Two billion people use the Internet, half of the planet – mobile phones

Computers, Internet and mobile phones – those are an indispensable part of our modern lives. We are so dependent on the technology that even the slightest tech problems (remember Skype blackout?) can cause damage on economics, transport, even life.

The last decade has been pretty intense technically. More than two billion people are using the Internet compared to the 400 million ten years ago. The cellphone subscriptions have also risen to 5 billion – five times more compared to the 1 billion subscriptions in year 2000, according to the International Telecommunication Union.
Five billion subscriptions don’t actually mean five billion users, but I think it’s safe to say that nearly half of the planet uses mobile phones.
On the other hand, 2.08 billion people use the Internet – 940 million of those have mobile broadband subscription, while 555 million have a fixed one.
The world’s population is on the verge of reaching 7 billion. The tech invasion is nowhere near its end and it won’t stop until every single person on the Earth is connected in some way. This is the part where you put your tin foil hats on, ok?

PSP 2 codenamed NGP announced, quad-core processor and graphics inside

Sony has finally unveiled the next-generation PSP. It’s codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable). The gadget looks much like its predecessor outside, but its core is able to compete with PlayStation 3.

The PSP NGP packs quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor and quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4+ graphics – the same specs rumored for the next generation of iPads and iPhones. There is no official word on the RAM yet, but the debug units packed 1GB LPDDR2. Still it’s possible the retail units come with 512MB.
The previous rumors about the screen and the connectivity came true. The next PSP is going to pack a 5-inch OLED capacitive multi-touch screen with 960 x 544 pixels resolution (4 times the original PSP one) and will be 3G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth and GPS capable. Most probably phone calls won’t be supported. There is an XPERIA Play for that, you know.
The next PSP will have the same six-axis motion sensing control system as the PlayStation Move – a three-axis gyroscope and a three-axis accelerometer. There is also a three-axis compass.

PSP NGP
The hardware controls and most important part of the console have changes since the first-gen PSP. Now there are two analog sticks, a D-pad, the usual Action buttons, two shoulder buttons (L/R triggers), the PS key, Start and Select buttons, Volume controls and a Power key.

The new PSP controls
But that’s not all – there is a rear capacitive multi-touch pad positioned exactly behind the screen. That way you have two touch-sensitive controls in addition to all the buttons, which will surely take the gameplay experience to a whole new level.
The PSP NGP measures 182 x 83.5 x 18.6 mm and packs two cameras (front and rear). There are built-in stereo speakers and a microphone too.

PSP NGP
The UMD drive is now gone. The game distribution will be done via “a small flash memory based card”, but the type is yet to be revealed (SD or proprietary). There is also no word on the internal storage, but it’s rumored to be 16GB.
Sony is developing a completely new user interface adopting all kind of social services. The LiveArea UI and the Near app will allow the users to jump from gaming to social life without losing game progress. Your PSP will be able to track you real-time (via GPS or Wi-Fi location) and will record all of your movements on a map and you can share them with other PSP buddies. In other words – yes, with the new PSP you may reveal all aspects of your life and completely strip yourselves of any privacy, if you want.
Let’s talk about the games. Sony claims the new PSP has performance similar to its big brother, the PS3. I’m sure it doesn’t, but it sounds promising nonetheless. Sony demonstrated Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune running on the PSP NGP and it looked almost the same as on the non-portable console. Another demo showed an untouched Metal Gear Solid 4 cutscene taken directly from the PS3 version and rendered on the new PSP. It ran smoothly with 20 fps. Now that’s impressive.
Sony’s also announced a cross-platform dev framework to ease the programmers with the game ports. According to developers the port of the Lost Planet demo took three weeks, so it won’t be too long before we see many PS3 titles compatible with the new PSP NGP.
And here is another awesome thing Sony is working on – if you have a multi-platform game (like Uncharted, for instance), the saves between your PS3 and PSP will be synced and you will be able to resume playing on whatever console you like.
As you may have guessed – lots of game studios are already working on PSP NGP titles. I already told you about the Uncharted and MGS4, Epic and Activision are also in on the party plus many more.
Sadly, the next generation PSP will be available in time for the 2011 holiday season (yes, that’s almost a year from now). No matter what Apple has in store for its next-gen iPhones and iPad, with the PSP NGP, phones such as the XPERIA Play and the PlayStation Suite and Store for all Androids around, it might as well lose some of its gaming edge.

LG Optimus 2X lands at the office in all its Tegra 2 dual-core might, a hands-on video is here

The future of smartphones is right in front of you. Dual-core processors have arrived to the smartphone world and will most certainly be the thing to have in 2011. What we have here is their pioneer, the Tegra 2-packing LG Optimus 2X.

We imagine that we won’t be surprising too many of you by saying that the Optimus 2X is blazing fast. What might come as a shock to you though is the fact that Android 2.2 Froyo doesn’t support SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing), so you would hardly see the full potential of the dual core architecture, let alone the promised battery life advantages. We could only imagine the performance under a OS such as Android 3.0 Honeycomb that natively supports the dual-core platforms. Still, each of the two newer generation 1GHz Cortex-A9 cores are good enough to compete with any the current Cortex A8 based platforms.
Not to mention the Geforce GPU that’s part of the Tegra 2 SoC runs circles around any other graphics chip in mass manufacturing, not to mention the help of the dedicated video decoding chip.
But seriously – the Optimus 2X is not only a great performing smartphone, it’s also pretty sleek looking. It’s true that most of its body is plastic, but a high-quality material has been used so the result is pretty great.



Of course, we’ll be doing a detailed preview, listing all the innovations brought by the Optimus 2X, but as usual we’d like to give you a brief hands-on video first.
You should also check out our article full of 8MP camera samples and a 1080p video sample captured with the Optimus 2X camera.

Driving a BMW remotely with a Nokia C7 makes you a real-life James Bond

I remember seeing James Bond remote-control a BMW with his phone in Tomorrow Never Dies. Pure fantasy, right? Except, two guys did pretty much the same using a Nokia C7…

It took them 20 days of coding and 7 demo tests on toys and home appliances but they did it – they’ve got a BMW 1 Series car driven remotely using a Nokia C7 with touchscreen controls. Check out the video, which shows some of their early tests, fitting the car with the control mechanisms and finally, driving it from a distance.



Before getting to work on the car itself, the guys tested their tech on an air conditioner among other things, and we gotta say that seems to have more practical value, not to mention it’s a lot safer.
Now the adventurous duo have their eyes on an airplane. Sky is the limit, as some say…
Anyway, we’ve been seeing several smartphone apps from car makers and phone/in-car entertainment system integration (like Nokia’s Terminal Mode). Do you think this could be the next big thing?

Intel starts 2011 with a bang: 29 new Sandy Bridge CPUs are here

Intel used the first workday of 2011 to announce a fresh lineup of Core processors. The second generation of i3, i5 and i7 chips uses the Sandy Bridge architecture and so far includes no less than 29 CPUs.

All the new Intel processors are based on 32nm manufacturing process and boast improved performance plus better power efficiency. And it’s not just the reduced-size instructions that lead to it – according to Intel it’s also due to the L3 cache, which is now shared between all cores.
The new CPUs come with built-in HD 2000/3000 graphics that promise a 2x improvement in performance compared to their predecessor. That’s still not matching a discrete GPU, but it’s not like everyone actually needs so much graphics power. Early reviews say that the new Intel graphics are even good enough for gaming if you can live with the lowest detail settings.
The Turbo boost technology was also improved in the latest generation of Intel chips. It now allows for even higher clock speeds. For example the 2.8 GHz Core i7-2600S can reach 3.8 GHz with Turbo Boost, which is downright impressive.

If you are looking to upgrade your desktop PC or laptop in 2011 you obviously have quite a lot to look forward to. Intel promises over 500 systems based on the new chips to appear this year so you can bet choice won’t be limited.

Samsung finishes the development of the world’s first DDR4 DRAM

Although DDR4 DRAM is not expected to be in anyone’s computer system until the beginning of 2012, Samsung is already done developing it. The new DDR4 modules will not only be faster than their DDR3 predecessor, but they are going to run using less power as well.

In order to accomplish the lower power consumption of the modules, Samsung is using the 30nm-class process technology.

Now you may be wondering how much faster the new DRAM is compared to the current DDR3. We can’t know for sure, until the production of actual units starts, but here are some initial figures for you. The speed of data transfers that DDR4 DRAM can achieve is 2.133Gbps (gigabits per second) at 1.2V, compared to the DDR3 DRAM, which can only pump out 1.6Gbps at either 1.35V or 1.5V.
The modules make use of a new circuit architecture, which helps them make the jump from 1.6Gbps all the way up to 3.2Gbps. This is tremendous improvement compared to the usual speeds of 1.6Gbps and 800Mbps for DDR3 and DDR2 DRAM respectively. In addition, when used in notebooks, the new DDR4 DRAM is expected to be 40% more energy efficient than the commonly used 1.5V DDR3 modules.

KFA2 launches the GTX 460 WHDI – the first wireless video card

You didn’t see that coming did you? KFA2 has launched world’s first video card capable of wirelessly transmitting raw, uncompressed 1080P, 60Hz signal to the included WHDI receiver.

The wireless signal can be transmitted up to 30 meters (100 feet) even through walls and obstacles so you don’t need to worry about putting your PC in another room. This is quite useful if you want to put the PC away from your HDTV or monitor for whatever reason, and I am pretty sure you can find one one.
KFA2 NVIDIA GTX460 WHDI is just an ordinary GTX 460 but with wireless antennas. It features 1024 MB of RAM, 256-bit memory interface and a processor clocked at 1.35Ghz.

Next-gen Microsoft Surface gets revealed at CES 2011, makes your jaw drop

You remember Microsoft Surface when it was first showed to the public almost three years ago, right? Well, at this year’s CES Microsoft revealed their latest generation of the magic touch table.

This time they have cooperated with Samsung to create a truly impressive user experience, and although Microsoft claim it’s cheaper than the original and if you badly want one it’s going to set you back $7,600.
The Surface 2.0 is greatly improved than it’s predecessor. First of all, it’s thinner than the original, the computer part of it being only four inches thick. In it there’s a full-power PC with an AMD graphics chip and a dual-core processor, again from AMD, running Windows 7. Unlike the first generation of Surfaces that had cameras in them to track your movements and react correspondingly, the new version technology, relying on infrared, called PixelSense. In essence each and every pixel on the screen is acting as a camera and reads what’s going on the screen.
Imagine this technology in next generation tablets and smartphones. Oh, boy, is the future exciting or what! There you go, check the coolness of the Surface v2.0 in action in the following video.

Dual-core Motorola DROID BIONIC coming soon on Verizon USA

It was just yesterday that we met the Tegra2-powered Motorola Atrix 4G headed for AT&T. Today Motorola has announced another powerful Droid, this time for Verizon.

DROID BIONIC is also based on the Tegra2 platform and utilizes a dual-core 1GHz processor, but it packs “only” 512MB RAM.
The rest of the specs include a 4.3-inch qHD (540×960 pixels) capacitive touchscreen, an 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 1080p video recording, Wi-Fi b/g/n, 4G LTE support, GPS, HDMI port, 3.5mm audio jack and microSD card slot.

Motorola DROID BIONIC runs on the latest Android v2.3 Gingerbread and is expected to hit the Verizon stores in the end of Q1 this year.

Microsoft announces Touch Mouse, it’s like a Magic Mouse for PC

I was sure it was only a matter of time before Microsoft launches a full-touch mouse similar to Apple’s Magic Mouse. And the time has come – meet the Touch Mouse.

It’s not as compact as the Arc Touch Mouse, but supports various gestures thanks to its multi-touch capabilities.
The gestures are quite similar to those on the Apple’s pointing device – you can pinch-zoom, bring the desktop/task manager with three-finger scroll, move through different windows with two-finger gestures or use your thumb to go back/forward.
Here is a live video how it works:

The Touch Mouse sounds as cool as the Magic Mouse, but I hope Microsoft will do a better job than Apple. I’ve used the Magic Mouse for a while and despite its helpful gestures, it was terrible in recognizing the right-button click. In order to do it right, I had to rest only one of my fingers at time on the mouse, while the others had to stay in the air. Very inconvenient indeed.
Microsoft Touch Mouse is already available on pre-order for $80 and will be released in May. It will be compatible only with Windows 7 (and above) and comes with a standalone 2.4GHz USB receiver (sorry, no Bluetooth).
If you want to see more videos you can go to the official Microsoft Touch Mouse website. You’ll need Silverlight though.

Two new watches launched at CES from Nike and Casio help you stay fit and connected

Nike and Casio demonstrated at CES 2011 their new watches aimed to make life a little bit easier on you. Prices and availability is still unknown, but they should surface soon enough.

With the help of TomTom navigation technology, Nike+ SportWatch GPS helps you track the calories you burn, how much time you’ve run, your location, heartbeat rate and also, well, shows you the time. The onboard memory module in the form of a USB dongle can save up to 50 different workouts and lets you upload them to Nike’s online community. Tapping the display tells the clock whether to start or end a run, which is great because you don’t have to search for a button or anything. Here’s Nike+ SportWatch GPS video ad.

As for Casio, the company has just released an interesting watch that let’s you operate your phone via Bluetooth from the clock’s interface. Stopping an alarm, declining a phone call and checking for unread emails are some of the key features of the otherwise still nameless prototype. It’s battery though is not swappable so if Bluetooth is turned on for 12 hours a day, it’ll serve you for about 2 years.

Dell introduces the 4G-enabled Streak 7 tablet at CES, teases the Streak 10 too

Let’s give a warm welcome to the Dell Streak 7. The follow-up to the original 5-inch-screen Streak features a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor ticking at 1Ghz. The device will be running on Android 2.2 Froyo with Dell’s custom Stage interface, until Honeycomb is launched later this year when it will be updated.

As the name suggests, the Streak 7 packs a 7” capacitive multi-touch display with WVGA resolution of 800×480 and Gorilla Glass for protection. Weighing about 450 grams, the tablet features up to 32GB of internal storage expandable via a MicroSD card slot, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and GPS. Standard front and rear cameras are on board, 1.3 MP and 5MP auto focus with flash with respectively.

T-Mobile will launch the slate on its “HSPA+42” network in the coming weeks, although it’s still a mystery when exactly and how much it’s going to cost you is still a mystery.
After the Streak 7 was presented, on the stage appeared its bigger brother, the Dell Streak 10. The 10-inch tablet is targeted mostly towards business users and will feature built-in VPN support. Expect more news on the device soon.