GADGET UPDATE powered by Stuff: Blackberry, Apple, Kindle and more

 

BlackBerry PlayBook hands-on

The PlayBook is around the same size as the Dell Streak 7 and original Galaxy Tab, but at 425g, and 10.4mm thick, it feels reassuringly sturdier, and not as platicky, thanks to its solid, robust design. Around the edges you’ll find volume, playback and power controls and a 3.5mm headphone socket on the top edge, with a magnetic docking connector, micro USB and Micro HDMI sockets at the bottom. Full hands-on report...

Rumour Mill – ASUS Eee Pad Transformer production limited

If you’re in the market for an Eee Pad Transformer then be prepared for a search. Rumour has it that ASUS is only managing to churn out 10,000 of the transforming tablets a month, which is a massive chunk less than the 300,000 that the Taiwanese electronic company were hoping to produce. Read more...

 

Apple iOS to update over-the-air

Earlier this week we reported that Spotify is aiming to kill iTunes. Now Apple is suggesting over-the-air updates for its iOS devices that don’t require iTunes. Giving up the good fight a bit quick aren’t we, Steve? Of course he probably has some genius Apple Cloud-based software he's preparing to unleash on the world. Read more...

New video! BlackBerry Bold 9900 preview

According to RIM, the Bold 9900 is the company's "best BlackBerry yet". And with a 1.2GHz processor and the new OS 7 operating system, bringing with it a whole host of new content, like NFC, HTML5, HD video and Liquid  Graphics technology, it certainly looks that way. Want to know what Liquid Crystal Dispaly means? Watch video...

Spotify to steal iPod users from Apple

Spotify is rolling out an update letting users manage their iPod music libraries, download tracks from 50p per song and sync playlists from computer to both iPhone and Android apps. All this and you won’t be pestered by Genius updating everytime you open the program. Could this herald the death of iTunes? Or will Apple's cloud-based music service – expected this year – crush Spotify's plans? Read more...

BlackBerry PlayBook shows off 3D

RIM showed off some impressive 3D content on the PlayBook during its keynote speech at the BlackBerry World convention earlier this week, indicating the PlayBook is on the verge of offering a whole host of 3D content to its users.

The 3D content, created by The Astonishing Tribe, will be available via the App World store, as long as it gets the green light from RIM's head honchos. We were treated to a visual treat of impressive demos, including 3D widgets, games and a 3D Rubik's cube, which are capable of running on RIM's tab, thanks to its dual-core processor. Read more...

BlackBerry chooses Bing over Google for search and maps

Steve Ballmer put in a surprise appearance during today's BlackBerry World keynote speech, announcing Google has been kicked off its pedestal and Bing is to become the default search engine and maps provider for new BlackBerry devices in the future.

"Bing will be integrated into the BlackBerry experience from this holiday season," said Ballmer.

"This goes way beyond a search box. It’s about finding real tools to help people get things done." Read more...

Amazon Kindle colour tablet rumours emerge

Amazon Kindle has been the highest selling product on the site for years. We can only imagine how ridiculously popular the Amazon Tablet with colour LCD will be.

After Apple patented a hybrid E Ink-LCD display recently, the race for screen supremacy is on. Rumour has it that the components for the Amazon media device will be coming from E Ink Holdings and could mean a Fringe Field Switching LCD display – giving low power coloured viewing that will set a new precedent for all tablets. According to component manufacturer rumours we can expect this game changer as soon as late 2011.

Chrome OS laptops from Samsung and Acer blip the gadget radar

We’ve had some time with Google’s Chrome OS, used the pilot program Cr-48 laptop and pondered whether the world’s ready to drop olde worlde OSs like Windows and Mac OS X in favour of a life in the cloud.

What we knew: Acer and Samsung were planning laptops running Chrome OS this summer. What we didn’t know: anything about those laptops. That’s now changed, with word of an Acer netbook tentatively dubbed the ZGB. It has a 1366x768 display, HDMI out and an engine room staffed by Intel’s Atom processor. A second Acer, the Seaboard, is said to have those quarters populated by Nvidia’s Tegra 2 and have a touchscreen. Will it be a convertible tablet of the same ilk as Asus’ Eee Pad Transformer? Read more...