It’s misleading, it’s a figure of speech, it’s a pun and it’s fun.

[via slashgear]

The Apple iPhone may soon have the Chinese version of WiFi after Foxconn finishes building up its inventory of WAPI iPhones. WAPI is the Chinese standard for wireless LAN. The iPhone distributed in China lacks WLAN capabilities, but that looks to have a solution soon. Foxconn is said to be making iPhones specifically supporting WAPI that they codenamed N88. What’s interesting is that there’s also a codename N90 being manufactured in the plant. It’s possible that this is the iPhone 4G.

China Unicom has already sold 200,000 iPhones without WiFi. WAPI-enabled iPhones are expected to sell more.

[via clonedinchina]

As far as concept designs are concerned, most of them never really make it into commercial production, and that’s just what we thought when we first saw this Nokia Morph concept phone. However, Nokia’s recent filing of a patent for device equipped with a flexible display is making us think otherwise.

Apart from being able to bend into a various shapes as illustrated in the diagram above, the device will also launch specific applications depending on its current shape or form which is exactly what they were proposing with the unveiling of the Nokia Morph concept phone two years ago back in 2008. Here’s what their patent says about the possibilities for such a technology:

In one embodiment the pre-specified shape is also associated with a movement. As a pre-specified shape is detected and followed by the detection of a pre-specified movement an associated function is executed.

FIG. 10a shows a device having been bent to resemble a can, possibly used to hold beer or soda. A search will thus be performed for a bar or a pub either a specific franchise or any bar or pub in the neighborhood.

FIG. 10b shows a device having been bent to resemble a bowl. A search will thus be performed for a restaurant either a specific franchise or any restaurant in the neighborhood.

FIG. 10c shows a device having been bent to resemble a roof or a tent. A search will thus be performed for a hotel, motel or guest house either a specific franchise or any hotel, motel or guesthouse in the neighborhood.

It doesn’t say anything about being a phone though, but hey, these are just some examples of what it can do. You can also argue that patent’s don’t really mean squat unless it actually translates into a commercial product, but nonetheless, this is a definitely a step in the right direction towards the realization of the Nokia Morph phone.

[gorumors via gizmodo]

Based on the video, it looks pretty responsive enough and definitely opens up a whole new world of possibilities for future devices. Unfortunately, this demo is as good as it gets at the moment as the company sees product implementation to happen sometime between this year and next year.

We would have loved to see this new technology used on the new Skiff Reader as it would have certainly made it even more tempting to consumers. Be that as it may, we’re just glad to see the technology finally moving forward as far as e-book readers are concerned, and who knows, we might even see LiquavistaColor applied to other devices as well.

[press release, lesen via engadget]

Here at PMP Today, we’re quite spoiled with mobile devices featuring HD playback of up to 1080p–that’s full HD! The Zii Trinity phone supports 1080p. And in case no one believes Creative, they had set up a demonstration at the Zii Summit. Don’t make a mistake in underestimating Creative. Though they’re only eoffering the Zii Trinity as a concept for other manufacturers (read: they need partners), their product could totally do 1080p videos. Creative’s subsidiary ZiiLabs is apparently intent in pushing the convergence envelope. Their idea is simple and an old one: a single device that can be a phone, a business and entertainment device all at once.

[source via engadget]

[source]

Whatever you say about finger-tap input on a mobile device, no one can deny that styluses are more efficient for scribbling words. Leaked documents from Apple suggest that pen-input is forthcoming on an Apple device. Perhaps this is on the iPhone and iPod Touch, perhaps on the iPhone 4G. Even more exciting, an Apple Tablet? The document shows a patent application for “ink information” recognition for a stylus-based computer. Is hand-writing recognition imminent on the iPhone, the iPhone 4G. Or is this new patent application in preparation for the iTablet? Whatever it is, I’m glad Apple is still going forward, not just on profits and market domination but in technology,expecially in hardware.

[via engadget]

The new multi-touch technology from Synaptics offers enough space for 10-finger touch control. The ClearPad 3000 has 8 inches of multi-touch screen space. In their demo sample, the ClearPad 3000 is usable enough for dual-player gaming mode. ClearPad 3000 right now is still too expensive to mass-produce but it won’t be too long before manufacturers can out the technology on store shelves.

Maybe we’ll see this in a Macbook Nano Touch.

[via pocket-lint]

If you think the current crop of netbooks and MIDs are the most compact mobile computers you’ll ever see this lifetime, you better think again. The CTD Dragonfly is a “crossfolding” MID which promises to bring portability and ease of use to a whole new level. What you’re looking at is just a mock up, but Edward Bullister, an MIT graduate with PhD, plans to make this a reality some day. Apart from its very intriguing design, he plans to use a Moorestown chip underneath the hood with Windows XP as its OS. Provided, of course, that when this finally goes it to production, XP is still around. Anyway, those two specs are the most realistic goals at the moment for this device. Bullister admits that the dual-sided LED displays will come at a later time, and we’re not too sure how he will achieve his goal of providing “all day” battery life much more incorporate it in the slim form factor of the Dragonfly. Nonetheless, despite being a little too ambitious, we like where he’s taking this. After all, every successful gadget in the market today had to start somewhere, and dreaming is a pretty good jump-off point.

[via engadget]
More pictures after the break.

Apart from 1080p video playback which we’ve seen (in video) in the past, this new Tegra also comes with GPU accelerated Adobe flash animation, video game play of up to 46fps, 3G, WiFi and WiMax support, always –on processors for instant access to network, and an astounding 25 days of music or 10 hours of HD playback on a single charge. The Nvidia Tegra is definitely light years ahead of Intel’s Atom processor. Unfortunately, it’s not readily available in the market as we speak, but you can expect the first batch of Tegra-based devices to drop before 2009 comes to a close with a very, very affordable price of $200 (even less after carrier subsidies).

On a similar note, to make things easier (or not) for the consumer, Nvidia has decided to call Tegra-based netbooks and tablets MIDs which has no relation to Intel’s handheld internet MID devices. One of the first Nvidia MIDs to be unveiled to the public is the Mobinnova elan. With such promising features, we’re certainly looking forward to more Nvidia MIDs in the not-so-distant future.

[via engadget]