Author Archive: Gareth

RIM confirms side loading apps on the PlayBook will still be available

According to a report on DroidMatters, RIM wants to avoid, what it calls the "chaotic cesspool" of piracy on Android’s Google Play Store (quote from RIM.) They shall will be locking the BlackBerry PlayBook to keep users from being able to side-load Android apps. Alec Saunders, VP of Developer Relations at RIM, announced these plans on Twitter. Mr. Saunders claims, without citing sources, that over 25% of Android device apps are downloaded illegally. RIM plans to create the lock in a future update.
Things have developed now and Mr Saunders has confirmed what direction RIM are taking with side loading apps over on the BlackBerry developer blog.

We’re not getting rid of side-loading on the BlackBerry PlayBook OS or in BlackBerry 10.
Side-loading on our platform is changing in nature. Side-loading is a developer feature. It exists so that developers can load their apps onto their own devices to test. It’s there so developers can send a beta release to their testing community for review. It is definitely not there for some people to side load a pirated app.

What are we doing?
Starting with our next release of the BlackBerry PlayBook OS, we’re introducing a feature that will encrypt apps so they can only be run by the user who purchased the app.

What’s next?
We’re working with you, our developer community, to ensure you can still quickly and easily test your apps on real hardware. That’s one of the reasons we’re kicking off BlackBerry 10 Jam by giving each developer attendee a prototype device to start building on. I’ll be on-hand at the show to answer your questions – look forward to seeing you there.

Let’s Jam.

@asaunders

While it can be argued that there are some piracy issues with Android, the Google Play Store can hardly be called a "chaotic cesspool" by any means.

Posted by: Gareth

Lenovo take us on a tour of the IdeaTab

Lenovo has officially released details on their newest IdeaTab Android tablet: The S2109. You can see the new device in the video below, and it has the following specs:

• 9.7" 4:3 IPS display
• TI OMAP chip
• A microSD slot
• Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich
• Unibody 8.9mm thin shell with gunmetal finish
• 1.3 Megapixel front camera
• SRS Trumedia
• Quad speakers for stronger bass
• Micro-HDMI
• Micro-USB
• 10 hour battery
• 1GB of RAM

They still haven’t released details on pricing or availability, but we will keep you apprised as we find out more. Check out the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=__5DlnyEsy4&noredirect=1

Posted by: Gareth

Google glasses spotted

Here’s something you don’t see everyday: one of the co-founders of one of the largest and most influential corporations on the planet out and about using a prototype of one of his companies "pet projects." Apparently, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google is one of the "beta-testers" of their coolest new project, "Project Glass", aka Google Goggles. Here’s a quote from the Engadget article with some of the details:

Quote:

It would appear company co-founder Sergey Brin already knows, as he was spotted by tech pundits Robert Scoble and Thomas Hawk rocking a prototype at a Dining in the Dark charity event for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Scoble has already posted a couple of pictures with Brin on Google+, mentioning more photos would be forthcoming from Hawk after the event concluded and that he’d heard other people, including Google exec Vic Gundotra, have the devices already. For now he mentions the glasses appeared to be "self contained" and that he could see a blueish light flashing on Brin’s eyes.

That’s pretty cool! If he can already start testing them in real-world situations, then they may not be too far off from an actual production model after-all. We will keep you apprised of this interesting and evolving tech.

Posted by: Gareth

Sony Tablets and Ice Cream Sandwich

Sony Japan recently confirmed that their Tablet S and Tablet P Android tablets will soon be receiving the Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich update. They didn’t make it clear if this was an international release or if it was only for the Japanese market. Besides the tasty goodness of ICS, this update brings some additional features as well. Here’s a list:

• Expanded photo capabilities – the photo app can be launched from the lock screen and enables panoramic pictures
• A new “Recopla” app will also be included in the update for viewing TV programs that have been recorded on Sony Blu-ray players
• A new “Small Apps” feature that lets users multitask more efficiently

As a side note, Sony also announced a Wi-Fi-only version of its Tablet P. It is scheduled to launch on April 21st. How many of you folks out there have either of these tablets? Sound off in the forums.

Posted by: Gareth

Acer bring a new 10” tablet to the table

Acer just officially announced the availability via pre-order for their new Iconia A510 tablet. The tablet will be available in the U.S. and Canada for the decent price of $449.99. No mention of the UK yet however I would imagine that it wouldn’t be far behind or perhaps ahead of the US release. What makes this a good value is that it comes with a quad-core chip and Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. Here’s a spec breakdown:

• 10.1-inch screen with a 1280×800 resolution
• Quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 32GB of storage
• Five megapixel camera capable of “HD” video recording (probably 720p)
• One megapixel camera on the front for video calls
• 9,800mAh battery – good for up to 12 hours of video playback
• A microSD card slot for up to 32GB of storage to add
• Also includes a micro HDMI and microUSB
• Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by: Gareth