Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Peripherals

We had a hunch that Microsoft would be launching a SideWinder-branded keyboard this fall, and sure enough, the suits in Redmond are keeping the revitalized name alive with an all new September-bound input peripheral combo. The SideWinder Ͷ is hailed as the “first gaming keyboard created by Microsoft from the ground up, and the only gaming keyboard on the market with a switchable key pad.” When not in gaming mode, the key pad transforms into a full-programmable macro pad. You’ll also find two-color adjustable backlighting, mode switching and a $79.95 price tag. As for the ͵ mouse, this critter packs nine buttons (five of which are customizable), a 2,000DPI laser tracking engine, six DPI settings (adjustable on the fly) and a $59.95 sticker. Full release is just after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft intros SideWinder Ͷ keyboard and ͵ mouse

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

Call it a hunch, but we wouldn’t be surprised one iota if you received some form of digital photo frame for Mother’s Day. If you’re a mother, that is. Digital Foci is sure doing its best to sway your kid’s purchasing decision by shipping its Image Moments 8 just in time. If you’ll recall, this one packs a respectable 450MB of internal memory, an 8-inch LED-backlit SVGA (800 x 600) display with a 500:1 contrast ratio, a multicard reader that handles CF, SD, SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick, MS Pro, MS Duo, MS Pro Duo and xD formats and an obligatory USB port, too. There’s even a set of integrated speakers and an audio output for placing a nice slow jam behind those honeymoon snaps. Take a look in the read link for the full rundown, and get set to part ways with $199 before May 11th (you know she’s worth it).

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

Indifferent souls may have no qualms just snapping up the first digiframe they see, but that sect isn′t the target market for Parrot’s latest. The Andrée Putman-designed device is being shown around the UK at the moment, and aside from boasting a 7-inch display, a glossy black motif, rear-mounted buttons, auto-rotation, 10MB of built-in storage, an SD expansion slot and integrated Bluetooth (but no WiFi), you also get to hand over £250 to take it home. Right now, the piece is only available in London’s Few and Far store, but the company may try to roll it out nationwide if demand necessitates. Check it out on video in the read link below.

[Via CNET]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays

There’s nothing like an impending holiday to get companies rushing to get their appropriately-themed products out the door, and Viewsonic’s now following Memorex’s lead with a slew of new digital photo frames aimed at Mother’s Day shoppers. This latest batch includes ten frames in all, including 7-, 8-, and 10-inch varieties (both widescreen and 4:3), each of which boast interchangeable bezels to suit your decor. At the head of the pack is the 10-inch DP󗅪 model (pictured above), which packs a decent 1024×600 resolution, along with 400 cd/m2 of brightness, a 400:1 contrast ratio, and the usual video and MP3 playback features. If that’s a bit more than you’re looking for, you can opt for one of three variations of the 8-inch DP𕫢 model, which packs an 800×600 resolution and drops the video playback, or one of three incarnations of the 7-inch DP𕩾 model, which offers up a 800×480 resolution and drops the MP3 playback as well. Rounding things out are the 7-inch widescreen DP𕪀WH, 8-inch 4:3 DP𕫤WH and 10-inch widescreen DP󗅬WH, each of which boast white finishes, and include 128MB of memory, along with some basic media-playing features. According to Viewsonic, the whole lot is available now, with prices ranging from $130 to $209.

 

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

Oh sure, Mother’s Day is over a month away, but don’t let mama know that reading this post was the only thing that reminded you. If you′re suddenly stricken with panic, take heart, as Memorex has a new duo of digital photo frames sure to make the woman most special to you smile. Purposely designed with “feminine graphics,” the Special Occasions and Floral models both feature 7-inch 480 x 234 resolution panels and USB connectivity. As for the former, you’ll find four interchangeable inserts and a SD / MMC expansion slot, while the latter provides a 4-in-1 reader and oodles of floral patterns. Interestingly, we’ve no idea if either will be seen outside of K-Mart, but both frames can be purchased at the aforesaid retailer next month for $89.99 apiece.

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

It’s not exactly likely that we Americans will ever see NDrive’s G700 on our soil, but for folks overseas who can look forward to receiving it when it launches next month, here’s what you can expect. This navigator sports a 4.3-inch display along with a snazzy integrated GSM / GPRS module for connecting to the intarwebs and pulling down traffic, weather, local movie listings, etc. when cruising about. Unfortunately, that’s it for the details right now, but if you’ve heard enough, you can round up your €480 ($704) and start counting down the days.

[Via NaviGadget]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Ridiculous quantities of 3G handsets weren’t the only things showed off at this year’s Mobile World Congress — oh no, NetIndex, Kaga Electronics and Runcom shook up the norm a bit with their WiMAX-enabled portable VoIP phone. Reportedly, the trio joined forces to develop a VoIP handset that utilized a 802.16e module, and aside from “realizing all-IP voice communication,” it also sports a web browser and integrated WiFi for times when a plain ole hotspot will do. Sadly, we’ve no idea where this thing will go after it leaves Barcelona (nor what it looks like), but here’s to hoping it makes a commercial debut — and can decide on a single logo — in the not-too-distant future.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Okay, we suppose cellphone companies trumpeting some sort of fuel cell technology isn’t that weird, but nevertheless, Moto sure seems proud of its most recent advancements. Showcased at this year’s Mobile World Congress are a number of “alternative power solutions including fuel cell and reflow batteries,” which can be deployed in most every wireless / mobile environment out there. More specifically, the outfit is demonstrating a fuel cell-powered WiMAX base station, and it’s also suggesting that said technology could “further guarantee [the] availability of uninterrupted power” in TETRA radio networks that are used in public safety environments. Fascinating, no?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Features

If we’re kids, then Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress is the candy store — and today, all we did was stuff our fat, sticky faces with Runts, Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, and pretty much everything in between. Head on over to Engadget Mobile for the exhaustive coverage, or if you’re the love ‘em and leave ‘em type, at least be dolls and check out our gorgeous hands-on shots, won’t you?

Read - HTC’s newest touchscreen toy, say hello to the 3470
Read - Samsung′s sliding Soul
Read - iriver’s 3-inch touchscreen phone
Read - modu: it’s real and plenty fantastic
Read - Sony Ericsson’s splash-resistant C702
Read - Sony Ericsson’s 5 megapixel C902
Read - Sony Ericsson’s 𑣜 touchscreen organizer
Read - The W980, Sony Ericsson’s really slick flip

 

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s bordering on preposterous how long we’ve been teased about 3G connectivity from T-Mobile, but apparently, the madness will end this summer. According to CNET, company CEO Hamid Akhavan made mention at Mobile World Congress that T-Mobile would be rolling out 3G sometime during the warmest months of 2008 here in the US of A, but unfortunately, no concrete date was dished out. What he did say, however, was that it would prove to be the “best 3G network” in the nation, so yeah, there’s that. As if that weren’t enough to get T-Mob subscribers in a celebratory mood, the bigwig also hinted that a Google Android device would be unveiled on its network during ̮ of this year, but we′re left to wonder exactly what regions will see it.

[Via The Boy Genius Report, image courtesy of Flickr]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Whew, it was quite a day for cellphones at the Mobile World Congress, and there’s more to come this week — but if you haven′t been watching Engadget Mobile (where the full coverage is being posted) or are just getting up to speed, here’s everything that’s gone down.

Sony Ericsson

• The Sony Ericsson W980
• Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
• Sony Ericsson’s G700 and G900: “touchscreen organizers”
• Two for the Cyber-shot crowd: Sony Ericsson intros C702 and C902
• The Sony Ericsson Z770: “your life in a clamshell”
• First live photo of Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1
• Video: Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 “Panel Interface”
• No wonder Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 is so good: HTC makes it
• Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 does a good job looking pretty at launch event
• Sony Ericsson ties up with Microsoft for Windows Mobile devices

HTC

• HTC 󄊎 is only EDGE, but has GPS
• HTC Advantage X7510: now upgraded with 16GB flash memory

Nokia

• The Nokia 6220 classic, all 5 megapixels of it
• The Nokia N78, in European and North American flavors
• The Nokia Ộ redefines “high-end”
• The Nokia 6210 Navigator
• Nokia goes public with Maps 2.0 beta, plans Series 40 version
• Nokia CEO: No plans for Windows Mobile, S60 touch-screen launch in 2H 2008

Sad, lonely Moto

• Motorola’s pathetic MWC showing: Z6w, 𕑹, and 𕒍
• LG says it has no plans to buy Motorola’s cellphone biz

Everybody else

• Samsung’s F480 Armani (without the Armani), Dual Touch Chic G400 flip and F400 B&O slider
• NVIDIA shows off APX 2500 cellphone applications processor
• Hands-on with Sony Ericsson’s world-beating XPERIA X1
• Samsung hauls a load into Mobile World Congress
• First pics of CDMA BlackBerry Curve 8330 surface
• What’s an iPhone? 14.3m Windows Mobile phones sold in the past six months alone
• LG gets official with the KF700, KF600, and KF510
• Samsung’s HSDPA-equipped 𑢂 slider gets official

More after the break.

Continue reading Mobile World Congress roundup: cellphone mania

 

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Portable Video, Wireless

If you’re sick of hearing about end products and want to get down and dirty with the innards of handsets of tomorrow, look no further than Qualcomm. The firm is busting out a smorgasbord of new chips at Mobile World Congress today, so we′ll get right to it. Up first is the QS󍔨, QS󍖌 and QS󍖑 chipsets, which include the following:

• An integrated ARM11 applications processor running at 528 MHz with support for third-party operating systems (Windows Mobile, Win CE and Linux)
• A comprehensive range of popular audio and video codecs
  Rich multimedia features, including camera, video playback at up to VGA resolution, and TV-out
• Seventh-generation gpsOne engine with support for Standalone-GPS and Assisted-GPS modes, as well as gpsOneXTRA Assistance technology delivering enhanced Standalone-GPS performance
• Support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and FM radio
• 65 nanometer process technology for enhanced battery life and bill-of-materials savings
• Ability to interface with Qualcomm’s Universal Broadcast Modem (UBM) solution for MediaFLO, DVB-H and ISDB-T mobile broadcast TV support
• Wireless WAN connectivity for voice calls and data capabilities (QST1100)
• Hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics core capable of performing up to 2.8 million triangles per second (QST1105)
• All three are sampling now and are expected to begin launching this year

Head on past the break for more.

Continue reading Qualcomm goes wild at MWC 2008, unveils slew of new chips

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

With all these companies honing in on bringing HD capabilities to handsets, we were beginning to wonder when someone would step up and lend a hand on the audio front. Thankfully, both Dolby and SRS Labs have come forward at Mobile World Congress to announce separate enhancements to mobile audio, so we’ll touch on the former first. Dolby Mobile, hailed as an “audio processing technology platform that brings rich, vibrant surround sound to music, movies, and television programs on mobile phones and portable media players,” is available as we speak on the FOMA S𑳉i and FOMA S𑳉iTV in Japan, but will hopefully float out to other handsets in due time. As for SRS Labs, it’s boasting its own SRS CS Headphone technology, which reportedly “takes stereo or surround encoded 2-channel audio and processes it using an ultra-low-power Circle Surround decoder to create 5.1 highly accurate channels.” Granted, we’re still wondering exactly how 5.1 channels make their way though stereo earbuds, but we’d be up for a listen, regardless.

Read - Dolby Mobile
Read - SRS CS Headphone technology

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, HDTV

On the same day that Texas Instruments chose to showcase a new chip that would enable HD recording capabilities on cellphones, On2 Technologies is taking a moment from its hectic day in Barcelona to trumpet an all new 1080p hardware RTL video decoder. The Hantro 8190 reportedly supports Adobe Flash along with H.263, H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark and V̦ video formats, and it can even handle JPEG images up to 16-megapixels. According to On2, the device was created to be easily integrated with ARM, MIPS and “other embedded CPU and DSP cores,” and can supposedly decode 1080p H.264 video at 30 frames-per-second using a clock frequency of just 165MHz. As it stands, the Hantro 8190 is currently available for licensing, but only time will tell who’s going to bite.

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Getting the high-end G810, F480, G400, and F400 out of the way, Samsung has (expectedly) rocked Mobile World Congress with a boatload of devices to fill every last segment of the market. Let’s have a look, shall we?

• The i200 (pictured) is a relatively simple Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard candybar with a 2 megapixel cam, 3G data, microSD expansion, and the typical QVGA display. It should break below the &euro200 mark and will hit shelves in spring.
• The L170 is a thin candybar — just 10.7mm — that fills in the low end at a €175 asking price with a 2 megapixel camera when it launches in March.
• The J150 goes even further downmarket than the L170, but manages to squeeze its guts into a 9.9mm shell with Bluetooth, an FM radio, microSD slot, and a 1.3 megapixel camera for €125-130.
• The J700 is a relatively attractive slider with a 1.3 megapixel camera, 160 x 128 display, and microSD slot, while still staying on the low end at €130-140. It’ll be available in March.
• The L770 kicks up the style factor a couple notches and throws UMTS into the equation, along with a 2 megapixel camera, FM radio, and availability in a range of colors when it hits in April for €260-280.
• The E251 is a slider that′ll ring a bell for many Samsung owners, looking a heck of a lot like the E250 it replaces. In fact, it’s the same thing — it just adds a dedicated music key. Whoopee! It’ll be available for €120-130.
• The W350 is a mobile TV clamshell supporting DMB — not a lot of good for DVB-H-loving Europe, but appropriate for South Korea. If you’re cool with the 2.2 inch display, anyway. No word on release or pricing for this one.
• Speaking of DVB-H, the 𓱀 is just such a device with a healthier 2.6 inch QVGA display, slider form factor, 3 megapixel camera, and support for picture-in-picture. This one apparently hasn’t been blessed for release yet, and there’s some debate as to whether it ever will be (yes, please).

More details on the whole range as we get it!

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Original post by Chris Ziegler