Well, instead of digging through your inbox or your notes, or more embarrassingly, calling up the potential employer and asking for the address again, Google will do the remembering for you. And don’t worry – you don’t even need to have the presence of mind to save it or “star” it or anything like that. The search giant caches the data to your Google account so even if you access it on your work computer and need to look it back up on your home PC, you’re good to go.

And if you’re the kind of Googler who customizes your maps with alternate directions (let’s say you’re like my best friend who refuses to go on toll roads), all that info is stored as well. It’s the little thing that make everyone happy, right? This update may not be as big as when Google added Street View, but it’s nice to always be on the road to optimization.

[via VentureBeat]

This build is also completely unofficial, so don’t expect a full build any time soon, especially not from the folks at Valve (the developers of the Portal series.) Having literally just played the first dozen levels of Portal 2 again earlier this week, I must say – this does look rather exciting. Should these rogue developers be able to produce the Portal series in its entirety, Android might just become home to a whole new breed of PC game lovers.

This game has been ported on Unity Engine and give a quick hands-on video here courtesy of the folks who plan on bringing GLaDOS to us via the mobile environment anew. You can find the pre-developed apk file for this game in the same forum post the video originated in, but I and we warn you: take caution. There’s no telling whether this build will do good or evil to your device. Instead it’d be best to wait for a further build down the line, much safer that way.

[via DroidGamers]

Cook drew the same kind of conclusion that any casual observer could have – although the iPad was the first device of its kind to the market, it came fully backed with all kinds of support and content from the products that preceded it. “The reason the iPad’s ramp has been so large in my view is that the iPad has stood on the shoulders of everything that came before it — the iTunes store, the iPhone,” Cook said during his speech.

Today’s event has been one of the biggest tests for Cook since he took over Jobs as Apple CEO last year. He has yet to truly demonstrate his showmanship, but today he has managed to make headlines about his firm stance against unsanitary and unsafe work conditions overseas, and his ability to make the numbers dance just like his predecessor did. The iPad continues to grow and thrive, and more importantly, to innovate. The iPad 3 will be a real test of whether that level of innovation can continue.

When the final question was laid down Apple today it was regarding Cook and his position in the company: “As CEO you’ve stated that you want to focus on preserving Apple’s culture, Apple’s strategy. When you look back at CEO changes historically – every CEO leaves their mark on a company’s strategy and on their culture. Can you walk us through, in your opinion, what you’re really determined to maintain?” Cook’s answer was more than just an talk on his position in the company, but of his company’s position in the world:

“Well I think the most important part of that question is that second part. Apple is this unique company – unique culture that you can’t replicate. And I’m not going to witness or permit the slow undoing of it because I believe in it so deeply. Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great products, and that we should stay extremely focused on a few things, rather than try to do so many that we did nothing well. And that we should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society – not just sell a lot of products.

And so, you know, these things along with keeping excellence as an expectation of everything in Apple. These are the things that I focus on – because I think those are the things that make Apple this really magical place that really smart people want to work in and sort of do… not just their life’s work, but their life’s best work.

There’s no better thrill than to look out at an audience – I can’t see anything because of these lights – but look at the audience and see people using iPhones, or go to the gym and see people using iPods, or go to Starbucks and see people using iPads.

These are the things that bring a smile to me face.

There’s no replacement or no substitute for that. And so we’re always focused on the future. We don’t sit and think about how great things were yesterday. I love that trait because I think it’s the thing that drives us all forward. Those are the things I’m holding on to. It’s a privilege to be a part of it.” – Tim Cook

Sound like the man you’d like running your largest technology company on earth? It seems as though Apple is in good hands with Tim Cook.

Last year, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was quoted as saying that HBO’s on-demand video service HBO GO was “the competitor we fear most.” The new comedy series, titled Orange is the New Black, centers around the story of a communications executive who has a sordid history with drugs. The initial order is for 13 episodes of the off-color comedy.

In addition to this latest show, Netflix has also managed to score exclusivity for shows like House of Cards, Lilyhammer, and new episodes of the cult hit Arrested Development. After it experienced its first-ever net subscriber loss last year, Netflix has nearly recouped the number of users that were effectively purged after it raised prices and created unnecessary confusion.

[via Bloomberg]

Apple does have an Apple TV box at the moment and there are rumors that there will be some sort of iTV in the future, but it’s become apparent especially today that Apple does not have the same amount of power pushing into the smart TV world as they do the mobile and desktop world – it only stands to reason, of course. As Cook noted today:

“Apple doesn’t do hobbies as a general rule. I can’t live without [my Apple TV] – we’ve always though there was something there, and that if we kept following our intuiting and kept pulling that string, we might find something larger. … Something that could go more main market for it to be a serious category.” – Cook

Does this mean we’re going to continue seeing string pulling through 2012? You can bet on it. Will the iTV be revealed inside the next few months? That’s much more up to debate than the idea that Apple will stay in the smart TV business.

This talk covers many topics we’ve been speaking about over the past few weeks, namely the first and foremost on many people’s minds: what will Apple do about the suggestions that they’ve got bad working conditions in supplier plants around the world? This of course was the first thing answered by Cook as he started the conference, assuring the world that it was no small subject for Apple and that they’d be taking measures above and beyond the call of duty.

Have a peek at the feed right now at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/conference/ and listen along with us as we continue to report the news from within. Do you think Cook will reveal any information on the upcoming iPad release? We’re guessing no – but there’s always great things to be heard when Tim Cook is speaking – listen in!

Tim Cook spoke of how he has “spent a lot of time in factories personally, and not just as an executive,” noting that Apple does and always has taken its working conditions “very, very seriously.” Be it in Europe, Asia, or the United States, “we care about every worker” said Cook, continuing on that “in terms of problems we’re working to fix, you can read the details on our website, but I can tell you that no one in our industry is doing more to improving working conditions than Apple.” Cook is speaking of the Apple Supplier Responsibility website they’ve set up very recently in response to talks that they’d not been paying enough attention to their suppliers’ means of supplying.

Cook then launched into a few examples of how Apple is attacking the suggested problems they’ve been having at their supplier locations:

“We think the use of underage labor is abhorrent. It’s extremely rare in our supply chain, but our top priority is to eliminate it totally. We’ve done that with our final assembly and are working on down the supply chain. If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor it’s a firing offense. We don’t let anyone cut corners on safety. There’s a production process that can be made safer, we seek out the foremost authorities, foremost experts, and cut out a new standard, and take that and apply it to the supply chain. We focus on the details. If there’s a fire extinguisher missing from the cafeteria, then that facility doesn’t pass inspection until that fire extinguisher is in place.

Continuing to focusing on the problems endemic to our industry like excessive overtime. Our code of conduct has a cap of 60 hours per work week, but we’ve consistently found violations to this code over the course of our time. So the beginning of this year, we announced that we’re determined to drive widespread change and we’ve begun to manage working hours at a very micro basis. An example, in January, we collected weekly data on over a half million workers in our supply chain, and we had 84 percent compliant. This is significantly improved from the past, but we can do better. And we’re taking the unprecedented step of reporting this monthly on our website so that it’s transparent to everyone what we’re doing. As you probably know, the Fair Labor Association began a major audit at our request. We started working with the FLA … and just in January, we were the first tech company ever admitted to their association. The audit they’re conducting is probably the most detailed factory audit in the history of mass… in scale, in scope, and in transparency, and I am looking forward to seeing the results.” – Cook

Apple is wasting no time making sure the world knows that they’re not a company that accepts the failure to be fair and give fair working conditions to their workers, be it here in the United States or abroad. Tim Cook himself making these announcements speaks to the weight that the entire situation has for both Apple and the tech world at large.

“We know that people have a very high expectation of Apple. We have an even higher expectation of ourselves. Our customers expect us to lead and we will continue to do so. We have the smartest and most innovative people on earth, and we put the same kind of effort and energy into supply responsibility as we do with our new product. That is what Apple is all about.” – Cook

[via The Verge]

The robot, named after Canadian female hockey star Jennifer Botterill, was developed at the University of Manitoba, and will be in a robotic competition in St. Paul, Minnesota later this year. Hockey is well known for being a full contact sport, but in a world where we expect to see robots duking it out in battles to the death, this seems pretty tame in comparison. In fact, it might even make people outside of Canada somewhat interested in hockey. Maybe.

This isn’t the first time university researchers in Canada have created a hockey-playing robot. In fact, just last year a similar creation was developed at the University of Waterloo. That robot was able to make slapshots at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour. I wouldn’t want to be the goalie defending against that monstrosity. The real question is when we’ll start watching robots instead of humans on ESPN, Jetsons-style. Hopefully it won’t be too long from now.

[via Yahoo Sports]

This update will allow you to upload your photos to your Google+ account (then accessible through any other web browser or Google+ app, of course) and asks you how you’d like this to be accomplished. The options are through Wifi or your 3G connection, through Wifi only, or not at all. If you’re not one of the few left on the planet with unlimited data, we’d suggest the Wifi option, as this function can rip your data bills to shreds. After that it’s all automatic – to a degree.

Again the iPhone version of this app does not quite have the power that the Android version does in that you’ve got to have it open on your display to have the instant uploads occur. There’s no background action here. It’s not because it’s impossible, either – as we saw yesterday with an app that has a very similar function but does it all without being open. There are also a few other changes having been made to the app in the interim, but they’re barely worth a mention in the face of the Instant Upload update.

Grab the application from the iTunes App Store now for free!

[via Anton Lopyrev]

Perhaps it sounds ridiculous at first glance, but believe it or not, 10% of them said playing the game “has led directly to a hookup.” Meanwhile nearly half say they have a crush on at least one of their friends that they’re playing against. Is Words With Friends really an aphrodisiac, though, or is it just more likely that people who connect with one another on a social game are going to have a spark from the outset?

To answer that question, Zynga asked players if they would be more willing to hook up with someone after finding out they’re good at Words With Friends. 38% said yes. Moreover, 24% said that they’ve met someone outside of Words With Friends, and instead of exchanging phone numbers they exchanged WWF usernames. And finally, 40% said they would date someone they met through Words With Friends. In other words, although LOVE may only be worth 9 points in a game of Words With Friends, it’s worth a lot more outside of the game.

[via VentureBeat]

This device showed up at the FCC just this past week and has been revealed by Sapphire today, it coming complete with an AMD E-450 dual-core processor and Radeon HD 6320 graphics to keep you warm at night. This computer has the ability to support 4GB of RAM, has its own 2.5-inch hard drive bay with support for up to a massive 500 GB of hard disk space. Inside you’ll get Edge-HD3 or FreeDOS software out of the box, but you’ll be able to load Windows 7 or any other comparable operating system on command.

This unit measures in at 7.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches and weighs in at less than 1.2 pounds. You’ve also got Wi-fi, Ethernet, VGA port, HDMI port, and audio ports. You’ve also got 2 USB 2.0 ports as well as 2 USB 3.0 ports to keep you as connected as you’re ever going to want to be. It’s a love festival in a package that can fit in your giant pocket! Take a peek at the older models at the Sapphire site and see how they compare. Pricing and release date have not yet been released for this newest HD3 model – can’t wait!

[via Liliputing]

The problem, which existed on PS3 only, was attributed to a glitch in the way save files were created and caused them to grow into uncontrollable sizes that prevented the game from running properly. The issue has recently been fixed with a patch, and now Bethesda is clinging to brighter news. Even games like Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, or the new Uncharted game were not as successful as Skyrim.

The Elder Scrolls series has long been regarded as one of the most masterful and brilliantly designed game franchises in the current generation, but its reach had previously been very niche in scope. Apparently that has changed. Within its first month, more than 10 million copies of the game had been shipped, spanning the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. On the PC, it became digital distribution platform Steam’s fastes-selling game ever.

[via Eurogamer]

The tip comes in through TechRadar who have an exclusive on the details behind this mystery device. What they’re hearing is that the Windows Phone platform will be getting its least expensive entry yet with the Lumia 610, it looking to be a pay as you go device, costing just under 200 pounds in the UK with carrier O2. Is £199.99 on PAYG with O2 enough to make you switch from an Android or an iPhone? Probably not – but how about switching from a feature phone?

This is likely Nokia’s thought process in making such an inexpensive entry into their already decently-popular line of Lumia devices. Have a peek in our timeline below to see our reviews of Windows Phones created by Nokia in full reviews. Then head to our [MWC 2012] portal to stick with us through Mobile World Congress 2012 to get the full scoop from Nokia as they let is all out in the open!

[via TechRadar]

The widespread and long-lasting intrusion was exposed by the Wall Street Journal, which received information from former Nortel employee Brian Shields. According to the report, the hackers have been gaining access to sensitive information – technical papers, R&D report, employee e-mails, and business plans – since the year 2000. Nortel did not return the publication’s request for comments.

When the intrusion was finally noticed, the executives changed their passwords and an investigation was launched, but it seems like little was done to fully track down the source of the problem. It would after all be very difficult to trace down the evidence to a single individual or group. It’s unclear what damage, implicit or otherwise, might have occurred from these 10 long years of data leaks.

[via PC Mag]

While there are ways to get around this brand new “SetActivationToken”, the bigger issue is what we want to talk about: why does everyone want Siri so badly? There are a hundred alternatives to Siri on the iTunes App Store alone, not to mention the large line of Android-based solutions outside the original Siri that can be used completely without cost. Is it that Siri is limited to one device, the idea that its a challenge to get her on your side – is that what the driving force here really is?

To use Siri outside the iPhone 4S, you’ve got to jailbreak your Apple device and port Siri in one way or another using a series of hacks. Once you’ve got Siri, you’re still using the Apple-held set of servers that is the brain of Siri accessed via the web. Why Apple would circumvent this convoluted process with an easy-to-bypass token such as the one we’re seeing here is clear: it’s a token to allow in the iPad 3, not to block you out. Just because it does one thing now doesn’t mean it’s not a part of a bigger set of components in the near future.

Get ready for a Siri-laden iPad 3, folks, more than likely coming at the start of March!

[via Cult of Mac]

These toys have been sweeping the Android fan lines for over a year now, with the second set having been released right after Mobile World Congress 2011. Now we’ve got this unlimited set for all you wanters of an Android but no big need to have the super secrecy in which design you’re going to grab. This set will have more than seven unique paint jobs for you to choose from, each of them simply cute.

This edition will be available in stores such as Urban Outfitters starting this week, and will be arriving in FYE and Barnes & Noble stores starting later this month. This line was produced for North American retailers but may well find its way to Europe as well. Maybe we’ll see some more boxes in Spain when we get there at the end of this month! Have a peek at some example droids above and below, and be on the lookout at your local retailer soon!

This camera is ultra powerful at 22 megapixels, 61pt AF, and having the ability to capture 6.9fps. If these specs remain true, we could be looking at a replacement for the 7D. Shipping for this unit will likely be taking place in late March or early April. This camera does not trump the Nikon 36mp D800, so it seemed important for the man Masaya Maeda of Canon to destroy rumors that Canon was falling beyond recently:

“Regarding how Canon responds to the competition from Nikon’s D800 and the concern of the successor of 5D Mark II, Maeda indicates that although he cannot leak information about un-announced product, the way Canon develops new product is to satisfy the needs of professional photographers. For instance, the introduction of EOS-1D X is to satisfy professional photographers to photoshoot sports events like the Olympics, in terms of their requirement of high FPS and high image quality under high ISO settings. If Canon thinks the market wants the high resolution models such as the 30+ MP of Nikon’s D800, they can easily develop such products…” – Maeda

This quote comes from Canon Rumors where they’ve also got a tip that the 5D Mark II could remain “current” enough to gain additional hardware and attention from Canon even when the III is out and about. This would be great news for owners of the 5D Mark II and those who still want to pick one up now that the price will inevitably go down. Seeya then!

[via Canon Rumors]

Getting a high-performance machine into the size of a large consumer all-in-one is impressive in and of itself, but the really amazing thing about the Z1 line is that it retains the same level of access to the internals as a full-sized machine. The display slides down to a 180-degree view, at which point the top panel with the LCD pops up. From there you’ve got access to all the major components: storage, processor, memory, graphics cards, etc. and it all uses HP’s tool-less swapping system.

All the components are full desktop parts, not laptop silicon like consumer-grade all in ones. Since the Z1 is designed with high-end work in mind, expect hardware to range from just powerful to monstrous. Intel Core and Xeon processors are available, as are the fastest traditional hard drives and SSDs. Intel integrated graphics are standard on the low end, but you can configure the Z1 with an Nvidia Quadro up to the Q400M. There’s also a full-sized PCI-e 16x slot on the motherboard. DVD-RW is standard, with Blu-ray reader and writer options set to be included as well. 4 DIMM slots max out a 32GBs of DDR3 memory. The power adapter is just 400 watts, which helps with the size, but may limit upgrades.

As far as the exterior goes, HP has put a lot of thought into designing a machine that meets workstation requirements without compromising on space. Most of the pedestrian connections run along the right side, including USB 3.0, Firewire, a card reader and standard audio. The back holds the more juicy stuff, including the various audio out (including subwoofer) Display Port and high-speed data transfers. Permanent USB fixtures (like a license key) can be mounted to the inside. The screen itself is impressive, a 27-inch 2560×1440 IPS display that’s thin enough to flip up to access the interior. The back of the screen can be removed from the stand and mounted on a standard VESA mount – the idea of a workstation that can be treated as a high-end monitor for space and power requirements is downright shocking.

This is the sort of hardware that makes a performance junkie drool, even if most home users never get to see it. Graphic designers, video editors and 3D modelers, start saving your pennies now: the HP Z1 Workstation will be available in April starting at $1899 USD.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be asking you to submit your ideas on one of several different social networks in order for the whole world to advance in the world of tiny computing. It’s one big brainstorming session for the WIMM One Android-based platform device, and you’re invited. For this first week’s session, we simply ask that you do the following:

1. “like” us on Facebook: /SlashGear
2. Leave a comment in this thread with your idea for a Micro App the WIMM would work great with in the future.
3. We’ll pick a set of our favorites and select a random winner every 24 hours starting on the 14th of February!

It’s just that simple! You may only submit ONCE, and only ONE idea of yours will be considered for the random pull if it’s good enough to get into the hat in the first place!

Development tools (SDK) are available to registered WIMM developers. Sign up here.

Get out your thinking caps and get to it!

Here’s the full rules as well, if you’re wondering about all the legalities of the situation:

Giveaway begins February 14, 12:01AM PST, and ends February 24, 12:01AM PST barring any complications finding winners. A winner will be announced every 24 hours here in the main news feed and at our official Facebook page.

WINNERS will be given the opportunity to submit a review of their WIMM One unit and have it posted on the front page of SlashGear or AndroidCommunity.com! *Reviews may be edited or modified before publication and are considered works for hire under the 1976 Copyright Act. Submissions will be ineligible for payment or remuneration.

Competition is open to residents of the US over the age of 18. One entry per giveaway per person. Family members of Google and SlashGear/Android Community are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified SlashGear Facebook page; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized.

The winners will be contacted by a SlashGear or Android Community staff member upon being selected and will be expected to respond to that staff member; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected. Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winner agrees that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to, WIMM, SlashGear, and Android Community.

Prize consists of 10 WIMM One developer units to be given out over the 10 days between February 14th and February 24th. One prize per winner. There is no cash alternative or any other alternative for prize winners unless this prize should become unavailable, in which case SlashGear and WIMM reserve the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value.

Giveaway provided by SlashGear/Android Community. Prizes provided by WIMM. Any questions regarding this giveaway should be directed to Giveaway@SlashGear.com

This version of the game is made to work in your home for multiplayer, sure, but where it really explodes is its online play where you’ll get to rock out one of your four teams that correlate with one of the classic characters from the series: Sweet Tooth (The Clowns), Dollface (The Dolls), Mr. Grimm (The Skulls) and the Preacher (The Holy Men). Not only are you encouraged to play epic battles on the PlayStation Network, you’ve got several modes of play including the brand new terror known as Nuke Mode.

In Nuke Mode your goal is to take your opponent’s team leader hostage, sacrifice them to your missile launcher, and knock out a piece of your enemy’s giant metal statue. The metal statue your opponent has is being held high by a helicopter. How all of this makes any sense in the real world, we do not know – but it seems entertaining! This newest version of the game also contains a whole new set of vehicles including Death Warrant (aka a Ford Mustang), a Roadboat (one gigantic beast of a vehicle indeed), Vermin (for capturing your mice friends,) and the ever classic Sweet Tooth ice cream truck.

Again this game is out right now and you should pick it up as soon as possible – then watch out for us, because we’ll be crushing!

Hardware

Porsche Design starts as it means to go on, with an oversized box first presenting the P’9981 and its desk-stand in one dense foam layer, before revealing different chargers for near-global use, USB cable and headphones, various documentation and your exclusive technical support card, complete with PIN, to access freephone assistance. It’s not quite Vertu’s Concierge, mind; the team will help you set up your P’9981 and figure out its quirks, but not book you theater tickets.

The smartphone itself is certainly distinctive. RIM basically handed over the key parts of its Bold 9900 flagship, and Porsche Design dressed them up in a Dynasty-era suit, shoulderpads and all. It’s a resolutely aggressive, blunt design, all sharp edges and squared-off corners, with plenty of metal and metal-effect plastic, and it’s heavy too, feeling twice its actual 155g weight in the hand.

Porsche Design itself gets top billing, its name engraved into the brushed stainless-steel bar above the display; RIM’s BlackBerry logo is relegated to just below the earpiece, above the 2.8-inch 640 x 480 touchscreen. The display is bright and crisp, though lacks the color saturation of an AMOLED, while the touch response is good. The metal bar continues around the edge of the P’9981 – though with a polished mirror finish, rather than brushed – though the keyboard itself is plastic.

Porsche Design P’9981 hands-on:

BlackBerry devices are famed for their keyboards, in fact you could construct a reasonable argument that it’s QWERTY text-entry that has kept the company afloat the past few years. Porsche Design does away with the 9900′s ‘board – one, we decided, of the best on the market – and replaces it with a heavily-stylized version with pronounced ridges. It’s not a bad keyboard – the spacing is good, as it spreads across the entire 67mm width of the phone, and the keys are clicky and responsive – but it’s definitely a step back from what the donor BlackBerry offers.

It’s also unevenly illuminated, with the backlighting focused in two patches that leave the center column of letters dimmer than the rest. No great functional issue, and you can still see them in low-light conditions, but it’s a noticeable flaw and one – since the backlighting is often active when the P’9981 is docked in its charger-cradle – you’re presented with all the time.

Sandwiched in-between the keyboard and the touchscreen is the usual row of call, menu and navigation buttons. They’re large and plasticky, and rock somewhat unnervingly under your finger. In their midst is the optical trackpad, which doubles as a select button, and is swiftly responsive. The left edge of the phone offers the 3.5mm headphones socket and a microUSB port, while the right has volume keys flanking a mute button (that doubles as a play/pause button in the media app) and a camera shortcut (that can be reprogrammed). On the top there’s a lock button.

If the front of the P’9981 is Terminator sturdy, the back is oddly unreassuring. An ingot of metal bears the 5-megapixel camera – which supports 720p but uses EDoF fixed-focus rather than auto-focus – and single LED flash, but the rest is a plastic panel that, despite being covered with leather, feels unduly cheap in comparison to the rest of the phone. There’s a little flex around the camera section, and the panel itself doesn’t click reassuringly into place as we might’ve hoped.

Peel it off, and you can see the antenna stuck to the back – connected with two discrete pins just above the Porsche Design branded 1,230 mAh battery – as well as the microSD card slot to augment the 8GB of internal memory. You’ll need to pull out the battery to swap the SIM card. This European unit has dualband 3G/UMTS (for up to 14.4 Mbps downloads and up to 5.76 Mbps uploads, network depending), quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFI a/b/g/n (with 2.4/5GHz support), Bluetooth and NFC, along with GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and twin microphones for noise cancellation. Like the Bold 9900, the Porsche Design P’9981 runs BlackBerry 7 on a single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 1.2GHz processor, paired with 768MB of RAM.

Software

RIM has hung its long-term hopes on BlackBerry 10, the QNX-based OS for phones and tablets expected to debut by the end of this year. Unfortunately, that leaves the P’9981 running BlackBerry 7, just as on the Bold 9900, and it’s a platform that’s seriously showing its age compared to iOS and Android.

Porsche Design, as the name might predict, makes no modifications to the software itself beyond an ill-advised icon redesign. The paired down iconography is certainly in keeping with the rest of the P’9981, but it also leaves app menus confusing: you have to make a conscious effort to tell the difference between each icon. It’s something you’ll no doubt get more adroit at handling, the longer you live with the handset, or indeed you can change the skin altogether.

Beyond that, our primary frustration with BlackBerry 7 is its general sense of being a patchwork platform: some aspects feel relatively fresh, but other areas feel like they’ve been dragged over from RIM’s OS several years back. The text-based elements of the UI are generally the swiftest but also the points that feel most dated in comparison to rival software; in contrast, BlackBerry App World is sluggish and the BlackBerry Maps app is a lesson in frustration compared to Google Maps or Nokia Maps.

RIM has worked hard on the internet experience in BlackBerry 7, and it’s certainly improved from earlier iterations. You still get a throwback mouse cursor, though we came to appreciate it more after finding how much finger-navigation obscures the touchscreen. Pinch-zooming in the browser works, but that compact display also makes it feel clumsy.

As always, the email experience is the primary reason for using a BlackBerry, though it’s at its best if you’re an enterprise customer with a BlackBerry Exchange Server. If you’re on the Gmail train then you’ll have to use IMAP – Google discontinued its Gmail for BlackBerry app late last year – though there’s the Enhanced Google Mail Plug-in from RIM itself that adds spam and archive support, integrates Gmail inbox searches with BlackBerry 7′s universal search, and imports your contacts. Still, the best Gmail experience continues to be on Android in our opinion, with iOS following behind that.

We’ve covered BlackBerry 7 more in our Bold 9900 review, but the long and short of it is that the OS feels dated and is well overdue a replacement. BlackBerry 10 can’t come soon enough.

Camera

5-megapixels is midrange but acceptable for a smartphone, particularly one with business aspirations like the P’9981, but the fixed-focus is a disappointment. Not a surprising one – the Bold 9900 used EDoF after all – but still another black mark against the Porsche phone.

It means you’re limited in how close you can get with your macro shots, and in general images lack crispness in comparison to auto-focus cameras. Color balance is solid, and there’s a nice amount of detail in shots from the P’9981, but unlike, say, the iPhone 4S or Galaxy S II, you wouldn’t want to rely on the BlackBerry for all of your photography needs.

As for video, 720p is your high-definition maximum but the ensuing clips are good. Colors are accurate, if a little muted, and the digital image stabilization is neither ineffectual nor over-aggressive and helps smooth out a shaky hand. We found the sheer heft of the P’9981 also helped on that front too. Recorded clips can be sent via Bluetooth or WhatsApp, or uploaded to YouTube, though not emailed directly from the camcorder app.

Porsche Design P’9981 720p HD Video Sample:

Phone and Battery

Just behind email performance in the Big BlackBerry Book of Achievements is traditionally voice call quality and battery life: on this, the P’9981 drops one of the balls. Calling quality is great, with a loud earpiece and speaker for hands-free use, crisp – but not overly-processed – background noise reduction, and tenacious grip on a mobile signal. We also like how both your mobile network and current WiFi SSID are shown in the status bar.

Unfortunately, whereas at one time BlackBerry devices could be expected to run for days, the P’9981 follows in the Bold 9900′s metaphorical footsteps and tarnishes the family tradition. The 1,230 mAh battery may be Porsche Design branded but it’s otherwise exactly the same powerpack as the 9900 uses, and it’s simply not up to the challenge of the 1.2GHz processor.

RIM does its best to hide that fact, underclocking the chip most of the time so that you’re running on a fraction of those cycles, but step beyond simple email and you’ll find calls, web browsing, photography and third-party apps all take their toll. Left to its own devices and the P’9981 will run for a couple of days, even with email updating in the background, but actually use it as you might a rival smartphone and you’ll struggle to finish a day. The desk charger cradle does at least make topping up the juice more straightforward.

Wrap-Up

It’s hard to imagine the Porsche Design P’9981 convincing the everyman: its severe styling is too divisive, BlackBerry 7 OS questionable, and general specifications uncompetitive in places. Then again, the everyman isn’t the limited edition BlackBerry’s target audience. Like Vertu and “luxury” editions of other manufacturers’ phones, the appeal of the P’9981 is more about who hasn’t got it than who wants it.

$2,350 is a ridiculous amount of money for a smartphone. A quarter of that gets you an iPhone 4S or a Galaxy Nexus, either of which outclass the P’9981 on functionality, usability and – many would argue – style. However, just as Porsche Design borrowed the Dynasty shoulderpads, the P’9981 is the cellular equivalent of Alexis Carrington: brash and unforgivingly blunt, an unapologetic backhanded slap to the face of anybody who thinks their mainstream handset makes them special.

The rest of us will continue to buy iPhones, and Android phones, perhaps even some Windows Phones, and wait to see whether RIM can relaunch itself in Q4 with BlackBerry 10. The biggest problem with the P’9981 isn’t its love-it-or-hate-it design, or its mediocre camera, or even its insane price tag: it’s the fact that it highlights just how tired BlackBerry 7 is. In the end, even $2,350-worth of metal and leather and Porsche branding can’t hide that.

As you’ll see in the video below, the folks at ETRONIKA presented their most updated version of their software and hardware combination at the event known as Finovate Europe 2012. This event took place in London and showed the world what it meant to have their application mirror human identification by using the users face and voice, having them speak to the Kinect and look into the camera. This application and environment may well be the way to your banking future!

Once inside the application, after face and voice recognition has taken place and you’re logged in to the bank you’re working with, you’ve got full gesture recognition as well. If a user steps away from the screen and leaves the Kinect sensor area, their session is immediately ended. If a user wants to make a cash transaction, they’ve got to use their phone to enter a PIN number to give double assurance that there’s no foul play.

Have a peek at the photos and video above and below and get ready for a simplified experience with your Kinect-laden computer!

The folks at Huawei are promising to show off their Ascend D1 Q and a brand new 10-inch MediaPad at Mobile World Congress 2012. Apple supplier Pegatron is wondering when their inspection will be announced while iPad import and export has been axed in China via call from Proview. NASA have announced the end of their favorite and very last IBM Z9 mainframe. We took a peek at QuickShot for iPhone 4S.

We’ve finally got Angry Birds on Facebook – finally, finally at long last. There is now such a thing as an OLED inkjet printhead thanks to Konica Minolta. The folks at ACER will be busting their A510 tablet out in March in Europe. HP’s open webOS browser has been released with big downloads in the wings: 40k Enyo downloads to-date.

The EC’s concerns are more general, having been satisfied that it was not in Google’s best interest to limit Android to solely Motorola. “Upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues” competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement. ”Of course, the Commission will continue to keep a close eye on the behavior of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents.”

“In light of the importance of this industry to consumers and the complex issues raised by the intersection of the intellectual property rights and antitrust law at issue here, as well as uncertainty as to the exercise of the acquired rights, the division continues to monitor the use of SEPs in the wireless device industry, particularly in the smartphone and computer tablet markets. The division will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP rights” Department of Justice Antitrust Division

Last month, the EC announced that it was investigating Samsung over claims of antitrust behavior around its use of 3G/UMTS patents and licensing thereof. The Korean company had attempted to use those wireless patents in litigation against Apple, with Apple firing back that its rival was demanding unfair terms for the use of the technology.

As for consumers, meanwhile, there remain questions around how the deal will impact Google’s Nexus program and software on future Motorola devices. For Android OEMs, despite Google’s Andy Rubin saying the Nexus partnerships are still up for grabs for any company, not just Motorola, it’s unclear how much internal support the Android software team will give its newly-acquired hardware division.

Five multi-coated glass elements, in four groups, are sandwiched inside, with a dial on the front used to adjust the aperture. Lensbaby is positioning the new model for portrait photographers as well as those wanting tilt-shift style shots; there’s a simulator here which can mimic the sort of effects it’s capable of.

Close ups of 17-inches are supported, and because the Edge 80 mounts on Lensbaby’s existing lens bodies it’s overall a cheaper way of outfitting your camera bag with kit; assuming, of course, that you want more than one single effect. The lens bodies themselves start at $150 for the Muse.

Other elements of the campaign include sponsored Twitter messages, online and real-world adverts and radio ads on the Howard Stern show, along with a commercial filmed in Buenos Aires. One theme Sony is particularly keen to push is the relatively seamless integration of gameplay between the PS Vita and the PS3, with the advert storyline showing how one gamer picks up the same title on the portable that he began playing on the home console.

The challenge, though, will be avoiding the same fate that befell the Vita in Japan. Despite having initially sold out in preorders, sales subsequently dived and retailers cut pricing in response. The decline was blamed in part on a shortage of solid early titles, something Sony had even said it would avoid being an issue back in December.

Even before the PS Vita arrives on the US market, set for February 22, some are already predicting that it will be the last of Sony’s dedicated portables. Even Sony might have quietly come to the same conclusion; the PS Vita OS itself is tipped to show up on future Sony smartphones as the company pulls together its future mobile strategy.

“Isis Browser is a core application of HP’s webOS platform written using the Enyo framework. As of today, it is a work in progress aiming to incorporate the latest open source technologies, such as QtWebKit and JavaScriptCore, into the webOS platform. The source code of the Isis Browser stack, QtWebKit, and Qt 4.8 is available on GitHub where we will continue our development” Isis Project

Isis is based on the QtWebKit engine, itself released into open-source by Nokia, and the webOS teams have apparently been working some time to bring the platform over to it. The promise is boosted performance and broader compatibility with sites in general; however, there’ll also be “enhanced support” for legacy products, including Flash.

“We’ve benchmarked the new Isis webOS browser and have found it to be extremely responsive compared to other browsers made for general consumption. It has a fast render pipeline and JavaScript execution profile, which is critical to Enyo and other web technologies. It is extensively supportive of HTML5 and CSS3. Standards-compliance is important to developers because they can use technologies like Enyo to develop cross-platform web applications that already work well on webOS” Fred Patton, webOS team

As for the Open webOS Governance Model, that’s been based on the Apache way and laid out as follows:

• Open webOS will made available under the Apache license, Version 2.0.
• Open webOS will use the contributor committal model in use on most open source projects.
• Open webOS will be segmented into multiple projects to give developers ample opportunity to join and remain active in the development effort.
• The Open webOS project website will host a wiki, a source code repository, a mailing list, and a bug tracking system.
• We will use Github or an equivalent tool to as the code repository.
• We will use JIRA or an equivalent tool to track issues.
• Our plan is to allow multiple committers to branch and merge code in the open to allow multiple development branches to occur at once.

These latest releases keep pace with HP’s schedule of open-sourcing webOS, which has been broken down into a series of monthly milestones. Together with Enyo, released last month, today’s tools supposedly allow for ”an immersive user environment that can be built on any web platform”, something we think Mozilla might be pleased about. Iris is compatible with HP TouchPad devices running webOS 3.0.5, meanwhile.

Lurking on the counter like an oversized microwave, the INSIGHT100 can identify liquids, powders and gels inside sealed containers such as glass or plastic bottles or tubs, even if those containers are opaque. The system is said to have a false alarm rate of 1.5-percent or less, and each scan takes under five seconds.

The magic is in something called Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS), bouncing certain spectra of light off a substance depending on the molecules that substance is made up of. As each substance scatters light in different ways, the INSIGHT100 can recognize which are safe and which could be potentially dangerous. Cobalt says it can subsequently update the scanner’s database as new molecular “fingerprints” are identified.

Having already been approved by the European Civil Aviation Conference for its abilities to check for liquid explosives, it’s seemingly down to airports to decide whether to include the INSIGHT100 in their scanning arsenal. Of course, loosening the regulations around bottled water might make things easier for travelers, but it would also cut into a useful extra revenue stream for retailers and airlines; whether they’ll be so happy is questionable.

[via Gizmag]

Even if Apple branches out into a second slate, it’s unlikely to subsequently follow Samsung’s path of a different tablet for every individual buyer. Part of Apple’s constraint is app resolution, or more accurately maintaining compatibility across multiple screen resolutions. Right now that means the initial iPhone (320 x 480), the Retina Display introduced by the iPhone 4 (640 x 960), and the iPad (1024 x 768). Talk of the Retina Display toting third-gen iPad has suggested a literally doubled resolution, to 2048 x 1536, with evidence of suitable graphics found in recent iOS 5.x betas.

The limiting factor isn’t technology, or even apps and usability – despite what Steve Jobs might have said – it’s supply. Apple needs to have sufficient amounts of whichever panel it settles on, likely a 7.85-inch IPS LCD according to previous rumors and past evidence, to ensure it can meet the expected demand. We’ve already seen what an LCD shortage can do to iPad availability, after all.

A 7.85-inch 1024 x 768 panel, therefore, would allow a so-called “iPad mini” to use the same apps as the existing iPad 2. Meanwhile, the  9.7-inch iPad could go on to adopt the high-resolution display in iPad 2S/3 form and, potentially, a higher sticker price, Apple perhaps assuaging any consumer frustrations with a price cut for the existing iPad 2.

Although rumors have suggested Apple will shift to a larger, perhaps 4-inch display on the next-gen iPhone 5, a tweener tablet and sticking with 3.5-inch smartphone screens arguably makes more sense. No dip in pixel density for the new iPhone, unlike if it spread its current 640 x 960 across a bigger panel, and no need for developers to cook up new handset versions of their apps, if instead the resolution changed.

We won’t know for sure until we see the first signs of Apple’s 2012 tablet strategy early next month, but until then let us know how excited you are about the upcoming iPad 2S/3 in the SlashGear poll below.

Sony’s Kaz Hirai – at the time chief of the company’s Computer Entertainment division, and since made overall CEO – said that the PlayStation Suite platform “isn’t an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family.” Instead, it’s intended to be Sony’s first “cross-platform endeavor” he explained.

The PlayStation Suite has, so far, been limited to Sony and Sony Ericsson hardware. As well as the gaming smartphone, certification has been extended to Sony’s Tablet P and Tablet S hardware, giving the slates access to the PlayStation download store with various classic PSOne titles.

The news goes some way to addressing the question of whether Sony intends to try to sell customers all of the hardware – phone, tablet, TV and computer – in its “four-screen” strategy, or of ceding some of the market by embracing a cross-manufacturer ecosystem. Hirai has been blunt in suggesting that Sony must look to user experience not simply hardware if it wants to turn its fortunes around, and part of that strategy appears to be bringing other OEMs onboard to fill in potential gaps in its line-up.

Attempting to pacify critics of the impending deal, Android-chief Rubin pointed out that Google intends to operate Motorola as a separate company. When it comes to partnering on future Nexus devices, he maintained, Motorola “will be part of that bidding process” but not guaranteed to win.

Still, Rubin’s comments belie Google’s obvious interest in Motorola’s upcoming product range, something chairman Eric Schmidt conceded in September last year. “We actually believe that the Motorola team has some amazing products coming … We’re excited to have the product line, to use the Motorola brand, the product architecture, the engineers” Schmidt said, “[we like] having at least one area where we can do integrated hardware and software.”

Exactly how those two approaches will pan out remains to be seen. Motorola has already shown itself willing to take on Google at its own game, pushing out a developer version of the DROID RAZR to challenge the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus; even if other manufacturers secure future Nexus contracts, they’ll face the prospect of competing Motorola devices that have potentially just as much input from Google as their own do. As Rubin described the Nexus strategy, ”all the teams [from Google and the OEM] huddle together in one building, they jointly work and these development efforts go on for 9-12 months”, something that seems likely to also be the case for Google’s greater involvement in Motorola’s impending range.

For consumers, there’s still no guarantee that the devices they buy will run the latest version of Android or, indeed, get a timely update. Motorola’s track record on this has been patchy; the XOOM tablet launched in early 2011 with all but the name pointing to it being the “official” Google Android slate, but lagged behind rivals for OS refreshes. Meanwhile, Motorola persists with its UI modifications to its smartphone range, contributing to delays in updates there.

NASA had two of the specially modified 747s in its fleet, and one of the jets is called NASA 911. NASA 911 took its final voyage this week on a short flight from NASA’s Dryden flight research Center to Dryden’s Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, California. The final flight lasted only 20 minutes. With the space shuttle retired and the program over, NASA only needs one of the special Boeing aircraft used to transport the space shuttle fleet.

The original shuttle carrying aircraft dubbed NASA 905 will continue to serve for short while longer because it will be used to fly the retired space shuttles to the museums where they will spend the remainder of their days. NASA 911 is going to be used as a source of spare parts to keep another Boeing 747 the space agency uses in operation. That aircraft is the NASA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, which is an aerial platform for a 100-inch reflecting telescope.

[via MSNBC]

The improved power management means that the 9800mAh battery is good for close to 18 hours per charge with use. The tablet has dual stereo speakers, 32 GB of storage space, a microSD port, and a five-megapixel camera. The tablet also has a SIM card slot allowing for 3G connectivity along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The new information we have is that the Wi-Fi only version will land in France and possibly the rest of Europe starting next month for €399. The tablet will come in black or silver and there’ll be a bunch of accessories available. That price is much more bearable than the original €499 that had been tipped last month.

[via Notebookitalia]

Konica Minolta has taken the first step towards that roll-to-roll printing of OLED screens by unveiling the world’s first inkjet printhead capable of printing the displays. The printhead is called the KM128SNG-MB, and it is a high-precision inkjet printhead for printed electronics and OLED displays. The drop size the printhead produces is one picoliter.

Konica Minolta uses silicon MEMS technology to manufacture the printhead. That same technology is we used in semiconductor processing and allows the development of a small printhead measuring 38mm wide with 128 nozzles a row capable of ejecting tiny drops of ink. Konica Minolta says that the MEMS technology will allow the printhead to be made even smaller in the future. The printhead is optimized for resistance to the inks used and for low viscosity inks that are used in industrial applications. The printhead will go on sale in sample quantities this spring.

[via OLED-display]

Angry Birds has certainly become a phenomenon, and the game has been available on the desktop and just about every mobile device out there for a while. However, this marks the first time it has landed on a social network, and the Facebook version has some special features. The special features are power ups that can be used to help defeat difficult levels, in other words, you can cheat if you’re willing to pay.

There are four different power ups that can be accessed using a lightning bolt on the top of the Angry Birds screen. These power ups will cost real money to use, granted it’s very cheap. The power ups cost you one dollar for 20 uses. The Facebook version of the game runs on Flash Player 11 supporting 3-D graphics for enhanced lighting, smoke, and explosions.

[via CNET]

Chinese authorities have seized the school had stock in retail stores around the country already. Proview is now asking Chinese customs to stop the import and export of the Apple iPad. China is a huge market for Apple and one the technology giant isn’t going to walk away from. Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu has said that Apple has the right to use the trademark name in China as part of the original deal. She also notes that Apple’s legal case against Proview is pending in mainland China.

The big kicker in this case, is the call from Proview to halt exports. If Proview wins the export blockage it would mean iPad sales globally will be stopped because the iPad is manufactured in China. Undoubtedly, Proview knows the massive blow to Apple’s income this would be. Apple and Proview have previously been in court over the iPad trademark, and Apple lost. The case was then appealed to a higher court with that case still pending.

[via Business Week]

These old school mainframe computers roughly the size of a refrigerator have been replaced by smaller and cheaper Linux and UNIX systems that are also faster and easier to manage. These mainframe computers certainly served an important role in NASA’s early space exploration programs. NASA is calling the retirement of its last Z9 the end of an era.

NASA doesn’t mention what it will do with all the retired computer hardware. I would imagine the last Z9 would end up being sold off in some government auction. Apparently, the mainframe had been kept operating at NASA to support applications that NASA knew would eventually be retired. Once those applications were retired, there was no need to continue to maintain the Z9 mainframe.

Long-time Apple supplier Foxconn is up first for FLA inspection, not least because the company has seen several worker suicides over the past 18-24 months and come in for criticism over production line conditions. Apple said that Quanta and Pegatron would be next in line, with their investigations coming sometime in the spring.

It’s possible that Apple’s comments that all of the suppliers “pledged full cooperation with the FLA, offering unrestricted access to their operations” relate to the company’s general contractual conditions, rather than any specific notification of the new investigations. Quanta declined to comment on the audits.

Apple’s decision to request independent checks by the FLA come after widely-reported criticism which singled the company out over poor treatment of supply chain employees. Executives at the company, it was suggested, were aware of problems experienced by staff at Foxconn, Pegatron and others, but chose not to act upon that knowledge because it could impact manufacturing timelines and costs. The allegations prompted “outrage” from CEO Tim Cook.

In fact, Remove can be set to automatically delete any problems it identifies, though you can switch over to manual mode if you decide you’d like to keep something in-frame instead. Obviously the problems themselves have to be moving, since Scalado is cutting out transient objects based on a stationary background.

Scalado Remove demo:

Remove uses similar technology to Scalado’s previous photography app, Rewind. That used composite images to piece together the best group portrait shot, with facial recognition used to scroll through the various expressions your subjects have made:

Scalado Rewind demo:

Scalado will be showing off Remove at MWC 2012 later this month, though the company isn’t saying when we might see it show up on devices commercially.