Identity Crisis: Confused Nokia N9 can't choose which OS to use, comes with 7 to cover all the bases [VIDEO]
Proud owners of a new Nokia N9 are probably more than happy with its unique, quirky and individual OS MeeGo, but for some, that just isn’t enough.
This unusual looking lime green N9 has been demoed on video showcasing its ability to switch between not just one, but seven different mobile operating systems. Of course it’s not some special edition or in house unit leaked from the Finns but in fact a peculiar shanzhai/’Nok-off’ straight from the back streets of China.
This Chinese impostor, although not quite living up to the hardware specs of the real-deal does have the unique power to switch between MeeGo, iOS 5.0, Windows Phone 7, BBOS, HTC Sense, Samsung’s TouchWiz and Symbian Anna.
Assumedly this device is for users who just can’t make up their minds, or at least like to keep things interesting. Along with this menagerie of operating systems, the Nok-off N9 totes dual-SIM functionality, a 3.8″ WQVGA resistive touchscreen, a 1.3MP camera on the back and to top it all off, a Talking Tom app, typically found on a genuine iOS device and a selection of pre-installed porn too, one would assume for when the OS switching loses its appeal.
We don’t have a price for this confused N9 but it’s at least caught our attention as one of the most impressive knock-offs we’ve seen.
Footage of how it would feel to fly over Planet Earth [VIDEO]
Space has always captured the minds of people for centuries, from those who the spent time to map and document stars and planets across the night sky, to the first men and women who actually took flight beyond our atmosphere into the unknown.
Despite a lull is televised space exploration and media attention on space research in recent years, our love for this mysterious void is alive and well. Don’t believe me, just take a look at this recent footage from the International Space Station and try to not be impressed.
The video condenses a sizable rotation around the earth into all of 60 seconds, starting somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and moving across the America’s by night, before coming to daybreak over Antarctica and covering a host of other locales in between, such as Mexico, and the Amazon, check it out, it’s breathtaking.
Apple gets the Galaxy Tab 7.7 sales banned in EU, loses in the Galaxy Tab 10.1N case
Apple and Samsung had another round in the Dusseldorf’s Higher Regional Court that ended up badly for the Galaxy Tab 7.7.
Apple scored a victory in its crusade against the Super AMOLED-packing tablet and got its sales banned across the European Union. It’s up to the members of the EU to decide whether to respect this decision or not though.
Here’s Samsung statement regarding the ban:
“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s ruling. We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union.”
The court also brought an end to the Galaxy Tab 10.1N case, ruling in favor of Samsung. The 10.1N slate will remain available in the EU markets.
And here is what Samsung has to say about the this decision:
“Samsung welcomes the court’s ruling which confirms our position that the GALAXY Tab 10.1N does not infringe Apple’s intellectual property and does not infringe laws against unfair competition. Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”
The Apple spokesmen weren’t available to comment on the decision.
LG has taken the wraps off their brand new Android tablet – the LG G Pad 8.3. The G Pad 8.3 has a 1920×1200 resolution display, which LG claims makes it the first 8-inch tablet with a Full HD display.
Other features on the G Pad 8.3 include a Snapdragon 600 chipset with a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM and 16GB internal storage space. On the back is a 5 megapixel camera and on the front is a 1.3 megapixel shooter. The G Pad 8.3 is powered by a 4,600mAh battery but LG hasn’t made any claims regarding the battery life. The G Pad 8.3 runs on Android 4.2.2.
The G Pad 8.3 measures at 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm, which is slightly more than the Nexus 7, which measures 200 x 114 x 8.65mm. It also weighs a bit more at 338g, compared to the Nexus 7′s 290g. LG hasn’t specificed any network connectivity so it’s likely that the G Pad 8.3 is Wi-Fi only, unlike the Nexus 7 which also supports LTE.
The LG G Pad 8.3 will go on sale in North America, Europe and Asia as well as other regions starting in the fourth quarter of 2013. No prices have been mentioned so far and will be revealed at launch.
Android-running INFOBAR CO1 is a colorful Japan-oriented candybar
The INFOBAR CO1 is part of a 5 smartphones lineup announced yesterday by Japanese carrier KDDI au.
It is the most interesting in the lineup and offers a heavily overhauled UI based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread (iida UI), colorful looks and hardware numpad to go with its touchscreen display.
Looking at the features the INFOBAR CO1 offers a 3.2″ display of FWVGA (854 x 480)resolution and a pixel density of around 306 ppi, an 8 MP camera and more.
INFOBAR C01
To clarify on the pixels per inch number of the INFOBAR CO1 it is slightly above 300, which coincidentally is the mark an average human retina can distinguish. Meaning that UI elements should look smoother and pixels would be impossible to spot at an arm’s length.
For a better look at the iida UI check out the video below, Japanese narrated.
The INFOBAR CO1 weighs only 106 g and is 12.3 mm thick. It features an e-wallet function by carrier KDDI au, CDMA/GSM/GPRS compatibility and digital TV tuner.
The INFOBAR CO1 will begin retailing next month courtesy of KDDI au.
Nokia Tune Dubstep Edition: The new sound of Finland's phone royalty [VIDEO]
When you have the most iconic and recognizable mobile theme in the world, you’d have to be pretty confident to let the general public loose on it, with a mind to then putting the result on 100 million handsets worldwide, but that’s exactly what Nokia have gone and done.
The Nokia Tune competition opened at the start of September and asked musicians, music lovers and Nokia fans everywhere to reinvent the iconic Nokia theme in their own style.
Update: Nokia just came up and made it clear that this new controversial DubStep remix is not replacing the original Nokia tune.
The winner would then have his or her new theme pre-loaded onto over 100 million new Nokia phones to be sold across the globe as well as bagging themselves a $10,000 first prize.
The theme itself originates from Spanish classical guitarist and composer Francisco Tarrega’s piece, ‘Grande Valse’. What we know today as the Nokia tune, is merely an adapted arrangement, dating back to 1902. Nokia first used the theme in 1994 with the Nokia 2100 series and have over time reshaped and updated the theme to suit the devices the company makes and Nokia’s image as a whole.
Video used to promote the Nokia Tune competition
The winner of the competition was 22-year-old Milan based audio design graduate and DJ, Valerio Alessandro Sizzi. Valerio’s theme was one of over 6200 other entries from across the world and received nearly 2000 likes on Facebook in the short time the competition has been running. His theme was handpicked by a group of seven judges, who trawled through around 3000 minutes of audio to find the theme they were looking for.
Winner: Milan-based DJ Valerio Alessandro Sizzi
The winning theme sees classic Nokia tune blended with an aggressive injection of electronic bass lines and synth overtones to create the ‘Nokia Tune dubstep Edition’, which you can listen to here or click play just below.
When explaining why he decided to create a dubstep version, Valerio said:
��I made a dubstep version of the Nokia Tune because the style has become massively popular during the last two years. I just thought that a sparkling, cool version of the Nokia Tune would attract young customers.”
��The original Nokia ringtone is the most representative ��symbol�� of Nokia��s brand identity. It is not just a ringtone, it��s a sound-logo, something that in the last few years has reached a massive importance. Whenever you hear the Nokia Tune, you know it��s a Nokia product.��
With over 1.4 million visits and 11 plays of the various entries, Valerio faced stiff competition, but as you heard, the end result is an exciting refreshing take on the classic and oh so familiar theme.
We hope Valerio will go on to create more great tunes and in the meantime, you’ll be able to start picking up Nokia’s with his new flavor of theme in the not-too-distant future.
If you want to hear the other entries and see the leader boards, you can find that here and a full rundown of the ‘winning tune’ story can be found on the Nokia Blog, here.
Microsoft take UK retailer Comet to task over claims of producing and selling 94,000 bootlegged Windows CDs
UK-based electrical retailer Comet have incurred the wrath of the big ‘M’ over in Redmond, Washington.
Microsoft are presently taking legal action against Comet following allegations of the production and sale of bootlegged copies of both Windows XP and Windows Vista recovery CDs.
Microsoft Corp. today began proceedings against Comet Group PLC for allegedly creating more than 94,000 recovery CDs which were then sold onto customers who had purchased Windows-loaded PCs and laptops in their retail stores.
Microsoft’s David Finn, associate general counsel of Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting, stated that “Comet’s actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products — and our customers deserve better, too.”
Comet on the other hand argue that they were doing their customers a service, creating and distributing the disks as in recent years, manufacturers have done away with providing bundled recovery CDs with new computers in favor of creating special partitions on hard drives, so users may create a disk in their own time if they so wish.
Comet’s official statement is as follows: “Comet firmly believes that it acted in the very best interests of its customers. It believes its customers had been adversely affected by the decision to stop supplying recovery disks with each new Microsoft Operating System-based computer. Accordingly, Comet is satisfied that it has a good defense to the claim and will defend its position vigorously.”
The ‘dodgy’ disks were apparently produced at a factory in the English county of Hampshire and then distributed to Comet’s 250 retail stores. The company are currently in the process of changing hands, being sold by French parent retail company Kesa Electricals PLC to London-based investment capital firm OpCapita LLP. As such, a costly legal battle is the last thing the company would want, given their current delicate financial situation.
So who do you think are in the wrong? Comet for producing and profiting from software originally created by Microsoft, or Microsoft for berating a company trying to provide a service that they know many of their consumers will appreciate. Leave us your comments below.
