SlashGear Week In Review - Week 45 2009
Here we go with another week in review. Monday IDC released their data on the number of CPUs shipped for Q3 2009. The number of CPUS shipped grew 23% for the quarter compared to the previous year. ZiiLABS unveiled its new ZMS-08 Blu-ray quality media processor this week. The processor promises to be full 1080p HD video support and more for portable devices like tablets.
Rumors tipped up early in the week that Samsung might be considering moving heavily into Android as an OS for its smartphones and away from Windows Mobile. One analyst claims that in 2010 Samsung will decrease the use of Windows Mobile to 50% from 80% of its smartphones today. Moxi pulled the wraps off its slick new three tuner HD DVR this week and slashed the price on some of its other gear. If you have wanted to record three shows at once while watching a fourth, this is the DVR for you.
The Nokia N900 shipped Tuesday and we offered up a video demo of the device. The phone even ships with a video out cable ready for watching content on your big screen right out of the box. Bang & Olufsen offered up a new BeoVision 7-55 HDTV mid-week that carries a MSRP of $18,000. You could get an entire home theater setup for that much money and way less if you shop right.
Withings added an update for its WiFi Body Scale that adds the ability to automatically Tweet your weight if you want. The feature if off by default so you don't have to worry about accidentally showing your weight online. Details of the number of DROID handsets Motorola sold the first weekend the device was available tipped up this week. According to unofficial numbers Verizon sold 100,000 of the handsets the first weekend.
Netflix streaming went live on the PS3 Tuesday and we found out the reason for the Blu-ray disc was that Netflix uses BD-Live on the PS3. That is a slick way to get around any streaming agreements with Microsoft. Details on the launch of the motion capturing Project Natal camera for the Xbox 360 leaked Wednesday. Project Natal is said to be hitting store shelves in November 2010.
Strategy Analytics reported this week that Apple was the most profitable handset vendor with $1.6 billion in operating profits. Nokia was second with $1.1 billion. The Amazon Kindle app for the PC launched this week. The app allows readers to access the digital bookstore and their previous purchases on their notebook.
Intel released its Reader for users with learning disabilities like dyslexia this week. The thing has a camera built in that snaps a pic of the text and the Reader then converts the text to speech. Axitron announced Thursday that it was lowering the price of its Modbooks. Both new machines and conversions of your notebook have seen prices slashed with new systems for $1,599 and conversions for $649.99.
An Apple patent app turned up this week that was for some new tablet input tech. the patent app has thrown new fuel on the fires of rumor speculation that an Apple tablet is coming. Intel and AMD settled their long running litigation against each other this week. The results were Intel giving AMD $1.2 billion and a new 5-year licensing agreement between the two firms.
We got hands on with the Nokia Booklet 3G this week with a video unboxing and first impression of the netbook. The screen is incredibly glossy raising concerns for comfort in bright rooms, the final verdict remains to be seen in our full review. The PS3 has an update inbound that will add support for Facebook. PS3 owners can get their social networking fix soon.
Lenovo and Qualcomm have unveiled a new smartbook that will hit the AT&T network eventually. Exact specifications for the machine are unknown at this time. Dell unveiled the Zino HD in America this week. The little machine can be optioned with Blu-ray and will make one heck of a nice HTPC. Dell is also set to launch its Mini 3i Android phone in China soon and in Brazil before the end of the year. We still expect the handset to hit AT&T early next year in America.
Panasonic introduced its new MW-10 digital photo frame this week with a full audio system inside compete with AM/FM tuner and CD player. The screen is 9-inches and it has a USB port and internal memory for photos. ICD showed off its cool looking 15-inch Vega Android 2.0 tablet this week. The big 15.6-inch screen has a resolution of 1366 x 768 and uses NVIDIA Tegra chipset. It should hit in the first half of 2010.
Friday we reviewed the Gateway EC54 15.6-inch notebook. The verdict is if you want power over long battery life shop elsewhere. However, if you want a moderately powerful machine with all day run time this is the rig for you. The $80 Menq EasyPC E790 Android netbook was spied on video Friday. As you expect for $80, the machine is no powerhouse.
We heard on Friday that Google's Chrome OS might be set to release in the next week. The new OS should find its way onto notebooks, netbooks, and desktop machines that are designed for low cost. That's it for this edition, thanks for reading!