Nokia Lumia 900 coming to the UK in June

We're yet to hear anything official from Nokia on the matter, but it seems that the US-exclusive Lumia 900 Windows Phone device will be coming to the UK after all. The 4.3-inch Windows Phone Mango handset was debuted to great acclaim at CES earlier this month, but was announced as an AT&T-only phone. Carphone Warehouse has a holding page on its website saying it'll be arriving in June.
Link: WP Central

President Obama to Hangout on Google+

There's no doubting Barack Obama's is the most tech-friendly politician of the modern era. The US President who spearheaded his 2008 election campaign on social media sites will now embrace a new one by answering public questions in a Google+ Hangout next Monday. The president will address voters in real time as he explains the finer points of his State of the Union address.
Link: Gizmodo

Facebook engineer by-passes Search Plus Your World with something fairer
Speaking of Google+, a Facebook engineer and a team of like-minded pals have created a way to add a little more democracy to Google's controversial Search Plus Your World results. If you add the 'bookmarklet' created by Blake Ross and co, instead of seeing only content from Google+, you'll see the most prevalent results from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn and the rest, and it's all from Google's own organic algorithms too.
Link: TechRadar

New Sony CMOS sensor to make iPhone's even thinner?

The iPhone 4S has been on the shelves for around four months now and we're still blown away by the quality of the stills camera. The modules for the snapper are created by Sony and now the Japanese giant has announced a next-generation CMOS sensor, which packs more into less and could see even thinner iPhones in the future.
Link: AppleInsider

New RIM CEO plans to change... nothing

A reshuffle at RIM has seen little-known Thorsten Heins take the reins from embattled due Jim Basillie and Mike Lazaridis, which led many to believe there'd be big changes at the crisis-hit BlackBerry-maker. Well apparently not. Heins told reporters that "no drastic change" was needed at the company and that he plans to stick with the existing strategy for existing strategies for forthcoming projects. Shares fell 8 per cent on Monday.
Link: HuffingtonPost





00:30 24 Jan 2012 by Chris Smith
http://www.t3.com/news/tech-today-thinner-iphone-5-incoming-nokia-lumia-900-uk-bound

Samsung has revealed that it is to offer a newly hued rendition of its oversized smartphone come undersized tablet with a white Samsung Galaxy Note device to hit the UK today, January 23rd.

Officially unveiled last week, the white Samsung Galaxy Note will follow on from its standard black hued brethren landing with the same dual-core processor and 5.3inch display.

"At Samsung we always want to offer our customers choice and are delighted to bring the Galaxy Note in white to the UK," said Simon Stanford, MD of Samsung’s UK and Ireland Telecommunications and Networks Division. "The Galaxy Note is an innovative addition to the Samsung Galaxy family and a new category of device that consumers can’t get anywhere else."

White Samsung Galaxy Note Release Date

Landing with a period of exclusivity to the London Oxford Street branch of designer department store John Lewis the White Samsung Galaxy Note is to cost the same as its darker toned sibling with a special offer to see the first 100 units sold come paired with £250 worth of music, films and eBooks.

Those looking to pick up a white Samsung Galaxy Note device in a location more convenient to them will be able to choose from a selection of retailers and networks from February.

White Samsung Galaxy Note Features

Dominated by its 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a 1280 x 800p resolution the Samsung Galaxy Note comes packed with a bevy of high-end specs from its 1.4GHz dual-core processor to Android 2.3 Gingerbread innards.

Paired with the Samsung S Pen Stylus the multi-functional device packs an 8-megapixel rear-mounted camera with 1080p Full HD video recording capabilities. A second, 2-megapixel, snapper sits on the Note’s front allowing for video calls.

Were you originally tempted by the Samsung Galaxy Note? Does the introduction of a white model further pique your interest in the 5.3-inch device? Let us know via the comments box below.

Via: PocketLint





10:31 23 Jan 2012 by Luke Johnson
http://www.t3.com/news/white-samsung-glaxy-note-released-in-the-uk-today

If your February wasn’t busy enough, the Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition will be out on February 7th in North America and February 10th in Europe. It will retail for $49.99 on PS3 and Xbox 360 with a PC version selling for $39.99.

The Ultimate Edition includes the Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road add-on packs as well as all of the addition seen in the new Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners Arsenal packs.




January 19, 2012- Jason Dunning
http://trendygamers.com/2012/01/19/fallout-vegas-ultimate-edition-february-7th/

NIS America announced that Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 will be out in North America on February 28th and Europe on February 24th for the Playstation 3.

If you are unfamiliar with the game, Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 is the sequel to the popular RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia, in which you control personifications (humanoids) of videogame consoles with the objective of protecting the world of Gamindustri. In Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, the four heroines are the younger sisters of the CPUs (Console Patron Units) from Hyperdimension Neptunia. Once again, fans can indulge in the mysteries and adventures found within Gamindustri!

The game will also feature an all new free roam battle system which offers more strategic combat, a streamlined combo system that allows for faster combo executions, new item synthesis system to craft item and weapons, and a Coliseum to test your might and face powerful opponents.




January 19, 2012- Jason Dunning
http://trendygamers.com/2012/01/19/hyperdimension-neptunia-mk2-launches-february-28th/

Eyeglasses that overlay data and imagery onto the real world will unlock new kinds of mobile computing.



Eyeglasses that overlay data and imagery onto the real world will unlock new kinds of mobile computing.





The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas isn't just a place to see new products from gadget giants like Samsung and Sony; it's also a place to see small companies with disruptive ideas that become big consumer technologies in the future.

This year, several of the most promising small exhibitors were showing off technology that could free us from having to peer down at our mobile devices—glasses that can overlay digital data onto the world around us.

(See a gallery of augmented reality devices on display at CES.)

One of those companies was Lumus Optics, based near Tel Aviv, Israel. It demonstrated prototype glasses that display translucent, almost opaque imagery that fills the wearer's view like a 10-foot-wide TV two feet in front of his face. Ari Grobman, business development manager for Lumus, told Technology Review that his company was working with "a number of top 10 consumer device companies" interested in commercializing the technology. He said nondisclosure agreements prevented him from saying more.

"We have a crazy amount of computing horsepower and bandwidth in our small mobile devices, but you can't get the full utility of that," says Grobman. "This will change that."

In demonstrations, the glasses overlaid video of dancers or of a mocked-up GPS navigation app onto the wearer's vision.

The glasses rely on a computer or phone to provide them with imagery, a link that can be made using Bluetooth. Adding sensors like accelerometers and a camera to the glasses will enable sophisticated apps, says Grobman, such as one that uses facial recognition to call up useful information about people. The technology to enable this is already available. Facebook and Google use facial recognition to help users tag photos, while Israeli company Face.com provides a facial recognition service that can be built into other software.

"Once you have it, the community of developers will bring stuff we haven't thought of yet, the same as with touch screens and the iPhone," says Grobman. He guesses that consumer devices will appear in "two years, maybe less."

Vuzix of Rochester, New York, estimates that its augmented-reality technology will reach consumers in a similar time frame. At CES the company displayed a monocular display that will go on sale later in 2012 for $5,000 to $10,000. That first product will be aimed at the military and industry, says Clark Dever, marketing manager for Vuzix, but the company plans to develop a more consumer-friendly version, too.

The industrial version is intended for things like overlaying schematics of a machine onto the vision of a mechanic. "When you call tech support, they can draw guidance in your field of view," says Dever. The lens of a Vuzix display is made from glass etched with waveguides that steer light emitted in the frame to a place where mirrors patterned into the glass direct it to the eye of the wearer. It can also connect with any device that uses Bluetooth.



TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012BY TOM SIMONITE
http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/39471/?p1=MstRcnt

Meet a cycling android, a remote-controlled orb, and other robotic curiosities from last week’s Consumer Electronics Show.


Murata Boy, made by Japanese electronics manufacturer muRata, was built to showcase the company’s sensors and other technologies.

The cycling robot stands 50 centimeters high and can stay balanced on the bike even when it’s stationary, thanks to the flywheel in its chest; input from gyroscopes and accelerometers provide it with a sense of balance.

The robot can recover if given a light shove, can ride up a 25-degree slope, and can go backward. The most recent version of Murata Boy showcases its maker’s energy-efficient technologies—it can be charged wirelessly and enter an efficient sleep mode.

Credit: Technology Review



BY TOM SIMONITE
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39481/?p1=MstRcnt

It's likely to be way too expensive to become a home product in the short term, but as an exercise in the extent to which 4K screen resolutions can transform your viewing experience, Panasonic's 20in 4k monitor is a resounding success.





Key Features

20in LCD screen
4k resolution
IPS Alpha panel design
Panasonic 4k 20in LCD screen
Normally we’re not sceptical about 4k resolution in the slightest. We’ve seen enough of it in action both in commercial cinemas and in forward-thinking domestic gear demos to know that we can’t wait to get 4k installed in our living and home cinema rooms.

However, when Panasonic announced at its CES press conference that it had made the world’s first 4k2k 20in LCD screen, we couldn’t suppress a smirk. Why on earth would anyone want to put so much effort into squeezing 3840x2160 pixels into a 20in screen?! Surely you’re not going to be able to appreciate the benefits of 4k in such a small environment?


Dutifully, though, the day after the press conference we ducked into a special curtained-off area of Panasonic’s CES stand to have a quick shufty at the 20in 4k2k LCD panel in action. And by the time we emerged, our earlier cynical smirk had turned into a smile of happy disbelief.

Not surprisingly, Panasonic hasn’t found it easy to fit 4k’s worth of pixels into a 20in screen. It’s had to develop a high aperture ratio process capable of delivering a staggering 216 pixels per inch (versus the usual 60-odd). This new process also allows the panel in the 20in screen to be just 3.5mm thick - more or less the same as a normal full HD screen.

Impressively the 4k panel also uses specially refined alignment technology to make it an IPS Alpha screen, meaning that it can be watched from much wider viewing angles than most LCD TVs before colour and contrast plummet.


The 4k screen was presented in the darkened area of the stand in a ‘head to head’ format with a normal 20in full HD panel, with each screen being fed a selection of 4k still images. And the difference in quality between each screen really was nothing short of startling - especially to people as previously cynical about small-screen 4k as us.

The extra detail, texture, clarity and simple precision in the 4k screen was astonishingly obvious. This was especially true if you stuck your head right up close to the screen. But the difference was also clear as day from a sensible viewing distance - as much as 10 feet away.


We’ve posted a few pictures of head to head material here, just as it appeared in the demonstration. But sadly it has to be said that while the 4k ‘difference’ might be easy to see in real life even on a 20in screen, we couldn’t really find a way to accurately recreate it when using 72dpi JPEGs on a website! But hopefully the shots give you at least a sense of the circumstances in which we found ourselves amazed by Panasonic’s little star.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Panasonic is currently only seeing its 4k 20in screen as a ‘commercial’ device aimed at business that need to be able to see an exceptional amount of detail onscreen at once. But even though the 4k2k panel isn’t likely to be finding its way into your kitchen or bedroom any time soon, it’s still another very strong addition to the growing 4K product canon in that it shows that you don’t, after all, need a really huge screen to enjoy the benefits 4k resolution can bring.




Reviewed by John Archer
18 January 2012
http://www.trustedreviews.com/panasonic-4k-20in-lcd-screen_TV_review