Survey: 22 Percent of Teens Want iPhone

You've gotta feel sorry for parents. In the face of a failing economy, they've got job security to worry about as well as their children -- a growing number of whom want iPhones, a survey says.

Piper Jaffray's 16th bi-annual survey of teenage buying patterns and preferences found that 22 percent of students surveyed expect to own an iPhone in the next six months. That's a sharp increase from 9 percent of teens who reported plans to purchase the popular handset in spring 2008.

The survey also found that 8 percent of the survey's participants already own iPhones -- up from 6 percent reported in spring.

Also, of students expecting to eventually buy a mobile phone, 33 percent specified an iPhone.

iPhones? Back when I was a teenager it was cool if you had a pager. And teens would flirt with each other by writing in pager code like 7415. 804, 48113 7117735 64817630. 9863125 1113123 9123774 5711910.

My take:
It seems the survey is conducted in the USA or may be in some other country or continent but not in my country. Even though the iPhone could create the same kind of hype at my place as it did all over the world it couldn't live up as people were expecting it to be around 200$ here, it was launched at a price of 650$-850$ lol which is a highly expensive. Now our teens are waiting that price to be dropped which is not on the radar I guess after all it's Apple's decision with the network providers here. But teens here still want to have it I mean wish to have it. Whatever I am not into this iPhone mania as I lost impression on the iPhone with the first version launch itself which happened last year. As there was no bluetooth and so features and even this new iPhone doesn't have the basic features like copy paste(Dont ask me if I use them) because I really do use such features.

Source of this article: Wired magazine

T-Mobile G1 Buggy Says A User Review

The first of the user reviews are trickling in and it is not exactly a big thumbs up for the T-Mobile G1, the device based on Google's newly launched Android operating system.


The G1 "does not run as smoothly as you would think" says a user with the handle 'kaziko' on AndroidCommunity.com

A few applications on the phone "stutter" and the device needs to be restarted more than a few times to ensure smooth operation, says the review.

There's another potential hazard for G1 buyers. The "battery charger makes the bottom of the phone extremely hot," says the review.

On the brighter side, the review described the phone as "(HTC) Sidekick with massive steroids" and that the device has good voice call quality, a loud speaker and comes with instant messaging clients including Google Talk, AIM, ICQ and MSN. Wonder why no Yahoo instant messenger though.

GI also has a fairly responsive touchscreen, says the user, something that has been a problem for a few HTC devices.

The phone's design including its slide-out keyboard and the Android apps marketplace, similar to Apple's iPhone App store, also get bonus points.

The review isn't an official one since the G1 will not be out till Oct. 22. It could be based off a test unit out there available to T-Mobile or Google employees and some of issues listed could still be fixed through a firmware update before the release.

Overall, it seems like the G1 will be a mixed bag. The device is exciting because it is the first to be based on Google's new mobile operating system but it just doesn't have the mix of design and features that could make it a blockbuster hit among consumers.

Complete Review [Android Community]

My take:
I think this mobile would be good. Right now I'm reading the book about google 'The Google Story' and I can clearly see how Google evolved so I think I would believe that Google concentrates a lot on quality. So even the above review (which is done before the release date) mentions that there are some flaws I would still like to mention that that the phone may be good, at least for geeks lol. As consumers are more into much hyped phones like the iPhones, tech guys may be into these kind of phones as they do not need much of presentation but need things like security and logic.
Enough said I guess. I wonder when the mobile is going to come to my country, may be in 1 more year.
Source to above article is: Wired magazine

BlackBerry Curve 8900 get early video praise, T-Mobile Germany says November

Just when we're all geared up to get crazy corporate with a bunch of Bold purchases, RIM has to go and make our lives difficult by reminding us that the Javelin / Curve 8900 is out there -- lurking -- just waiting to make a grand entrance sometime in the next few months. A new video posted to CrackBerry goes through the 8900's finer points, noting that the handset clocks in just a bit more compact than its big brother, features a slightly smaller, higher dot pitch display, and carries over an original Curve-style keyboard with spaced keys rather than the flowing design employed on the Bold (for what it's worth, the narrator seems to like both styles equally). Interestingly, it's noted that this prototype employs an older trackball design that'll allegedly be replaced with a more bulletproof design by the time it launches. The lack of 3G is going to be a dream killer for many, but we could see this one getting some retail legs underneath it if the price is right -- it's got WiFi, after all.

In fact, T-Mobile Germany is saying that it'll have the 8900 next month -- a claim we actually believe, since Germany is from the future. The trackball shown on its version of the handset is distinctly different than CrackBerry's, so it's looking like the claim of a redesign might hold water.

[Thanks, Alex]

Source: Engadget

Japanese Eggheads Fit 42 GB Onto a Single DVD

Japanese researchers have figured out a way to cram a Blu-ray slaying 42GB onto a single, old fashioned DVD. How have they managed this? By making the small pits that hold the data bigger.

By replacing the shallow old flat-bottomed holes with new, high-tech v-shaped gouges, the discs have room for a lot more data. Apparently the same technique will work for CDs, too.

You're too smart to believe this, right? There must be a trick? There certainly is. A new data reading and writing technique has been developed by the Tohoku University researchers. Because the holes have sloping sides, the lasers can be bounced off at various angles, giving each pit the potential to store any one of a byte's worth of bits. Instead of just one or zero, there are now a range of values in between.

Smart, but as James Sherwood of The Register writes, why bother? Instead of building new hardware to do this to DVDs, why not do the same thing to Blu-ray, upping the storage by an order of magnitude? Half Terabyte optical discs? That's what we're talking about.

Source: WiRed

German users claim MacBook Air can cut through bread, flesh

This one is quite interesting in my opinion. Mac book Air is surely interesting but still I didn't like it for the only small reason that it doesn't have an optical drive which I find it a lot important than the slimness it boasts off.
Whatever, carry on reading about this interesting story by some German users.




Now, we know that the MacBook Air is one thin laptop, but some Apple forum members in Germany are claiming that the edge of the laptop is not only sharp -- but downright dangerous. According to "Apple Talk" reader Bajuware, his MBA went kill-crazy all over his elbow while he was cold-chillin' on his couch. The details are a little hard to suss out due to the language barrier (and machine translation), but it would appear the Air's bottom edge made nasty work of the human flesh like someone had insulted its mother. Another MBA owner claims his computer is sharp enough to slice bread, though we assume it's not used for buttering. Honestly, we're not sure what kind of danger an innocent MacBook Air could really pose besides causing you to throw out your back constantly plugging in the AC to charge that not-quite-as-advertised battery.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/

MSI Wind desktops and laptops exposed and fondled, Atom seen by all

MSI has been teasing us with its Atom-based laptops and desktops for some time now, so it's only right that they finally give it up and let some journalist rip open a Wind for some straight-up circuit porn. Confirmed on on the board are the aforementioned Atom 230 processor, 1GB DDR2-533 RAM, a 160GB SATA drive, gigabit ethernet, a DVD combo drive, 65-watt power supply, and passive cooling with that gargantuan heatsink. As for performance, testers say the machine was capable of playing 720P video without much ado, but wouldn't deal with 1080P. On the laptop side of things, it looks as though the U100 will come in a whole rainbow of colors beyond the red, black, white, and pink we've already seen. Nothing new on that side other than the usual "is it still $399?"

Source : http://www.engadget.com/

Panasonic's RP-HJE900 earbuds sport detachable cables and fake diamonds

Cubic zirconia is the bane of would-be brides with cheap beaus worldwide, but did you know it's also a miracle cure for sound distortion? Panasonic would like you to think so, it's touting the material's distortion-reducing qualities in the new RP-HJE900 earbuds, which offer a sensitivity of 100dB/mW and a claimed frequency response of 6Hz to 28KHz. The buds are also detachable, since you don't want to shell out a few hundred dollars only to have 'em destroyed by a cable snag. No word on price, but they'll surely cost less than the real thing.

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