Android-powered Hello Kitty smartphone shows up in Japan

Fans of Sanrios popular anthropomorphic cat will probably have much to look forward to, especially if they happen to be currently taking up residence in Japan at this point of time, and for good reason. Apparently, SoftBank has announced the availability of a new Hello Kitty-endorsed smartphone which is powered by Googles Android operating system and is slated to be launched in the early parts of September this year.

According to SoftBank, the new Hello Kitty smartphone, which is based off Sharps clamshell 007SH smartphone, will feature support for a variety of standard features such as My Wallet, as well as wireless connectivity via Bluetooth and WiFi. That being said, the Hello Kitty variant of the 007SH, which goes by the model name 007SH KT (we are guessing KT stands for Kitty), will feature radios that support both the GSM and CDMA network systems, so there is a slim chance that the 007SH KT might eventually see the light of day outside of Japan.

SoftBank has not provided any information about the processor and amount of internal flash memory present on the 007SH KT smartphone, although it has revealed that the smartphone will be preloaded with version 2.3 of the Android operating system (aka Gingerbread), and that its 3.4-inch LCD display is capable of delivering a maximum resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. However, the real deal about the 007SH KT has got to be the image of the popular cat without a mouth adorning the handsets front, along with what appears to be a built-in camera which is reportedly capable of capturing stills at the maximum resolution of 16 megapixels, if the machine translation is to be believed.

Last but definitely not least, no details about the smartphones pricing has been announced by SoftBank at this point of time.

Source: SoftBank

you don’t want to get locked in this “trunk”

Writer-director-producer Straw Weisman is one of those guys who’s had an interesting and varied career (mostly) on the margines of ultra-low-rent independent film, and you literally never know just where he’s gonna pop up. His professional high points are probably serving as screenwriter on the ultra-mean race-hate exploitation classic?Fight For Your Life and as one of the producers on, believe it nor not, the” New Age” documentary mini-sensation?What The Bleep Do We Know? Apart from that he’s mostly known, to the extent that he’s “known” at all, for direct-to-video horror and suspense efforts like the one we’re here to take a look at today, 2009′s?Trunk.

Filmed in and around the Los Angeles area for just over a million bucks (a figure I frankly find hard to believe — it looks like it could, and probably?should, have come in for a fraction of that cost), ?this flick features exactly two characters, two sets, and one car.

ASUS P835 WVGA PDA Phone

ASUS has launched their P835 PDA phone that claims to deliver superb web browsing and multimedia viewing experience. Designed for business professionals, the P835 is equipped with a large 3.5-inch touchscreen display that supports WVGA (800x480 pixels) resolution. It also boasts features that greatly enrich users' online experience, including blazing fast HSUPA 7.2Mbps download speeds, a responsive trackball that makes scrolling effortless and a user-friendly, full-featured Opera Mobile web browser.

Users can also switch between 12-key, half-Qwerty and full-Qwerty virtual keyboard modes, depending on their preference.The P835 features an updated, streamlined and enhanced iteration of ASUS' exclusive Glide, with new icons and interactive interface to provide a better user experience.

On top of that, the PDA phone has the additional ability to function as a Wi-Fi Access Point. It can share its high-speed HSPA cellular data or Internet connection over Wi-Fi with up to 10 devices, such as laptops or other PDA phones.

Specifications

Networks HSPA (DL: 7.2Mbps, UL: 2Mbps), UMTS 900/1900/2100
EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Class 12 Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows® Mobile 6.1™ ProfessionalColorBlackForm factorBar typeDimensions115mm x 59mm x 13.8mmWeight148g (with battery)Standby Time350hrs with 3G and 300hrs with 2G*Talk Time6hrs with 3G and 7hrs with 2G*Display3.5” TFT, 65K-color Touchscreen, WVGA (800 x 480 pixels)ProcessorQualcomm 7201A 528MHzMemory4GB Internal Storage + 288MB SDRAM + 256MB ROMExpansion SlotMicroSD with SDHC supportConnectivityWLAN 802.11b+g , USB v2.0, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR WAP BrowserHTTP / WAP 1.2.1/2.0MessagingSMS / MMS / Email / MSN / Push EmailBattery1100mAh LithiumGPSYes (AGPS supported)Business ApplicationsPIMWord (editor), Excel (editor), PowerPoint (viewer), Adobe Reader, Windows® Live, MSN, Voice Commander** and Push Email (Exchange Server). Other FeaturesOpera browser, Wi-Fi Access Point, YouTube, Flickr, ASUS Virtual Keyboard, Anytime Launcher, ASUS Today, EziMusic, EziPhoto, Google search and RSS Reader.Multimedia and EntertainmentCamera5 Megapixel Auto Focus VideoRecord: MPEG4/H.263
Playback: MPEG4/H.264/H.263/WMV
Video Call, Audio/Video StreamingPicture FormatJPEG, PNG, GIF, BMPAudio FormatMP3, WMA, WAV, AMR, AAC and AAC+ RingtonePolyphonic (MIDI, 128CH), MP3, WMA and WAVJAVAJ2ME (CLDC 1.1 + MIDP2.0)

Source: ASUS

AMD slashes Phenom II prices

Intel's release of Sandy Bridge CPUs was widely expected to trigger afall in prices across the AMD CPU product range. While two new CPUs wereintroduced - Phenom II X4 840 and 975BE - much of the pricing remainedunchanged. The expected price cuts are now coming in, nearly one monthlater - hot on the heels of Intel's recall for 6 series chipsets.The biggest price cuts are dished out to the two top Phenom II X6 CPUs.The 1090T BE is now down to a very reasonable $209, with the flagship1100T BE falling to $239.

AMD's Phenom II X6 1055T is now available at $175, and becomes the cheapest six-core CPU ever. The Phenom II X4 line-up undergoes $10 cuts, to make room for the Phenom II X4 975 BE, at $195. The new Phenom II X4 840 (which is really an Athlon II X4) stays at $105, and remains the budget leader.

Despite showing severe signs of age, AMD's Phenom II products continue to be compelling, currently boosted by Intel's suspension of 6-series motherboards. If you are in the market for a new CPU today, AMD's Phenom II CPUs offer impressive price/performance across the board. The X6 1090T BE especially offers great value for $205.

However, many would like to hold on for a while, till Intel's Sandy Bridge becomes an option again. By the time the fixed chipsets are shipped and 6-series motherboards are in retail again, AMD's Bulldozer will be right around the corner too.

Source: Tech Report

AMD RV635 XT amp; Pro In Jan Feb 2008

DigiTimes reported that AMD is planning to launch RV635XT and Pro in Januaryand February next year respectively. The RV635 XT will have a core frequency of800MHz, and 256MB GDDR3 memory, while the RV635 Pro will have a core frequencyof 600MHz, and 512MB GDDR2 memory. Both will support 128-bit memory bandwidth.AMD will provide engineering samples of the RV635 Pro to its partners later thismonth.

halloween horrors 2011 “halloween 5 the revenge of michael myers”

Fast-forward one year to 1989 and we find ourselves staring headlong at Halloween 5 : The Revenge Of Michael Myers, a flick as uninspiring as its title is uninspired.

I’ll give director Dominique Othenin-Girard and his screenwriters credit for trying to expand the whole Myers mythos into new directions here, but the whole thing’s just so flipping absurd that no amount of suspension of disbelief can carry you through it with a straight face.

First off, we’ve got the prospect of Michael (this time portrayed by one Donald L. Shanks, as if it matters all that much) surviving a hail of gunfire followed by a plunge down a mineshaft. Okay, only a little rougher than some of his previous “deaths,” I suppose, but add to that the fact that when he comes back one year later on Halloween night (of course) to take another crack at killing his niece Jamie (again played by Danielle Harris, who’s really asked to carry a lot of this film since her friends start buying the far rather quickly, and truth be told she does a very admirable job) we find that she has developed full-blown psychic powers that clue her into where and when her murderous uncle is going to strike next! Not that it saves her friends or his other victims, of course, ‘cuz where would the fun be in that?

Anyway, the whole setup’s absurd, Donald Pleasence’s Dr. Loomis feels like he’s being shoehorned into the script just because, hell, he’s gotta be there ,right?, and Othenin-Girard proves himself to be a director who doesn’t exactly excel at the basics of mood and tension, both of which are absolute musts in any slasher film.

While the “Divimax” DVD release from Anchor Bay of Halloween 5 is every bit as nicely-put-together as the one they did for the previous installment (see our last review for semi-full DVD specifications), it’s really a matter of trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. The movie itself just doesn’t warrant all that special a treatment, sad as it makes this Halloween series junkie to utter those very-nearly-blasphemous words.

Look, I won’t kid you folks out there in blog-reader-land — when Halloween 5 : The Revenge Of Michael Myers plays on AMC this week, I’m sure I’ll watch it at least once (well, okay, probably only once) but that just proves what a sucker for any Michael Myers flick I am. Assuming that you don’t share this affliction and are, instead, a viewer of taste and discernment who values their free time and spends it wisely, there’s really nothing I can honestly come up with to recommend this film to you. the tried-and-true phrase “for completists only” is absolutely as spot-on a description of this flick as one can find, so if you are one, then hell, tune in, of course (I will be, so you don’t have to feel like too much of a hopeless sucker), but if you’re not, then yeah, it certainly won’t be too hard at all for you to find something better to do with your time.

Arctic Unleashes C3 C4 Car Chargers

Swiss based Arctic Cooling has unveiled the ARCTIC C3 and C4, expanding its product portfolio. The ARCTIC C3 is a USB car charger whilst the C4 is a car charger forboth rechargeable batteries and USB devices. The compact car chargersfit in a glove compartment/ side door pocket easily and feature a USBport, two slots for AA/ AAA rechargeable batteries (C4 only) and LEDstatus lights. Both are backed by a two year limited warranty and canbe purchased from major retailers and e-tailers at a MSRP of USD8.65/5.95 Euro (ARCTIC C3) and USD 14.45/ 9.95 Euro (ARCTIC C4) come endMarch 2010.


News via [Hardwarebistro]