Singapore – 4 June 2009 — HTC today debuted its newest QWERTY smartphone, the HTC Snap™. Designed with a set of features selected to deliver everything users need without overwhelming them with things they don’t, the HTC Snap makes it easier than ever to stay in contact with life’s most important people.
Your Inner Circle, your most important people
HTC brings streamlined communication to greater heights with its innovative Inner Circle feature which allows HTC Snap users to press a dedicated Inner Circle key to bring emails from a preselected group of people to the top of their inbox, enabling important messages to be acted upon immediately.
A full QWERTY yet with a sleekness that fits in your hand
With a slim, sleek profile designed to fit perfectly in the hand, the HTC Snap measures less than12 mm, yet it can deliver up to eight and a half hours of talk time with the standard 1500mAh battery. The full QWERTY keyboard is ergonomically designed with extra-large domed keys and responsive tactile feedback to make typing emails and text messages fast, accurate and comfortable. High-speed 3G HSPA connectivity makes it quick and easy to send pictures to friends, access favorite social networking sites, or download large files while on the go.
Synchronizing all your business or personal needs
The HTC Snap is powerful enough for experienced business users looking for an affordable, straightforward choice for remotely synchronizing email, calendar and contacts with their Microsoft Exchange server. However, the flexible Microsoft Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard platform allows the HTC Snap to also be simple enough for first-time smartphone users wanting to keep their family life organized.
Pricing & Availability
The new HTC Snap will be available from 10 June 2009 at all authorized resellers at a suggested retail price of SGD688. (inclusive of 7% GST).
Monday, May 20, 2013
HTC Launches Snap smartphone
Friday, May 3, 2013
New robot 'Cheetah' breaks land-speed record
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Hitachi Develops a Robot that has the Capabilities for Daily Life and that Moves in Response to Dial
Hitachi, Ltd. announced that it has developed a robot - called "EMIEW"* - for supporting people's everyday lives. EMIEW has the physical capabilities, such as agile movement and obstacle avoidance, needed for real life, and can move around while interacting in dialog with humans from a distance of one meter without the need for microphones. The technologies developed for EMIEW will lead the way in creating robots of the future that can cooperate and coexist with humans.
EMIEW is 130 cm tall and weights approximately 70 kg, his arms have 6 degrees of freedom.
As part of the "Project for the Practical Application of Next-generation Robots" commissioned by the independent administrative agency NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization; Chairman, Tsutomu Makino), EMIEW will be on exhibit at the 2005 World Exposition, EXPO 2005-held in the Tobu Kyuryou region near Nagoya city in Aichi prefecture, Japan (namely, Nagakute town, Toyota city, and Seto city)- and at the Morizo and Kiccoro Exhibition Center from 9-19 June and at the "Nature Contact - Hitachi Group Pavilion" from mid-July until the middle of the summer holidays.
As one of the Japan's pioneers of research on robots, Hitachi has pushed forward numerous technical developments up to the present time and, through these developments, has made considerable contributions to the advancement of society. Starting in 1970, Hitachi developed the first computer-control robot with artificial intelligence in Japan. Since then, the company has developed many epoch-making technologies and applied them effectively in a great many commercial products.
EMIEW was developed as a robot for supporting people's day-today lives; namely, it brings comfort and convenience to everyday life while ensuring safety and peace of mind. By utilizing Hitachi's considerable know-how in specialized technologies for autonomous movement and manipulation, EMIEW realizes three key features: "safety" by avoiding collisions with surrounding people and objects; "mobility" by adapting its movements to movements of people; and "coexistence and cooperation with people" through its friendly design. Moreover, the name "EMIEW" (Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate) refers to a robot that acts like a workmate through dialog interactions with people and its agile movements.
From now onwards, Hitachi plans to upgrade the functions of EMIEW as a robot for coexistence and cooperation with people-for example, providing logistics support in offices and acting as a guide for customers at information desks-and continue to expand its practical applications.
The main features of EMIEW are:
(1) High-speed and agile movement
EMIEW applies a self-balancing two-wheel-motion mechanism that enables it to move in compact spaces swiftly in the same environment as a person at a speed in tune with the motion of that person. By measuring gradients with mounted sensors while driving its two wheels, it can move about and stop in a stable manner. Since it can move at maximum speed corresponding to a fast walking pace (i.e., 6 km/h), it will not annoy people by being "slow." Furthermore, by shifting it center of gravity by swinging its body from left to right, EMIEW combines agile changes of direction-unlike conventional "humanoid robots"-with the physical capabilities necessary for real life.
(2) Ability to get around obstructions: Collision avoidance
EMIEW is fitted with a "collision avoidance" function; that is, on detecting surrounding objects while in motion by means of mounted sensors, it confirms their location and movement, and then calculates the route it should take to avoid a collision with those objects. In contrast to technologies used in conventional types of "humanoid robots", this new technology gives robots the necessary functions for coexistence and cooperation with humans in real life.
As part of a joint research project between Tsukuba University and Hitachi, Ltd., this technology utilizes the results of cooperative research performed by Associate Professor Takashi Tsubouchi and Vice-chancellor Shinichi Yuta and Hitachi's Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory.
(3) Recognition of voices and sounds from a distance
Equipped with a vision sensor and multiple audio sensors, EMIEW can communicate in words over a distance of about one meter without need for any specialized devices. It analyzes the differences in sounds picked up by the various sensors in order to find the direction of the sound source. It then confirms the face of the person from whom the sound came by means of the vision sensor. In this way, it can even "hear" sounds and voices from separate locations. Moreover, by utilizing high-quality speech synthesis technology, EMIEW can respond in a natural-sounding voice.
(4) Natural arm movement like a human
EMIEW has two arms, each with six degrees of freedom, that enable it to move naturally in almost the same way as a person, and its two hands enable it to grasp things and carry them about. Moreover, it measures movements of people by means of "motion capture" technology, and it utilizes this measurement data in accomplishing richly expressive "body communication" with people.
* EMIEW : Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Gadgets Printing without ink Yes
Enlarge
If you absolutely and positively must print something right now and have no power around, the PlanOn Printstik PS905ME is your answer.
The mobile printer measures about 2-by-2-by-11 inches and weighs just 1.5 lbs. With portability like this, users can print from selected Bluetooth enabled Blackberry and WinMobile
Pairing the phone and the headset was simple and painless. Working the controls took seconds to figure out since there are only two buttons.
One powers on the device and is on the bottom side. The other is the main control button, which is on the side. Users can control answering and ending calls along with muting the volume and voice dialing with this one.
Pressing the button a specific number of times in quick succession controls each function.
The HS-500 also works with some third-party GPS mapping applications to listen to turn-by-turn directions.
I'm always suspect of the amount of hours of talk time that these units are advertised to produce (5.5 hours in this case), but I did get several hours of talk time until I had to charge it. It also lasted over three days on standby mode before a charge was necessary.
The exact amount of time will vary depending on usage, how often you charge it and how old the device is.
Check the BlackBerry web site for a list of compatible phones.
Details: BlackBerry.com, $79.99
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The Macally BTkey wireless Bluetooth keyboard is a standard full-sized keyboard designed for Mac users.
It has a layout exactly like Apple's full sized version (with a number pad) except it has standard-sized keys. I'm not a fan of Apple's new flat styled keys on the newer keyboards so this one is a perfect replacement.
A Bluetooth connection took just seconds to make after installing the two AAA batteries (included). The batteries should last a few months, but this can vary depending on usage.
Often when you buy an off-brand accessory you get lesser quality. I can say first hand that this is not the case -- I'm a big user of Macally accessories for my Mac computers.
The BTkey keyboard is up to the standards you would expect from an Apple product. It is also made with an ice white finish to match many of Apple's products but won't cost nearly as much as the name brand.
Details: macally.com, $46
Friday, March 22, 2013
Dell goes Sparta and Athens In Roadmap
Android Central posted a very interesting Dell roadmap, we see Dellgoing Sparta and Athens, some "Greekish" names for the Android netbooks.
The "Sparta" is a netbook tablet while the "Athens" is 0.9 kilogram netbook. Both models are armed with a ARM processor and your usual 3G, wireless network connectivity. Both models come with 11 inch displays at 1024x768 resolution.
In the midst, we have "Looking Glass" and "LG PRO" in the Large category, a Wi-fi only model that is only at 7 inch, targeted towards some casual media viewing pleasure.
All models are looking for a 2011 launch.
Monday, March 18, 2013
EA's Keynote Speech @ E3 - Games as a Service
I’m going to come right out and say it. I don’t have a problem with DLC. In fact, I think DLC is a wonderful way of prolonging a game’s life, especially if you’ve really enjoyed that game. I will grant that there are ways that DLC is used horribly, namely paid DLC on the disc or forcing the gamer to pay for DLC to get the full experience. EA has often been accused of bad practices when it comes to DLC, but they decided to focus on that during their E3 presentation.
Their talk wasn’t focused entirely on DLC, but instead on gaming as a rich experience, rather than a singular event. Instead of thinking of the game as residing on a particular disc, EA wants us to think of a game as a world that extends beyond the console to other areas of our lives, including social networks and smartphone integration.
The presentation kicked off with a demonstration of Dead Space 3, the newest game in the survival horror franchise. Taking place on a snowy world, the demo showed off co-op gameplay and a massive worm-like boss encounter. The game will release February of 2013.
Next was Madden NFL 13, with Hall-of-Famer Michael Irving presenting some new features and commenting on the improved physics engine. Dubbed the “Infinity Engine,” the new physics model takes players’ mass, speed, and hit location into account, and dynamically creates the correct forces acting on the players to produce life-like collisions. Gone are the days of scripted animations determining when a player is downed. Also shown was a new Career mode, which connects you to your friends and revolves around your player as he strives to enter the Hall of Fame, with virtual twitter feeds, dynamic news stories, and RPG-like XP. Also revealed is that the career mode can either be taken from the perspective of a current player, a legend like Joe Montana or Michael Irving, or from a custom player. You can even take the shoes of a coach like John Madden and play through a coach’s career. Madden 13 will release later this year.
Next, it was Maxis’ turn to take the stage, with two announcements. The first was SimCity Social, which looks to topple all the FarmVille clones and provide a “real simulation” on the Facebook social game platform. While I sincerely hope Maxis can pull off a miracle, I fear that SimCity Social is going to become just another city-building time-sink on Facebook with forced social features and ridiculous microtransactions.
They next showed off the new PC version of SimCity, and this was far more exciting. For the first time, SimCity will include multiplayer, allowing you and your friends (or just yourself if you’re of a more megalomaniacal bent) to take control of multiple cities in the same region, with cooperative and competitive goals and with every action you take affecting every other city in the region. Your cities will also be connected to what was called “a world of SimCities,” with actions and global goals behaving similarly to their smaller-scale multiplayer counterparts. Look for it to release on PC later this year.
Battlefield 3 was next, with developers from DICE explaining the new features coming to the multiplayer juggernaut in the coming months, as well as providing some interesting statistics tracked by the game, such as 40 million flight hours logged and 1.9 trillion bullets fired by the 15 million players in Battlefield 3 since launch. The big feature announced, available now on PS3 and next week for PC and Xbox, is a new community feature called Battlefield Premium. Seemingly an answer to Call of Duty: Elite, the premium service for that shooter’s multiplayer community, Battlefield Premium will give players 20 new weapons, multiple new camo patterns and dogtags, as well as access to the 5 expansions for the Battlefield 3 game.
Included in this group is the already-released Return to Karkand, an expansion that released shortly after launch. Also included are Close Quarters, an infantry-centric expansion coming out this month with small, tight, infantry-only maps, Armored Kill, a vehicle-centric expansion with some of the largest maps in Battlefield to date releasing in September, Aftermath, with maps based around the ruined city of Tehran after the earthquake featured in the single-player campaign, releasing in December, and End Game, focusing on high-speed lethality and introducing motorcycles, releasing in March of 2013. All of this is available to gamers for $49.99.
Bioware took the stage next, praising the community of players in Star Wars: The Old Republic, who have invested more than 520 million hours into the game since launching 6 months ago. The surprise announcement was that The Old Republic would be getting a free-to-play trial similar to what World of Warcraft has done. Free players will be able to advance to level 15 without having to pay a dime, but will need to subscribe in order to advance beyond that point. A massive new content release is also coming in July, with a new playable race (pictured above), new instances, new warzones, and new high-level content.
Next was the highly anticipated shooter, Medal of Honor. Shown running on the Frostbite 2 engine, all of the conflicts in the single-player campaign have “a dotted line to real-world conflicts and hotspots.” The demo showed an attack on a Somali pirate compound, complete with destructible terrain and buildings. Multiplayer features were also announced, with a “global multiplayer campaign” featuring 12 Special Forces teams from 10 countries around the globe, such as the Russian Spetznas, the British SAS, the American SEALs, and so on. No release date was announced, but we’ll keep our eyes open.
EA Sports again took the stage and began announcing new features for FIFA 13. Calling the FIFA franchise a social network for football fans, EA announced new social features, including iPad and iPhone versions of the game which integrate seamlessly with the current social framework created for FIFA 12. In fact, it was announced that FIFA 12 players’ levels and XP will transfer between the games, allowing returning players to start right where they’d left off in the previous game. Messi was announced as the cover athlete, due to his skillful footwork being the inspiration for EA’s new handling system in FIFA. Using similar techniques to the physics engine detailed for the Madden series and refined physics for the ball, the improved AI can now think two or three plays ahead, with complex attacks being used to break through a tough defense. The example shown was a player running to a position for a pass from a player that had yet to receive the ball, though when the pass came he was in perfect position to score a goal. Look for FIFA 13 this fall.
The crown jewel in EA’s presentation was the announcement of a “multi-yea, multi-product” deal with the UFC. THQ had a stranglehold on the UFC license for three years, but now the UFC is partnering with EA to produce games for its “half a billion fans in 175 countries,” so that they can “finally get the best UFC videogame possible.” No word was given on when the first game would be releasing, but I suspect it will be within the next year and based on the previous EA MMA engine.
After dropping the UFC bombshell, EA continued by announcing that Criterion would be developing another Need for Speed game. Titled “Need for Speed: Most Wanted,” it’s based around the premise of the previous Most Wanted game of becoming the most wanted racer. Criterion plans to do this by creating an open-world racing game with deep social integration, allowing you to compete against your friends in multiple categories, such as fastest time or highest ranked. Each action in game will award you points, and these points are how much of the social competition is scored. No word on a release date.
Finally, EA ended on a graphics spectacle by showing off Crysis 3. The jaw-dropping visual fidelity of the demo was enough to get anyone interested, but the open world design and interesting locales allowing for a freeform style of gameplay are sure to bring in gamers who would otherwise write off Crysis 3 as just a pretty graphics engine. Called an “urban rainforest,” the environment allows for a huge variety of landscapes to fight across, along with multiple paths to completing objectives. Look for the release of this hotly anticipated game in February of 2013.
Keep your eyes open for more of our E3 coverage as the week continues.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
D-0 Yonah To Get Speed Enhancement
In order to incorporate speed enhancements for Yonah Based Processors, Intelis converting the Intel® Core™ Duo Processors T2600, T2500, T2400 from C-0Stepping to D-0 Stepping.
A BIOS update is required for D0-Step Products.The D-0 stepping is backwards compatible with the C-0 stepping.All C-0 products supported under Intel's Stable Image Platform Program (ISIPP)will continue to be supported on D-0 stepping.To improve package quality, D0-Stepping products use a package withReverse Geometry Caps. The visible package differences are cosmetic only.Intel plans to conduct conversion of Intel® Core™ Duo Processors, Intel®Core™ Solo Processors and Intel® Celeron® M 400 series C0 processors over threephases.