USB 3.0 Coming To Your Smartphone

Companies have been saying that by the end of 2012, USB 3.0 will be implemented in your smartphones and tablet PCs which will allow speedier data transfer than the current USB 2.0 standard.

USB 3.0 allows for data transfer rates of around 625 MB/s, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0, whose maximum data transfer speed is 60 MB/s. The USB 3.0 transfer speed on mobile devices won’t be that fast, but it will be much faster than now.

Devices using USB 3.0 will also take a lot shorter of time to fully charge.

USB Implementers Forum also said it aims to reduce the size of USB 3.0 ports on laptops, as it’s becoming a limiting factor in laptop thinness.

New Asus Memo Pad Gets Leaked

Shortly after getting a sneak peek at the Eee PC Flare, new images of another leaked tablet are showing up.  Apparently, these images are showing the Asus Memo Pad.

The Memo Pad will be running on a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 16-64GB of internal storage, built in 3G and Wi-Fi.  The screen resolution will be 1280×800 making the screen 7 inches.  The version of Android that it will run on is not known yet but we can expect to see this product shown at CES this year.

Facebook Messenger Client For Windows

Close to a month ago, Engadget.com gave us an early look at the Facebook Messenger client and now, it’s finally available for download.  A copy of the Facebook messenger app was recently leaked on the TechIT website.  Not much in the way of surprises here, but if you’re the sort that prefers desktop applications to websites or mobile apps, you’ll be glad to know that it provides access to not just Facebook chat, but status updates and notifications from your friends as well.

Download the client here.

Rumor States Two New iPads With Be Released In January

A recent DigiTimes article reported that Apple will be unveiling two new versions of the iPad at iWorld/Macworld on Jan. 26, 2012.  These new models will both include a 9.7 inch screen (Just like the current iPad), but at least one will have a QxGA screen, which is 1536×2048 pixel resolution.

Also, one of the new models is said to have a 8 megapixel rear facing camera and the other will have a 5 megapixel camera.  The new battery being used in these tablets is supposedly a 14,000mAh battery which is the largest battery that we have seen on a tablet before.

Not too much is known and once again, these are just rumors…for now.   Other rumors state that the release date might not be until Feb. 24, 2012 which is the birthday of Steve Jobs.

All we can do right now is wait and see.

Possible 3D Galaxy S III

According to Korean-website ETNews, Samsung will be announcing their new Galaxy S III device at Mobile World Congress this year.

The Galaxy S III has been said to be 3D glasses-free.  It will run on a powerful quad-core processor, with 2GB of RAM, and LTE.  Of course the phone will come preloaded with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich (One of the few devices with it) along with TouchWiz.

Although rumors say that the Galaxy S III will be 3D, other rumors say that Samsung will be releasing both a 3D as well as a non-3D model.

Not much is known yet about the device so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich To Galaxy S Devices After All

It appears that Samsung is rethinking its decision to not bring Android 4.0 to all Galaxy S devices (Phone and tablet).  The company started to rethink its decision right after announcing it due to “strong customer demand”.

When Samsung announced its list of devices that would receive Android 4 by March 2012, the popular Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet were missing from the list.  Samsung stated that the Galaxy S devices did not have enough RAM and ROM for the company’s custom TouchWiz and the new OS.  By contrast, the Samsung Nexus S, which has the same hardware profile as the Galaxy S, can and will be upgraded to Android 4, since it doesn’t have to support the TouchWiz interface and other services like video calling or widgets.

A Korean news site quoted an industry official saying that the company is currently reviewing whether or not the Galaxy S devices can support Ice Cream Sandwich.

Click here for updates on this topic

Swype’s Holiday Season Present To You

Swype, the Android keyboard that lets you type (or swype, rather) faster than you ever thought possible, has a present for you this holiday season.  With the recent development of Siri, the voice controlled app, it seems that these voice controlled apps are becoming the future of smartphones.

That said, Swype is launching a new beta with Nuance’s Dragon dictation built right in (see video below). Chances are the actual transcription isn’t faster than your swypes, especially if you’re a veteran Swype user, but when your hands are tied up Dragon should really come in handy.

This new app will also allow you to download a number of different languages.  Unfortunatly, if your phone came pre-loaded with Swype, this beta will not work on your phone.  Instead, you will have to wait until the complete launch of the Swype update to start using it.

To get the new update, just visit Swype’s site from your phone and register with an email address. You will then be sent a download link and be ready to go.

Hacking Group Anonymous Gives World a “Christmas Present”

The hacking movement Anonymous claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of security think tank Stratfor in an attempt to give a “Christmas present” to the world.  Anonymous says that they will use the client list for user’s credit card numbers in order to make charitable donations.

One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals’ accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed that there had been unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.

Anonymous has stolen more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords, and home addresses.

“Not so private and secret anymore?” Anonymous taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.

The client list stolen has already been posted and apparently is only a small portion of the total 200 gigabytes of information Anonymous stole from Stratfor as they promise more leaks to come in the near future.

Anonymous stated that they were able to steal credit card easier because Stratfor didn’t bother encrypting them.  If this is true, it is an embarrassing flaw for a security related company due to it being an easy fix (to encrypt the credit card numbers).

Hours after publishing what it claimed was Stratfor’s client list, Anonymous tweeted a link to encrypted files online with names, phone numbers, emails, addresses and credit card account details.

Many people that are on this list have noticed multiple transactions of hundreds of dollars over the past week.  All of these transactions are going to different charities such as Red Cross, CARE, and Save The Children.  Perhaps this is Anonymous’s way of giving the world a Christmas present.

Follow me on Twitter for daily updates.

Consumer Electronics Show 2012: Trends To Watch Out For

All across the globe, electronic/technology companies are preparing themselves for CES (Comsumer Electronics Show) 2012, which takes place during the second week of January at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Although Microsoft disclosed its plans to end its participation in CES starting next year, this year’s show should hold some promising insights to what’s ahead in the world of electronics.

During an interview with FORBES Wednesday, Accenture‘s Kumu Puri, a senior executive with the consulting firm’s consumer electronics practice in San Francisco, laid out what she thinks will be the five big themes from the 2012 edition of the show.  Microsoft will of course hold a big role this year.  Apple will be casting a big shadow over the event although it will not be participating this year.

So here they are, Puri’s 5 trends to keep a look out for at this year’s CES show:

1. Ultrabooks: PC makers are expected to role out 20-40 new versions of the incredibly thin notebooks.  Puri thinks pricing will start in the $800 to $1,000 range, but quickly scale down from there.
2. Tablets/Smartphones: As everyone could have guessed, we will be seeing a lot more mobile devices this year, including new Android based tablets and smartphones.  We should be expecting to see more support for mobile payments and location-based services on these devices.
3. Connected Devices: Puri expects to see innovation in connected cars, for instance, with new features for Internet radio, and in-car apps targeting safety issues. There will be more Internet-enabled kitchen appliances. Also big again this year will be connected televisions. She thinks some of those services are maturing, and should improve over previous attempts at TV-based Web offerings that received an indifferent consumer reception.
4. Windows 8: Coming back to Microsoft, the company is expected to launch its new operating system at some point in 2012.  Everyone is just asking how much of it they will be showing off at CES.  Also likely to show up at CES: a variety of new Windows Phone-based mobile devices.
5. Digital Health: Puri thinks there will be an increased focus on health care at the show, with developments in three areas. One of those is the increased adoption of tablets in hospitals and doctors offices for recording data and other purposes. A second focus will be cloud-based solutions for storing, archiving, accessing and retrieving medical records. And the third will be an increased number of consumer medical devices, some apps running on tablets and phones, others dedicated gizmos for monitoring things like glucose levels and blood pressure.

Google Delays Ice Cream Sandwich For Nexus S

Google has hit the pause button on its rollout of Android 4.0 to the Nexus S that began last Friday.   Details are still sparse, but many users are claiming that they’re still getting update notifications over the air.  The only difference is that when the update process is complete, the phone simply boots back into Gingerbread.  No one knows the exact reason for this delay but the company says they are “monitoring feedback”.

If you received an update notification a little while ago but the update isn’t currently available for your phone, this is likely the result of Google pausing the update in your area while we monitor feedback. The Android 4.0 update is continuing to roll out around the world so your phone will receive another update notification when it’s available again in your region.