IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TweakTown) 28/12/2010

Trojan Condoms to show off adult tech at CES 2011
I would bet that most of you out there are familiar with the Trojan Condoms brand. It's hard to get away from the commercials on the radio and TV on shows where they think adults might be watching or listening. The company has announced that it will be at CES 2011 marking its first time to be at the show.

Why would a condom maker be at a tech convention? Apparently, Trojan is unveiling a new ultra thin condom at the show along with some "adult" electronic devices like the Trojan Vibrations. My favorite part of the Trojan press release is where the chief scientist and condom developer likens Trojan products to SSDs (not to be confused with STDs) and other tech.
Dr. Michael Harrison said, "Innovation in this category is critical. At the show, you'll see ultra thin TV's, tiny solid state hard drives and thousands of other innovations designed to improve the consumer experience. It's a show dedicated to inventiveness, and that's exactly why we're here. We'll be announcing a collection of new products in early January that we believe are every bit as innovative as some of the bigger consumer electronics announcements, and certainly as important."

Quirky offers up Digits devices for gloved touchscreen users
If you are an iPhone user or use any other device with a touchscreen that needs skin contact to work you know when the cold season rolls around its hard to use your device. Short of dialing with your nose, you can get special gloves that have attachments to let you work your touchscreen. The catch is the gloves can be expensive and might not fit your style.

Quirky has a new product that any glove wearing iPhone geek will want to get their hands on. The device is called digits and is a set of four little pins that look like something you would put on a hat. The little pins have conductive metal on the inside that touches your skin and conductive silicone on the outside to allow touchscreen control without scratching.
The pins are as easy to use as a hatpin and all the user has to do is place them inside their glove and pin them down. The Digits devices come in packs of four at $13.99 each pack and can be ordered right now. They will work with any touchscreen device.

CES Rumor Mill: HTC "Thunderbolt" coming from Verizon?
The rumor mill has been hard at work churning out possibilities for what Verizon has coming during their keynote at CES. While the iPhone possibilities get the biggest pub, the 4G handset possibilities seem to be more realistic. HTC's rumored Incredible HD, otherwise known as the mecha, suddenly stands out as a real possibility although under a different name.

A teaser ad released by HTC was launched a few days ago and the original URL the ad linked to was http://www.htc.com/4G?extcid=Thunderbolt-4G-Disp. The link isn't live yet, but this is giving us a possibility on the name of the new flagship Android device for Verizon. TweakTown will be there to bring you all the details when they go down at CES, so stay tuned!

CES Rumor Mill: Samsung officially unveiling Galaxy Player
Looking for a high end alternative to the iPod Touch? Samsung may have just the thing for you in the works. Samsung has confirmed that they will debut the 4 inch Galaxy Player media device at CES.

The Samsung Hub reported the device will feature a 4 inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi, dual cameras, and come in 8, 16 or 32 gigabyte flavors. Tthe player is 9.9mm thick and runs Android 2.2 with a one-gigahertz processor, a microSD card slot, and access to Samsung Apps and the Android Market.

Sony releases new MDR-EX1000 earphones
If you're a Sony fan and looking for the next big thing in earphones, they have a new product for you. The MDR-EX1000 earphones have just been released, boasting big time features and a big pricetag to match.

These earphones include 16mm drivers built from a liquid crystalline polymer, magnesium housing, and a response range between 3-30,000Hz for full clarity at all levels. These bad boys are only available in Asia currently, but can be imported through Audiocubes; that is if you've got the $799 that Sony is asking for this product.

Konami's Love Plus game uses facial recognition to block virtual cheating
I have three words for this one - Only. In. Japan. Seriously - I love some of the games they get and this one is no different. Konami have recently announced "Project Loveplus".

Project Loveplus is a dating simulator which is 3D-capable, but that's not it's selling point. It's selling point would be the "boyfriend lock" which uses facial recognition to prevent any "virtual cheating". If someone else picks up your 3DS and tries to play the game, your virtual girlfriend (yeah, that sounds normal) will act confused and ask "who are you".
Awesome.

Apple pass the one million sold mark with the new Apple TVs
Apple predicted just recently that it would hit the one million sold milestone before Christmas, and it is now confirmed by Apple that they managed this. How long has it taken them to get there?

Three months. It's impressive for something that Apple doesn't push as hard as the iPhone, iPads, etc. Haven't used one myself, but they do look hawt.

Google's next-gen Android Music app leaks out - hints at the 3.0 UI
Want a sneak peak at the new Android Music app from the upcoming 3.0 update? Take a peek below for a nice little video showing off the various features of the player.

Google boasted at Google I/O that their plans for the next-gen Music app is for it to be able to push your web-purchased songs to the device, and allows a user to browse their PC's music library directly from the phone - as if the songs were on the Android device itself. Nifty, eh?
What this video shows is the difference in aesthetics - blurred backrounds and nice frosty glass widgets. There's a menu button on the app (in the top right). Could this mean Google is getting rid of their hardware buttons eventually? We don't know yet - let's hope not!

AT&T releases anti texting and driving documentary
I'll admit it, I've done it a few times. As someone who knows people that have been in accidents due to texting and driving, this subject is near and dear to my heart. AT&T has released a documentary that shares the stories of several people who have been touched by tragedies involving texting and driving.

The downfalls of distracted driving have been long discussed and studied, with most agreeing that the likeliness of accidents greatly increases when texting and driving. The video is ten and a half minutes, but is worth the time and the share especially in you have teenage children or friends. Please click below to check out the full video.

Apple increased Q1 2011 iPhone shipment target according to sources
Since the iPhone debuted in 2007 geeks have been hearing rumors that the device would be coming to other carriers. With the exclusive deal that AT&T has set to expire, many are expecting that the iPhone 4 will hit Verizon or another network in 2011. DigiTimes reports that sources in Taiwan at component firms are saying that Apple has upped the shipment estimates for Q1 2011.

According to the sources, Apple expects to sell in the area of 20 to 21 million iPhones in Q1 2011, which is up from the previous prediction of 19 million units. According the unnamed sources WCDMA iPhones are expected to sell in the area of 14-15 million units.
The same sources also claim Apple expects to ship 5-6 million CDMA iPhones. That would the long awaited iPhone version for Verizon. According to the sources, the Verizon iPhone will hit in Q1 2011. Foxconn and Pegatron are said to be splitting the manufacturing duties for the CDMA iPhone.

Geek builds camera rig to see himself in third person
This is a really kooky project that a guy has cobbled together DIY style. I am not sure why you would want to be able to see yourself in third person other than because it would allow you to see if your butt looks fat in your favorite jeans. I am not a third person fan in shooters; much less in real life but this strange project is sort of cool.

A guy gong by BigRedRocket on Instructables has used a backpack, a cheap digital camera, video goggles of some sort, and some PVC pipe to build a wearable camera that shows the user and what the user sees for above and a bit behind them as they move. The builder says that you can use any digital camera that will send live video out including some camcorders.
The finished product looks really weird and I think that some folks might thing you are up to no good if you build one and then try it out. It looks like something a mad bomber would use in a movie to torment a victim. I think I would just go with one of the action cameras on the market made for filming people on hikes or biking rather than wearing this. Check out the video of the system in use below.

Nikon Patent app details lens with both manual and automatic zoom
Over the last few years, the ability to record HD video on a DSLR has gone from non-existent to a very common feature. The video quality DSLR cameras are capable of mean that a lot of video pros are using the cameras to record video. Many of those people are finding that it's hard to make smooth zoom transitions using the manual zoom lenses on most DSLR cameras.

Nikon filed a patent applicant back on June 3 2009 that surfaced last week that outlines a cool new lens that videographers and still shooters will really like for their DSLR cameras. The lens has a method to allow for manual focus and to allow for automatic focus on one lens. The automatic zoom would be used for smoothly zooming in on the subject when making video.
The manual focus option could be used when taking still photos where speed is more important than zooming smoothly. The lens would be controlled manually by twisting the lens like any DSLR user is familiar with and by hitting a button on the back of the camera body for automatic zoom. At this time, there is no word on when the lens will surface for people to purchase.

LG set to launch 72-inch full LED backlit 3D TV at CES
Next week marks the start of that wondrous time of year known as CES where all things geeky and electronic take the forefront online. The number of new gadgets and offerings that will be unveiled at the show is overwhelming and we are only days from the start so some of the gear is already being talked about by the manufacturers. One of the products that LG will be showing off at CES is a new 3D TV.

This is no normal 3D TV though, LG claims that the set is the world's largest full LED backlit 3D TV. The screen is a whopping 72-inches and it supports 3D content and HD resolutions as well as 2D TV. The set is called the LZ9700 and LG hasn't offer up all the specs at this time. What we do know is that the TV has a 400Hz TruMotion panel for smooth images.
It also has Smart TV functionality with support for TV apps and streaming of content from online providers. The TV also ships with the LG Magic Motion Remote control. The full details of the set should be made official at CES next week. LG offers no pricing information and no indication of whether the set uses passive or active 3D glasses.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

IT News HeadLines (TweakTown) 28/12/2010

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