Isaiah's Tech

Back in March, we heard about this deal and now it looks like it's final. Sony and Sharp have finally reached the "final agreement to launch an LCD panel joint venture in Osaka, after having failed to ink the deal last month." This factory will be focusing on their mid-sized 32-inch models and this joint venture will start in March 2010 in Osaka.

Sharp will start operating a plant for the production of LCDs on its own in October. The subsidiary is to be turned into a joint venture by March 2010. Sony is expected to take a 34% stake and cover 34% of the $4 billion total cost. In return, the company will get some of the LCDs produced in the Sharp plant in Osaka (and another one in Southern Japan).

[Crunch Gear]

Remember the Dell Inspiron 17 that was released two weeks ago? Well, it's now available in the UK. The Inspiron 17 is retailing at a starting price of £369 ($608 USD). If you remember, this notebook has a 17.3-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, your choice of a couple of different Intel CPUs, up to a 500GB HDD, up to 8GB of RAM, ATI graphics, a 6 or 9-cell battery, a 1.3MP webcam, a 7-in-1 card reader, WiFi, Bluetooth and it runs on Windows Vista Home Premium. The Inspiron 17 will come in the 7 colours shown in the picture above. Like every other Dell laptop, the specs can be changed around to however you like.

[Pocket-Lint]

LG has just revealed its latest LCD HDTVs that are scheduled to make an appearance starting next month (August). The LG SL80 LCD HDTVs have 240Hz technology, old-school CCFL backlighting which means only a 300,000:1 contrast ratio and it measures 1.8-inches thick. The LG SL80 will come in 42, 47, and 55-inches and will be available in August for $1,599 USD, $1,899 USD, and $2,799 USD, respectively. We don't know exactly when they will be available though.

LG also showed off higher-end SL90 LCD HDTVs too. These, on the other hand, are LED-backlit, which makes for a crisper and brighter picture. These HDTVs have: a 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz TruMotion technology and it measures only 1.15-inches thick. The SL90 is going to hit the market later this year for an unknown price, but it will be available in both 42 and 47-inches.

[Engadget]

Well, American consumers, this is still not your day. Samsung's first Android handset, the I7500 Galaxy, has just passed the FCC with US 3G. Unfortunately, this model "A3LGTI7500L" is headed to Latin America, so we'll just have to wait a little bit longer for this to launch on T-Mobile - still rumoured.

[Engadget]

Microsoft's next update to Netflix, party system, Avatars, and other UI tweaks will be live on August 11. But, Microsoft has a future update that is sure to excite even more users. A future update will give users Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm integration. However, they all won't roll out at the same time, so that it'll give their servers some time to rest. The expected roll out of the three services is this Fall; they will all be available by the end of the year.

[G4 TV]

The Samsung Galaxy Lite has just got a WiFi Alliance certificate. We figure that this will be a smaller version of Samsung's first Android device, the I7500 Galaxy. We supposed that it will also run Android. We don't know if and when it will hit North American shores, since the Galaxy hasn't even been released here yet.

[Phandroid]

The HTC Touch Diamond 2 has just passed the FCC. What's also sweet about this deal is that it has the good ol' 850 / 1900MHz WCDMA bands, which is perfect for an AT&T launch. It could launch in September, since AT&T wants to finish testing this device by August 24th.

[Engadget Mobile]

We heard earlier this morning that the Samsung Rogue U960 would be launching on Verizon on August 15th. And now, we have more pictures of the upcoming phone. It still looks like a decent looking phone, but I just thought that I'd give you some more pictures of this handset, since a lot of people seem interested in it.

[Phone Arena]

It was only a matter of time until HTC launced these two phones, since Telus recently got the dummy units. In Canada, Telus is now selling the HTC Touch Pro 2 and the HTC Snap. The HTC Touch Pro 2 is now available on Telus' official website for $249.99 CAD on a 3-year contract, $549.99 CAD on a 2-year contract, $599.99 CAD on a 1-year contract, and $649.99 CAD free of contract. It's certainly not cheap.

The HTC Snap has Inner Circle, which "lets you somewhat personalize your e-mail settings by selecting a number of people that you deem to be important. Once pressed, this Inner Circle button then shows all the e-mails of your group so you'll no longer need to search your device for them." On Telus' official website, the HTC Snap is going for $0 (promotion) on a 3-year contract, $299.99 CAD on a 2-year contract, $349 CAD on a 1-year contract, and $399 CAD free of contract. Below is a blurry picture I took of the HTC Snap at Best Buy yesterday.

Update: I just headed over to Telus today and they said that they're expecting the HTC Touch Pro 2 to hit their stores next month. Hopefully, you'll have more success than I had.


[Mobile Syrup (HTC Touch Pro 2), Mobile Syrup (HTC Snap)]

Samsung has just outed their first LED-backlit HDTVs with local dimming. Other features include: a 7,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 2ms response time, "Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation, and an Ultra Clear Panel that 'works to improve image clarity and brightness regarless of a room's ambient lighting.'" You also get Yahoo's widget engine for streaming video and it's just 1.6-inches thick. The 46-inch and 55-inch model will be available in September for $3,600 USD and $4,500 USD, respectively.

[Gizmodo]

It looks like the Nokia 1661 handset will be hitting Fido on Wednesday, August 5th for $0 on a 2-year contract or $55 CAD ($51 USD) pre-paid. The Nokia 1661 is a low-end handset that has: a 1.8-inch display with a 128 x 160 resolution display, an FM radio, and an mp3 player. Just in case you wanted to know, Speak Out Wireless and Petro Canada are selling this handset for $59 CAD ($54 USD) free of contract.

[Mobile Syrup]

It may not launch in August like we've been expecting, but Acer has just given us great news. The Acer Android netbook will be hitting the shelves in Q3, so there's no need to panic. I don't know about you, but my heart isn't all-in on Android anymore, since the Google Chrome OS could be available this year / next year.

Update on July 4th: According to DigiTimes, Acer mentioned that it will launch this notebook in September 2009. I think I missed that point, so I'm just going to reiterate that point for you.

[Engadget]

Yesterday, LG and VUDU announced that the upcoming LG LH50 line-up will have VUDU's high-definition streaming service.

The outfit's next generation movie platform will enable owners of the 47LH50, 50PS80, 60PS80 and 42LH50 to buy or rent HD and HDX (1080p) films on demand through a refreshed user interface that promises no stutters or buffering waits. The new VUDU also brings along instant fast forward and rewind as well as instant start for all movie qualities, and as before, there's no monthly fee associated with the service.

This is a pretty damn good deal, especially since VUDU will be hitting existing and new users starting next month (August). During the press release, VUDU also hinted that LG will be the first of many TV companies that VUDU will be launching on.

[Engadget]

Three days ago, we heard about Philips' first Android device, but most of the specs were unknown. According to the latest news, the Philips V808 will be hitting China Mobile as an exclusive and will run on an updated OPhone OS. This means that the app store will be "carrier-customized". Unfortunately, it looks like this handset will not have 3G, WiFi, or multitouch support. Well, I think it was obvious that this wouldn't have multitouch, but not having 3G / WiFi support? What are they thinking? Oh well, it looks like this will create little buzz.

[Engadget Mobile]

We already know that the Samsung Rogue U960 will be hitting Verizon next month (August), but we didn't know exactly when. Apparently though, this handset will be launching on August 15th on Verizon. We haven't heard a price tag yet, but we'll probably have that soon.

Another handset that's scheduled to hit Verizon next month is the Verizon Razzle. It's scheduled to hit Verizon on August 31st and will replace the Blitz. The Razzle has: 1.3MP camera, a full QWERTY keyboard, Stereo Bluetooth, and a bundled 1GB memory card. The price tag for this is also not mentioned.

[Phone Arena]

Yes, an official Google Voice app got rejected on the Apple's App Store, but today we have some good news... for Palm Pre owners. As of right now, dkGoogleVoice is an unofficial app for the Palm Pre and it's a bare-bones Google Voice app. It's pretty buggy right now, but Engadget points out that it will only get better.

[Engadget]

Apparently, Intel's Atom Pine Trail architecture may actually be released this year, which contradicts what we heard before. Intel's General Manager of Mobile Platform Group, Mooley Eden, has just mentioned that the rumours are "greatly exaggerated" and that this new chip will be available this year. This is great news and maybe this will be enough for Asus and Acer to get off their butts and ship out some new netbooks this year.

[Engadget, Computer World]

Even though both of these handsets were launched under three weeks ago, T-Mobile has already decided to cut their prices. The Samsung Comeback was launched 8 days ago and T-Mobile has cut the price down to $74.99 USD - from $130 USD - on a 2-year contract after a mail-in rebate. The Samsung Highlight was launched on July 15th and now costs $129.99 USD on a 2-year contract, which is down slightly from $149.99 USD. They're both still overpriced, but it's up to T-Mobile to change the prices and not us.

[Boy Genius]

Logitech has just released seven new webcams. The Webcam Pro 9000 has: 720p capable video recording, a 2MP sensor, a Carl Zeiss lens, and "automatic light compensation". This webcam is available for $129.99 USD; the C905 has the same features, but it's built for notebooks and is now on sale for $129.99 USD as well. The C600 has: a 2MP HD sensor, and RightLight 2 technology. This is going for $99.99 USD. The Logitech C500 has: a 1.3MP sensor and RightLight technology and is on sale for $69.99 USD. The C300 also has a 1.3MP sensor, but it's not available on Logitech's official website yet. The C250 has a VGA sensor and is priced at $49.99 USD. Last and least is the C200 that also has a VGA sensor, but loses all of the features that some of the other webcams have. It's now available for $39.99 USD.

Damn Logitech, you didn't have to release seven webcams in one day!

[Electronista]

Torrent folks - if you haven't already - should scoop up the Windows 7 RTM now. The crack has just been made available, thanks to a product key from Lenovo. Microsoft could patch up the crack, but it's pretty unlikely. If you feel bad and you don't want to hurt Microsoft's feelings then you can wait until October 22 to get your copy.

Update on July 31st: It looks like Microsoft has just blocked the key that you can use for the OEM - according to Slash Gear. When you insert the Lenovo code, it will tell you that you are "attempting to use a pirated license and, presumably, not be allowed to validate their copy of the OS."

[Lifehacker]

Later today, "Samsung will be launching the developer's backend of their Application Store."

The Samsung Seller Site (not up yet) is the next step in the Samsung efforts in streamlining the apps and content delivery to end users. The Samsung Mobile Innovator has been up for more than half an year supporting developer's efforts. Samsung even launched a beta version of their Application Store in English and German earlier this year. The fully-fledged Samsung App store however will start spawning in regional versions across Europe in Q3 this year.

So it looks like the Samsung App Store will be hitting Europe in Q3 of this year, since it's not that far away. It'll probably be a slow start for Samsung, just like most App Stores are. But, in the end, let's hope that Samsung gets it right because they'll need a better App Store than Nokia's Ovi Store. However, that shouldn't be too hard to beat...

[GSM Arena]

Although we don't have an official or even an unofficial picture yet, the specs for the upcoming BlackBerry 9700 has just been leaked out. The 9700 is expected to have: quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE / UMTS/HSDPA support, a 480 x 360 resolution display, WiFi a/b/g, a QWERTY keypad, a 3.2MP AF camera, and Bluetooth. In addition to all of that news, it will run on the new BlackBerry 5.0 OS.

[Boy Genius]

Apparently, Windows Mobile will really be changing its name to Windows Phone. It may sound like a phony story, but on Friday we should be expecting a video about it. That's something to get excited for. Microsoft is going to make this change so that it will be more in-tune with their desktop operating system and to try to keep their consumers less confused. I'll talk more about this on Friday, if it really gets confirmed.

[The Inquirer]

Back in June, we heard word about a Nokia N97 "Mini" launching on Vodafone later this year. Today, arised what could be the first real photo of the Nokia N97 Mini. Basically, it's a smaller N97 and the keyboard is slightly altered since the d-pad is missing. It could be real, but it's just a rumour right now - it looks real though. However, it could be overpriced and underpowered similar to the Nokia N97.

[Engadget]

Latest word on the street is that if you pre-ordered the T-Mobile myTouch 3G it is now shipping. So, be sure to check your mail this evening. If you didn't pre-order your myTouch 3G then you'll have to wait until August 5th - that's when they'll be available in-store.

[Engadget Mobile]

Motorola's first Android device, the "Morrison" has just passed the FCC and, thankfully, with T-Mobile 3G bands and UMA support. This pretty much confirms that the Morrison will indeed be launching on T-Mobile, but we'll just wait for the official word.

[Engadget]

Well, look at that! It's the sexy LG Chocolate BL40. The 21:9 display is clearly evident, but it's looking extremely sexy. There's not really anything else to say here, so if you want to check out some more pictures then check out the link below.

[Engadget]