Dell kills the Streak 5, delivers a brief eulogy

The device that was too big for a phone and too small to be a tablet has finally been put to rest. Dell’s website informs anyone still interested in the now deceased Streak 5 about its departure.

Unfortunately, I can’t find myself to agree with the “It’s been a great ride” part about the message on the website and Dell has itself to blame. Right from the confused form-factor to the outdated software and the high price, the Streak 5 was a recipe for disaster and Dell could have surely done better. If only they knew what they wanted it to be, a smartphone or a tablet.

Anyway, it’s not right to speak ill of the dead. You can visit the website in the link below to pay your last respects. Or, you know, buy something else.

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Apple holding the iPhone event on 7 September?

Rumor suggests that the annual Fall event, held by Apple, will take place on 7 September this year. This is the event usually dedicated to the refresh of the iPod series, but should this year also see the announcement of the next iPhone and possibly a new iPad.

The scoop comes from Japanese website KODAWARISAN and they say that the information is legit, coming from some kind of an inside source. In previous years Apple held their Fall events on 09.09.08, 09.09.09 and 01.09.10. If a new iPhone does make it to the scene it could become available as soon as later next month or in early October.

With so many rumors about the iPhone 5 (4S) there’s a strong chance that certain features won’t make it to the final product. But we could see some that we haven’t even thought of. As for the iPad – the chances seem slim, but it isn’t impossible. We’ll see as there’s now less than a month till then.

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Google Plus adds games (including Angry Birds), won’t clutter your stream like Facebook games do

Games are one of the biggest time-wasters on Facebook and now Google has announced that they’ve added a Games section to their Google+ social network. Unlike Facebook however, gamer-related messages in Google+ won’t spam your stream.

There are already several games available for Google+, including popular time-killers like Angry Birds and Bejeweled.

A Games tab should appear in your Google+ page, just like there are tabs for Home, Photos, Profile and Circles. Once there, you’ll see game updates and invites from people in your circles and be able to check out what games they’ve played recently. Those updates don’t show up in your regular stream, only in the Games tab, which avoids clutter.

Here’s the list of games that are currently available on Google+:

The games update is rolling out right now, so it’s not available for everyone. It should be soon though.

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Here’s a crafty fake video of the iPhone 5 – still a great rumor roundup

We came across a really good fake video of the Apple Germany website, detailing the iPhone 5. Someone really gave their all when creating this one. It details everything from the new design, the new dual-core A5 chip, better 8 MP camera with FullHD video recording and the bigger display.

The video is obviously fake – you can bet your good money on that fact and I’ve prepared the proof that’s needed. Still it’s pretty well made and makes for a good rumor roundup so checking it out is worth it.

We have the bigger display with the thin bezel (4″ with a 960×640 resolution), the 8 MP snapper with 1080p video capture, the slimmer body and redesign (quoted to be 6mm at its slimmest point).

Here’s the video itself. It wouldn’t be too great a surprise if this one turns out to be pretty close to the real thing come the next-gen iPhone announcement by Apple. As a matter of fact, I’d love that to be the case as the mockup is really sweet looking.

Now there are some gaps, but that was to be expected, given the size of the project. For example at one point the display is quoted at being a 4-incher and a couple of slides later it becomes a 4.2″. And Grosserer is obviously a typo as it roughly translates as “bigerer” in English. But the real give-away is right there in front of you in the beginning of the video. Check out the following picture.

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Firefox 6, yes 6, available for download ahead of scheduled launch date

Another month, another version of Firefox. I guess we better get used to this new faster release cycle that Mozilla has adopted for Firefox. Version 6 of the second most popular desktop browser in the world has just been made available for download on Mozilla’s FTP servers ahead of its scheduled launch three days from now.

Visible changes in the newer version are minimal, with the only one being reported for now as the domain name getting highlighted in the address bar. We wonder as to whether such minor changes really warrant a change in the version number but again that’s for Mozilla to decide.For now, you can download the Windows, Mac and Linux version here, here and hererespectively in case you don’t want to wait for the official release.

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Asus Eee Pad Slider to launch in September for €479, allures you with unlimited web storage

The Asus Eee Pad Slider was a cool Android tablet/netbook announced at CES 2011, along with the Transformer, but unlike its super-popular relative it’s nowhere to be seen just yet. However the latest bit of online rumor suggests that it might become available before the end of September for the tempting €479.

For that kind of cash you are getting a 10.1 IPS display of WXGA resolution (1280×800 pixels), covered under a layer of Gorilla Glass, an Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset, featuring a couple of 1GHz CPU cores, and a QWERTY keyboard for all that typing to be done on.

There’s also 16GB of onboard storage and one year unlimited web storage provided by Asus as well as a couple of cameras (5MP at the back and 1.3MP at the front) to sweeten the deal. The Asus Eee Pad Slider will also have a version with 32 GB of local storage, but that takes the price to €599, which doesn’t seem as such a good bargain.

If you like the idea of Honeycomb netbook that weighs just under a kilo – the Eee Pad Slider will come to Italy next month. There’s no saying what other countries will join in the first wave.

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Firefox 6 for Android released, brings with new look and more powerful dev tools

Mozilla has released the next iteration of their Firefox browser for Android. Version 6 comes with a slightly refreshed interface, including a new welcome screen and a slight facelift to the menu.

Yet the main changes that Firefox 6 brings are under the hood with faster zooming, crisper text and reduced pixelation promised to be the results of the new enhanced image rendering algorithms.

Finally, but certainly not least importantly, Firefox 6 adds support for dev tools that, according to Mozilla should “help create rich, compelling mobile Web apps and websites”. The single touch events API, which permits better handling of hand gestures and IndexedDB API, which allows for web apps and websites to be made available offline, were explicitly mentioned. Those should certainly allow better plug-ins to be created.

You can get your updated Firefox browser with a simple visit to the Android Market from either your phone or your desktop browser.

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Nokia shares jump over 10 percent on Motorola acquisition news, investors expect a move from Microsoft

Nokia shares jumped over 10 percent today (from €3.70 up to €4.09) after the news aboutGoogle acquiring Motorola Mobility. All this boosted the speculations that Nokia is being once again targeted for a takeover.

Nokia hasn’t been doing all that well recently with their shares down by 45 percent just this year, due to the poor financial results of the Finnish company. This has reduced the price and has made Nokia easier to acquire by companies such as Microsoft and Samsung (as the rumors have it).

Similar to Motorola, Nokia is a company with huge experience in the mobile phone field and possesses an extremely rich patent portfolio, which is becoming more and more valuable with all the infringement lawsuits lately.

Google paid for Motorola Mobility’s shares 63 percent more than the stock price. Nokia is currently valued at just over $22 billion, so if any company decide to make the same offer, it should prepare roughly $36 billion.

The mobile world is changing rapidly and I just hope it’s for the best. What do you think, should a company acquire Nokia and which one?

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HTC EVO 3D drops by for a stereoscopic visit, video inside

The HTC EVO 3D is HTC’s answer to LG’s 3D foray on the world tech scene. It features the solid foundation of the ultra-popular Sensation including a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, Adreno 220 GPU and the latest Android distribution – 2.3 Gingerbread. However the single 8 megapixel snapper has been replaced with a couple of 5 megapixel cameras, allowing for 3D photo and video capture, while the screen has been replaced by one that does glass-free 3D.

We’re already working on a detailed review of the EVO 3D, but until that one is complete you can enjoy the quick unboxing & hands-on video that we prepared for you.

The EVO 3D has been available in the US for a while now and after having spent some time with it we can see why everyone seems to like it so much. It’s impressively snappy, quite sleek to look at and really well built. Plus we love the huge camera key that HTC gave it as it really takes the camera usability up a notch. And since the 3D action is limited to the camera and gallery on this one – this is where potential buyer will be spending quite a lot of time.

So early prospects are good, but in the current market good is not always enough. With the fierce competition little slip-ups are allowed and even with the stereoscopic ace up its sleeve the EVO 3D would have to keep up the great performance for the time of the full review to convince us of its worth.

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Samsung racks up 4 awards at EISA 2011, Samsung Galaxy S II dubbed best mobile device

The European Imaging and Sound Association deemed Samsung worthy of a multitude of awards this year, thanks to a host of top quality products from the Korean manufacturer, across the board.

In case you don’t know, EISA is an association of 50 ‘specialist interest’ magazines across 19 European countries who come together to award brands and manufacturers for outstanding products in their respective fields.

The awards are divided into six distinct categories: Audio, Video, Home Theater, Photography, In-Car Electronics and Electronics/Mobile Devices. Samsung were lucky enough to snap up four awards, all being best product in their respective category.

For best social media camera, the Samsung SH100 takes the cake. For best compact lens system, the Samsung NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 EDi-Function clinched it. For best buy TV, Samsung’s UE40D6505 and most importantly for us, the best mobile phone across 2011-2012 was the Samsung Galaxy S II, a well deserved win if I may say so.

So in short we tip our hats, raise a glass and congratulate Samsung on their recent efforts and we can only hope that future Sammy products will impress us like they do now.

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Did Apple submit false evidence to the German court that blocked sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe?

You’ve probably heard that Apple managed to block the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 shipments in Europe through a preliminary injunction by a German court. The court’s decision was made without a hearing (that’s the standard practice) and now it’s up to Apple to prove they have a case.

But Dutch site, Webwerld, has done some investigating and they’ve discovered that Apple may have tried to bolster their chances of success by manipulating the evidence.

The image above shows the iPad and Galaxy Tab side by side, the image is taken directly from Apple’s documents submitted to the German court. It’s hard to spot at first but that’s not how the 10.1″ model of the Galaxy Tab should look like – it should have a wide aspect ratio, noticeably wider than the 4:3 aspect of the iPad.

Here’s how the two tablets really look like:

It’s subtle but it makes the Galaxy Tab 10.1 look much closer to the iPad, which supports Apple’s claims. The image is reportedly taken from an earlier lawsuit and might be of a prototype of the Tab 10.1 rather than an altered image of the retail model. Neither Apple’s nor Samsung’s lawyers have offered any comment.

Right now it’s not clear just how much (if any) help this will be to Samsung. But if Apple fail to convince the judge that Samsung have violated their intellectual property, Apple will have to pay Samsung compensations over lost business (a preliminary injunction is granted relatively easily but it caries this risk).

There’s a hearing in court on 25 August after which we should know more – will the image be considered falsified evidence and how will that hurt Apple’s case.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Minecraft arrives on the Xperia PLAY and FIFA 12 joins in as a timed exclusive

For the gamers amongst you, Mojang Specifications’ smash indie title Minecraft should be no stranger to the likes of your mouse and keyboard.

With 11,963,015 (as of writing) registered players and 3,144,868 of those playing the paid survival version, they’ve already amassed a huge following and E3 brought us news that Minecraft would soon be making its way into the mobile world.

Today that news was realized as Minecraft: Pocket Edition has just been launched on the Android Market. Here’s what Mojang said about the new title on their blog:

The first version (Alpha 0.1) will focus on the creative aspects of Minecraft. We have tried to put in the features that make sense for playing on a mobile device while still keeping the core of the Minecraft experience. You will be able to select blocks on the touchscreen or just scroll through them with the circle and square buttons on the Xperia Play device. The first version also supports multi-player on a local wireless network allowing you to create a world and invite friends to build together. Some of the features in this release include:

• Randomized worlds

• Build anything you can imagine

• Build with 36 different kinds of blocks

• Invite and play with friends to your world (local wireless network)

• Save multi-player worlds on your own phone

The title itself is ‘Xperia PLAY Optimized’, meaning that it’s yours (at a price of $6.99), provided you have an Xperia PLAY. For the rest of us Minecraft fans in the Android camp, we’ll have to wait. Although there are no announced plans to bring it to other droids anytime soon, chances are, it won’t stay an Xperia PLAY exclusive for long, whether that be an official release or a download of the less legitimate variety.

Video released my Mojang to celebrate the launch of Minecraft: Pocket Edition

It also turns out PLAY owners are getting a bumper day today as, not only has Minecraft finally launched, but Sony Ericsson and EA Mobile have teamed up to bring the Android version of FIFA 2012 to the Xperia PLAY before anyone else. This timed exclusive will be in the hands of PLAY owners by the holiday season this year whereas, other Android users lusting for some of the latest mobile soccer action will have to wait until February 21 next year.

Here’s a snippet of the press release on FIFA 2012 on the PLAY:

Sony Ericsson Nets FIFA 12 on Android

World’s Leading Football Franchise Optimized for Xperia™ PLAY

August 16, 2011, London – Sony Ericsson today announced a limited time exclusive agreement* with EA Mobile™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) the world’s leading mobile games publisher, to deliver the much anticipated EA SPORTS™ FIFA 12 on Android. Optimized for the world’s first PlayStation certified smartphone Xperia™ PLAY, the No. 1 sports franchise on the planet, will be available for the device worldwide in the holiday season.

With improved gameplay depth, authentic commentaries, updated teams from the world’s top leagues and all new replay systems, FIFA 12 on Xperia™ PLAY is the ultimate football experience for Android. The dedicated graphical processing unit, optimized memory bandwidth and 60fps rendering of Xperia™ PLAY enhance the football gameplay experience. Audio is also improved with enhanced commentary and crowd chants.

“FIFA 12 will undoubtedly be one of this year’s most popular games and Xperia™ PLAY consumers will be able to master it before any other Android users,” said, Dominic Neil-Dwyer, Head of Market Development for Sony Ericsson. “Adding to a portfolio of quality games for Xperia™ PLAY, FIFA 12 adapts perfectly to the device and delivers the best football experience on Android.”

All that’s left to say is you can download the full version of Minecraft here, if you’re a PLAY owner you can download the new mobile version here, you can see the two heads of Mojang talk about it here and hit up the source link for a little more information on the FIFA 2012 announcement. Also thanks to James on the Minecraft info.

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Firefox 6 for Android released, brings with new look and more powerful dev tools

Mozilla has released the next iteration of their Firefox browser for Android. Version 6 comes with a slightly refreshed interface, including a new welcome screen and a slight facelift to the menu.

Yet the main changes that Firefox 6 brings are under the hood with faster zooming, crisper text and reduced pixelation promised to be the results of the new enhanced image rendering algorithms.

Finally, but certainly not least importantly, Firefox 6 adds support for dev tools that, according to Mozilla should “help create rich, compelling mobile Web apps and websites”. The single touch events API, which permits better handling of hand gestures and IndexedDB API, which allows for web apps and websites to be made available offline, were explicitly mentioned. Those should certainly allow better plug-ins to be created.

You can get your updated Firefox browser with a simple visit to the Android Market from either your phone or your desktop browser.

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Sony announces price cut for the PS3, special low-price version of the PSP

Sony had some good news for prospective PS3 buyers at Gamescom yesterday. The five year-old but still going strong console is receiving a healthy $50 price cut, with the new prices being $249 for the 160GB version and $299 for the 320GB version. They have also launched a special edition inFAMOUS 2 bundle that comes with the 320GB model along with the copy of the game and a 30-day PlayStation Plus subscription for $299.

Also announced at that event is a new cut price version of the PSP. The PSP E-1000, as it is called, has a sexy new matte black finish and slightly new design but it loses out on some features to get that new €99.99 (RRP) price. There is now just a single loudspeaker instead of two and no microphone but most importantly, there is no Wi-Fi built-in anymore.

The PSP E-1000 can play all your UMD-based games or those downloaded from the PlayStation Store through the Media Go desktop software. This model, however, is being offered only in select countries, namely, the Arab Emirates, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland and New Zealand.

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Unofficial Symbian Belle firmware now available for the N8, you can try it if you dare

Nokia N8 hasn’t even received the official Anna update yet, but the most daring of its users are already rewarded with the next Symbian iteration – Belle. The files required for flashing Belle on your N8 are already available for download so if you are knowledgeable enough and decide that it’s worth voiding your warranty you might get it up and running right now.

There’s not much in the way of instructions on how to flash it in the forum thread that lists the download files, but you can find them over here. You would need to apply the Anna update first though, if you haven’t done so already.

The Belle update itself brings along an updated notifications drawer, a new keyboard and camera UIs and a few other more minor tweaks. You can check it out in action in this video that leaked previously.

Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of apps incompatible with the Belle update and if you are using those you’d be losing them if you flash it. Check out the list here and if you still want to try the latest Symbian can offer follow the source link below.

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Google’s Photovine becomes publicly available, let the sharing begin

Unlike some other Google projects, which seem to spend an eternity in the beta stages of their development, it only took Photovine a little over a month to graduate. The ambitious photo-sharing service is now accessible for everyone.

And by everyone, I mean only those who have an iOS device, as Photovine is currently only available as an app in the App Store. At least it covers the lot with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad units running iOS 4.2 or later being supported.

So if you feel like becoming a part of a social network that revolves around photo sharing, now is your chance. Just head to the App Store to download the app and start growing those vines.

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Class action lawsuit against Apple filed in Korea over location tracking

26,691 South Korean iPhone users have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple for alleged privacy violations over the collection of location data. Each of them demands a compensation of 1 million Korean wons ($936) as their handsets violated their privacy by recording their location without their knowledge.

The lawsuit is filed just over a month after the Cupertino-based company was forced to pay the same compensation to a customer of their over the same issues. Mr. Hyung-suk, who won the case back then is actually a lawyer and he and his company have been preparing the class action ever since that initial victory.

Al Jazeera also reminds that the South Korean regulator has undertaken a probe in April to check if the collection of location data from iPhone users violated privacy rules and as a result Apple was fined 3 million won ($2,808).

This is certainly not the amount of money that will make Steve Jobs lose his sleep, but it could lead to similar lawsuits in other countries, which might inflict more serious damage.

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