SlashGear Week In Review - Week 5 2010
Here we go again with another SlashGear Week in Review. This was an important and busy week in the tech world with a much anticipated announcement by Apple in the middle of the week. There was some cool stuff unveiled early in the week too though. Monday we saw a cool custom wireless PS3 mod that took the new slim PS3 and turned it into a handheld device.
Pentax pulled the wraps off a couple new digi cams called the Optio I-10, H90, and E90. The cameras all had a very old school look to them even though they are all modern on the inside. The HP Slate landed on a video overview this week claiming that it was five years in the making. HP claims the device was ready to go two years about but would have cost about $1500 at the time.
Apple reported its Q1 profits this week and profit was up 50% on a huge surge. Sales of iPhones doubled and Mac sales were up 33%. Bowers & Wilkins updated its high-end 800 series speakers with diamond tweeters. You still can't afford them at as much as $24,000 per pair.
Owners of 27-inch iMac computers reported this week that they were being told by AppleCare reps that a second fix for the screen flicker issue on the machines was incoming. The first fix issued for the flicker didn't fix the problem. Belkin finally shipped the TuneCast Auto Live FM transmitter this week after showing it off last year. The device uses GPS to find a clear station in your area.
Windows Mobile 7 is apparently set for release at MWC 2010 with training for developers to start in March. The new version of the mobile OS has some ground it needs to make up, hope it's good. The MSI Wind U135 debuted this week for $310 with Pine Trail power. The little netbook has a 10-inch screen and Windows 7.
Zvox updated three of its sound bars with digital audio inputs for better sound. Two of the devices are made for the TV to sit on and one is a traditional sound bar design. Wednesday was a big day in the tech world with the Apple event being held where the iPad was debuted. We were at the show and covered it with a liveblog.ColorWare extended its custom paint option to the Google Nexus one smartphone this week. You can get your device colored for $175. There was lots of info on the iPad offered at the unveiling event. A bunch of video and other details were put together for perusal in a single post.
One of the most interesting things about the iPad was the impressive pricing on the data service for 3G models that Apple was able to get from AT&T. The plan requires no contract and the iPad is unlocked. The iPad was certainly the big announcement of the week and will probably be one of the biggest announcements this year. All the official details and specs are here.
ZAGG pulled the ZAGGsparq external battery out and showed it off this week. The little portable battery can recharge your iPhone four times. Along with the iPad hardware, Apple also showed off some cool accessories. Official pricing on the accessories was revealed Thursday.
A German company has been trying to get tech publications like SlashGear to stop using the term Smartbook by claiming that the term is trademarked. Qualcomm replied to the allegation this week saying that the term is a generic one and they are trying to get the German firm's trademark revoked. We reviewed the Acer Aspire Z5600 AIO PC this week. We would have liked to see better graphics and Blu-ray, but the 23-inch machine was good.
Rumors turned up late in the week claiming that Nintendo had been offered an early version of the Project Natal tech Microsoft ultimately purchased. Nintendo is said to have passed because the tech was expensive. Sony has put its color eReader plans on hold for now. The reason is that the color version of e-paper lacks quality at this time.
Cypress Semiconductor showed off new multi-touch screen tech this week. The screen takes input from an unlimited number of fingers at once. Mitsubishi showed off a gigantic 149-inch OLED display this week. The thought of how much an OLED that size would cost is enough to make Bill Gates cry.
Amazon released its Q4 financials late in the week. The company still won't say how many Kindles it has sold and as close as we are likely to get to real numbers is a statement by Amazon's CEO claiming that "millions of people" own a Kindle. That's all for this week thanks for reading!