Technology Effect

As odd rumors go, RIM engineering the BlackBerry PlayBook so that it can run Android apps sounds pretty far fetched, but that’s today’s mystery. According to “multiple trusted sources” speaking to BGR, RIM is considering using the Dalvik Java virtual machine, as used by Android, and potentially opening the door to the PlayBook and other QNX-based devices to run Android code. RIM needs a Java VM so as to provide legacy support for QNX-based devices like the PlayBook, such as custom apps which corporations might have deployed and don’t want to – or can’t – recreate as a native version. Official access to Android apps would be another thing, however; that would require RIM working with Google to certify its platform in some way, so as to provide official support to the Android Market. That sort of agreement would likely work in RIM’s favor, but whether it’s something Google would be amenable to remains to be seen. Still, as we saw in our own hands-on time with the PlayBoo

Concerns regarding the Motorola DROID Bionic and ATRIX 4G and their power management systems have leaked this week, with sources close to those testing the Android smartphones claiming that issues with Motorola’s choice of power management unit (PMU) have led to overheating, RF interference and other problems. Established HowardForums source kbman first reported that the Bionic was prone to “severe overheating even while at idle” and later clarified that it was Motorola’s choice of PMU rather than a generic chipset issue which was to blame. “The problem has to do with the PMU and causes a variety of issues including severe overheating even while at idle, power fluctuations affecting RF performance and cold boot issues. These things were told to me by someone who is testing the devices. I have no hands on experience myself.” More worrying, originally it was claimed that the flaw in the two smartphones – which are set to arrive as flagships on Verizon and AT&T in the

The white iPhone 4 failed to arrive earlier today , but the much-anticipated smartphone variant could well be just around the corner according to a new report. Macotakara claims that Apple’s frustration with the white iPhone was over an unreliable painting process which led to excessive numbers of defective models; however, a new system supposedly promises to turn that around. Exact details on the system are unknown, beyond it apparently being the handiwork of a Japanese company which has created a “miracle painting material” the thickness of which can be more precisely controlled. Exactly when we might see the white iPhone 4 is still unclear, but it looks like Apple hasn’t abandoned the concept altogether.

Stephen Elop’s selection as the new Nokia CEO in 2010 – and long-time smartphone chief Anssi Vanjoki’s departure from the company – may have been the result of a a power play by American investors, according to a new leak. Finnish paper Kauppalehti claims that Nokia board chaiman Jorma Ollila had intended to promote Vanjoki to the CEO role, but just weeks before was told by US investors that he had to pick a different candidate. Update: Nokia comment after the cut Ollila shortly after announced his intentions to step down from the board in 2012, giving no reason for the decision but, if this new information is correct, in a move that looks likely to be a protest against the investor pressure. Vanjoki has said that “the time has come to seek new opportunities” and is expected to leave Nokia at the end of this quarter. Update: We’ve just spoken to Nokia’s Mark Squires, and the company completely denies the Finnish report: “The story is totally unfounded speculation. There

If you need to leave someone a message, you could either entrust it to a Post-It note or you could go the slightly more obvious route and use a 12-foot long LED matrix. That’s what kitesurfer did, using a total of 512 blue LEDs and a slab of frosted acrylic to make a 20-inch high display that runs the length of his home office. Video demos after the cut An ATMEL Mega8 controls the various LED arrays, and gets its commands from a Linux-based embedded computer. That also runs a basic webserver, meaning that messages can be set via a website or even your smartphone. Altogether the project cost around €200 ($273) though half of that was the lengthy sheet of acrylic that covered the front of the matrix.

Is the iPad a PC, a tablet or something else? If you’re Apple you’d say it’s iconic and leave it at that, but if you’re market analysts Canalys you lump it in with personal computers in general. They’ve been crunching numbers and – iPad included – reckon that makes Apple the third largest company in the PC industry, only trailing HP and Acer. Including tablets – which Canalys insists on referring to as “pads” – is a conscious shift, and one which the company believes other vendors and analysts should follow. “Pads gave the market momentum in 2010, just as netbooks did the year before,” Canalys Senior Analyst Daryl Chiam insists, “we are encouraging vendors to plan for the future and not to remain stuck in the past.” The researchers believe that the majority of the PC industry’s 19.2-percent worldwide market growth in Q4 2010 (compared to Q4 2009) was down to tablet sales. “Pads gave consumers increased product choice over the holiday season,” claims Canalys Analyst Tim

A new Apple advert for the iPad has been revealed, “iPad is Iconic“, suggesting that there are over 60,000 iPad-specific apps for the best-selling slate. Several of those apps get a demo in the new video, including the djay virtual turntables, the Wall Street Journal news app and iWork’s Pages. Video after the cut There’s also American Airlines’ app for buying tickets, iBooks, Movie Slate and Vanity Fair. The video comes on the heels of Apple announcing 10bn downloads at the weekend, and ahead of what’s expected to be a tablet-centric Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona next month.

Texas Instruments may have been pipped to the post by NVIDIA when it came to getting an OMAP 4 chipset out the door, but it seems the company is leading the way in fancy calculators. Spotted crossing the FCC is the TI-Nspire CX Navigator, a WiFi b/g adapter intended for Texas Instrument’s TI-Nspire range of “learning handhelds” (as fancy calculators are now known). The exact purpose of the wireless network adapter isn’t made clear in the FCC filing, but looking at TI’s site it would seem likely that the accessory will allow files to be transferred remotely to the TI-Nspire devices rather than requiring them to be physically connected to a computer. The company already offers one wireless system, so we’ll have to wait to find out how maths students will benefit from the updated version.

How much would you pay for an iPhone remote control? Peel is hoping the answer extends to at least a few hundred; the company is following the unusual approach of putting its first ZigBee-based universal remote systems up for silent auction , testing the water to see just what users reckon it’s all worth. The Peel system uses an IR dongle – called the Peel Fruit – which hooks up via a ZigBee connection to an ethernet dongle – called the Peel Cable – on your router, and controls your A/V equipment via a custom app on the iPhone. By using the network rather than some sort of plug-in wireless dongle that attaches to the smartphone itself, you can be in a different room and still control your kit. It’s certainly more complex than rival systems from Griffin and Gear4, but the question remains whether would-be users will pay a premium for Peel’s setup. The company hints that comparable universal remotes range from $250 to $350, though the Griffin and Gear4 systems will be $80 an

How many times have you inserted the USB plug of your gadgets the wrong way up? Despite having the USB sign clearly labelled on the correct side, I still do it everyday, often because I don’t look at it at all. With this latest USB concept design by Ma Yi Xuan, this problem will disappear once and for all, because the Double U works both ways – there won’t be a wrong side! Might this ever become a reality? Hopefully by USB 5.0…

You might remember an app that we showed a while ago that can be used to perform free calls from your iPhone. Of course, we’re talking about Viber app, and if you’re a Viber user, you’ll be happy to know that newer version this app is available on App Store. So what does a new version of Viber app has to offer? Since Viber uses data connection for making calls, developers have decided to add a quality meter on the side of the app that shows how good the connection is. Although this is only a minor update, it’s quite useful to have a connection indicator so that you can know whether you can use data connection or regular cellar network. Of course, there are other improvements such as improved voice quality, Bluetooth, and call connection improvements. Current version of this app is 1.1 and if you haven’t tried it yet we suggest that you give it a go from the App Store for a test drive.

Every once in a while we present you with a new Kinect hack, and today we have a Kinect hack thats been designed to be used with Minecraft, so let’s see what does Kinect and the blocky world of Minecraft have for us today. This isn’t the first Kinect hack that works with Minecraft, and in the past there were other hacks, but not like this one. This hack won’t allow you to control your Minecraft avatar with Kinect, because that’s just too simple, but instead it will render your statue in the world of Minecraft. Of course, you can customize your statue, and set scale or even types of blocks you want to use for your statue. You’re not limited to motionless statues because you can stream whatever’s happening in front of your Kinect directly into world of Minecraft, so you can explore it later. Nathan Viniconis is the creator of this hack and he did an amazing job with it, and now you can add almost anything to your Minecraft universe because possibilities are endless.

We’ve already seen all sorts of medical implants for your eyes, but now we have another implant that will make you feel like as though you’re a robot with a camera as eyeballs. This eyeball camera was developed in Northwestern University and University of Illinois and it’s quite a revolutionary looking device. So what’s so great about this device? Well, first thing that we have to notice is its miniature size, and speaking about small size, it so small so it can fit onto the lens of your eyeball. Great thing about this eyeball camera is that it will give you camera-lens abilities, so you’ll be able to use 3.5x optical zoom and take photographs at the same time. As you can see, the eyeball camera sounds great, and I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable having a camera on my eyeball.

If you’re using Twitter and if you’re opening all sorts of links without checking you might get infected by the latest malware. This malware comes in the form of a fake antivirus softwareSecurity Shield, and as soon as you install it, you’ll infect your computer with a virus. named This virus is spread by a malicious link that is masked with a Goo.gl URL shortener, so it can easily be mistaken with a real link. Anyhow, this virus will hijack your computer and it will use your Twitter account to spread itself without you acknowledging any of this. Therefore, if you notice any unfamiliar tweets from your account, this means that this virus has affected your PC and what you need to do about it is you need to do to change your Twitter account password, secondly probably worth sending a tweet out (especially if you have lots of followers) to disregard the link previously posted by the virus and lastly download a proper antivirus software to get your PC cleaned out.