Mad Tech News

Palm’s news activity doesn’t look like abating any time soon, as the company has just made the Deutsch arrival date for its Plus-ified phones official as April 28. It matches earlier speculation about late April, but also — very importantly — introduces a new carrier options for our Teutonic brethren in the form of Vodafone. Formerly locked in with Telefonica (whose local representative is O2), Palm seems to have finally noticed the error of its ways and has offered choice as a side dish to its delectable WebOS main course. So, dont think about the owner of the company, just think about the phone you will be owning. Read the rest of this entry »

If you were not fascinated enough by the toe mouse, how about an entire floor to practice your foot-based inputs on? Researchers at Potsdam’s Hasso Plattner Institut have put together a multitouch floor that recognizes individual users by their shoe pattern and responds to such universally familiar actions as stomping your feet and tapping your toes. The so-called multitoe project works on the basis of frustrated total internal reflection, which allows it to ignore inactive users while being precise enough to recognize foot postures. Follow us after the break to see this back-projected proof of concept in action. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not like a couple of button presses on a remote was the big gap between us and the perfect 3D experience but when most people can’t even figure out if they’re actually watching HDTV, some automated assistance can’t hurt. To that end Motorola has manged to  develop an update for its latest set-top boxes that will allow them to automatically detect and process 3D signals so those properly equipped can watch without having to lift a finger, and even adjusts the on screen graphics to match. No information as to when operators will actually bring in the new software, though odds are it will be well before you actually buy a 3DTV so there isn’t much to worry about as of now.

We’ve heard talk of competitors delaying products to see what the competitors from Cupertino are up to. Before this, it was HP making some last minute pricing and feature adjustments to its Slate. Now we’ve got DigiTimes’ sources claiming that Lenovo is holding up its Linux-based Skylight smartbook — pushed from April to July – for some similar reasons. Specifically, “control is not able to act as smoothly as the iPad.” Guess even a 1GHz Snapdragon can’t fix a poorly implemented UI.

All well and good with WebKit, but every once in a while there’s a reason why you’ve got to pull out the Old Standby, right? Once reserved for the Maemo Elite, Firefox is slowly spreading from pocket to pocket, and webOS is mercifully the latest to get hooked up. We don’t know the full backstory here yet — it looks like you can’t download a user-friendly package right now — but this’ll undoubtedly be a good option when the Pre’s in-built browser simply won’t do. It’s not an official port we’re looking at, but let’s be honest: the community does a better job half the time, isn’t it?

Yeah yeah, the Apple Store is down globally, on a Tuesday, and we’re sitting on a pile of overdue MacBook Pro and Mac Pro rumors. Next.

Update: AppleInsider has a last minute tip showing refreshed MacBooks Pro across the entire range of 13.3-, 15.4-, and 17-inchers. Each ships with 4GB of memory and new Intel Core processors with clocks ranging from 2.4GHz to 2.66GHz with options for glossy, high resolution glossy, and high resolution glossy with anti-glare displays. Some models are expected to offer a 512GB SSD option as well. Read the rest of this entry »

We await the OLED revolution to make our monster LCD HDTVs obsolete, but till the time it  finally gets here we’re left covering niche devices like this, the 7.4-inch PVM-740 professional monitor from Sony. It has a 960 x 540 resolution, can be connected directly to camera systems, is rack-mountable, and is said to “deliver superb high contrast, high color images, even in ambient light.” Given the $3,850 MSRP ($1,000 dearer than the consumer-oriented 11-inch XEL-1), we don’t think it going to be seen in the commons.

Sony’s just unleashed a new water resistant, wearable Walkman — the NWZ-250. This tiny little device comes in both 2GB and 4GB capacity models, and apparently boasts an up to 11 hour battery life. Weighing in at 43 grams, this one’s probably perfect for even the most weight sensitive of ears, and it’ll be available in black, silver, lime green, and magenta. You’ll be able to pick up one (or more) of these later this month for $60. Full press release is on the roll. Read the rest of this entry »

This news is not even a week old that that we deduced the eventual launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S Android phone on AT&T, and now here we are looking at FCC documents confirming Ma Bell’s favorite frequencies. So much for intrigue and mystery. Of course, Samsung could have just filed the testing paperwork to cover devices headed to Canada and Mexico, so this doesn’t mean it’s a lock — especially since this phone is labeled as the i9000, not the SGH-i867 number we were sort of expecting. Either way, it looks like the rabid Samsung fanboys out there will be able to get their TouchWiz all up on Stateside 3G at some point — and to be true that is all that one can expect from this world.

Wondering what Sony’s going to call that PlayStation Move sub-controller — you know, since “nunchuk” is already taken? Think no more. Sony part number CECH-ZCS1U just hit the FCC’s database, and “Navigation Controller” is written in nice bold letters right there on the label. It’s looking like this is official, as the Sony US website has been quietly updated with the change, and we think it makes a certain amount of sense, as most 3D games let you aim the camera with your dominant hand and relegate navigation to the other. Like the Motion Controller, Sony’s opted for confidentiality on this one, meaning we won’t have photos of the controller’s juicy guts for six months, but hey,at least you already know what the outsides look like- Dont worry technewstime will keep you updated. Stay tuned! Read the rest of this entry »