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No iPhone Outside of AT&T For The Foreseeable Future. Are you Disappointed? Posted: 22 Apr 2009 04:40 PM PDT When asked about the exclusive iPhone deal between Apple and AT&T during today’s earnings conference call, Tim Cook (Apple’s COO) said: “We believe they’re the best wireless provider in the U.S.,” “They put the full force and weight of their company behind it. We’re very happy with the relationship we have and do not have a plan to change it.” That seems like a pretty good indication that this deal will indeed continue. May be even beyond 2010, time at which the AT&T exclusivity goes away, in theory. In practice, Apple does not have so many choices anyway. Without a CDMA version of the handset (which would imply a new hardware design, more support, drivers…) Apple cannot go to Verizon or Sprint. On the GSM side, there’s T-Mobile and while we would absolutely love a UMA-enabled iPhone, the chance of that happening are fairly slim. (image from ) Permalink:

Apple’s 1st Quarter Marks 15% Increase in Profits. Good Design Sells Posted: 22 Apr 2009 04:05 PM PDT Thanks to the iPhone, Apple’s profits are 15% higher than they were a year ago: that’s $1.21B compared to $1.05B. Apple sold twice as many iPhone as it did in Q1 2008, showing that its design still have what it takes to win the hearts and wallets of customers, despite the economic crisis. iPod sales were up 3%, however Mac computers sales were down 3%. We wonder how iPhone apps and iTunes music/video sales contributed to the bottom-line. Permalink:

Compal reducing MID budget by cutting R&D Posted: 22 Apr 2009 03:40 PM PDT Say it isn’t so! According to because they just aren’t sure if the market is stable enough for them. Now, this isn’t to say that Compal will quit shipping MIDs, because they still plan to, but the volumes will be decreased, as their attention has been shifted quite a bit to the netbook market as of late. This doesn’t really seem to indicate the end of the MID altogether. Instead, it just seems to point to a tough economy where companies that normally do very well are struggling to find ways to cut back. Looks like this time around, research into MIDs got the axe. Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Earth Day 2009: Green-themed apps for your iPhone, iPod Touch (Part 2) Posted: 22 Apr 2009 03:30 PM PDT - Here’s the second and sexier of our two-part list featuring Earth Day, green and other earth-i-themed goodies in Apple’s App Store.

Warner Bros launches HD DVD to Blu-ray trade-in program Posted: 22 Apr 2009 03:23 PM PDT If you found yourself caught up in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD fight and came out on the HD DVD side, you’re probably finding yourself with a small collection of DVDs that are pretty much useless right now. Luckily, Warner Bros. is going to you remedy that problem. The movie studio is now offering a trade-in program called that allows people to trade in 25 Warner Bros. HD DVDs and have them replaced with Blu-ray versions. Of course, this new program isn’t free and it’ll cost you $4.95 per disc plus $6.95 for shipping on each DVD. What is kind of cool though is that you don’t have to send in the discs to the WB, rather, you just need to send in the cover art for the HD DVD discs you own and want replaced. Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Earth Day 2009: Green themed apps for your iPhone, iPod Touch (Part 1) Posted: 22 Apr 2009 03:00 PM PDT

Samsung Tocco S8300 Ultra Edition review Posted: 22 Apr 2009 02:44 PM PDT The Samsung Tocco is a sleek slider/touchscreen combo feature phone that packs a ton of functionality into a small form factor. It's stylish and nice to use, and the red color will draw attention from those around you (at least it did for me). The phone was enjoyable to use, and Samsung's TouchWiz UI was implemented nicely. Most noticeable on this phone is AMOLED display, which shines beautifully in any light, even outside. The basic functions of the phone were decent as expected. Calls were clear enough, and reception was ok, though I received a bizarre hissing sound just before callers would speak, and the volume of their voices would increase subtly during the conversation. I'm not sure if the phone was doing this on purpose to adjust for ambient noise on my end, but it got annoying after a while. The one feature I wish I could have tested but never got to work was the video calling functionality (partially because I don't know anyone with a video-call capable phone). Web browsing on the device was hindered by the inability to browse in landscape mode. I'm used to every new Samsung phone having an accelerometer in it that the Tocco's lack of one made the experience a little less enjoyable. There's nothing WRONG with portrait, it just doesn't give you as much screen real estate as you would like. The dedicated widgets on the homescreen make accessing Google or Facebook super easy, and the TouchWiz UI was implemented beautifully on the AMOLED display. The screen is gorgeous and bright, with amazing viewing angles. Of all the camera phones I've ever used, including Samsung's own Memoir, this one is the nicest and highest quality I've seen. The 8.0MP really feels like you're using a point and shoot, and the photo quality isn't soft from noise reduction, or overly harsh from not enough of it. The LED flash is very bright, but sometimes washes out the picture with too much white light. There's a healthy stock of photo editing features too, but the really impressive inclusion here is the video editing features. You have a mini studio built into the phone that is easy to use and understand, and doesn't inundate the user with too many options. It keeps it clean and simple to use, and produces relatively quality cuts for short film clips on your mobile device. The S8300 is attractive and feature rich, with many positive aspects that will make it a great phone to use (especially when video calling gets popular in the U.S.). The version I was sent is a UK phone, unlocked for use wherever. We can hope to see the S8300 Tocco on our shores…well we don't know. But you can count on us to tell you when we find out! Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Latest Samsung LED TV Series 6 and 7 have arrived Posted: 22 Apr 2009 02:26 PM PDT Long gone are the days when every household would queue up to upgrade to the latest trend of LCD / plasma television sets. Samsung have now upped their game by launching their latest LED (that’s right, Light Emitting Diode) widescreen tellies. From its pebble stone like remote control to the television set itself. Not only are the two new Series 6 and 7 LED TVs thin (1.2″) but are also superior in just about every other way imaginable. Instead of multiple parts molded together, these LED TVs are one solid, piece of advanced technology, elegantly supported by a unique crystal neck. Particularly impressive is the spec that Samsung have been able to cram into these 12″ “Crystal TVs”, the Series 7 for example boasts built in woofer, gaming mode, a range of connectivities including internet tv, wireless LAN, 2x USB, DTV tuner, 4x HDMI and weighs round about 22.2 kg. The LED range is no exception to sporting luxurious features such as Mega Contrast Ratio, Wide Colour Enhancer Pro with LED Gamut and 100Hz Motion Plus technology, all of which assists in delivering the best and most vibrant detail and colours possible. The Series 7 mentioned before also provides an extra widget controller feature which allows you to connect to the web and explore common interests such as weather, news and stock. On board internet@TV allows you to surf the web just like the browser on your computer except you’re doing it on a 55″ screen! Making the most out of the internet, LED 7000 series’ Content Flash Library also allows you to download games and tools to be run on the telly, this certainly isn’t a functionality offered by your average TV! Of course Samsung have also made these LED TVs so that its impressive quality doesn’t mean compromising our planet’s environment. Both the Series 6 and 7 LED tellies are recyclable and environmentally friendly with a frame that contains no non-environment friendly VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), while it is running you will save up to 40% of power consumption compared to the average telly. When its not, an ultra low power consuming standby mode (<0.1watts) is available so that no excess energy is wasted and therefore automatically helps you cut down on your carbon footprint. To find out more and to check out some videos of the latest Samsung LED TVs, click … Everyone: Folks, we’re having an issue showing videos in our feed right now, this is since we upgraded to Wordpress 2.7. We hope to fix it soon, meanwhile if you see a blank video slot, just click on the post’s link and you will see it properly on our site, sorry about this! Written by: Tell us what you think about the post you’ve just read: Related posts

Kindle 2 build cost is $185.49 Posted: 22 Apr 2009 02:16 PM PDT A new report has revealed that the build cost for Kindle 2, Amazon's popular e-reader is $185.49. The E Ink screen's cost makes up most of that at $60.  The other major expense is the built in wireless card, which costs almost $40. Before people start screaming that Amazon is greedy for pricing the device at $359, which is $173.51 more than what it costs them to make it, let's remember users get free wireless internet service using Sprint's EVDO network.  I have a data plan and wireless card with Sprint and I pay $60 a month for the service.  You also have to factor in advertising/marketing costs, shipping, licensing, the software, and other expenses. I really doubt Amazon is actually making a $173 profit on each e-reader sold.  The $359 price is still a bargain, especially when you compare it to some other e-readers like the Rex Iliad, which has models that start at $599 and go up to a whopping $859! Bottom line?  If you are an avid reader, the Kindle is still a great buy.  Most books are cheaper than the paper version and there is a wealth of free and low price (and I mean low-I've gotten some books for as little as a penny!) books available for the device as well.  As with any device, its worth to you is what determines whether its price is worth paying.

Palm selling unlocked Centro handsets for $199 Posted: 22 Apr 2009 01:42 PM PDT If you’re in the market for a new smartphone that you can use on any carrier but don’t want to shell out big bucks for one, smartphones for just $199. This unlocked GSM phone is available in glacier white, cobalt blue or ruby red, so you have some aesthetic options there. And while this isn’t the newest handset in the world–it was released in 2007–it still has many features people could find use for. It has a full QWERTY keyboard, a 320 x 320 display, a microSD card slot capable of 4GB of external storage, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, your choice of 64MB or 128MB of internal storage, e-mail syncing and more. There is also Google Maps support, support for Office and PDF files and a web browser is included. While no official reason for the big time sale has been released, many think it’s due to the upcoming Palm Pre. Gearlog Relevant Entries on SlashGear

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