes a 1GHz dual-core chip, 1GB RAM and a stunning 7in HD multi-touch screen.

There are also a pair of cameras (5MP on the back, 3MP on the front) that will support video calling and – more excitingly – full HD (1080p) video capture. There’s also HDMI out for piping those vids (or other video stored locally) to a bigger screen.

It’s Wi-Fi only, but can also connect via Bluetooth 2.1 and RIM says it will have a 3G version in future. BlackBerry says the PlayBook is designed to always sync with your (BlackBerry) smartphone, so you can choose which one to take with you at any time without worrying about where your data is.

Best of all, it looks stunning at just 10mm thin and weighs only 400g. Plus the new OS looks pretty cool. We’ll be banging on RIM’s door for a sample asap and bringing you more news as we get it.

Via : stuff.tv

BlackBerry PlayBook to challenge Apple iPad

BlackBerry makers RIM chose its BB DevCon in San Francisco to introduce its brand spankin’ new tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook. It’s been announced for an early 2011 launch in North America, with the rest of the world looking to get their mits on BB’s slate by March the same year.

The new tablet drops BlackBerry’s OS altogether – running instead on a newly developed BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK, which will be shipped out to app developers in the next few weeks.

It packs a 7in screen (similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s 7in stunner) and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and unlike Apple’s ‘Pad, the ability to multi-task and run Flash 10.1.

We’ve scored the specs – so everything you need to know about BlackBerry’s little tablet is below:

* The 7in LCD has a WSVGA resolution of 1024×600, is a capacitive touchscreen with full multi-touch support
* BlackBerry Tablet OS
* 1GHz dual-core processor
* 1GB RAM
* Dual HD cams (3MP front-facing, 5MP rear) and supports full 1080p video recording
* It can handle 1080p video playback in H.264, MPEG, DivX and WMV
* HDMI output
* Wi-fi is N-flavoured
* Bluetooth 2.1
* Webkit browser
* Measures 130mm x 193mm x 10mm
* And RIM plans to launch both 4G and 3G speeds at the same time

Via : stuffmideast.com

Binatone launched Android 1.6 OS Tablet in India at price of Rs. 9,000

Binatone, leading UK telecommunication honcho is all set to enter Indian digital market with the launch of tablet named Home SurfTouch, powered by Android 1.6 operating system. Binatone is renowned name in UK for telephonic device manufacturing. Binatone manufactures cellphone devices, satellite phones, GPS devices, telephone devices and Internet devices.

The Executive Vice President Binatone India, Sat Murthi, strongly conveyed that Home SurfTouch device has been “Indianized” as they have kept in mind the common Indian youth computing needs and price sensitivity factor. He also confirmed that Binatone is going to invest Rs. 50 crores in coming 12 months to introduce Binatone’s manufactured devices.

According to Mr. Murthi, Binatone’s Home SurfTouch is designed to offer power saver, enhanced audio output and other special indianized features. Moreover, he also optimistically commented that Binatone will also launch other devices focusing rural markets in India, which are looking for power-friendly, affordable and quality product.

Meanwhile, Home SurfTouch tablet will be powered by Android 1.6 OS, and will be integrated with WiFi, 128MB RAM and ARM 11‘s 667 MHz processor. Home SurfTouch tablet will be one of the slimmest tablet in the world, which makes it handy and comfortable to operate.

On, Home SurfTouch tablet, users will be able to browse Internet, play videos and audio files, download simple games, and access applications supported by long battery life. The most attractive thing about Home SurfTouch tablet is its price tag of Rs. 9,000, which totally defeat its competitors.

In India, Apple’s iPad Touch is available to purchase in Indian markets, whereas, Olive India and Notion India are going to launch Android based tablet in the price range of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000. Though, Olive India’s tablet will be operated by Android 2.2 Froyo! Nevertheless, at the price tag of Rs. 9,000, Home SurfTouch seems to be most exciting buy.

Via : ic-technews.com

Binatone Launches Android Tablet in India

Binatone, a UK based manufacturer of landline phones and GPS devices, has announced the launch of its Android based tablet in India.

The tablet, known as the Home Surf Touch Tablet, comes loaded with Android 1.6 and is quite a sleek looker. It boasts of an 8-inch resistive screen and supports Wi-Fi, 2 GB onboard storage and has 128 MB of RAM.

The tablet is powered by an ARM 11 667 MHz processor. While the specs might not be top-of-the-line, you get a decent tablet for the price - especially when you compare the speculated price of the iPad and the Galaxy Tab (which are expected to cost way beyond the Rs. 20k mark) whenever they are launched in India.

Binatone plans to invest Rs. 50 crores in the next 12 months in technology, product development and marketing. A company spokesperson added that Binatone products are 'Indianized' with special features like 'Audio boost', 'Power saver' and 'Binatone Zone', which all have been carefully market researched and implemented to address the specific Indian needs

The Binatone Tablet has been priced at Rs. 8,995 which seems a great price for an Android based tablet. Hopefully, we'd be reviewing one of these soon!

Via : techtree