iPhone 3G S New

Meet the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet. iPhone 3G S features video recording, Voice Control, up to 32GB of storage and more.

The Fastest iPhone Ever

The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3G S is how quickly you can launch applications. Web pages render in a fraction of the time, and you can view email attachments faster. Improved performance and updated 3D graphics deliver an incredible gaming experience, too. In fact, everything you do on iPhone 3G S is up to 2x faster and more responsive than ever.1

Video

Now you can shoot video, edit it and share it — all on your iPhone 3G S. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.

3-Megapixel Camera

The new 3-megapixel camera takes great still photos, too, thanks to built-in autofocus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything (or anyone) you want.

Voice Control

Voice Control recognises the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.

Compass

With a built-in digital compass, iPhone 3G S can point the way. Use the new Compass app or watch as it automatically reorients maps to match the direction you’re facing.2

Cut, Copy & Paste

Cut, copy and paste words and photos, even between applications. Copy and paste images and content from the web, too.

Landscape Keyboard

Want more room to type on the intelligent software keyboard? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari.

Messages

Send messages with text, video, photos, audio, locations and contact information. You can even forward one or more messages to others.3

Search

Find what you’re looking for across your iPhone, all from one convenient place. Spotlight searches all of your contacts, email, calendars and notes, as well as everything in your iPod.

Accessibility

iPhone 3G S offers accessibility features to assist users who are visually or hearing impaired. These features include the VoiceOver screen reader, a Zoom feature, White on Black display options, Mono Audio and more.

Internet Tethering

Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop.4

Voice Memos

Capture and share a thought, a memo, a meeting or any audio recording on the go with the new Voice Memos application.

Nike + iPod

iPhone includes built-in Nike + iPod support. Just slip the Nike + iPod Sensor (available separately) into your Nike+ shoe and start your workout.

Stocks

Stocks on iPhone shows you charts, financial details and headline news for any stock you choose. Rotate iPhone to see even more detailed information.

YouTube

Watch YouTube videos wherever you are. Log in to your YouTube account to save and sync bookmarks and rate your favourites.

Everything you love about iPhone.

Phone, iPod and Internet device in one, iPhone 3G S offers desktop-class email, an amazing Maps application and Safari — the world’s most advanced mobile web browser. And your iPhone does even more when you add apps from the App Store.

Samsung I7500! Android finally arrives in Korea

Samsung finally went ahead and did what we’ve expected them to do today with the announcement of their first Android powered handset, the I7500. Better late than ever, I say. The I7500 is no slouch in the feature department with a 3.2-inch AMOLED touch-screen, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 8GB of internal memory. It’s also an HSDPA capable device with a 5-megapixel AF camera with Power LED (no clue what that is but I assume it’s flash), Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, MicroSD (up to 32GB support) and a 3.5mm earphone jack. It’s also pretty thin at 0.47 inches.

The media player should be pretty good with MPEG4, H.263/4 and WMV video playback support. The following audio codecs are also supported in case you were wondering: MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, RA. Battery life should also be okay with a 1500mAh removable battery.

No word on price, but the I7500 will launch in Europe this June.

I can’t say that I’m surprised Samsung will launch the I7500 in Europe first, but touting themselves as the first of the three top global handset manufacturers to announce an Android handset is nothing to boast about in my opinion. What is it with this company and having to be the first at something no matter what it is?

LG Renoir KC910 goes pink

Whoa! A pink phone! We haven’t written about a pink phone in months. It seemed like every company on the planet was re-releasing all of their popular handsets in pink for a few months there – then nothing. Looks like LG wants to kickstart the trend back up.

Because nothing makes old things new again like a fancy paint job, LG is re-releasing the six month old Renoir KC910 in head-to-toe pink. Same specs as before, including the 8 megapixel camera. Unfortunately for pink fans around the globe, this one’s a UK-only deal for now, with availability on Orange, O2, and T-Mobile.

Apple Will Hit A Billion Apps At 1:24:06 AM PST On April 23

We all know that Apple is closing in on a billion app downloads in the App Store. Currently, the counter on the main Apple.com claims it’s about 10 million away from the major number. But, Apple apparently already knows when the billion mark is going to be passed, because the billion celebration page is ready to go and can easily be accessed, right now.

And we know the exact time Apple is predicting when it will cross the mark — at least, right now (more below): 1:24:06 AM PST on April 23. Simply go to your system settings and set the date and time to anytime after that mark, and reload the main Apple page. You’ll be greeted by big picture on the landing page reading, “Thanks a billion. Over a billion downloads in just nine months. Only on the App Store.”

And actually, if you change to a before the mark Apple has set, you can see the counter advance closer and closer towards the billion mark.

Of course, this means that the number is at least somewhat tied (update below) to your computer’s clock rather than an actual billion app sales mark being triggered. Not that it’s all that surprising. After all, with so many apps being sold every second, can you really expect Apple to do anything other than estimate? This would be an issue though if said it was giving away a prize to the person who specifically downloaded the billionth app (it’s not).

Update: It looks like Apple is constantly tweaking the exact timing based on the following text file, as commenter Robert notes below. As of right now, the rate of Apps being sold appears to be slowing down, pushing the time out a bit.

Wipro acquires Nokia’s mobile TV unit news

Indian IT services major, Wipro has acquired Nokia’s enterprise-focused Nokia Broadcast Solutions unit for a yet to be decided sum according to reports. The unit employed 40 people for creating software and hardware to enable mobile TV technology on the phone locate and access the broadcasting network.

The divestment enables Nokia to focus on the consumer side of its business rather than the B2B part.

Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution is basically a DVB-H server platform for commercial mobile TV services. It can utilise the current TV content with little impact to the existing production systems.

Nokia was targeting a client base including broadcasters and telecom operators with the service. According to industry sources given Wipro’s presence in telecom space it does appear to be an interesting acquisition. Indian operators will source video content extensively once the 3G auction takes place they add.

Digital video broadcasting – handheld (DVB-Handheld) is an adaptation of European technology for over-the-air DTV broadcast to homes.

DVB-H integrates orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) that allows efficient use of available bandwidth.

OFDM allows the transmission of multiple signals in one bandwidth space and spread data them over multiple data streams.

At the same time by modulating different signals it allows the receiving device to pick up only the signal it is set to receive from the jumble of signals transmitted.
In the DVB-H set up a content provider sends live video and audio streams through an encoder which is then forwarded to a 3G streaming server. The server transmits the data to multiple broadcast towers that deliver the content to coverage areas.

Mobile TV Reception
Receiving TV signal requires a TV tuner which is basically a type of radio receiver. There are two types of tuners – analog and digital working on the same technology as in a stationary TV set. Just like an AM/FM radio tuner, the tuner in a TV picks up the radio waves transmitted to the antenna for a specific channel and then extracts the video and audio signals from those radio waves.

There are analog-TV phones that pick up the same signals that an ordinary TV picks up. These phones allow viewing of conventional TV broadcast at no cost. The phones feature a built-in analog TV tuner and antenna and associated electronics for display on a 2.2 inch, 320 x 240-pixel QVGA display. However, such phones offer limited viewing time as compared to digital receivers partly on account of power they draw from the battery to digitise the analog signals for the display.

With the digital-TV phones now available on the market allow four hours viewing time per charge of the phone. The phones feature a TV antenna and DV-H radio receiver that is basically a digital TV tuner. The audio / video processor in the TV displays 30 frames per second on a 2.8 inch QVGA screen with 16 million colours. It is also possible to also record TV broadcasts for later viewing.

Qik Launches Facebook Connect Support

With too many companies to list battling it out for users in the live mobile video broadcasting space, spreading the word is key. Most people just don’t realize such a thing is possible; outside of geekier circles, the entire concept is still fairly new. Stream a live video from your handset and send the link off to some friends that don’t lurk blogs and social sites all day – chances are they’ll be more amazed by the fact that you’re streaming live video from a phone than they are by the content.

Many of these services have turned to outside networks to get the word out, enabling users to automatically share their content out to their already established circle of friends. Just recently, for example, both Qik and FlixWagon added support for Nokia’s Share on Ovi service. That’s all well and good for reaching the geek crowds – but what about everyone else?

This evening, Qik is announcing that they are the first to roll out Facebook Connect support, which could potentially introduce the concept to a massive new group of people.

As they’re leveraging Facebook Connect, they’re able to post videos directly to your video collection or wall without requiring the user to install additional Facebook apps. It’s as simple as could be for the user looking to share, but not without its faults: due to a limitation of the Facebook Connect API, videos can’t be streamed live directly onto Facebook, only posted after the fact. As an alternative, however, users can opt to publish a status update which links directly to their live video whenever they’re streaming.

The update is being rolled out immediately. As it’s a user profile setting, no updates are needed to the handset software. To get things going, users just log into Qik, pop into the “Edit Networks” screen, and authorize Qik as you would any Facebook Connect service.

Over time, however, all handsets will see updates which improve upon the new functionality. Available immediately is an update for non-touch Windows Mobile smartphones which allows users to pick-and-choose which videos they want pushed to Facebook. On other handsets, for the time being, Facebook will be updated with all Qik videos set as “public”.

This is a huge move for Qik and, as I’d imagine that all of the competition is already hard at work at rolling in Facebook Connect support as well, a huge move for the concept as a whole. Facebook is amongst a small handful of social networks that have really breached the main stream. Integrate a product properly, and you’ll be pitching your wares to one of the few online audiences that isn’t almost entirely geeks.