Since Google [GOOG] launched the Nexus One the company only gave online support which upset a few people. Yesterday the search company announced that phone support would now be made available for those who use the Google Phone.

This move comes after a month of the phone being first made available and allows phone users to call support if needed. The number to call is (888) 48NEXUS (63987) and lines are open from 4am to 7pm PST.

With a phone service now in place it will allow users to call for all technical issues along with shipping issues. It’s a big change from what Google normally does as the company generally use email, forums and populated FAQ sections to answer questions some of which aren’t the friendliest of places to get answers.

“By design, we focused initially on providing the best possible customer support through our on-line channel, and our experience in the four weeks since the Nexus One launch enabled us to significantly enhance that on-line support offering. We have been able to address a large majority of customers’ inquiries successfully through on-line support, in combination with phone support from our partners, HTC and T-Mobile,” a Google spokesperson said. “That said, our approach with our new consumer channel is to learn fast and continue to improve…Live phone support from Google, combined with an optimized on-line support experience, enables a superior Nexus One customer experience.”

By having online and phone support, Google now believe they have top notch support that caters for all users. It is unknown at the moment how Google will handle international calls when the Nexus One launches in areas such as Europe. Will they offer online support only to other countries? The other option is to divert all calls to the US or maybe they will open up country specific call centres. We’ll find out for sure when the phone arrives soon in the UK and other countries.

Via: CNET

Google Nexus One Phone Support Arrives

Apple [AAPL] have taken their store down (globally) which indicates they are updating with new products, changes to products or perhaps something not worth worrying about. What we do know about is Aperture 3 which was just published as a press release this morning. Other updates “might” include pricing for the UK iPad.

Apple Aperture 3

Aperture 3 is Apple’s photo editing software that has just received an update to version 3. The new version includes over 200 new features that includes Faces, Places and Brushes.

The software makes it easier to organise photo libraries. Other features include the ability to quickly edit pictures and give 1 click photo effects.

“Millions of people love using iPhoto to organize, edit and share their digital photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Aperture 3 is designed for both professionals who edit and manage massive libraries of photos and iPhoto users who want to take their photos further with easy-to-use tools such as Brushes and Adjustment Presets.”

When launched (which is today as soon as Apple re-open their store) Aperture 3 will cost $99 for the upgrade and $199 for the full version in the US. A trial can also be found online that lets you use the software for 30 days before having to register. The software is a 64-bit application that can run on Mac OS X Snow Leopard and requires a Core 2 Duo processor.

Via: PRNewsWire

Apple Store Goes Down – Updates Coming – Aperture 3

The Motorola DROID is about to get an update to the latest version of Android bringing the phone from version 2 to version 2.1. We expected this would happen eventually but it came as a surprise hearing that Motorola are actually going to release the update this week.

Other devices are also mentioned by Motorola to be getting an upgrade, although no specifics are given as to what phones these might be, or what the upgrade might be, hopefully that means other phones running Android from the company will also get an update to 2.1. What we don’t know is if 2.1 will be going to other phones just yet, or perhaps they are announcing 1.6 – 2.0 upgrades. We’ll keep an eye out this week and announce when we hear anything.

The news came from the official Motorola page found over on Facebook. If you want updates as they happen then head on over there and join the group.

Motorola DROID to get Android 2.1 Update This Week

Documents were leaked online for BlackBerry Internet Services 3.0 that show two-way sync to GMail is finally going to arrive on BlackBerry devices. What this will allow the smartphone to do is update GMail with items read and sync them in both directions.

Although it must be interesting for BlackBerry users to finally get this functionality, this has been available on most other smartphones for several years now and shows how far BlackBerry phones are behind on some of the protocols.

Although the update will be made available soon it will be up to the individual carriers to push it out to BlackBerry phones which means a number of users could be waiting longer than others.

Lets hope there’s more of this type of stuff around the corner for the company! Larger image below of the text where this was spotted.

Via: Rimarkable and Engadget

BlackBerry to get Two-Way Sync on GMail

The AV to USB video capture cable allows you to connect and stream video from various sources to your computer. Sources compatible include DVD players, camcorders, VHS player as well as video games systems. When playing content with the cable attached, the computer captures the video digitally and stores it on the hard drive allowing you to upload, email or keep an archive of your old content.

Reasons for using such a device could be to just clear out space used by old VHS cassettes that you might not want to keep anymore, but still want the content on them.

The device is called the K66 and works with any source that has an A/V or S-Video OUT port. Videos captured by the system can be saved in several formats that includes DVD, SVCD, VCD, MP4, AVI, PSP, MOV and DIVX.

K66 Features

* Easy setup and operation
* Record TV shows and movies
* Record video to HDD like TIVO
* For sports fans, movie buffs, gamers
* Includes everything you need to get started
* Save video to the most popular file formats
* Improve the quality of your old VHS or camcorder tape collection

Available now from ChinaVasion costing $9.72 each with a minimum order of 2.

Via: TechChee

AV to USB Video Capture Device

Canon have released details of their latest EOS Rebel camera called the Canon EOS T2i. The new T2i will become the higher spec model in the lower-cost digital SLR camera range.

On to the technical specs we see it has an 18 megapixel sensor with the ability to use 9-point autofocus and a 63 zone dual layering metering system similar to like the EOS 7D camera has.

On the back of the camera is a 3 inch LCD screen that has a smudge resistive coating and is capable of showing live-view images.

ISO on the EOS T2i ranges from 100 – 6400 and video on this camera can be captured in full HD 1080p at either 24, 25 or even 30 framers per second.

The camera will be priced at $799 for the body alone which is not bad at all considering how much technology they have crammed inside the body. For $899 you’ll get the standard 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 image stabilized kit lens.

The T2i certainly looks to be an amazing camera from what DVice have mentioned and makes you wonder what the higher end cameras will be including due to the lower end cameras quickly catching up.

Canon EOS T2i DSLR Specs

18-megapixel Digic 4 imager
3.7fps, burst rate of 34 jpegs, or 6 raw
ISO 100-6400, can extend to 12,800
9-point autofocus, adopted from 30D. Center point being high precision at 2.8
h.264 codec
In-camera editing
63-zone dual layering metering system
1080p/24 /25/ 30
720p at /50 /60
640×480 at 50 and 60
External mic input
Movie crop – only works in SD mode, still get full rez by zooming into center of frame
3-inch LCD 3:2 aspect, 1.04 million dots. Smudge-resistant, anti-reflection coating
HDMI with CEC compatibility (HDMI mini port), control image playback, index display, shooting info screen, image rotation, slide show and movie playback with TV remote control
SDHC memory card, SDXC compatibility
Sensors are similar to 7D, but T2i has 4-channel readout (7D has 8-channel)
63-zone metering (same as 7D), but adapter for 9 focusing points instead of the 7D’s 19
+5 or -5 for HDR shooting
CMOS sensor designed for T2i
Contours are like the 7D, chassis and body are polycarbonate like Ti1
Dedicated live view video movie
Accessories:
New battery and battery grip BGE-8
Remote control RC6: 2-second delay or instant
No release date announced yet.
$899 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 image-stabilized kit lens, $799 body only

Via: Geeky Gadgets

Canon EOS T2i Announced

Microsoft [MSFT] have cut the prices of Zune HD models recently bringing the touchscreen media player down in price to $190 for a 16GB model ($32 cheaper) and the larger 32GB model has dropped to $250 by about the same amount.

As well as Amazon dropping the prices, Microsoft have also dropped prices along with Walmart and a number of other retailers although Amazon seems to have the largest discounts at the moment.

It is unknown at the moment if this is just a temporary discount/promo or if Microsoft have permanently dropped the price of the Zune HD. According to Electronista MS only have about 2% share of the media player market versus the 70% or so of Apple’s [AAPL] share.

Microsoft Cuts Zune HD Prices

The Garmin nuvi 285W is on offer over at Amazon at the moment bringing the price from $249.99 right down to just $99.99 giving a 60% saving.

The nuvi 285W satnav device has a 4.3 inch widescreen that’s a touchscreen. Maps can be seen in detail in both 2D and 3D formats and street details are also complimented with over 6 million points of interest.

The 285W satnav also has text to speech allowing street names to be spoken by voice rather than the older way of turning left in X yards.

Bluetooth is included in this satnav along with a loud speaker and microphone allowing a mobile phone to be paired with the unit to use it as a hands free kit while driving in a car.

If you are looking for a decent navigation device then this particular model is at a very good price and well worth checking out. Full details found here.

Deal of the Day: Garmin nuvi 285W 4.3-Inch GPS Navigator

The LG Arena Max LU9400 has been leaked by a site over in Korea. The Arena Max has been spotted before clearing WiFi certification and this, as far as I am aware is the only other information available right now.

The phone appears to have a 3.5 inch screen that’s touchscreen. A step up from the original LG Arena shows this model to have a Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm that runs at 1GHz. For connectivity it has the usual WiFi and Bluetooth arrangement. GPS is also included on this phone allowing for location based services to be used as well as navigation if software permits.

The camera is capable of capturing images at 5 megapixels but the rest of the phone details are unknown at the moment. It is unclear if LG are using S-Class on this phone, or if they are going for WM6.5 with an S-Class interface over the top.

Also it is unknown where the phone is headed and what carriers. We should find out the details soon relating to launch, networks and pricing for the new LG Arena.

Via: SlashGear

LG Arena Max LU9400 Leaked

Google Translator is a very helpful service that allows you to put some text in one language and have it translated to another language. This can be done by either copying some words in to a box, or by translating a full webpage in to a different language. However, Google [GOOG] have some bigger goals in that they are now working on translating speech-to-speech, meaning that the service could arrive on a mobile phone in the near future.

When I say the near future, what I mean is it could take a few years to get to the stage where accuracy is good enough to use it as a service at a basic level. The system is broken in to two parts. The first listens to the voice speaking and works out what was said, secondly, good translation is needed to get the right message across to the other language on the other side of the call.

It’s certainly an interesting step forwards and one if they intend to do real-time translation of conversations across languages. Currently the Google Translate service can work with 52 different languages which is increasing over time. The hard part of getting speech to speech working is getting the computer to understand what was said due to different accents used.

More details over at The Times.

Google Translator Phone to Translate Languages Real-Time

Some leaked pictures of the HTC Incredible smartphone have appeared online that show off the Android 2.1 device running the HTC Sense UI.

The Incredible runs a Snapdragon CPU (we assume to be clocked at 1GHz) and has 256MB of RAM. The WVGA screen measures around 3.5 – 3.7 inches and from what the tipster says, the screen could be AMOLED due to how vibrant it is.

Towards the bottom of the device an optical mouse pointer can be found and around the back on the “different” orange coloured back plate a couple of LED flashes can be seen.

More details found in the comments of the pocket now site indicate that the a global release date for the smartphone might happen rather than the usual staggered launches we see around the globe. It is important to know that this is not “official” information although it came from a good source. Currently there is no known launch date for this phone.

Via: PocketNow

HTC Incredible Photos and Videos Spotted

ASUS have added a new Nettop to their lineup by introducing the ASUS EeeTop ET1610PT. The new EeeTop comes with a new Intel Atom D410 Pine Trail CPU along with 1/2GB of RAM and 160GB of storage on hard drive.

Two versions of the EeeTop model are being made available with one indicating a touchscreen and the other a regular screen (as denoted by the T at the end of the model name).

The ASUS ET1610 has a 15.6 inch screen that can display a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. Graphics power is provided by an Intel GMA X3150 graphics chipset.

The unit will be sold in two variations of black or white. The picture above shows another ET1600 range model and currently it is unknown what the new model looks like although it will be similar to what you see above.

Other features include wireless 802.11b/g/n along with a Gigabit Ethernet port. Six USB ports are included along with a 5 in 1 memory card reader and a 0.3 megapixel web cam.

The ET1610PT will run Windows XP when launched with the launch date in Europe expected to be in the next few days with the unit costing less than 400 Euros.

Via: Netbook Italia

ASUS EeeTop ET1610PT with Intel Atom D410 Announced

The Panasonic Lumix G1 has been removed, completely, from the Panasonic site in Canada. Also reports of the camera being completely out of stock in Japan are leading people to think that a Panasonic G2 could be just around the corner.

The Lumix G1 was the first micro four thirds camera launched that used a digital interchangeable lens and was launched back in November 2008 along with a few lenses that included a 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (28-90 mm equivalent) and a 45-200mm f/4-5.6 (90-400mm equivalent).

Although the camera isn’t necessarily that old, a good 15 or so months have passed since it’s launch and with new technologies being created all the time, it could be true that a Lumix G2 is on it’s way out, especially with PMA being held very soon.

As soon as we hear more on this rumour we’ll pass the details on.

Via: 43Rumors and UberGizmo

G1 Removed from Panasonic Site in Canada – G2 Coming Soon?

An image was posted on the ppcgeeks forum that shows the alleged date for the HTC HD2 to launch on the T-Mobile network in the US. The date shown on the image says we can expect the phone on March 24. No other information on the HD2 is provided other than it being Windows mobile based.

From what we learned recently, it seems like the HTC HD2 might come with some extra RAM and ROM which some say could be a preparation for Windows Mobile 7 although other hidden memory was recently found on other versions of the phone. It will be interesting to see if the T-Mobile version of the HD2 is the same as others when launched.

Back to the image, we also see several other phones that are due to launch in the coming months which includes the Moto Cliq XT (also known as the Zeppelin), the Nokia Nuron and Samsung Gravity 2 as well as others.

One thing to note is that the image shown above (and larger below) hasn’t come from an official source although there doesn’t seem to be too much out of line from what we have heard in rumours before, so perhaps we can expect the HD2 towards the end of March.

Via: tmonews

HTC HD2 Arrives March 24 on T-Mobile

If you’re a World of Warcraft fan then you might want to check out the World of Warcraft competition running on our friends site Zath.co.uk.

The competition ends this weekend, so get yourself over there now if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of the many WoW prizes on offer. Entry is quite simple too in that you just need to leave a comment, tweet or join the Zath facebook group. Good luck!

World of Warcraft Competition