Eclectic Electronics

Apple 3rd generation iPhone takes a specifications leak?

Posted: 12 May 2009 02:00 PM PDT

A Chinese iPhone forum member is reportedly in possession of the upcoming iPhone. Some of the rumored specifications are certainly believable but don’t take any of these seriously until Apple has made its official announcement.

The processor is rumored to be getting a speed bump from 400Mhz to 600Mhz. RAM will be doubled from 128MB to 256MB. Built-in storage will increase, possibly to 32GB. The camera will sport 3.2 megapixels (I was expecting a bigger jump in this department). And word has it, that the upcoming iPhone will feature a digital compass and also FM radio.

I very much doubt that Apple would wholeheartedly integrate FM radio capability into their upcoming iPhone. They’ve been churning out iPods for years now and not one model has a FM radio feature, but who knows? Maybe somebody bonked the heads of the Apple R&D guys.

It has also been mentioned that the phone will be aesthetically the same to the 1st and 2nd generation iPhones. In my opinion, they should start varying the look a bit, this is already the 3rd generation for goodness sake! If Apple can do it with their iPods, why not the iPhone?

Shown below is a table comparing the rumored specifications of the upcoming iPhone to the current iPhone 3G:

	Upcoming iPhone	Current iPhone
Processor	600Mhz	400Mhz
Memory	128MB	256MB
Storage	8GB or 16GB	32GB
Camera	3.2 megapixel	2 megapixel
Digital compass	Yes	No
FM radio	Yes	No

[via MobileCrunch and The iPhone Blog]

Dell Mini 10v now available at Dell.com

Posted: 12 May 2009 01:00 PM PDT

There are very minor differences between the Dell Mini 10 and Dell Mini 10v. The latter utilizes a slightly faster processor (N270), and has a smaller hard disk drive. The Dell Mini 10v is also cheaper by $50.

Start configuring your Dell Mini 10v here. Note that the screen doesn’t have the 720p option of the Dell Mini 10. They would possibliy add that option soon.

Sony makes your Blu-ray flicks look even better with Super Bit Mapping for Video (SBMV)

Posted: 12 May 2009 12:15 PM PDT

Sony has some sort of secret Blu-ray weapon up their sleeves and they call it Super Bit Mapping for Video (or simply SBMV). This new Sony-developed technology allows smoother color gradation.

Take a close look at the purple areas on the zoomed-in photo above. There is quite a big difference from the non-SBMV version to the SBMV version. The gradients are much smoother. It’s sort of like going from 8-bit colors to 16-bit on your monitor or display.

I didn’t realize that Blu-rays had these quality issues, I always thought that the image quality was well above DVDs. This makes me think whether HD DVDs have the same issues with color gradation. You can check out more SBMV screenshot comparisons here. SBMV screenshots are on the right side.

Note that you need a Sony Blu-ray player that is SBMV compatible, in order to play SBMV-encoded Blu-ray discs. The first title utilizing SBMV, EVANGELION：1.11 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE, will reportedly cost a whopping $60 and will be released in Japan on May 27, 2009. So, I take it Sony is charging a premium on both the SBMV compatible player and media?

[via CrunchGear]

Viewsonic, display manufacturer, entering the mobile phone market?

Posted: 12 May 2009 11:15 AM PDT

Viewsonic, a well-known and reputable display manufacturer, is looking to enter the mobile phone/smartphone market. The company was founded in 1987 and has its headquarters in California.

A 3G-capable device is supposedly set to launch first in China. American and European market launchings will follow shortly after that. But until then, Viewsonic = displays for me. No estimate release date has been mentioned by James Chu, chairman of Viewsonic.

Will Viewsonic make use of Windows Mobile since they used to manufacture Pocket PC’s? Hopefully, they would offer innovative mobile phones/smartphones and not just products with similar specifications to other manufacturers but only aesthetically different.

[via TopTenREVIEWS]

PocketPC/Windows Mobile: Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 contest! Three product keys will be given away. (Revised)

Posted: 12 May 2009 05:30 AM PDT

Contest mechanics:

Contest is open to all (who have PocketPC/Windows Mobile devices of course).
Complete the statement “I want to win 1 of 3 product keys for Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 because…” in 75 words or less via commenting on this post.
Please make sure that your e-mail address is typed in correctly before submitting the comment.
The contest will officially end on May 23, 2009 at 11:59PM PDT.
The contest/giveaway is sponsored by Spb Software.
(Optional) Follow me on Twitter, so you will be reminded from time to time about when the contest is going to end or be informed of how many days are still remaining. Following me on Twitter will not give you valid entries.

Drawing of winners:

Entries will be assigned random numbers and drawing will be done via Random.org
1800PocketPC and The Mobile Spoon will be given three entries each since they will be helping me promote the contest. All others will receive one entry each.
Winners will be announced within 2-3 days.

A review of the software, Spb Mobile Shell 3.0, can be found here.