Leaked LG CX2 Is Optimus 3D 2, Packs Dual Core CPU and NOVA Display

Korean handset maker LG has big plans for this year’s Mobile World Congress trade fair, which is set to kick off next month. With only a bit more than a month until the event, LG leaks have started to pour, unveiling some of the devices to be officially announced in February.  No later than last Friday, the folks over at Pocketnow revealed a mysterious LG X3 that featured a quad-core processor, LTE support and a stunning 4.7-inch capacitive touchscreen display. Today, another unannounced LG device is making headlines, the LG CX2, which seems to be the true successor of the Optimus 3D Android smartphone. Pocketnow reports that the LG “Optimus 3D 2” will be announced next month at the Mobile World Congress 2012, in Barcelona. However,...

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Photo of Sony ST25i ‘Kumquat’ Leaks

Sony has unveiled two high-end smartphones at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and has some more of them in the pipeline for the rest of the year.  Among them, we can count the Sony Ericsson ST25i ‘Kumquat,’ a handset that made it to the headlines before, and which can now be admired in what is said to be the first leaked photo of it.  At the first glance, the smartphone appears to be similar with the Sony Xperia S that made an official appearance at the said fair.  The mobile phone sports the same Iconic Identity design, the guys over at XperiaBlog note. It also got the transparent notification strip at the bottom.  In fact, the new smartphone also appears to be very similar with the LT22i...

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HTC Flyer Possibly Receiving Ice Cream Sandwich in Q1 2012

The Flyer is HTC’s first try on Android tablets. The slate was launched last year in May with Android 2.3 Gingerbread on board. However, HTC promised customers that it would upgrade the Flyer to Honeycomb as soon as Google made it available on the market. Even though the Taiwanese handset maker did not manage to deliver the Honeycomb on time, over the past two months HTC Flyer owners have been receiving the update. According to an HTC rep, it appears that the company plans to upgrade the Flyer to Ice Cream Sandwich operating system this year. In fact, the rep said to a customer that the Android 4.0 update would be delivered within the next few months, the folks at AndroidAndMe claim. Still, given the fact that customer services reps spread...

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Huawei Honor with Ice Cream Sandwich Announced in China

Shortly after Huawei announced that it would deliver its MediaPad 7-inch slate with Ice Cream Sandwich on board starting Q1 2012, the Chinese handset manufacturer launched the ‘improved’ Huawei Honor.  The ‘improved’ version of Huawei Honor will be delivered with Ice Cream Sandwich operating system on board starting this month. Unfortunately, the smartphone is only available in the Mainland via China Unicom carrier. Chinese customers who already purchased the older Huawei Honor device with Gingerbread will receive an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich soon, the handset maker claims. In the same news, the Chinese company announced the white flavor of the Huawei Honor would be available on the market beginning next month. Huawei...

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Motorola Recruiting Software Testers for Motorola PHOTON 4G Update

Following Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Ice Cream Sandwich roll-out from last week, Motorola has just issued an official statement on its forums searching for software testers for the PHOTON 4G smartphone. This means that Motorola PHOTON 4G will receive a software update within the next few days. Those who want to take part at these soak tests will have to join Motorola Feedback Network community and fill out a special registration form. According to Motorola, this will not guarantee that a PHOTON 4G user will participate in these software tests, as they will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, as well as on valid registration answers. The recruiting period will last until the full number of software testers is achieved. Only those accepted...

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Updated Soundtracker Available on Symbian, S60 5th Edition, Series40

A new version of the Soundtracker mobile application is now available for download for devices powered by Symbian, S60 5th Edition, Series40.  The S60 5th Edition S^3, Symbian Anna and Symbian Belle iteration of the app has reached version 1.7.5 and includes a variety of performance improvements and bug fixes.Moreover, the Soundtracker APIs have been upgraded too.  The Series40 flavor of Soundtracker has reached version 2.2 and is available now with a series of performance improvements and bug fixes, as well as with new German localization.  As soon as they install the new app release, users will also be able to name their station. The new software flavor packs updated Soundtracker APIs as well.  The Soundtracker Radio mobile client for Symbian, S60 5th Edition, and...

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Gigabyte Creates VIA-Powered Mini-ITX Motherboard

VIA may not hold a very big share of the CPU and chipset market, but the fields it does serve are better for it, enough so that Gigabyte decided to try out the NANO processor and its accompanying chipset. There was a time, rather long ago, when VIA motherboards and processors were actually easy to encounter in PCs around the world. Today, the company holds a very small share of the worldwide chipset and CPU market, mostly catering to the needs of the embedded segment. That said, Gigabyte decided that the VX900 chipset and the Nano U3300 dual-core processor deserved its backing. Thus it was that the M7V90PI motherboard came to be, featuring the Mini-ITX form factor. For those who want to know the exact specs, the Nano U3300 chip is a dual-core...

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Intel Buys High-Bandwith Networking Technology Maker InfiniBand

Intel bought many companies over the years, but the latest acquisition may not exactly be easy to guess, since it is not about central processing units. Intel has officially announced that it has reached an agreement with QLogic for the acquirement of all product lines and certain assets related to the InfiniBand business. In other words, the already massive corporation will soon own its own high-bandwidth networking intellectual property. With that technology in hand, the Santa Clara, California-based IT giant can start on new, scalable HPC (high-performance computing) applications. The announcement did not say how much money Intel was going to pay QLogic. Either way, if Intel plays its new cards right, it should be able to recover its...

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New Sony CMOS Sensor Has Back Illumination

Not one to miss all the demand for cameras with extra functionality and adaptability, Sony decided to build a new type of camera CMOS sensor. The CMOS sensor made by Sony is unique in how it places the pixel section (with the back-illuminated structure pixels) on the chip that has the circuit section (which processes signals). This layered structure lets it provide a better functionality and image quality. Also, since the sensor is smaller, it can allow for cameras as a whole to become smaller as well, especially if the other components somehow become more compact. Sony chose to name this invention 'stacked CMOS sensor' and says it is faster and renders images better than standard sensors while consuming less power. Sample shipments will...

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iPhone 5 May Boast New Sony CMOS Image Sensor

Sony has unveiled a new backlit CMOS (complementary-symmetry metal–oxide–semiconductor) image sensor that it is currently working on, which has the potential to end up in Apple’s next-generation iPhone. Sony’s next-gen image sensor separates the CMOS sensors from the circuits that handle imagery. According to the Japanese electronics maker, “This image sensor layers the pixel section containing formations of back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit section for signal processing, which is in place of supporting substrates for conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors.” Sony says the new sensor will offer enhanced image quality, superior functionalities and a more compact size. Apple will require a thinner...

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RIM’s New CEO Exposes Future Plans, Doesn't Propose Changes

RIM has got a new President and Chief Executive Officer, in the person of Thorsten Heins. Both Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepped down from their co-CEO positions, but they did not leave the company.  Research In Motion’s founders and former co-CEOs will be there to continue to offer guidance. Lazaridis will act as Vice Chair of RIM’s Board and Chair of the Board’s new Innovation Committee, while Balsillie will be a member of the board.  Following the initial announcement regarding the leadership change, RIM took the time today to present its new CEO to the world. Thorsten Heins, in his turn, presented his plans for the future of the handset vendor.  One thing that strikes from the beginning is the fact that Heins is...

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No More AMD-NVIDIA Combos, LucidLogix Hydra About to Be Executed

LucidLogix' Hydra system-on-chip devices may have just made the difference clear between a revolutionary breakthrough and something that is 'just' a breakthrough.  The Hydra 200 SoC, first used in the MSI Hydra 200 Big Bang Fuzion motherboard, seemed to fit the bill of a revolutionary technology perfectly when it emerged for the first time.  With the ability to allow AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards to work in tandem, regardless of model, it seemed to be just what everyone was waiting for.  Unfortunately, the great idea turned out not to be so well received, even though initial appreciations were high.  In the end, the performance of Hydra-enabled multi-card setups was inferior to that of 'pure' AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI...

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Gigabyte Offers an Intel-Based Mini-ITX Board

People may not have heard yet, but the VIA-powered M7V90PI is not the only mini-ITX motherboard that Gigabyte has prepared.  While that one is ready to handle the embedded market well enough, the company also designed one for barebone PCs.  Dubbed MSH61DK, it supports Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs, due to featuring the Intel H61 Express chipset.  Two DDR-1333 SO-DIMM memory slots are present, for up to 8GB of RAM, along with a pair of Mini PCI Express slots.  What's more, a couple of SATA 3.0 Gbps ports ensure coverage for the storage part of the equation.  Other specs include USB 3.0 (two ports), Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and Realtek ALC 887 audio.  Go here for all the info available on this green-colored platform....

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Installing Windows 8 Metro Apps via Windows Store

Applications built specifically for Windows 8 and its Metro UI will arrive on devices mainly via Microsoft’s own application portal, the Windows Store.  This means that users will have to access the store to find applications that fit their needs, and that they will also perform the installation via the Store.  The app stores available today function in about the same manner. Similarly, Windows 8 users will be able to install free apps right away, while having to get through a series of security steps for paid apps.  “Assuming you are signed in to the Windows Store, one tap on the app listing page is all you’ll need to install free and trial apps. That’s it,” Jonathan Wang, program manager of Microsoft’s Windows Store client...

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AMD Opteron 6200 CPUs Are the Best Server Processors, Linley Group Claims

Consumers may have been miffed by Bulldozer's failure to live up to its hype, but the people on the server market have a much higher opinion of the CPUs, apparently. It appears that the “Bulldozer” architecture is definitely not unloved on the server market, even if its consumer-oriented incarnations have been having a hard time, even with the performance hotfix. It so happens that The Linley Group recently hold the first session of their annual Analysts' Choice Awards. After looking at products released between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011, they have reached the conclusion that the AMD Opteron 6200 line is the best there is on the server front. “The AMD Opteron 6200 Series processor rose to the top of our list of nominees due to...

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Wireless Neural Routers Created in the US

The emerging field of optogenetics is an area of science that deals with using light to control various aspects of neural functionality. Researchers at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Kendall Research have just developed a new type of instrument that acts like a neural router.  The tool will help investigators determine how switching off certain cells in the brains of mice and other small animals will influence their behavior. The difference between this device and others is that the former is wireless, allowing test subjects full liberty of movement.  In the past, scientists had only used fixed optogenetic instrumentation, which severely limited the quality and amount of data that could be derived from experiments. Now, test...

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