Acer unveils its first 3D laptop

Behold… the Acer AS5745DG-A54E/L. Unveiled Monday, Acer’s virgin 3D notebook features a 15.6-inch screen, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M GPU with NVIDIA’s 3D VISION at 120Hz, a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-460M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive, HDMI, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g/n and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. It also ships with 3D VISION glasses, of course. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, though Acer did say the AS5745DG-A54E/L will be available in Japan on December 3rd for “less than” 100,000 yen, which is roughly $1,200 US and R8458.80 (South African Rands. Acer has not yet addressed availability outside of Japan.

BlackBerry Playbook pricing to start at $399?

A blog by the name of Mobility Insider is claiming to have the inside scoop on the pricing schema for the unreleased BlackBerry Playbook tablet. The site does not cite any sources — anonymous or otherwise — but claims to have first hand knowledge about RIM’s tablet. The report indicates that the Playbook will be available with three different storage capacities. An 8GB model will retail for $399, a 16GB for $499, and a 32GB for $599. The site goes on to note that all models will be Wi-Fi only and will acquire cellular data connectivity through a tethered BlackBerry smartphone. RIM’s highly-anticipated, dual-core tablet is set to launch sometime early next year.

Android Market to require content ratings on apps

A recent post by Google seems to indicate that the company will require application content ratings on all present and future applications listed in the Android Market.

“Please use our application ratings to help users determine whether your application and its content is appropriate for them,” reads the post. “This includes all the content in your app, including user generated content and ads, and content that your app links to.”

Applications can be rated all, pre-teen, teen, or mature and Google notes that “hate speech” is not permitted in the Android Market; Google is also mandating that applications that use location not be categorized for allusers. There are several other category pre-requisites. Hit the jump to have a look at all of them.

Android App Review: Advanced Task Killer

Advanced Task Killer is also known as ATK. It is a tool to kill applications running. 


Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 1.9.3
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: ReChild
File size: 92 KB
Downloads: >250000




Download

DOWNLOAD: Opera 11 beta 1

Introduces extensions, tab stacking, and better mouse gesture guidance.

• The address field now hides unnecessary information and puts the security status of each page front and center. Now, badges explain the security state of the site, giving consumers clear information about the sites they visit.
• Plug-ins can be set to load on-demand. This can give as much as 30 percent performance improvement.
• Extensions and Opera Unite applications are updated automatically through Opera's update mechanism.
• Even more work has been done to boost browsing speed, particularly for Linux. Opera 11 for Linux is 15 to 20 percent faster on common benchmarks than Opera 10.63.
• Bookmarks are just a click away thanks to a new bookmarks bar that replaces Opera's personal bar.
• Opera 11 is 30 percent smaller than Opera 10.63, despite including new features.

Download

Acer comes out swinging; 7 and 10-inch Android tablets due in April 2011

Today, at a planned media event, hardware manufacture Acer officially jumped into the Android tablet space by announcing two new future offerings. The company will offer both a 7 and 10.1-inch Android tablet that will begin shipping in April of 2011.

The 7-inch tablet boasts a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, HDMI output, a 1280 x 800 screen resolution, Flash 10.1 support, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and an “HD” front-facing camera for video calling/chat.

The 10.1-inch model will have a 1GHz processor, along with a 5 megapixel camera, a 1280 x 800 screen resolution, an HDMI output, and Flash 10.1 support.

Acer announces nameless 4.8-inch Android smartphone; April 2011 launch

Acer announced Tuesday that it will launch an Android smartphone in the second quarter of 2011. The massive device will feature a 4.8-inch 1024 x 480-pixel touchscreen display, a 1GHz processor, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, HSDPA 14.4, DLNA, Dolby sound and more. According to Acer, the device will be “100% phone and 100% tablet.” No pricing was announced for this tall drink of water but more details should trickle in over the next few months. Hit the break for Acer’s press release.

Android App Review: Twitter

Discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world with the official Twitter for Android app.

Realtime search, trending topics and maps show whats happening now.

Tweet, send DMs, share photos, videos and links to your friends and the world.


Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 1.0.5
Added: April 30, 2010
Publisher: Twitter, Inc.
File Size: 1.89 MB
Downloads: >250000

Download

Samsung sells 600,000 Galaxy Tab units worldwide

If you build it, they will come. According to a report from Korean newspaper The Korean Herald, Samsung has confirmed global sales numbers for its virgin tablet offering. In its first month of availability, the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab has sold 600,000 units — likely making it the most popular Android tablet in the world. Samsung is reportedly pleased with the Galaxy Tab’s performance in its premier month, saying demand outpaced supply in most markets. In Samsung’s home market in Korea, the company sold 30,000 Galaxy Tabs in the tablet’s first week of availability. Interestingly, Apple’s iPad is set to launch on November 30th and according to The Korean Herald, the company has already taken 40,000 pre-orders in less than a week.

I want one!!!

Apple’s iOS 4.2.1 is ready for download

Just a quick update: iOS 4.2.1, which was announced early yesterday morning by Apple, is now live on the company’s servers and ready for download. If you have an iOS device and want the new bits — we can’t imagine why you wouldn’t (unless you’re jailbroken) — open up iTunes, plug in your device, and let the magic happen.

LG E-Note H1000B tablet unveiled

While its name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, the LG E-Note H1000B is finally a reality. The pricey Windows tablet features a 10.1-inch 1366 x 768-pixel touchscreen, a 1.66GHz processor, a 16GB SSD and 1GB of RAM. Despite a rogue press image on LG’s H1000B page showing the tablet running Windows XP, Windows 7 is indeed LG’s OS of choice — it ships with Windows 7 Starter but Professional is just an upgrade away. The H1000B also features an SD card slot, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth. LG has not announced any details surrounding launches in additional markets.

Google begins to roll out Gmail call recording to some users

It looks like search giant Google has started to roll out a new feature to its Gmail users that also utilize Google Voice. The new functionality allows Google Voice users, receiving a call from within Gmail, to record the voice conversation. Blog TechCrunch is reporting that some users have begun to see a new “record” button show up in Gmail’s call window. The feature has been available to Google Voice users for quite some time by hitting the number “4″ on your phone’s dial-pad after receiving an inbound call. After activating call recording, both parties are notified that the conversation is being recorded with a verbal queue. Google has yet to publish a press release announcing the feature or detailing when it will be rolled out to all users. Anyone have the new feature in Gmail yet?

Android App Review: Facebook for Android

Facebook for Android makes it easy to stay connected and share information with friends. You can share status updates from your home screen, check out your News Feed, review your upcoming Events, look at your friends’ walls and user info, upload photos, share links, check your Inbox, and view posted videos.

Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 1.4.1
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: Facebook
File size: 2.47 MB
Downloads: >250000

Download 

New in the Apple App Store This Week

Browsing the App Store this weekend? If so, and you’re wanting to find some of the new releases, then here are eleven applications released over the past week. Enjoy!

60 Minutes for iPad.

Video taken from each week’s edition of the US news program, plus previews, archive footage and behind-the-scenes. $4.99, US-only.

HootSuite.

The popular Twitter client has been upgraded for native iPad support. Free.

Spatterhouse.

A conversion of the infamous 80s arcade title, with all the gore and violence of the original intact! Game Center compatible. $2.99/£1.79.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

The latest in the franchise puts you behind the wheel of a police car chasing down racers. Optimized for the Retina Display. $4.99/£2.99.

Path.

Much-publicized photo-sharing social network. Free.

KitchenPad Timer.

Manage your time in the kitchen with this multi-option timer. Universal for the iPhone and iPad. $2.99/£1.79.

Prince Bear and Pauper Bear.

An award winning children’s book available for the iPhone and the iPad, with a narration and an automatic read-through option along with the traditional eBook. Linked to iPhone version. $0.99/£0.59.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner.

This is an augmented reality app so you’ll need a 3GS, iPhone 4 or 4th gen iPod Touch to play. Twenty levels of TIE Fighter shooting fun. $4.99/£2.99.

Meet the Fraggles – Kid’s Book.
A universal app for the iPhone and the iPad where your children – and possibly you too – can enjoy meeting the Fraggles! $1.99/£1.19.

Photo Delight.

Add splashes of color to your photographs. This iPad-only app will support AirPrint when iOS 4.2 is finally released. $1.99/£1.19.

Cats, Inc. HD

Help a family of three cats pick up sausages in this puzzle game. $1.99/£1.19.

Feed Your Angry Birds Obsession with New iPhone 4 Cases

If you want everyone to know you’re an Angry Birds fan, but don’t feel you can carry the plush toys around with you, then Gear4 have the ideal alternative: iPhone 4 cases. The cases feature the red bird, yellow bird and a green pig; plus they have the Angry Birds logo on the bottom.

The Gear4 website describes them as having a ‘clip-on design’ so we expect them to be something like the bioserie cases we recently reviewed, and there is full access to all the ports. The Angry Birds case is also available for the 4th gen iPod Touch at the same price.

Click Here to visit their website

AppBrain v5 Now Available, But Fast Web Install Broken

The popular Android Market alternative AppBrain launched v5 of their mobile app today, bringing a slew of new features. First among those features is a double-edged sword, though. Version 5 integrates the Fast Web Installer into the main app as a preference setting, rather than having a separate app. Unfortunately, Google’s newest update of the official Android Market has broken the Fast Web install feature. In response to this, the AppBrain blog says, “Google is pushing out this update to all devices now, so we don’t know how long the fast web installer will still be relevant. (You can uninstall updates of the market to make fast web installer work again, but it seems the update keeps reinstalling automatically).” We’ll have to wait and see if the fast web installer can make a comeback, or if Google has plans to keep it for themselves with today’s promised upgrade of the Market or in Gingerbread.

AppBrain v5 also brings with it a desktop widget. A simple 1×1 widget offering a Fast Sync button and a search button, which is a nice addition. The update also brings the website’s “Related Apps” feature to the mobile app, as well as the option to write your own reviews, search for users, “fresh” recommendations, and Facebook single sign on. Overall, AppBrain is much faster to load up as well.

The Related Apps feature is a very welcome addition, as are the options to write reviews and search for users. However, I still find the recommendations by AppBrain to be pretty useless. AppBrain always recommends the same 20 popular apps regardless of what I install or uninstall. And, when I remove those unwanted apps from the recommendation list, even though there are somewhere around 100,000 apps in the Android Market, the list stays empty.

Overall, a very nice update from a great app. Let’s hope the Fast Web Installer can make a comeback.

Android App Review: Foursquare

Foursquare helps you find new ways to explore your city. See where your friends are, learn about the places they frequent and unlock rewards as you travel.

Join over four million other Foursquare users around the world!

Rating: ****
Price: Free
Version: 2010-11-12
Added: October 27, 2009
Publisher: foursquare
File size: 815 KB
Downloads: >250000

Download 

Logitech Harmony 300i remote

Sick and tired of your coffee table being cluttered with remotes? The best of universal remotes, also known as Logitech, have kept the game moving forward with the Harmony 300i. The baby of the range, this universal not only lets you turn on multiple devices with a single button push, but you can use your PC or Mac to upload the codes for up to four different remotes into one sleek beauty. This remote is also compatible with your DStv HD PVR. How awesome is that!

You program it using a slick website. which stores all these device details for your next remote. Throw in a wallet-friendly price and everyone should be smiling.

You can buy this remote for R300,00 ($45,00) from the Logitech website.
Check now to see if Harmony supports your devices

Click here to see a full picture of the remote

Angry Birds preparing lighter version for weaker phones

Though developer Rovio Mobile has taken pains to make Angry Birds compatible with as many phones as possible, people have still reported a great deal of lag and problems on certain devices. Rovio has responded to those problems by finally relenting and deciding to build a lighter version of Angry Birds that will be optimized for less-capable phones.

QVGA screens and legacy devices with older processors will be better equipped to handle the upcoming version of Angry Birds. Rovio promises to keep both versions on par with the amount of levels, but the code will be re-done to improve the fluidity of game play.

Rovio is also exploring how it can resolve the issues that users are reporting with the in-game ads. Angry Birds has been available for free because the game is ad supported, but the recent update repositioned ads to the top-right corner, which has proven to be distracting and possibly contributing to the slower performance. I asked Rovio if there would be an option to remove ads by purchasing a premium version of the app but received no response.

Here’s a list of the devices currently not supported. The game may load on some of these phones, but it might not be a good experience. Also keep in mind that Rovio does not support custom ROM’s or anything below Android 1.6.

Droid Eris
HTC Dream
HTC Hero
HTC Magic/Sapphire/Mytouch 3G
HTC Tattoo
HTC Wildfire
Huawei Ideos/U8150
LG Ally/Aloha/VS740
LG GW620/Eve
Motorola Backflip/MB300
Motorola Cliq/Dext
Samsung Acclaim
Samsung Moment/M900
Samsung Spica/i5700
Samsung Transform
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini
T-Mobile G1
T-Mobile G2

Nokia’s Ovi Store now serves 3 million downloads each day

Nokia is certainly not the first cell phone company that comes to mind when the topic of App Stores is raised. The market for mobile apps continues to explode globally, Nokia is quietly proving it still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Nokia announced a new milestone for its Ovi Store Thursday morning: 3 million downloads per day. The impressive milestone comes with just 18,000 content titles currently available in the Ovi Store for Nokia’s most popular devices. It also comes just over two months after the 2 million daily download mark was reached. This rapid growth rate is showing no signs of slowing, as interest in Symbian continues to build on both sides of the app equation — users and developers. Nokia needs to appeal to both groups in order to maintain success with the Ovi Store, and so far the company’s efforts are working. In the last year, over 400,000 new developers have joined Nokia’s developer program, and the Finnish company’s Qt development tools have been downloaded more than 1.5 million times.

Nokia: some N8 units have a ‘power management’ issue

Following widespread reports, Nokia confirmed on Thursday that some of its N8 smartphones are faulty. The response comes following reports from N8 owners around the world claiming that their devices inexplicably died. Users all complained of similar symptoms — the device wouldn’t reboot, take a charge or even power on after the failure. As some speculated, Nokia confirmed that the issue is related to power management. Thankfully, the issue does not affect all N8 handsets and as Nokia’s statement points out, faulty units will be replaced under warranty.

Android App Review: TweetDeck

TweetDeck is your mobile browser for staying in touch with what's happening on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz. TweetDeck makes it easy to stay up to date and organized no matter where you are.

TIP: Touch the column header to jump to the top!

Rating: ****
Price: Free
Version: 1.0.2
Added: October 13, 2010
Publisher: TweetDeck Inc
File size: 639 KB
Downloads: >250000

Download 

Gadgenator reaches 114 Pageviews today so far

Thanks for everyone who visits my blog every day. I try to get give you the latest news daily. I also post a Android App Review for all those Android users who wants only the best applications on their phones. When I started blogging at the end of August 2010, I got a daily amount of 40 pageviews. Now I get a daily amount of 90 pageviews. Yesterday I got 97 pageviews and today so far 114.

My 8.ta is here in South Africa! article got the most pageviews. I get most of my traffic from Google, but also from the blog Android ZA Forum. Most of my audience are from firstly the United States, South Africa, United Kingdom, South Korea, Russia, Canada and France. Pageviews from browsers are mostly from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and last Opera. Pageviews from operating systems are mostly from Windows and then Mac. I get some pageviews from Blackberry and iPhone users.

Please take my Survey and let me know exactly what you like and would like on my blog. Also feel free to comment on my posts. Join me on Facebook & Twitter. Follow me on the blog with your Twitter or Google username. Take the poll on the bottom right panel, and let me know what mobile phone do you use.

Keep on visiting Gadgenator!

Google Chrome Smartbook

While there has been much talk about smartbooks, they kind of never materialized. While the exact definition can vary, what sets them apart from netbooks is that they use a Linux based OS, and have an ARM chip, rather than the x86 one. And they are supposed to be even cheaper.

Google had promised that their Chrome browser would form the basis of a smartbook, and in fact would release a Chrome OS. While this did not seem too realistic at first, with the increasing acceptance, and even popularity of Google Android in the smartphone space, an Android based Chrome OS, running on a smartbook device could be quite popular.

It is expected that this smartbook will be released later this month, and the device will not be sold in normal retail channels.

LG Android Tablet PC

Hot on the heel’s of Samsung’s success with their Galaxy, it looks like LG is heading towards the tablet market. The specs are to have an 8.9″ display, and use Android 3.0, the upcoming release. It is the “Honeycomb” OS, which is reportedly optimized for the tablet market, unlike current implementations. With the success of the Galaxy, it is not surprising that LG will enter this space. The product, yet unnamed, is expected for 2011.

Sharp plans to bring its 3D phones to the U.S., India and China

It looks like Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp is going to bring a few of those groundbreaking 3D phones to other parts of the world as well. The technology that produces glasses-free 3D images is called autostereoscopy, and the two first phones featuring it, the Galapagos 003SH and 005SH with 3.8” screens and Snapdragon CPUs, will debut next month on Japan’s Softbank network.

For the good of mankind, Sharp has now announced that it intends to bring its 3D phones to the U.S., as well as China and India in 2011. No word yet on whether other parts of the world also will see some Sharp 3D action eventually, but if all goes well; hopefully the company will begin to release phones globally.

Click here to view the video on YouTube 

Google launches improved mobile editor for Google Docs

If you’re a Google Docs user you’re going to love this news. Google has announced a new and improved Docs mobile editor that will be rolled out over the next several days. The new layout makes mobile document editing easier and more fluid, and allows for collaboration from other Docs users on mobile devices or desktops. If you happen to be sporting an Android handset, you also have the option to use the OS’ built-in speech-to-text functionality for verbal entry. There is video demoing the new hotness waiting for you after the break.

October search engine numbers: Google, Bing up; Yahoo, Ask, AOL down

Analytics company ComScore has released its October search engine market share numbers and… instead of making you fire up your search-site of choice and finding the information yourself, I thought I would just put it right there for you. October’s search numbers are as follows: Google 66.3%, up from 66.1% in September; Bing 11.5%, up from 11.2% in September; Yahoo 16.5%, down from 16.7% the month prior; Ask.com 3.6% down 0.1% from the previous month; and AOL 2.1%, down from 2.3%. I'm curious to see how/if the recent release of Windows Phone will help Bing’s search numbers. We’ll find out next month.

Android App Review: Shazam

 Start your music journey now with Shazam to discover, buy & share music. This free app gives you 5 tags each month to identify music anywhere, plus:

•Shazam Widget: Tag straight from your home screen
•Read track reviews and artist info
•Share Tags on Twitter & Facebook
•See what’s popular with Tag Chart & Shazamers Blog

Recent changes:
v2.5:
Shazam Widget: Tag straight from your home screen and discover songs Shazamers around the world are tagging with our live Tag Stream. Add tracks you like to your Tag list and watch music videos.

v2.1:
Off-line Tagging
Update of Facebook Connect
Removed unnecessary permissions

Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 2.5.0-BB70125
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: Shazam Entertainment Limited
File size: 999 KB
Downloads: >250000


Download 

ViewSonic ViewPad 7 hits Amazon for $120

In a peculiar turn of events, Amazon has made ViewSonic’s upcoming ViewPad 7 tablet available for pre-order. Amazon — an online retailer known for retail prices so low that countless brick and mortar retailers have been forced out of business — is charging $120 over MSRP for the upcoming Android tablet. A 7-inch touchscreen display, cellular data connectivity with support for voice calling, a 3-megapixel rear camera, a 0.3-megapixel front camera for video chat, 512MB of RAM, microSDHC support (up to 32GB) and up to 10 hours of battery life all sound great, but definitely not great enough to warrant $120 above retail. The ViewSonic ViewPad 7 is set to launch some time before the end of the year.

Official Google Voice application for iPhone lands in App Store

Yesterday, an official — Google made — Google Voice application landed in Apple’s iOS App Store. The new program, which requires and iPhone and iOS 3.0 or higher, offers push notifications of text messages and voicemails and allows users to access GV’s settings and dialer directly from their device. If you’re a Google Voice and iPhone user, make sure to pick this up!

LG Optimus One sales top 1 million units

LG announced Tuesday that sales of its entry level Optimus One smartphone hit 1 million units within the first 40 days of availability. The LG Optimus One is an affordable smartphone powered by version 2.2 of Google’s popular Android operating system. With the device, LG shows us once again that there is still very high demand for capable devices that are also affordable. While the bulk of sales likely fell outside of the U.S. LG’s Optimus One features a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display, a 600MHz processor, a 3-megapixel camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and microSDHC support.

Android App Review: FxCamera

FxCamera enables you to take a picture with various effects.

- ToyCam
- Polandroid
- Fisheye
- SymmetriCam
- Warhol
- Normal


Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 0.6.8
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: ymst
File Size: 1.39 MB
Downloads: >250000

Download

Samsung Galaxy Tab vs. the iPad: Compare For Yourself

Here you can see a comparison between the two tablets from the website PC World. I would like to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab for Christmas.

 

 Apple iPad

Visit website or buy online

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Visit website

Sony Ericsson LiveView now available in France and the UK

In late September, Sony Ericsson introduced a new neat Android accessory to the world: LiveView. It looks similar to a big, digital wrist-watch, and acts as a second display for your phone. Via Bluetooth, LiveView can show instant notifications for SMS and incoming calls, and it can also provide you with Facebook and Twitter updates, calendar reminders and RSS feeds.

The little gizmo may also be used as a remote control for your music app, and since the functionality of it can be extended with compatible third-party apps, LiveView shows promise.

Not many LiveView reviews are out yet, but if you live in France or the UK and want to grab one – now you can. In the UK, you can get the accessory from Amazon and SuperETrader-UK for £55.99.

Click below if you want to buy it online at Amazon

Facebook announces new communication platform; simple, seamless, not email

Yesterday, at the company’s planned media event, social networking giant Facebook took the wraps off of its new communication service. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, noted that the new system aims to be seamless, informal, immediate, personal, simple, minimal, and short… but not email.

The new service will: provide messaging across all of the different ways people communicate (SMS, email, IM, SMS), a conversation history for reference and archiving, and a social inbox to aggregate all the messages you really care about.

The scenario presented is this: someone sends you an email that is displayed on Facebook as a chat window (the new system is being described as “very IM like”), when you reply to this message an email is sent back to your conversation partner. If you happen to be away from your computer when they reply, you can get a push email notification via the mobile Facebook application or via SMS (the company noted that a new iOS Facebook app will be launching today) and respond from there. The idea is to keep a permanent, running history of conversations with the people you care about while making digital communication feel like an actual, face-to-face conversation. “Your conversations are no longer locked in a phone or a particular email service,” said Facebook engineer Andrew Bozworth. “The days of typing “g2g” and “brb” are over.”

Users of Facebook will be given the opportunity to have a @facebook.com email address that matches the public user-name (facebok.com/public-useranme) that they’ve picked; Facebook employees will use the new fb.com domain purchased from the Farm Bureau. Down the road, the new service will support XMPP, IMAP, and several other open protocols to will allow users to access their Facebook messages however they want.

The company will be rolling out the new service slowly over the first few months; initial testers will be part of an invite system similar to the one used by Gmail early on.

Microsoft has sold over 1 million Kinect units so far

Is Kinect worthy of all the hype? That question was on everyone’s minds ahead of the hotly anticipated device’s launch earlier this month. As they say, money talks — and Kinect is speaking loud and clear. Microsoft said Monday that it has sold over 1 million Kinect units thus far. Microsoft Kinect, which launched less than two weeks ago on November 4th, is an Xbox 360 accessory that allows players to control games simply by moving their bodies. Microsoft said ahead of launch that it expects to sell 5 million Kinect units by the end of the year and with the holiday shopping rush still to come, the company is certainly on the right track. “It’s a strong start,” Microsoft’s head of gaming Don Mattrick told Reuters. “Consumers are loving it.”

Android App Review: Buzz Deck

Buzz Tech, Buzz Gossip, Buzz Sport, Buzz Fun, Buzz News. Crowd sourced aggregation, keeps you easily upto date with 1200+ sites. Get Twitter, Facebook, etc., social updates.

Updates:
0.9.8: YouTube card fix + Bug fix

NB: No widget if stored on SD card

Buzz Deck is in beta, all feedback welcome

Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 0.9.8
Added: October 27, 2009
Publisher: mippin.com
File size: 488 KB
Downloads: 10000-50000

Download 

Visit Website 

Review: DStv's HD PVR Decoders

 (DStv is a multi-channel digital satellite TV service in Africa)

DStv’s HD PVR decoders (High Definition Personal Video Recorder) have revolutionised the television experience with lifelike viewing, sharper images, more vibrant colours and precision picture quality.

The first decoder (HD PVR) was launched in July 2008, retailing at the price of R2999,99 currently.
The second decoder (HD PVR 2P) was launched in May 2010 for a cheaper price of R1999,99 for people who wants a HD PVR but can't afford the 4-tuner HD PVR.


The HD PVRs offer you the following benefits:

Original HD PVR model (4-tuner) : View one channel, while recording another two simultaneously
New HD PVR 2P model (2-tuner): View one channel, while recording one other channel simultaneously
Record 150 hours of standard definition TV (double the SD PVR) or 50 hours of HD TV.
Pause live TV programming
Rewind programming
Fast forward and slo-mo programming you have recorded
HD capable
Surround Sound capability
XtraView capability
Favourite Channel Feature
Full Parental Control
24 hour i-Plate
Simple installation for homes with a twin LNB
DStv ON DEMAND*
Series Recording*


* These features are available on the original HD PVR model only. These features will be rolled out to the HD PVR 2P model before the end of this year.


The HD PVRs also include a feature called "Favourite Channels". If you select your favourite channels, you get the following:
A personalised TV Guide, listing the schedules for just those channels.
A personalised viewing environment (like the current bouquets on other decoders) which includes only your selected channels. This means that when “surfing” through the channels, you only see the channels you have selected, so no more hopping over unwanted or unavailable channels.
A Favourite Channels Grid – similar to the existing channel grid, but listing only the channels you selected, making it easier to tune between channels.


While the HD PVRs may not be dual view PVRs, all our HD PVRs are XtraView capable and cater to your needs. XtraView takes care of the second and in some cases, third viewing environment at no additional subscription fee to what you currently pay for on the Dual View decoder or SD PVR.


THERE IS CURRENTLY 5 HD CHANNELS FOR DSTV PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS 

170 M-Net HD

M-Net HD is a cutting-edge channel that combines state-of-the-art high definition broadcast technology - ensuring sharper images, sound and clarity - with the best shows and movies from the M-Net family of channels.



 171 SuperSport HD 1
SS HD 1 consists of a variety of sporting codes, including local rugby; soccer matches from the SA Premier Soccer League, UEFA Champions League, English Premier League; international tennis; local tennis; golf matches and more.



172 Discovery HD Showcase
Discovery HD is a 24-hr high-definition television brand offering factual and lifestyle entertainment that fulfills the promise of high-definition technology. The channel delivers       unrivaled content, providing thousands of hours of Discovery HD content across the                                        company’s 29 media brands.


174 SuperSport HD 2

SS HD 2 feature varied HD sports programming, plus World Cup matches that cannot be accommodated on SuperSport HD due to simultaneous kick-offs.




175 M-Net Movies 1 HD 

M-Net Movies 1 HD is a 24 hour channel from M-Net providing up to 100 different movie titles a month with no commercial breaks. All movies screened on M-Net Movies 1 HD are in their premiere season, bringing you the newest Pay-TV offerings in High Definition.




For more info visit www.dstv.com