Android e-Reader Makes Its Debut, But It's Not From Barnes & Noble.

By Benedict Wee

Tomorrow's the day when book store/publisher Barnes & Noble announces its long (by long I mean 2 weeks) awaited e-reader, poised to compete against Amazon's "popular-but-unavilable-to-kiwis" Kindle. While we wait in anticipation for a confirmation of the rumored Android-run device the people at Spring Design have stolen their thunder by announcing their own Android e-reader a day before.

The Alex has dual-screens; a 6-inch E-ink Electronic Paper Display on top for reading and a 3.5-inch color LCD on the bottom which runs Android for web browsing and viewing video/audio/photos/notes. Other nifty features include a removable SD card slot, speakers, a headphone jack and WiFi & 3G connections.

There isn't any information on which publishers would be supplying digital books to the Alex but Spring Design will make the details available closer to its launch at the end of the year.

Source:

Engadget - Spring Design Alex: Dual-screen Android-based e-reader

Android 2.0: A Smoother, Slicker Interface.

By Benedict Wee

While we and the rest of the world wait for our Android phones to get the 1.6 -Donut- update, the guys over at Boy Genius Report already have an early version of 2.0 -Eclair- in their hands for a preview.

Eclair looks beautiful and the update promises to optimize its user interface experience with simple (but significant) changes like quick-access to a contact's... contacts and a 'Car Home' application which has large shortcut functions with voice control.

Other improvements include:

- Faster browser loading and double-tap-to-zoom support

- Facebook integration with contact list

- MS Exchange support

- A unified email inbox that consolidates all emails

- Upgraded Google Maps with layer support

- Voice control for almost everything

- A YouTube widget for easy uploads

As previously mentioned, this build of 2.0 is in its early stages but it's shaping up to something really exciting for Android users. Expect to see the update somewhere Q1 of 2010.

Source:

The Boy Genius Report - Android 2.0 Screenshot Walkthrough.

Telecom Has A New Logo, Drawn By A 5 Year Old.

By Benedict Wee

Telecom has just announced their new logo at an event in Auckland:

Can someone please tell them that they don't need a new logo, they need newer, better phones and cheaper price plans.

The Sinking Ship That Is Nokia.

By Benedict Wee

With the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones being readily adopted worldwide it's not surprising when Nokia announced a major loss for the third quarter of this year.

Their smartphone market share has dropped to 35% compared to 41% last year and 50% in the previous years.

One could attribute their insistence on using Symbain for their phones and the refusal to adopt Android as one of the factors the once-popular Finnish mobile maker is experiencing such a major disinterest by consumers.

Motorola -who is in a similar situation- will be releasing two Android phones to the market by the holidays to try and save whatever is left of their company, maybe it's time Nokia bit the bullet and do the same thing.

Nokia Press Release - Q3 2009 Net Sales

Source:

Engadget - Nokia Posts $834 Million Quarterly Loss, Smartphone Share Down To 35%.

Samsung's Galaxy Lite Now Called Spica.

By Benedict Wee

Well, the headline pretty much says it all.

The Samsung Spica comes with a 3-inch touchscreen, 3.2MP camera with autofocus, GPS, FM radio and runs Android on a 528MHz Qualcomm processor.

No price or release date yet for the lime-green smartphone but we expect it to compete with the two other budget Android phones in the market; T-Mobile's Pulse and HTC's Tattoo.

Just in case you forgot how the phone feels/looks like here's a video to refresh your memory:

Source:

Engadget - Samsung i5700 Galaxy Lite Renamed Spica, Spied and Specced In Italy.

Apple:New 3GS iPhones To Block Jailbreaking. Modders: No.

By Benedict Wee

Earlier this week news broke in the US that an exploit present in previous iPhones which allowed modders to jailbreak the phones was fixed and that Apple's latest batch of 3GS iPhones will not be jailbreakable.

Unfortunately (for Apple, not us), the exploit has just been cracked and the new iPhones are just as jailbreakable as ever.

Once again "the man" has been overthrown, move along, nothing to see here.

Sources:

MobileCrunch - Apple Moves To Block Jailbreaking In New iPhones.

Gizmodo - Apple's Jailbreak-Proof iPhone 3GS Units Totally Aren't.

Acer Liquid To Be The First Android Phone With Snapdragon. (Update: with video)

By Benedict Wee

Acer's first Android phone will be powered by the mighty speed of Qualcomm's 1GHz processor (a.k.a Snapdragon) which is currently present in only one other phone -The Toshiba TG01- thus far.

The Liquid A1 runs Android 1.6 (Donut) and will come with a custom made Acer user interface like HTC's Sense and Motorola's Blur. Other specifications include a 5MP camera and 3G/WiFi connections but not much else has been revealed about the phone.

The Snapdragon is able to handle 3D graphics as well so expect to see better-looking games coming to the Android Market in the near future.

Source:

Gizmodo - Acer Liquid Finally Gives Android The Snapdragon It Deserves.