SneakPeek
Latest
Microsoft offers a sneak peek at Windows Phone, we'll be liveblogging at 12pm ET!
Microsoft is definitely having a field day week, sandwiched right in between WWDC and Google I/O. Tomorrow morning the giant's offered us a sneak peek at Windows Phone, and that's leaving us plenty of food for thought to chew on. Will it be this Apollo we've heard all about? We're going to be at tomorrow morning's keynote, bringing you all of the updates as the news flows out of Joe Belfiore & Co. Join us then -- the fun begins at noon! June 20, 2012 12:00 PM EDT
Microsoft to offer Windows Phone Apollo 'sneak peek' on June 20th, we'll be there
Microsoft is likely as eager to announce the upcoming version of Windows Phone -- known as Apollo or Windows Phone 8 -- as we are to hear about it. Fortunately, we expect the answers to our many questions won't be left unanswered for much longer, as the folks in Redmond are flying down to San Francisco to offer us a sneak peak of "the future of Windows Phone." Certainly, we're hoping this brief look at the next OS will be more expansive than, say, the BlackBerry 10 reveal last month. Either way, we'll be at the event to cover every single detail, so mark your calendar!
LG G-Slate spotted in Korean music video, 3D cameras and all?
Oh LG, did you really think you could slip an entire tablet past the eagle-eyed gadget obsessives of Korea? The G-Slate has been one of the more mysterious devices launched at CES this year, but it now appears to have shaken off some of its shyness and made a cameo appearance on K-Pop star Seungri's latest music vid. Our Korean correspondents inform us that Seungri's band Big Bang has had a relationship with LG since the introduction of the cheap and cheerful Lollipop handset (video evidence after the break), so it's not unreasonable to believe this young chap has an inside line on LG's upcoming hardware. His video shows an LG-branded slate at 0.53 and 1.52, and although we get only brief glimpses, one of them suggests a dual-camera array on the back, which seemingly corroborates earlier rumors of the G-Slate bringing some 3D voodoo to the market. Skip the break and see for yourself. [Thanks, Alan Yi]
iOS 4.2 and iPhone: New features, fixes and changes
Most of the focus on the forthcoming iOS 4.2 update has been on the iPad, and rightly so. The iPad is finally getting marquee features that most iPhone users have enjoyed for months, like multitasking and folder support. iOS 4.2 doesn't bring as many changes to the iPhone as it does to the iPad, but it does introduce a few new features to the iPhone. iOS 4.2 is expected to go live later this week sometime soon, but we'll give you a brief rundown of the new features today. Note that most of these features should be identical on newer versions of the iPod touch, so anywhere I say "iPhone" (which is all I've got to test with), you can probably safely assume I mean iPhone/iPod touch. AirPlay The biggest new feature in iOS 4.2 is AirPlay, which allows you to stream audio to an Apple TV, AirPort Express, or AirPlay-enabled third-party system. You'll also be able to stream video to an Apple TV, but since I don't own one I haven't been able to test that part of the functionality. AirPlay icon on the right -- blue means it's working Select which destination you want to stream to In my testing, AirPlay has worked not just in apps you'd expect it to work, like the iPod and YouTube apps. At least in the iOS 4.2 gold master, AirPlay will stream audio from any app, including games. Before you get too excited by the prospect of playing Canabalt's awesome soundtrack through your surround sound system, there's an important caveat: there's a delay of approximately two seconds between actions on your iPhone and output from external speakers, caused by the encoding and decoding of the audio stream. In other words, if you're playing Flight Control on your iPhone and streaming audio to your stereo over AirPlay, sounds will be delayed by two seconds or more. Obviously this is less than ideal, so it's somewhat surprising that Apple's enabled AirPlay at all for these kinds of apps. In apps specifically designed for AirPlay, like iPod and YouTube, the iOS software is smart enough to delay video output on your iPhone so that it syncs up with the audio stream. You can watch music videos or movies on your iPhone and play the sound over AirPlay to external speakers. This is a truly "gee-whiz" feature, and it's almost sold me on the idea of getting an Apple TV so I can stream video, too. Click "Read More" to see the rest of iOS 4.2's features on the iPhone.
AMD teases Bobcat Fusion APUs again, delivers Atom-busting performance (video)
A quick refresher: Bobcat is AMD's low-power Accelerated Processing Unit that can handle both computational and graphical duties, Ontario and Zacate are the chips built upon that core, and Brazos is the overall platform that they'll be doing their work on. Clear enough? We hope so. AMD has finally allowed a few tech pubs to get their hands on Brazos-based systems and, along with feedback about their experience, the guys have come back with some added spec notes. There'll be two initial Zacate options, the dual-core E-350 running at 1.6GHz or the single-core E-240 clocked at 1.5GHz, while Ontario will offer 1GHz dual-core and 1.2GHz single-core variants. Let's not forget that both are intended for netbooks and lithe desktop computers before writing them off as too slow -- which would be a mistake anyway as the sites that got a chance to play with the E-350 reported very respectable performance. HardOCP dared to try out Crysis and managed to get it chugging along at a resolution around 720p, whereas Hot Hardware witnessed a 1080p video clip being played back perfectly smoothly alongside an instance of Hyper Pi maxing out the CPU load. Benchmark results will have to wait for another day, but feel free to peruse the links below for a more detailed breakdown of the new architecture.
Marshall Headphones joining your JCM 900 on November 15
Details are few and far betwixt right now, but a legendary name in guitar amplification is about to branch out in a big way. The cans you see above are slated to launch officially on November 15th, proudly boasting the Marshall label, a 1/4-inch input jack and soft, pillowy earcups. We get the impression that at least the initial run may be a limited time offer, so those interested in getting a head start can peek the source link for an early pre-order signup. Mum's the word on price, but given that you sunk well over a grand into the tubes behind you, there's little doubt that you'll be overlooking a modest premium.
Scottevest's Carry-On Coat houses all of your portable electronics, stolen hotel shampoo bottles
Truth be told, it's been awhile since we've seen a gadget-laced jacket that really caught our eye. There's the occasional winter coat with a built-in iPod slot, and there's a few unaffordable threads that don't much matter to the vast majority of you, but it's difficult to think of a single overcoat that's as connected as this. Teased by Scottevest, the forthcoming Carry-On-Jacket is as functional as it is delightful, with an internal pocket made specifically for touchscreen devices so you'll never even have to reach inside to skip tracks. There's also an internal Personal Area Network (PAN), a dedicated BlackBerry (or any smartphone, really) holder, passport pouch, a digital camera compartment, iPad pocket (er, "PadPocket") and a separate area made specifically for those zip-locked liquids that you'll need easy access to at the TSA screening zone. Needless to say, the avid traveler with a pinch of geek lust should be grinning from ear-to-ear just gazing at this masterpiece, and honestly, we could see this converting even the hardest of hardcore Rollaboard warriors. Now all we need is a price and release date, STAT.
Acer Aspire One 521 and 721 spotted in France handling HD video, eying a croissant
You could say this is one of the odder ways to make something official, but Acer's Aspire One 521 and 721 have been deemed just that after surfacing at an event today in France. Just as we'd heard the 10-inch 521, is rocking a heretofore unheard of AMD 1.2GHz V105 (single-core) processor, 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, ATI's Radeon HD 4225 GPU and a penchant for handling 1080p video without breaking a sweat. It's also equipped with VGA / HDMI outputs, a media card reader, three USB sockets, audio in / out, Ethernet jack and a native 1,024 x 600 resolution. The 11.6-inch 721, on the other hand, has AMD's newer 1.3GHz Athlon II Neo K325, which similarly sports full HD playback on its 1366x768 resolution screen. And oddly, Acer seems to also have a new Aspire 1551 lying around, which also has an 11.6-inch display and dual-core Athlon II Neo K325/K625 processor options. Sadly, no further details were available, but we suspect they'll be outed faster than you can turn yourself around, mash play on the video past the break and ping your financial manager to get his / her thoughts on picking this up alongside a new Ditch Witch.
Zotac's ZBOX HD-ID11 tiptoes into the wild, should ship soon
When you've got a footprint of just 7.4- x 7.4- x 1.73-inches, it's hard to make too big of an impression. That said, Zotac's new ZBOX looks to be just the thing for those scouting a diminutive HTPC or bedroom machine that can handle the best Glee re-runs and all of that YouTube HD footage that your long-lost siblings continue to email you from the wilds of Wisconsin. Originally launched back in March, this pint-sized PC is just now starting to make its way out to reviewers, which hopefully means that it's ever closer to shipping to end users, too. The benchmarking lords over at Hot Hardware took the time to unbox and preview the device, giving you the opportunity to wade through a gallery of images while it undergoes all sorts of torture. Head on down and have a look if an Ion-based machine that can fit inside your shoebox sounds even marginally appealing.
RIM shows off BlackBerry 6 on video
While RIM's WES 2010 keynote is still ongoing, the company's YouTube channel has kindly released the first teaser video for the incoming BlackBerry 6 operating system. There's a lot of movement on screen -- so much, in fact, that it's almost like RIM really doesn't want you to see the OS at all. We did catch sight of a Cover Flow-aping music organizer, an onscreen keyboard engaging in some threaded messaging, Facebook and Twitter clients, and even the briefest of glimpses at that famed WebKit-based browser. Interaction in the video is done via touch, but you'll naturally be able to utilize the new interface on more conventional, touch-less devices as well. Skip past the break for the moving pictures.
Found Footage: iPad Alice comes to life
I'm not a huge Alice in Wonderland fan but I've got to give props to the developers behind this iPad realization of the book. They've taken Alice to a new place with their interactive graphics that simulate the kind of reader engagement you'd normally find in a pop-up book. Ben Roberts and Chris Stevens, the people behind the app, seem to have done a lovely job putting this together. We at TUAW haven't had a chance to actually try the application out yet. And, yes, we know that the book won't have that great soundtrack but we thought we'd share this first peek at what might be the next, great trend on App Store: interactive book illustrations.
Video shows CCP's incredible cloth and hair simulation
We've known for some time that CCP planned to use physics simulation to make the clothes in EVE Online's Incarna expansion and their upcoming World of Darkness MMO more realistic. They even gave a talk on using NVidia's APEX cloth simulation at the 2010 Game Developer's Conference. Until now, all we've seen are technical details and the occasional screenshot, which makes it hard to work out how the end product will look. NVidia have released a new video this week of CCP's cloth simulation in action, giving those of us that are interested a sneak peak at the incredibly impressive results. Although APEX cloth simulation will be introduced to EVE when Incarna is released, the video looks much more like something out of World of Darkness. As an added bonus, the system seems to simulate realistic hair and not just clothes. Hair in most MMOs has always been limited to shorter styles which would look alright without animation. The ability to simulate complex clothes and long hair styles make character customisation in World of Darkness and EVE's Incarna expansion look very promising. Skip past the cut to watch the video in HD. [Thanks for the tip, Patrick!]
Macworld 2010: A peek behind the show floor curtain
If you've never seen how a big show like Macworld is put together, you might not realize the massive effort that goes into building and setting up all those booths. There's power, networking, furniture, carpeting, a ton of boxes and paraphernalia and in some cases specialized construction that can take a couple of days to put together. I snapped a few pictures of the show floor today, including a few shots of the TUAW booth as we starting putting things together and put them in the gallery below. Until tomorrow, enjoy this sneak peek! Don't forget: if you're at the show, stop by booth #654 and say hello. We've got some stickers available (first come, first served) and some surprises in store... %Gallery-85188%
Sneak Peek: ColorSchemer Studio 2, pick your palette
As part of my trade, I work a lot with colors. ColorSchemer Studio has long been a valuable tool in my toolkit for picking out color schemes based on solid color theory. It had its shortcomings, though, and some other tools had surpassed it, both on the desktop and on the iPhone. However, I got a sneak peek at the up-and-coming version 2.0 of ColorSchemer Studio, and I'm willing to say that it's poised to regain its lead in the field. ColorSchemer Studio 2 adds an amazing number of new features, and improves on just about every aspect of the existing toolkit. Firstly, I want to highlight that it can now work entirely in the CMYK gamut, if you choose. Screen colors are adjusted to a CMYK profile, and there are export options to match. That's a big deal for those who take their colors off the screen and into the real world. Even though many modern presses can actually get better color from an RGB file, CMYK still rules in the world of offset printing. While it's a huge step for this app, it's not the coolest part ... read on for an in-depth preview.
Pegatron's Ubuntu-equipped netbook spotted in the wild
It's been a hot, hot minute since we've seen anything noteworthy from the lads and ladies over at Pegatron, so it's not shocking that we're super tantalized by the prospect of yet another netbook flooding the oversaturated market in the near term. All unnecessary snideness aside, the sub-$200 price point that's being floated about definitely has us interested, though the Ubuntu operating system is likely to fend off any non-adventurous would-be buyers. The machine was spotted at ARM's Connected Community Technical Symposium 2009 over in Taiwan, and while the actual internals remain a mystery, snoopers were told that it'll boast instant-on capabilities and a low power draw. Huzzah?
WWDC Demo (and sneak peek): SciFly 2, a dogfight app for your iPhone or iPod touch
I was shocked to discover the young author of SciFly (iTunes link) hadn't even graduated high school when he first started coding, and wrote the original game while in high school. Based on his success with the first version, he dropped out of high school and has dedicated himself to iPhone development. From what I saw of SciFly 2, it may pay off. The sequel is a massive expansion on the original, with every bit of it written by a young man who seemed to have a versatile skill set and a passion for mobile development. We'll post on Twitter and Facebook when the sequel is available on the store. You can also try a a Lite version of the original here (iTunes link).
Olidata Conte ultraportable finally shows itself, looks mighty good
My, my Olidata -- why on Earth have you been depriving our wandering eyes from this beauty for so long? After being originally introduced at CES, we've heard precisely nothing since... until now, obviously. At long last, the striking Conte ultraportable has found its way outside of the lab over in Italy, sporting an ultrathin frame, chiclet-style keyboard, a bezel that's a bit too wide for our tastes, an HDMI output and a price tag starting at just €799 ($1,129). From what we can gather, a few versions of the machine will be available, one of which sports an SU2700 CPU, 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, a 120GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, Bluetooth, WiFi and a multi-touch trackpad. Another variant is slated to include a Core Solo SU3500 CPU and a 120GB HDD, while yet another gets a Core 2 Duo SL9400 and a 128GB SSD. Peek the read link for a few more looks, including one of the most bizarre advertisements we've ever seen for a mere laptop.[Thanks, Andrea]
LG GC900 Viewty Smart gets coddled, previewed
After being officially unveiled (twice) for the European market last month, LG's GC900 Viewty Smart has finally arrived into the loving hands of those at GSMArena. The unit you see above is actually a pre-production unit, but it was baked enough to warrant a full-scale preview until review units start to ship. One of the biggest reveals was this line: "It's not a smartphone or anything, no matter how much we would have liked that; instead, it's a regular full touch feature phone, but one with a really polished UI and top-notch imaging capabilities." Critics spent a good bit of time checking out the still-novel 8MP camera, and while they were generally pleased with image quality and color, they weren't so stoked about the phone's ability to capture video. Overall though, they couldn't help but gush about the "gorgeous display" and "best-of-class user interface," which definitely leaves us even hungrier to wrap our own digits around a finalized unit.
Samsung's Android-powered I7500 caught in smudgy Russian wilds
Frankly, if we were forced to choose between smudgy and blurry, we'd take the former each day of the week. Russia's own Mobile-Review has somehow already managed to wrap its paws around one of the newly released Android-based I7500s, and while it's not really a drastic departure from Sammy's other smartphones of late, it's still worth a peek if you're suddenly in the market for one. Check the read link for the goods.[Via ForoAndroid]
Plantronics Voyager PRO gets purchased, unboxed early
Plantronics isn't planning to share intimate details about its Voyager PRO Bluetooth headset until April 23rd, but evidently its supply chain executives didn't exactly touch base with marketing before sending out stock to Best Buy. Jeff and John both managed to procure the $119.99 Bluetooth headset over the weekend, and we've got the shots to prove it. Based on the teaser site down in the read link, this here headset should be it's most advanced yet, but for a buck twenty, it better answer and respond to our calls without us having to intervene. Update: Plantronics pinged us to say the price point here should be $99. Interesting.[Thanks, Jeff and John]
