Apparently the latest beta for Sprint HTC Mogul has been obtained by PhoneNews.com, and the update adds Sprint TV along with Windows Mobile 6.1. Windows Mobile 6.1 offers a number of improvements over Windows Mobile 6, and has been much anticipated in the mobile phone world. Although Windows Mobile 6.1 has already been announced for the HTC mobile phone, the extra addition of Sprint TV is somewhat of a new feature for the Mogul.

The HTC Touch carries Sprint TV however the Mogul was left absent, but with this update it appears there is finally to be a Sprint smart mobile handset that actually carries both Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation, and to add even more, Sprint Music. Sprint TV allows user to watch video clips of movie trailers, TV shows, and even some exclusive content. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?

Just a word to the wise for users though, before you go about getting yourself prepared for this ROM, please do remember this is a beta release, and is not supported by Sprint or HTC, so maybe it would be wise to wait and download the latest official update to revert back to should you find yourself in trouble; although according to some the beta version runs quite solidly.

The whisper on the web is that Sprint actually “leaks” these updates officially so the mobile community can test run and fix any bugs for them, which could be the reason why these so-called leaks are becoming more and more frequent. Although so far I don’t hear anyone complaining about it, so let’s see Sprint keep them coming.

You can locate both beta and current Sprint Mogul updates here

Source – phonenews

There is some good news and some bad news, the good news is that there are some new details about AMD’s next-generation graphics card line-up and it is getting very near to the launch date, the new graphic boards will come with physics processing capability and even better prices will be lower than $200 for a 512 MB board, the bad news is that the 4800 series will be launched after the Nvidia GT200.

NVIDIA no doubt have heard to much about the AMD ATI Radeon 4800 series to move up the launch date for its GeForce 9900 series cards, but the latest news from TG Daily are more launch details for the mid to high end cards. The first on the list will be the Radeon 4850 or simply codenamed the “Makedon,” this card will boast 512 MB of GDDR3 memory, CrossFireX support and single-slot cooling, the price for this card will cost $189 to $219.

Next up is a pair of Radeon 4870 cards which will be here in July codenamed “Trojan” one will boast 512MB of GDDR5 memory and the other will have full 1024MB, it will also come with a dual-slot cooler, these two will cost between $249 and $279. They all pack game physics processing capability plus 7.1 channel audio via HDMI support and DirectX 10.1 support.

For much more in depth detail please visit TG Daily

Source

http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-37453-135.html

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Graphics Card: Superb HD Video Quality
Sapphire’s entry-level AMD ATI Radeon HD 2900 GT
AMD ATI Radeon HD 3800 budget graphics card: released four days early
Full Review of the Diamond Viper ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT 1GB
Toshiba Dynabook TXW/69DW to get ATI Mobility Radeon HD3800 GPU
AMD readies their ATI Radeon HD 2400 and 2600 graphics cards for DirectX 10.1 Shader Model 4.1

The demand for hybrid cars are increasing worldwide and with the Toyota Prius gasoline/hybrid car hitting sales of over I million worldwide this surely has to ease global warming. The Toyota Prius Hybrid is definitely a winner and we can see sales keep on going, Toyota have said the figure of Prius sales so far is 1,028,000 last month when their sales rocked 67 percent amid record gas prices and that also claims that the cars have eased global warming by producing around about 4.5 million tons less C02 when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class.

Even though Toyota have impressive sales figures it is said that Hybrids are still pretty low at 2.3 percent of the U.S market, we all know that in time people will dump their high guzzling gas motors for hybrids, hybrid sales have in fact at the moment rose 38 percent last year even as overall vehicle sales fell and we know with gas prices rising to very high costs Toyota are indeed having troubles keeping up with demands for the Prius.

Buyers are in fact paying much more for the Toyota Prius because they are hard to get a hold of and are getting much harder to find in showrooms, John Hanson a spokesman for Toyota said “Right now, U.S. customers can get a Prius. Next month or the month after that, it’s tough to say.”

With supplies falling and high demands from customers Toyota has cut incentives and raised prices (Now we knew that was coming) and the Toyota Prius on an average costs $25,274 which has risen $869 from a year ago. It seems that the Prius is in high demand and that is without a doubt because it is an eco-friendly vehicle and we all know that customers are going down the Hybrid road, Toyota has expanded their line to include the Highlander and Camry. Toyota are going to unveil the next generation model of the Prius at the Detroit auto show in January and it will apparently be cleaner, bigger and much more fuel efficient, they are also developing a plug-in version that could be in showrooms by 2010. Oh just so you know they are going down the convertible line as well, but no word on this yet.

Source

Toyota to test Hybrid Prius plug-in with li-ion packs
Plug-in Toyota Prius hybrid insight
Spy shot of the next generation 2009 Toyota Prius Hybrid
6-door Toyota Prius limo: This is the opposite of what the Hybrid is about
Silicon Valley Car of Choice: Toyota Prius Hybrid and Global Warming
Toyota announces price drop for new standard 2008 Prius Hybrid model

General Motors have been working hard on their lithium-ion battery technology, and the automaker are making great progress as they have now managed to achieve a range of 40 miles on their Chevrolet Volt test vehicle, this is a great achievement and will help the company in their effort to getting the production vehicle made by 2010. Bob Lutz who is the company Vice Chairman has said that this new gas-electric hybrid drivetrain which is being tested on the Chevrolet Volt is reliable and is meeting its objectives, this is key to the development process for improving the range of these batteries.

It seems that the company is very confidant about the new Li-Ion Battery as Lutz has said that the development of the battery is the least of their problems. GM now have a tough challenge ahead, as the automaker needs to be able to integrate the battery drivetrain as well as the gasoline engine smoothly. The new Volt will be different to other Hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius as the wheels will be driven entirely by electricity, the gasoline engine will help to power the generator which will help to charge the batteries.

The team behind the development of the Volt still has a lot of questions that they need to address first, like how will the car deal with cold conditions, or when will the engine cut out. GM are hoping to be able to achieve a range of at least 640 miles, the company are very confidant that this can be achieved by 2010.

Source

Toyota to test Hybrid Prius plug-in with li-ion packs
Go Green Witn Uniross Batteries
ExerSwim Current Generator: Swimming Pool Fitness
Saturn Flextreme Concept Hybrid targets 444 mile range
GM spokesman Rob Peterson confirms the Chevy Volt will remain E85 capable
Cadillac Provoq concept to use fuel cell E-Flex powertrain

So here it is, an image apparently of a prototype Palm Treo 800w in the wild along with news that this latest mobile handset is to be rolling under the moniker of “Zeppelin.” Few details of the Palm Treo 800w hardware has been confirmed other than it is to be CDMA and incorporate the trusty microUSB rather than the usual miniUSB.

However, prior rumour has it that the Palm Treo 800w will have a touch-screen with 320 x 320 resolution, and also while in prototype form anyway, EV-DO Rev.0. While as far as I am aware this is probably the first time the Palm Treo has been seen “in the plastic.”

Getting the Palm Treo 800w this far has been a long journey, and is known to be a Windows Mobile 6.1 mobile handset, and has WiFi along with Rev.A EV-DO. There are whispers that maybe the Palm Treo 800w will see the light of release on or around the 22nd of June.

As for the all important appearance of the Palm Treo 800w, it looks to be somewhat of a blend of the Palm Treo 750’s thumb keyboard and Palm Centro type main controls. The Palm Treo 800w was expected by many to hit the shelves back in April, but unfortunately near the end of March Palm confirmed there would be a delay of their windows Mobile range until the summer.

Well if Palm actually hit that June release target then it’s not too long to wait for those who are looking forward to grabbing hold of the latest from Palm. Let’s just hope that Palm doesn’t sneak in yet another “delayed” announcement at the back end of this month.

Source – phonemag

Adobe has now released their next generation of Flash Player; version 10 is a beta version and is now available as a free download. Adobe Flash Player 10 is said to improve stability with text handling as well as having better performance, the new Flash Player also helps native 3D animations custom photo effects filters perform better. The new player works with a range of operating software’s, but it is Linux where the best performances are achieved.

Adobe Flash has to be one of the most widely used presentation technology for use with video and audio files as well as animated user interfaces on the internet. Over 95% of the worlds PC’s have a flash player installed who are connected to the internet, as well as being installed on a number of mobile phones and this technology will only get better and faster on handsets as Adobe have recently lifted many of the licensing requirements which was necessary for the development on the platform.

Most of the performance enhancements have been made thanks to feedback that the Adobe development received from their community, so most of the improvements are due to the response that the team got from the community. The new Flash Player 10 will hopefully allow users to push the envelope as well as extending their online applications than previous versions managed. Normally when Adobe releases a new version of their Flash Player it is only on certain platforms, but not Flash Player 10 beta, this version is available on all major platforms from Linux, Mac and Windows.

Download the new Adobe Flash Player 10 beta from Adobe

Unveiled: Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)
Adobe Photoshop Express Online: bad for photographers and non USA visitors
Motorola ROKR E6: Linux-Based Smartphone
Purchased New Zune Flash Player: days before official release
Can only be 1: Adobe AIR Vs Microsoft Silverlight like HD DVD vs. Blu-ray
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta on 30-day trial for free

The Nintendo Wii Fit is so popular that you will be lucky to get your hands on one, with online stores like Play.com and Amazon selling well over price at around £100, I bought mine from a local store in the UK and got it for just under £70. So it’s a mystery why other stores are selling them at £30 more, other than the demand is massive. The Balance Board has changed my life and made me cancel the gym, but how do you keep consistent with using it everyday, what are your tips?

The main way for anyone to keep up something is will power; this goes for stopping smoking, not over eating and keeping consistent on the Nintendo Wii Fit. I am sure I am not the only one who has missed days, for me my work life has ended up coming before my keeping fit life. That stopped yesterday when I restarted my daily plan of using the Wii Fit for fun and fitness, but keeping it up and not letting work life come first is the real challenge. Getting back on the Wii Fit yesterday really reminded me of how good the Balance Board is, how much fun it can be and how much it hurts those muscles that never get worked out.

So lets get started with your tips on how to keep consistent, leave a comment in the box below on any tips you may have and also tell us your Wii Fit Story.

Nintendo Wii Fit: U.S. release Q2 2008
Nintendo Wii Fit: preview of what’s to come and balance board
Nintendo Wii Fit board Interview at GDC 2008: would you use it?
Unboxing of the Nintendo Wii Fit: no rechargeable batteries
Nintendo Wii Fit: fitness breakthrough or standing around
Nintendo Wii Fit: new game modes shown in Japanese trailers

Remember the good old days when you could purchase as many Apple iPhone handsets as you liked, well you are no longer able to do this as AT&T are now restricting sales to one handset per customer, and customers who wish to purchase one are only allowed to do so by using a credit card. This news has come to light after rumors are spreading that there are worldwide shortages of the iPhone, staff who work at Apple retails stores in the U.S. have said that they do not have any idea when they will be receiving new shipments of the Apple iPhone.

This shortage of the handset is not just restricted to the U.S. there are reports that O2 and Carphone Warehouse in the UK are also out of stock. Many people have started to speculate that there is not in fact a shortage of the Apple iPhone, instead they are just trying to get rid of the last of their old stock so that they can re-stock with the newer version of their handset, which many believe to be the 3G version. Apple has commented that the reason for the shortfall in handsets is because the demand of the iPhone is greater than they expected.

It is expected that we will learn more at Apple’s sold out Worldwide Developers Conference, which will be held on June 6, but come on we all know what Apple are going to say, we have to wonder if we will have to pay more for the 3G version of the Apple iPhone and how much the new handset will be.

Source

O2 and Apple iPhone causes Vodafone UK’s customer service to go down
AT&T Have iPhone Distribution Rights for 5 years
ATT Wireless: Cingular Wireless New Name and iPhone Launch
Each Apple iPhone costs AT&T $18 a month?
Activated iPhone more flexible and powerful than AT&T & Apple admit
Sales of the Apple iPhone in Europe is better than expected

It seems that Verizon are ready to dump their laptop PC’s that their engineers use in favor of a Blackberry Smartphone. The company is to use their Network Application to use on the smaller device so that their engineers do not have to carry a bigger device that weighs about 8 pound, this will in time save money and make it easier for them to work. Verizon Partner Solutions has a force of 2,250 field technicians and they have seen some encouraging results from their technicians and customers since moving from the laptop to the Blackberry Smartphone. The engineers must love the fact that no longer will they have the big and bulky 8 pound devices, now they have the nice compact 5-ounce product.

The Blackberry that Verizon are using is a first-of-its-kind from the company and has been specially configured so that they can handle the same kind of computing processes that the company used to achieve with their laptops. They are a fraction of the size as well as weight and also in cost, which is something that can only be great for the company. The company’s field technicians need to use automated electronic systems as well as software applications which help to have a daily service workflow; this daily work consists of repairing services for their customers as well as helping to maintain things as well.

In the good old days the Verizon technicians used to go to remote location in the field, and had to use a laptop pc to work on fixing the problem, this must have been cumbersome and limiting, so now using a more portable device it make the whole work process much easier.

Source

Verizon announce Samsung i760 will be the first of four Smartphone’s
Next 3 smartphones out of AT&T and Verizon: AT&T 8925, Verizon XV6800 & i760
Blackberry Thunder first touchscreen for RIM: Bold gets physical keyboard
BlackBerry 8120 Pearl on T-Mobile joins features of Sprint, Verizon and AT&T
Survey reveals BlackBerry on top of Palm: 73 percent choose RIM
Verizon’s BlackBerry Pearl 8130: shipping on November 8th

We all know that HD DVD is dead so now companies are coming out with all kinds of Blu-ray players, some are producing some nice players for the PC one such device is the Lite-On’s DX-401S and just looks so classy. The great thing about using an external Blu-ray ROM Drive which connect through a USB 2.0 connection is that it adds so much more functionality. Ok we know that you will pay a little more for this kind of device, it is worth it as you are able to take the device anywhere you decide to go.

Tweaktown has done superb hands on with the Lite-On DX-401S, check out what their final thoughts of the Blu-ray ROM Drive were. Lite-On’s DX-401S is just all class from the word go, and if you’re interested in getting on the Blu-ray bandwagon, this could be the perfect accessory for you. The good thing about the external ROM is it adds so much more functionality. While you pay a small premium for it, the ability to take that drive anywhere you go makes up for the added cost. The initial word on pricing is far from scary with it being around the $150 - $200 USD mark, making it a much more affordable option when compared to the PS3 or other stand alone Blu-ray players.

It’s the kind of product you could be seen showing off pretty easily. We can just imagine your mate gets himself a new 1080P LCD for the lounge room, he hasn’t thought about taking the plunge to Blu-ray because he’s not too sure about the improvements. With a HDMI or DVI enabled laptop with HDCP in hand and your Lite-On DX-401S, you could be watching High-Def explosions in full 1080P within a few minutes of walking in that door.
If you find yourself being one of those people who are quite picky on noise levels, you’re going to be pleased to find that the drive is practically silent. At one point we found ourselves putting our ear up to it to make sure it was actually spinning away. You don’t have to worry about that horrible whining noise that you can quite often get from ROM drives.

On a whole the drive has so much going for it; with excellent build quality and a very cool look, it’s going to match most décor without any dramas. You throw in the fact that you can take it anywhere and we’ve got a real winner in our hands here. You really end up with Blu-ray on the go.

The only real gripe one could find with the BD-ROM drive from Lite-On is that it’s not a DVD burner. This isn’t really a bad thing though, as it does help keep the overall cost down. And really, if you’re buying a BD-ROM for your HTPC or adding Blu-ray playback capabilities to your notebook, what are the chances that you’re going to need a DVD burner? For the most part, you’ve probably already got one installed anyway.

The Lite-On DX-401S is going to make a great addition to your HTPC and will boost the enjoyment you get out of movies with that beautiful High-Definition playback. If you’re just looking at getting into some clearer movies while having the mobility functionality an external drive offers, or you want to become a mobile Blu-ray salesmen, the DX-401S is probably going to be the drive for you.

Source

DX-4O1S: First external Blu-ray drive by Philips and Lite-On
Sony announce $200 BDU-X10S Blu-ray drive for PC’s
Microsoft orders Xbox 360 with internal Blu-ray drive from Asustek subsidiary
Have you got a Sony Blu-ray player yet, if not why?
Buffalo launches HD DVD/Blu-ray combo drive
Xbox 360 say no to Blu-Ray drive: Microsoft to focus on digital downloads