Winter's Arriving

At the Nokia World show in London, Nokia has revealed its "Nokia kinetic device" with a flexible display. Gripped and twisted with two hands, the device can flip, scroll, and zoom into the displayed images. While it was a real computing device (w/real OLED) but the product is not yet made available for production. Tapani Jokinen, Nokia's design team leader, iterated his enthusiasm for the development and potentials of this technology. It can be accessed "blindly" - for instance, accessing e-mails with one hand in the pocket or interacting with the phone even while wearing gloves (somewhat impossible for a multi-touch screen).

Whether this technology will really take flight in the next couple of years, we will only remain silent observers, but it is remarkably true that Nokia is investing serious money in R&D with the failed attempt to surf the smartphone wave (they have recently released a Windows OS smartphone though). We can only let time do the healing for Nokia as we wait for the next innovative generation of verysmartphones.

[Source]

Ice Cream Truckin'

As many of you might be aware, Google's I/O 2011 keynote is happening this week at different venues, and like any other expos, Google's releasing and announcing some very exciting news. The one that really caught my focus is this - "One OS that runs everywhere." With the presence of Honeycomb and Gingerbread both actively robot-dancing on the market, Google intends to meld the two into one Ice Cream Sandwich!! For starters, I love how the concept of naming these OS and updates after food-related commodities - sort of reiterates the Android robot's alikeness with us homosapien users. Either way, this universal OS will offer smoother transitioning and connectivity between our smartphones and tablets. May the world rejoice in Q4 of this year, and as for now, we can only rely on our freezers for such a sweet supply.

Next Is Us

Hope you found someway to entertain your dear ol' mum over the weekend, because Google certainly hasn't taken its rebirth of their Nexus S 4G with much seriousness. It looks the same, and heck, it even works the same. The only differences are that it's 3/10 of a millimeter thicker and that it has a WiMAX Radio available. This latest Gingerbread smartphone will now be powered by the Sprint network, as opposed to its T-Mobile counterparts, and though I may have shed a negative light on Google's lack of enthusiasm but I wouldn't say that Samsung is also free of blame. Still, this 4" curved Super AMOLED screen, 1GHz Hummingbird chipset, NFC capabilities, and GTalk video chat functionalities will all be in the grasp of your palm soon! If you're new to Google phones, this device should be a nifty little ice-breaker; otherwise, head to a local dealer because not even the guru can talk you out of this one.

Simple is best!

Another Record Set

We now know just how fast the Guinness World Record Committee operates. The LG Optimus 2X was first made available to South Koreans in mid-January and now they have received official recognition for being the first smartphone that has dual-core processor under the hood. But some users may argue that this rush across the finish-line is not only a result of impatience but also a lack of attention to the phone's UI. On the other hand T-Mobile G2X that came out a couple of months after took care of the users' concerns. So yes, LG did claim another badge or Record, but less haste and more integration may seem like the wise approach in the future. Though companies tend to act like they know what customers are thinking; consumers, on the other hand, aren't total meatheads either. Much kudos to LG for pushing the limits and boundaries of our ever-so-useful smartphone hardware but we are rather more excited about what the future may hold.

Bending Our Imagination

Sincerest apologies, it's been a month since the last post, but we are back online to bring you updates on E.Tel services, as well as the latest tech-peeks!

Just a quick update to fill in the gap, in case you've been left out the loop. HTC Sensation 4G is official and is believed to be released in the next couple of months riding on T-Mobile's AWS waves, but it's already up for pre-order in the UK. The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 are out. Apple's iPad continues to reign in not only the private sector but now it seems as if they're taking over universities too. Meanwhile, NEC nutjob-scholars busied themselves by stuffing 370 lasers into 165km of fiber to achieve 101.7 Tbps speeds (like Sean Hollister said, if only "one end leads to our house"). Acer's Iconia tablets are also up for pre-order now and Sony tablets have been officially announced to hit stores soon. Let's pause here for a bit and observe a moment of silence - for all 77 million PSN accounts that have been compromised. May it be credit card details or platinum trophy collections, may the database rest in peace.

Back to the subject at hand. Researchers from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada have taken flexible smartphones in the most literal sense and manufactured an elastic phone. This PaperPhone that they have created actually operates on a bend-based UI, which is to say that every contortion has a function or navigation purpose. Despite its early stage in development, the lightweightedness of this device is certainly worth it to keep our eyes pealed. Check out the following demos for yourself: [Video 1] & [Video 2]. Stay tuned for further enchantment.

Simple is best!

Tablet Tease

Evidently Sir Howard Stringer doesn't believe that silence is golden. According to Bloomberg and editor Gearoid Reidy who uncovered this breaking news, Sony plans to release their first Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet as early as this fall. The report also claims that they will launch the device for retail in the US first, but this lines up coherently with the alleged September release of their PlayStation certified Tegra2 "S1" tablet, which features a 9.4" display as well as the unique "wrap" design previously revealed back in February. Stringer and associates refuse to comment further on the design and specs of either tablets. Regardless, to all the Sony enthusiasts out there, the wait is nearly over. With that said, I can't agree with Thomas Ricker more - "Come on Howie, quit the teasing and just come out with it you saucy Welsh minx."

Simple is best!

Slip Peek

In a recent interview with Wall Street Journal, Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, accidentally let slip about the much-rumored iPhone 5. Although Steve Job did not release any updates regarding news of a new generation of iPhone but Stringer obviously feels assured enough to plant the rumor. Stinger shared with the publisher that 15 of the Sony's factories in Japan were damaged, and inadvertently mentioned that a camera sensor made in one plant for Apple would be delayed. No official statement has come out from either party but it is safe to assume through Sony chief's undertones that they are building a 8MP image sensor for Apple's iPhone 5. Here's what the Wall Street Journal had wrote:

"Early on, he raised the irony of Sony supplying camera components for Apple devices. It 'always puzzles me,' he said. 'Why would I make Apple the best camera?' It is unclear what devices he was talking about as Sony isn't known to supply key camera componenets, known as image sensors, to Apple; A Sony spokeswoman declined to comment and an Apple spokesperson couldn't be reached for comment."

So what do you think? Was it mere accident that Stringer decided to let this vital information slip, or did Sony not want to be held responsible for the delay of iPhone 5 announcements?

Simple is best!