Nokia announced at the Mobile World Congress the much leaked Lumia 610. It is the budget Window Phones aimed for the ‘younger audience’.
Lumia 610 is the first phone to break the strict hardware requirements of Microsoft. It is running Windows Phone 7.5 Tango. It is powered by a modest 800 MHz single-core processor, 256GB of RAM and a mere 8GB of internal memory. It is also packed with 5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack, microUSB port and a 1300mAh battery. Not bad for a phone that is likely to sell for less than €200.

Japan's robot version of American football barely resembles the game as we know it, but it's still pretty entertaining to watch.
Every year, between the months of February and August, there's a feeling of emptiness that falls over me, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. American football fans know this to be the period of time when there is no college or NFL games, and when we turn into sad lots, feeling cold and alone on weekends and Monday nights.

Asian electronics firm Proview has accused Apple of "deception" in the way it acquired rights to the iPad name.
In Californian court filings, Proview claims Apple created a UK-registered "special purpose company", IP Application Development Ltd (IPADL).
The court papers allege that IPADL said the trademark was needed because "it is an abbreviation for the company name".
Proview is seeking damages and to void a 2009 deal in which it sold its rights to the trademark for $55,000 (£35,000).

Some of Europe's biggest mobile phone companies have signed up to new privacy guidelines published by the GSMA.
The body which represents mobile operators hopes it will help users understand what personal information apps may "access, collect and use".
Several companies have said they are starting to implement the guidelines in apps they produce.
The policy's publication follows concern that some apps were using customer data without permission.

The latest stage of Apple’s battle to use the “iPad” trademark in China saw heated exchanges in a Shanghai court, as the technology giant fought to avoid disruption to global supplies of its best-selling tablet.
It is under attack from Shenzhen Proview Technology, a Chinese company, which registered the iPad trademark in 2001. Apple bought rights to the name fro £35,000 from a Taiwanese company affiliated with Proview but the mainland company says it still owns the name in China.

prices) for Samsung’s HDTVs 2012range that appeared to be a little pricier than last year’s models. However, Sammy could be just thinking of letting you extra features worthy enough for your hardly-earned bucks, the latest high-end sets include built-in cameras, speech recognition and gesture-sensing remotes. Now if you’re getting excited for an upgrade we host part of the list here, and the rest check out the source link by simply doing a virtual jump after the break.

New technology to help blind people text using touchscreen mobile devices has been developed.
Researchers at Georgia Tech produced the app - to be made available on Apple and Android devices - based on the Braille writing system.
It is claimed typing with the app is up to six times faster than existing methods for texting without sight.
Access to technology for the visually-impaired is a growing issue due to the proliferation of touchscreens.

Sony's new handheld console - the Playstation Vita - is set to launch in Europe on Wednesday.
The device launched in Japan last Christmas and Sony say more than half a million units have now been sold.
It will be a rival to Nintendo's 3DS, boasting a quad-core processor and 5in (12.7cm) OLED touch screen.
However, it is entering a competitive market as mobile casual gamer space becomes increasingly dominated by game applications for smartphones.

Are we peering inside the iPad 3, while seeing design tweaks to the outside too?
A couple of reports today claim to expose more pieces of the iPad 3's design puzzle.
The first is a purported photo of the next-generation iPad's circuit board. If legitimate, the chip inside the next iPad--let's call it the iPad 3--is dubbed the "A5X" not the A6 as has been rumored.
So, who cares what the chip is called you might ask? Well, barring a Photoshopped rendering of the board, this could lend credence to the speculation in some quarters that the iPad 3 won't be quad-core but a souped-up dual-core chip.

Google published a patent last week that allows users to interact with a smartphone or PC to unlock the device and perform one command. Guess what? HTC already offers something very similar in Android phones using its latest version of Sense. Users can drag the virtual ring on the lock screen around one of four apps and instantly get taken to that function, whether it be the camera, calendar, or Angry Birds. It first debuted on the HTC Sensation 4G.
February 17, 2012 2:25 PM PST
http://news.cnet.com/2300-1035_3-10011367.html?s=0&o=10011367&tag=mncol;thum

HTC aside, not every manufacturer is willing, ready and committed to opening up its device portfolio to the idle hands of hackers. Which is why Auraslate, a recently launched start-up, is stepping in to fill that void, instituting a sea change in how devs translate their unsanctioned software concepts into actual end user products. To do this, the humble outfit's offering up 7- and 10-inch Android tablets that range in price from $139 to $270 and come loaded up with an ARM Cortex A9 CPU, 4GB storage and a Gorilla Glass-coated capacitive touchscreen.

Barclays Bank has unleashed Pingit, an iOS, Android and BlackBerry app that lets you send up to £300 ($470) each day to family, friends or technically-aware muggers. UK mobile number and bank account holders can get started in minutes as long as you've got one of the Barclays-branded PINSentry tools. You'll be asked to come up with a five digit code that will lock the app to anyone but yourself (or, you know, that mugger) and then you can start spreading your cash around, baller-style. We set up our own account in the app and if you're curious about our impressions, you can find out what we thought after the break.

Sony invited me into its Tokyo HQ to give CNET UK a sneak preview of the new features that will be making their way onto its 2012 line-up of TVs, and they look pretty nifty to me.
One of the problems with the menus used on last year's models was that they didn't make it particularly easy to access apps and Internet video services. The new interface improves things massively in this area.

According to the chaps over at Bit-tech, an accidental listing on Samsung’s US website has provided details of a forthcoming gaming laptop, with a specification full of as-yet unreleased technology.
The 17in laptop, apparently called the Samsung NP700G7C, will be based around Intel’s unreleased Ivy Bridge platform, the firm’s brand new line of processors, which are due for launch some time in the first half of this year. These chips are expected to run more efficiently than current technology, which could lead to improved battery life in laptops that use them.

A Chinese company is to ask customs officials to block shipments of Apple's iPad both into and out of the country.
If the request succeeds, it could affect global sales as China is a key manufacturing base for the company.
The move follows a long-running dispute between Apple and electronics firm Proview over ownership of the iPad name.
Last year Proview won an initial judgement in a mainland Chinese court, which Apple has appealed against.

C'mon, admit it -- if you won one of many lotteries, you'd be purchasing a legitimate tilt-shift lens right after picking up a new Ferrari and buying a chocolate factory. Given that said scenario is highly unlikely to pan out, Lensbaby is stepping in to make the letdown a bit easier to stomach. The Edge 80 Optic is the latest in the outfit's growing Optic Swap system, which is compatible with the Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout and Control Freak, and it's capable of transforming those bodies into "a tilt lens that delivers a slice of sharp focus through an image that falls off to a soft blur." There's a 12-blade adjustable aperture (f/2.8 through f/22), and when not shifted, it's fully capable of taking flat (read: standard) photographs. As the name implies, there's an 80mm focal length, but macro lovers should be aware that you'll need at least 17-inches to focus on your subject(s).

The good: The Samsung Galaxy Note's 5.3-inch HD screen is ideal for showcasing multimedia. It has 4G LTE, a great 8-megapixel camera, and a souped-up S-Pen stylus that brings new ways to interact with your phone.
The bad: The Galaxy Note's S-Pen is small, has a delayed response, and requires a little training to use. The phone will be awkwardly large for some, and it doesn't fit easily into pockets.
The bottom line: With its huge screen and throwback stylus, the Samsung Galaxy Note is a polarizing smartphone that winks at tablet territory. Those who like their screens XL will find a top-notch device that lets multimedia shine. The S-Pen adds some artistic potential, but for some, the phone will just simply be too big.

With Windows 8 now on a clearer path to release, expect the big device makers to try to crash the raucous Apple party with Microsoft leading the way.
Whither Android? So far, the only Android tablet supplier to come close to busting up the nonstop iPad festivities is Amazon.
That's high irony. Amazon is hardly a hardware company. And certainly a far cry from the likes of Motorola, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, and Asus. All of which have failed to come up with a blockbuster Android alternative to the iPad. (Samsung and Asus have had limited success, but nothing that rivals the iPad in numbers.)

Video game sales slumped in the US - their biggest market - in January.
NPD group said stores sold $1.14bn (£720m) worth of games over the month, down 34% on the previous year. It added that hardware sales were down 38%.
The consumer data provider linked the drop to a lack of major new releases.
Other analysts also pointed to worries about the economy and said this might have an impact on the upcoming launch of Sony's PlayStation Vita console.

There is variety of accessories for your smartphone on the market, but if you’re looking for an accessory that can keep your smartphone safe, you might be interested in this latest accessory called Flygrip.
Dropping your smartphone is always a problem, especially if you don’t have rugged case that will protect it from damage, but luckily for you, there’s a Flygrip that should keep you from dropping your smartphone. If you usually use your smartphone with one hand, than you know that you can easily drop it and cause potential damage, but thanks to the Flygrip attachment that attaches to your smartphone, you should have a firm grip on your smartphone, even if you’re holding it with one hand. After you’ve attached Flygrip to your smartphone, you just need to slide your fingers into the “grip”, and you should have somewhat a better hold on your phone.

The US technology blog All ThingsD reports that "sources" say Apple will announce the next iPad at a special event early next month.
Apple typically updates it products annually and the iPad 2 was announced on March 2 last year so this would fit the schedule. All ThingsD suggests that, as last year, Apple will put the device on sale a week or two later.
Earlier, blogs circulated a photo that appeared to show the back of the next iPad. The picture, which suggested that the new tablet had already entered production, ignited rumours about the iPad 3.

There is no shortage of location-based social apps. Foursquare and Gowalla were the flagship apps and big names such as Facebook have joined in but there are plenty of those too.
One of those, Spottd, comes from London-based Floxx. The idea is that you use the app to tell people about interesting places or just to remember a place for later. It could be a restaurant or a museum or even just a funny billboard or a piece of street art.
Adding a location is very simple: pinpoint it on the map, type a brief description of what it is and why it is interesting and add a photo if you like. Once it's uploaded, all your friends can see it and you can see what they have been sharing. If you want to mark a location purely for your own reference then you can make it private.

After weeks of rumours Olympus has confirmed the launch of a new Micro Four Thirds camera: the Olympus OM-D.
And as you've come to expect, Pocket-lint has already had a play with the new model, letting us bring you some of the details first hand.
The new camera will sit above the current range of Pen models offering a retro-looking, but professional camera for those who want something a little more than your average compact system camera.

FOSS lovers may find the tablet of their dreams in the Spark, an upcoming slate that will run on Linux and be completely customizable by the user. "This type of solution may be useful for vertical case uses," said ABI's Jeff Orr. "I think it's going to cater to the hobbyist, those who are going to maybe look to introduce computing into a system or a physical service people interact with."
 

With Mobile World Congress just three weeks away, rumors continue to fly about what we might see out of big players like Nokia, LG, Samsung, and HTC.
Sony has been a notable exception up until now, but a recent filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may finally offer some clues as to what the company has in store.
Filed on January 31, the application asks for a trademark on the name "Xperia Sola." Though there's no indication as to what type of device would carry the moniker, the long line of Xperia smartphones points to yet another member of the family.

An apparent Best Buy customer survey mentions a possible Apple 42-inch HDTV for $1,499. That's up three times as much as current 42-inch models; could it be worth the price?
Before we go any further, let's disclaim the idea that there's proof such a product actually exists or is even in the pipeline. In fact, it seems fairly likely Apple had nothing to do with the list of hypothetical specs cited by Best Buy, which includes outdated branding like "iSight" for the system's camera (Apple has long since taken to referring to cameras like those in the iPad as "Facetime cameras").

The Droid RAZR Maxx from Motorola is already the longest-lasting 4G smartphone currently on the market by a wide margin, enduring 8 hours and 25 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test (continous surfing over 4G at 40 percent brightness). However, by implementing our top 10 battery saving tips for Android phones, we were able to extend that time to a whopping 10 hours and 8 minutes of speedy 4G LTE goodness.
Follow these steps to Maxx out your Droid RAZR Maxx.

The amulet and mask were a 13-year-old boy's virtual possessions in online fantasy game Runescape. In the real world, he was beaten and threatened with a knife to give them up.
The Dutch Supreme Court upheld the theft conviction of a youth who stole another boy's possessions in the popular online fantasy game, ordering the offender to perform 144 hours of community service.
Only a handful of such cases have been heard in the world, and they have reached varying conclusions about the legal status of "virtual goods" - and whether stealing them is real-world theft.

Leaked images of the output from a debugging utility allegedly connected to a prototype iPad 3 has given a glimpse at Apple's plans for its next-generation tablet device.
While the screenshots, shared by an unnamed source claiming to be in possession of the device to BGR, don't offer much in the way of confirmation for existing rumours of a retina-resolution display or near-field communications (NFC) technology, they do offer something for fans wondering what the next upgrade will bring.