Rumor: iPad 2 to feature a thinner case and new "wide-range speaker"

So Apple is going to release a new version of the ipad next year, and as with any hotly-anticipated new product, it seems like new rumors about the device pop up at least once a week.  The latest bit of speculation comes from Japanese blogMac Otakara, who claims that the iPad 2 will feature a bezel that's 3mm thinner, a flat back, the very same 9.7-inch screen size, an overall slightly smaller size (239 x 186 mm compared to the current iPad's 242.8 x 189.7 mm size), and, finally, a new "wide-range speaker," which is what you see in the render up above.  Like we've heard from previous rumors, Mac Otakara believes that the iPad 2 will begin shipping from factories in January, which would line up with an april launch.

We all expect that Apple is going to tweak the iPad at least a little bit for the next version, and a lot of today's rumor seems like a pretty safe bet since it's not really too "out there."  The case will likely be a little thinner, I doubt we'll see a new iPad display size, and while I never would've really thought about Apple including a new kind of speaker, it certainly wouldn't surprise me.  That new speaker would fit nicely in the cutouts that we saw in recently leaked classes, so don't be surprised if the iPad 2 pumps out some better audio in April next year.  Do you have any other iPad 2 predictions that others may have missed?

Honeycomb rumored to land in March as Android 3.0

With a wave of new Android tablets coming shortly, you'd expect Google to release the tablet-friendly Honeycomb some time early next year.  There's already been one rumor stating that Google will release Android 2.4/3.0 in Feburary of next year, bu an unsourced rumor from Digitimes claims that we'll be waiting just a bit longer.  After running through the tablet plans for companies like Asustek and MSI, the blog says that Google will release "Android 3.0 in March."

Motorola seems poised to unevil their Honeycomb-powered tablet, possibly named Xoom, in less then two weeks at CES, so you have to imagine that Google wouldn't wait much longer than than to launch the new version of the Android OS.  If I had to choose a rumor to side with, I'd probably go with the February launch, simply because I don't think that the big G is going to wait two months to push out Android 2.4/3.0, whichever it turns out to be.  Care to throw out your guess as to when Honeycomb will see the light of day?

The best Samsung Galaxy Tab apps

Deck out your new tablet with the best Samsung Galaxy Tablet apps, from large format newspapers to addictive games and smart utilities.

Since Samsung and Google seem to have trouble explaining what a tablet optimized app is is, much less showing you the best, we’ve taken the guesswork out of the mystery by rounding up our favorites. Sure, most of these choices are admittedly quite frivolous, but if you find yourself with a shiny new Android tablet, here are the apps to show it off with.

Galaxy Choice (tGrape)

Supposedly, Galaxy Choice organizes all of galaxy tab optimized apps. It doesn’t. Many of the 400 or so free apps listed are regular old non-optimized Android apps, including ones the Tab will never use, such as phone-call-recording apps. But Choice is actually a better-organized app store than Google Marketplace. The app operates in landscape mode, with a scrollable list of apps always present in the left third of the screen, and the description of a highlighted app in the remaining two-thirds on the right. Text is crisper and cleaner than in the Marketplace, you get more and better screen shots, 50 top “What’s Hot” apps, categories, Search by any keyword, and you can even browse by “Apps 4 U” after filling out a short profile with your age and topic likes. Since it’s a new app, there aren’t many app review comments, so it’ll be hit-or-miss for a while.

Fun Towers (Blatter.com)

We actually hate this app, largely because some of us have an addictive personalities and this solitaire game is ridiculously addictive. Like Galaxy Choice, you play in landscape mode. There are three interconnected, four-line playing card pyramids, or towers (bottom row has four cards, second row has three cards, etc.), with only the bottom row of cards face-up. The remaining 23 cards are exposed one at a time. You tap an exposed card on the pyramids if it is within one pip of the exposed deck card (i.e. if the exposed deck card is a Jack, tap a Q or a 10 on the pyramid) to move it to the exposed deck pile. The more cards your move from the pyramids to the exposed deck pile, the more pyramid cards are exposed. You win a round when you eliminate all the pyramid cards, and you get a new set of pyramids on the next level. The whole thing is timed, so you have to move fast and not miss that new seven that pop-ups when the exposed deck card is a six. You can move an ace on a king, and vice versa. Even if you lose, you want to start all over. And over. And over. We haven’t eaten or slept in days. Sell the car, sell the kids, we’re never coming back. Must. Tap. Cards.

Police Radio Lite (MoMojo)

Just what it says – it’s a police and fire scanner on the Tab. How cool is that? The lite version includes just the LAPD, the NYFD and the Washington, D.C., police, fire and EMS departments. For just a $1.49 upgrade, you get what seems to be every police, fire and emergency department in the country, and departments in cities in 10 countries outside the U.S. (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and Germany). You can even keep listening after you close the app – while you’re shooting up on Fun Towers, for instance. You have to go to the menu to end the sometimes static-filled but compelling stream. Perfect for ambulance chasers everywhere.

The New York Times (The New York Times Company)

Still the best source for top-notch, old-fashioned, objective journalism, even on the Tab. While the “optimized” app is simply a larger version of the regular Android app it is larger and easier to read without changing the font size, and the text is large enough to tap without accidentally hitting an adjacent item – all of which is the whole point of optimization.

SparkChess HD Lite (Media Division SRL)

We’re bad chess players (poker is more our game) so we won’t claim to be a great expert on virtual chess games. But even to a novice like us, this chess app was easy to figure out and play – tap a piece and the eligible squares it can be moved to light up in green. You get a three-quarter view of the board as if you’re sitting over the white side, which sort of obscures the front row of pawns when you start, and we still haven’t figured out how to castle (even though the programmed opponent has no trouble doing so). There are two levels of difficulty in this free version: Cody (easy) and Claire (a little harder). We actually beat Cody – accidently. We meant to tap on our queen and hit our Bishop instead, which produced a checkmate move we didn’t even see. Sort of like hitting a two-outer on the river in the game we do know something about. You need the full version to get better opponents, but oddly the “Get the Full Version” button takes you to Windows and Mac versions($8.99) Web page. We haven’t been able to find the full Tab version.

Releasing the Chromium OS open source project

In July we announced that we were working on Google Chrome OS, an open source operating system for people who spend most of their time on the web.

Today we are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS. We are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers. As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. This means the code is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions. The Chromium OS project includes our current code base, user interface experiments and some initial designs for ongoing development. This is the initial sketch and we will color it in over the course of the next year.

We want to take this opportunity to explain why we're excited about the project and how it is a fundamentally different model of computing.

First, it's all about the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.

Second, because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn't trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer. Furthermore, Chrome OS barely trusts itself. Every time you restart your computer the operating system verifies the integrity of its code. If your system has been compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot. While no computer can be made completely secure, we're going to make life much harder (and less profitable) for the bad guys.

Most of all, we are obsessed with speed. We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations and running everything possible in parallel. This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds. Our obsession with speed goes all the way down to the metal. We are specifying reference hardware components to create the fastest experience for Google Chrome OS.

There is still a lot of work to do, and we're excited to work with the open source community. We have benefited hugely from projects like GNU, the Linux Kernel, Moblin, Ubuntu, WebKit and many more. We will be contributing our code upstream and engaging closely with these and other open source efforts.

Simple Tips to Root and Overclock Your Android Phone

There’s more than one way you can beef up the overall value of your rooted Android phone. Upgrading to Froyo 2.2 would be the first on that list, since most Indian Android devices don’t have Froyo updates out just yet. Next up on the ‘Android Beef-up’ list would be USB Tethering and overclocking. But is it really worth going through the trouble of rooting and putting another modded OS and making things difficult for yourself? Going through the ordeal of reading up complicated processes on forums, downloading software, pressing the appropriate buttons during the startup of your device can be annoying at times. But hey, if iPhone users can do it so can we.

In this article, I’ve showcased a short account of how I overclocked myMotorola Milestone in less than 15 minutes by a simple 3-way process. These steps may or may not be applicable to your Android device, as each handsets hardware has a different modular engineering with theAndroid OS. So, be absolutely sure before you go ahead with this.

Androot is universal

Things I had before I started -

Motorola Milestone (unrooted)
Universal Androot (rooting app)
Milestone Overclock (Overclocking app)

Let's get started -

The Rooting
Getting down to business, the Milestone is a pretty sturdy device but make sure you’ve charged your Android phone to the fullest so that it doesn’t drain during the process. Once you have dropped the rooting and Overclocking apps onto your SD card, you must enable the option for using them from Settings>Application Settings>Unknown Sources. This will allow you to install 3rd party unsigned apps.

Make sure you have your settings in place

Install the Universal Androot app and that will take care of the rooting. It's a one click process, which says root or unroot. Once the rooting is done, an alternate app called SuperUser Access Controller gets installed on the device. After this process is complete, just make sure that you restart your device so that the Superuser Access Request gets activated at startup.

And that’s that. Your device has been successfully Rooted.

Google Earth 6 Has Some New Features to Show

Finally, Google has launched the latest version of Google Earth. The software that made us familiar to satellite navigation and helped us check out different places of the world now has three new features added to it.

Street View which became a craze with Google Maps is now integrated into Google Earth. Pegman (that little man that indicates your current position) is placed alongside the navigation controls and launches Street View the way it did in Google View. Wherever you see a highlighted blue road, pick up and drop Pegman on that position. Once you reach the position, you can look around through the mouse or navigation controls. Unlike before, where you could only move point to point, this time you get to move around seamlessly and if you want some far off destination, click exit and you return to aerial view.

Unearthing different places!

While 3D buildings have been there on Google Earth, the next are the trees that come with this effect to give a realistic environment. As a starting point, try a search for "Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco." Once you arrive at your destination, click the zoom slider. You'll then be taken down the ground where you can use our new ground-level navigation to walk among the trees.

Through historical imagery, you can watch the maps of certain places, lets say Hiroshima and Nagasaki before and after the nuclear bombing, Indonesia before and after the tsunami, etc. If a place has historical imagery, it will appear in the status bar. Clicking on the date will take you to that time period from where you can browse or close the time control.

So yeah, some new features that you can try, especially if you’ve been a Google Earth fan.

India Gets Froyo Update for Galaxy S

In what is sure to bring tons of smiles to the faces of Galaxy S users in India, the Froyo update has finally been made available. The long-overdue update boasts a ton of features like ability to view Flash based videos and to directly install apps onto an External SD card.

To start the update process, simply launch Kies and do a firmware update. And once you’ve played around with it for a while, come back here to the comments section and let us know what you think of it.

Zen Launches the "First" 3D Phone in India.

Don’t be misled by the headline, the phone released by Zen is actually the second 3D phone to hit the country. The first was the Spice M-67. The S30 is certainly Zen’s first 3D phone and has a 2.4 inch display with external speakers.

While the 3D experience with Spice M-67 did not deliver as expected, we’re still looking forward to what Zen can really offer. The phone uses 3D-Stereoscopic technology with which you can view images, videos and even the interface that are in 3D, without the 3D glasses.

One of its kind? Not really!

Users can toggle between 3D and 2D interface as they prefer. The phone has some more features like a 1.3 MP camera, FM radio, mp3/mp4 player and dual speakers. The memory can be expanded up to 8 GB and they throw in a free 2 GB card. It also has dual SIM (GSM + GSM) and dual speakers. It's priced at Rs. 4,599 which looks quite reasonable.

Zen messed up with the press release, claiming the phone to be India’s “first 3D phone”. I’m not making a big fuss about it, but you've got to know the market you’re entering into. Watch this space for a review on how this 3D compares to Spice's 3D.

Android browser falls victim to JavaScript-based exploit

About a month ago, we learned of a WebKit-based bug that would could affect Android users on 2.1 and below, and today another Android browser flaw has come to the light. This time, the exploit (which you can see in action here) involves JavaScript and allows access to files stored on the device's SD card as well as a "limited range" of other data on the handset. The problem is that the stock Android browser doesn't alert a user when a file begins downloading, meaning that the exploit can take place without any sort of prompt or warning to the user. The Android Security Team is aware of the issue and says that a patch will be included in a Gingerbread maintenance release. If you'd rather not wait that long, here are some suggestions to help protect yourself:
Disabling JavaScript in the browser.
Watching for suspicious automatic downloads, which should be flagged in the notification area. "It shouldn't happen completely silently," Cannon notes.
Using a browser such as Opera Mobile, which prompts the user before downloading files.
Unmounting the SD card.
While I'm glad to see the Android Security Team respond to the issue so quickly, it's kind of disappointing that we'll have to wait until after Gingerbread is launched to see a fix. Sure, you don't hear about mobile attacks very often, but the fact that a user could unknowingly have their data accessed is a little unsettling. Plus, there's the fact that many Android phones won't see Gingerbread. Heck, there's a lot of handsets that won't even get 2.0! Here's to hoping the big G can get a fix going for all the users below 2.3 at some point in the future. If not, I'm sure the Android hacking community could get something together.

Symbian foundation closing their sites

the Symbian Foundation has announced that its websites will shut down on December 17, making available the source code, kits, bug database and reference documentation available for developers upon request. As the nokia is going to take over the development of symbian os.

In recent days due to some tough competition from its rivals android and iOS its not able to save its market share so to got its lost pride nokia wants to enhance its development.

The Symbian Foundation lists the various websites that will close:

• www.symbian.org, www.symbian.org/cn, www.symbian.org/jp
• developer.symbian.org, developer.symbian.org/cn, developer.symbian.org/jp, kernel.symbian.org
• horizon.symbian.org
• ideas.symbian.org
• blog.symbian.org, blogcn.symbian.org, blogjp.symbian.org

Meego OS by Nokia and Intel

MeeGo is an open software platform which will be hosted by the Linux Foundation and use the best practices of open source development. It’s expected that MeeGo will be adopted by a range of device manufacturers, network operators, semiconductor companies, software vendors and developers.

Developers will be able to use Qt to develop applications for a variety of devices and platforms, and market them through Nokia’s Ovi Store and Intel’s AppUp Center.

Speaking about the announcement, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO, Nokia said:

“MeeGo will drive an even wider range of Internet computing and communication experiences for consumers, on new types of mobile devices. Through open innovation, MeeGo will create an ecosystem that is second to none, drawing in players from different industries. It will support a range of business models across the value chain, building on the experience and expertise of Nokia, Intel and all those who will join us. Simply put, MeeGo heralds a new era of mobile computing.”

MeeGo is designed from the ground up to be open in every way. Combining the best of both Maemo and Moblin, and their developer communities, the new ecosystem will deliver a range of experiences for users, including internet-based, computing, communications, multitasking and multimedia. Users will be able to easily move their applications from one device to another and use the same applications on a range of different devices.

The merger of the two platforms follows the announcement last June of the companies’ collaboration.

Intel president and CEO, Paul Otellini said

“Our vision for seamlessly communicating between computing devices from the home, auto, office or your pocket is taking a big step forward today with the introduction of MeeGo. This is a foundational step in our evolving relationship with Nokia. The merging of these two important assets into an open source platform is critical toward providing a terrific experience across a variety of devices and gaining cross- industry support.”

OPK describes this as a new era in mobile computing and he’s not wrong. There is a wealth of possibility for developers, manufacturers and most importantly users. Having a unified, single platform that can offer rich experiences in a number of locations (at home, out and about, in the car) will be a big boon for users.

Base package for the quick office for all s60v5 devices

The "install the base system first" or "install base package first" error message occurs when you try to install Quickoffice using the wrong type of installation file for your device. This usually happens when you try to install a Quickoffice upgrade on a phone that did not come with Quickoffice pre-installed to the ROM of the device.
There is a link to a complete sis file which doesn't ask for base package while installing.
Quick office for s60v5 devices

Micromax Andro A60

The new Micromax Andro A60 is expected to be the first Android mobile phone from Micromax . It is a full 2.8-inch touchscreen display mobile phone running the older version , Android v2.1 , of the Android OS . Android is one of the fastest growing mobile OS in the world , thanks to its open source nature and Google tag . The Android OS is made by Google and now distributed as an open source in which mobile vendors can customize it according to their needs . Micromax is the top local brand in the competitive mobile phones market . Its some of the affordable price QWERTY mobiles like Q5,Q7 have been very popular among the Indian consumers . Today Android is one of the first choice OS for all the mobile phone manufacturers as it is free and is supported by thousands of developers worldwide , including hundreds of thousand of Apps (Applications) .The new Micromax Andro A60 supports high speed 3G connectivity and Wireless LAN WiFi support .The Android OS version is not upgradeable to the latest Android v2.2 .

Micromax Andro A60 mobile phone key expected features :

• Dual SIM GSM
• Android v2.1 OS
• 600MHz CPU
• Large 2.8-inch touchscreen display , 320×240 pixel resolution
• Gravity Sensors
• 3G HSDPA
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• miniUSB
• 150MB Internal memory
• Expandable memory up to 32GB
• FM Radio
• Music Player
• Video Player and recorder
• Google services – GMail,Google Maps,Google Search
• GPS
• 3.5mm headphone jack.
• The new Micromax Andro A60 price will be around Rs.8,000 . It will be available soon 

Android 2.3 Coming Soon

Gingerbread, Gingerbread, Gingerbread. The next version of the Android OS has been a hot topic as of late, and just about everyone has an opinion of when it'll launch. First we heard that it would be November 11, then we heard that it would be more like mid-November, and finally, some thought that Eric Schmidt would announce it at the Web 2.0 summit  Obviously, none of those rumors panned out, so what do we do now? Guess some more! The latest bit of speculation claims that Android 2.3 could arrive on December 6th at the "D: Dive Into Mobile" event. The thinking behind this is that since Andy Rubin is making an appearance at the event, he may decide to finally let Gingerbread loose. This rumor is supported by the fact that at the Web 2.0 Summit, Eric Schmidt said that Gingerbread would launch in the "next few weeks" When you consider all of the evidence, a December 6th debut for Android 2.3 definitely seems plausible. After all, Andy Rubin is known as the father of Android, and who better than Andy's daddy to announce Gingerbread's availability? Still, I'm not completely sold. Sure, this D event is all about mobile, but, as with just about any new version of Android, 2.3 is pretty highly anticipated, and I believe that Google would want to give Gingerbread its own stage to shine on. Even if that's just a press release on a random date this month or next, it would still be all about Gingerbread, just how Google would like it.