Google has announced an Android-related press conference for January 5th, and all indications point to a launch of the Nexus One at the event.
Rumors say that the Nexus One will be offered at an unsubsidized price of $529.99, or at $179.99 with a two-year agreement on T-Mobile. There will be only one rate plan avaliable for the Nexus One - unlimited talk, text and web for $79.99 per month.
The iPhone game F.A.S.T. (Fleet Air Superiority Training) is an air combat simulation game with online multiplayer functionality. Yesterday it was updated and today it became free. The regular price was $0.99. The discount is probably due to the addition of some new paid content that is avaliable through the in-app purchase.
Why not try it for free? Go ahead and download via AppStore (link).
The iPhone game 7 Cities is a Tower Defense type game available in AppStore. The price varied from $0.99 to $4.99. Today it is offered for free. This is limited time offer, thich means it is free for a short period of time.
The game is very nice and well done, the graphics are rich but not too confusing. The goal is to defend against different attacks and to do that user has types of 5 towers and 12 different skills.
On Tuesday, December 8, the official Playboy iPhone app hopped into the App Storу. Everybody can buy it for just $1.99.
The app is a scaled-down iPhone version of the largest selling men’s magazine, Playboy, and includes portions of the text from the following well known features … Playboy Interview, Playboy Advisor, 20 Questions, Party Jokes, Fashion and more.
However do not expect to see everything you can find in the magazine. Apple does NOT allow nudity in the App Store. So the application includes the Playmate’s intro, data sheet, preview pictures and exclusive behind the scenes preview video. Theresa Hennessey explained: “The pictures are all non-nude or cropped, either from the magazine pictorial or from the Playmate’s Playboy.com pictorial.” Read the rest of this entry »
MarketWatch reports that Apple will begin mass production of its much-rumored iTablet in February ahead of a launch in late March or April.
The report claims that the device will include a 10.1" multi-touch LCD screen. There were rumors that iTablet will have OLED screen and therefore delayed till the second half of 2010.
Current rumors also say that Apple has begun contacting book publishers about distributing their books through Apple for consumption on the new device. Apple is reportedly proposing a similar business model to its App Store, where Apple would retain 30% of each download's sale price with 70% going to the publishers. Amazon, for example, uses 50/50 model.
The estimated cost of the future device is $1000. Apple may sell 1-1.5 million tablets per quarter. The name of the future device is still unknown. Rumors say different vartiants: iTablet, TabletMac, MacTablet or just Apple Tablet.
There were rumors, that iPhone 4G will have integrated RFID chip. The Wireless Dynamics company has already created iCarte, RFID reader accessory for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
With iCarte we can send and receive information via RFID or NFC. This could turn the iPhone into a real electronic wallet. Here are spec details:
TomTom navigation application updated to version 1.2. Added features include updates to maps and IQ Routes, advanced lane guidance, text-to-speech, integrated iPod player support and support for the iPod Touch and first-generation iPhone 2G.
To use the app on iPod Touch and iPhone 2G, TomTom's car kit is required. This is due to the fact that both devices lack an integrated GPS receiver. TomTom's car kit is a cradle which contains a GPS module, integrated speaker, charger, and line out. It is not required when the TomTom app is paired with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The cost for the kit without the app is $119.95.
Full list of what's new in 1.2:
Improved search and route summary screens
Updated map from v8.30 to v8.35
Updated points of interest database
Updated IQ Routes database with millions of new measurements
Added Advanced Lane Guidance in both portrait and landscape mode
Added Text-to-speech in English US, English UK, English Australia, French Canada, Spanish Latin America
Added Help Me! emergency menu
Added iPod player support
Added support for original iPhone and iPod touch (all models)
The TomTom app is available in App Store for $49.99-$139.99 (link). Price depends on the map coverage. The highest price is for TomTom Western Europe. US & Canada costs $99.99. The cheapest version is for Hong-Kong - just $49.99.
Wall of Sound is a very special product. It, in fact, appears to be the largest speaker for the iPhone and iPod. The accessory, manufactured by Brothers of Stockholm, occupies the entire wall. Here are some characteristics of the product:
Dimensions(H x W x D): 950mm x 1250mm x 300mm
Frequency responce: 40Hz - 20,000 kHz
Weight: 102 kg
The Wall of Sound is the perfect device for those who want to listen to music at high volume. The price?! Just $4495.
Taiwan Economic News reports new rumors about Apple iTablet (MacBook Touch).
The tablet PC features a 9.6-inch screen, finger-touch function and built-in HSPDA (high speed download packet access) module, built-in 3G wireless connectivity, adopts a P.A. SEMI processor chip and long lasting battery pack. The expected price is between US$799 and US$999.
The report claims that DynaPack International Technology Corp. will make up to 300,000 'long lasting' battery for the Tablet per month. Wanshih Electronic Co., Ltd. will be supplying the mini coaxial cables. Layers Scientific-Technics Co., Ltd. and Wintek Corp. will be supplying the Power Chokes and the lovely 9.7 incher Touch Panel.
iTablet will probably appear some time in February 2010.
Action Babes - Hot Version application appeared in AppStore. It is avaliable for free right now (link). Go ahead and download. The price will be higher soon. You can watch the video here.
We mentioned this in our previous sales update, but Firemint's Real Racing (AppStore link) has now dropped its price from $9.99 to $6.99 and is expected to remain there for this weekend only. Real Racing is considered one of the most technically impressive racing games on the iPhone:
Here are a few interesting sales over the past couple of days:
Silent Hill: The Escape ($7.99 -> $0.99, AppStore link) – Konami's first person shooting game set in a creepy environment has seen a massive price drop from $7.99 to $0.99. So, if you've been curious about this title, now's a good time to try it.
Resident Evil 4 ($7.99 -> $2.99, AppStore link) – The mobile edition of Resident Evil 4. There was some very split opinions between those who loved the game and those who felt it paled in comparison to the original console version. Regardless of your position, a $5 price drop certainly makes it easier to pick up.
Dirt Moto Racing ($4.99 -> $0.99, AppStore link) – A solid off-road racer that's easily worth $0.99.
Crash Bandicoot ($5.99 -> $2.99, AppStore link) – One of the original kart racers for the iPhone, it seems they are starting to feel the pressure with Konami's Krazy Kart Racing and the upcoming Shrek Kart.
And, we've heard of one major game that will be holding a sale soon. Firemint's Real Racing (App Store link) will see its first sale this weekend dropping from $9.99 to $6.99 temporarily. The sale should be live by Saturday morning, so keep that in mind if you've been holding out.
Recentrly we've talked about Nokia and their willingness to enter into direct competition with the iPhone releasing new devices based on Linux. Now on the official Nokia website we can already pre-order the new mini tablet N900.
The operating system is the Maemo 5, that is based on Linux. It has an ARM Cortex A8 processor with 256MB of RAM for applications and other 768MB in virtual memory, so total is 1GB. So the multi-tasking is guaranteed. The graphics uses Open GL | ES 2.0, which is quite good.
The new operating system is much more flexible compared to Symbian. The Web browser is developed by Mozilla and is capable of playing Flash 9.4 movies and animations.
It looks like an iPhone but lacks the Home. It also has a sliding QWERTY keyboard. The screen resolution is 800 × 480 pixels (16:9). There are two cameras. The main has 5 MP with Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens and two LEDs for flash. The onboard memory is 32GB but can be expanded with microSD to additional 48GB.
The target price (tax excluded) is 500 euro. Nokia N900 will be available starting from October.
Here's a video that shows the Maemo interface in action:
A new package called iPhoneDelivery is avaliable in Cydia. It is a little hack to enable delivery notification for SMS. In other words, we can now see a new popup screen when the recipient receives the message.
To install the package just run Cydia, add repository http://iphonedelivery.advinux.com/cydia and install package called iPhoneDelivery.
Next, go to Settings> Messages and turn on the last two switches that will enable the Services that show a new screen with the delivery status (last screenshot).