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FLOGGER OF SHINY TOYS Apple could sell as many as four million of its latest Iphone 4S smartphones this weekend.

The cappuccino company is poised to shift over twice as many Iphone 4S phones as it did Iphone 4 devices in their first months on sale, according to Bloomberg and an analyst roundup.

The four million figure comes from Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe, who told the INQUIRER, “I’ve heard figures that Apple built more than 4M units for launch; All carriers currently show sold out.”

Charlie Wolf from analysts Needham & Co pitched the numbers lower but added, “It’s going to easily outpace any previous launch,” in his interview with Bloomberg.

Lower estimates put sales at two or three million, but again both of these are higher than the number of Iphone 4 devices sold in the relevant financial quarter.

In that fiscal quarter, Apple’s third quarter of last year, the firm sold 8.4 million handsets. If Apple does sell half as many as that this weekend it will prove that there is some real cash, and not just people, in the queues outside its stores. µ

UK ONLINE RETAILER Clove has announced that the HTC Sensation XL will tip up on 24 October.

Keeping in HTC’s trend of turning phones out quickly, the Sensation XL will be available in just over two weeks time. HTC announced the handset just last night, when the firm said it would be available in November.

Clove said, “HTC last night announced the HTC Sensation XL and we can now confirm that we are expecting the first stock to arrive on October 24th.”

Unfortunately Clove has no price tag attached to the phone yet but Expansys has it pegged at £519. This is only about £20 more than the Sensation XE.

The Sensation XL is the third Sensation phone to come from HTC and the second handset to feature Beats audio technology. It’s also the largest smartphone HTC has produced with its 4.7in screen.

Other than a big touchscreen the device will have a Qualcomm 1.5GHz single-core processor, 16GB of internal memory and an 8MP camera that has a 28mm wide-angle lens. HTC has put the handset on a bit of a diet to achieve a slim 9.9mm profile.

The INQUIRER was at the launch of the phone this week so take a look at our video demo for a closer look at the Sensation XL. µ

Not content to flood the market in Android variants, Samsung is starting their roll out of Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) devices. The release we received this morning was scant on details or images [Ed. note: The image above is from our Samsung Focus review], but a look at the specifications tells us to expect a significant performance upgrade from Windows Phone's first generation hardware. The new models being premiered share similar internals, including a 1.4 GHz single core SoC, most likely an MSM8255 variant, as found in the HTC Flyer and HP TouchPad. But where the Focus S stands a full head over its sister, the Focus Flash, is in display. The 4.3" Super AMOLED Plus display in the Focus S is wrapped in an 8.55 millimeter that challenges the Galaxy S II for thinness. The Focus Flash provides a smaller frame with its 3.7" Super AMOLED screen, but no details on its thickness. Having split the difference on size around the original 4" Samsung Focus, early adopters need not worry that they are going to be left behind, as Samsung has promised to bring Mango to their first generation hardware.

AT&T was a strong proponent of Windows Phone during its roll out, and it seems they're going to double down with the first major update to the platform. Release and pricing, though, remain unannounced. We'll update with pictures when we've got them.

 

If the dearth of world-famous puzzlers was keeping you from picking up a Nintendo 3DS, it’s about time you started saving up: the Hudson Soft-developed Tetris: Axis will be released for Nintendo’s newest handheld on October 2nd.

Tetris: Axis will feature the classic Marathon mode, as well as a plethora of Tetris variants including multiplayer modes for up to eight players. It will also leverage the handheld’s front-facing camera and 3D display to create augmented reality versions (see above screenshot) of the Marathon and Tower Climber modes. Clearing rows on my computer monitor is stressful enough, clearing rows off my kitchen counter could prove unbearable.

Nintendo’s already dropped the price of the 3DS in an effort to move units, and a new Tetris could help sell a few more (the original version on Game Boy did sell over 35 million copies). The appeal of 3D and extra modes will have be to strong, however, as just today Electronic Arts released a free version of classic Tetris in the Android marketplace. For comparison’s sake, Tetris: Axis is currently listed on Amazon for .99.

Source: Nintendo

Almost a month ago, we posted about the Motorola Droid 3 popping up in GLBenchmark 2.0's online result browser, with a dual-core 1 GHz OMAP 4430 SoC at its core. Since then, Motorola made the Droid 3 official, announcing online availability for July 7, and in-store availability July 14 for the pretty standard 9.99 on a two year contract. We waited patiently and sure enough a Motorola Droid 3 hit our doorstep today, which we'll have a full review on sometime before the week is up. Until then, we're going to go over high level things in our usual This Just In format.

We're still running all our benchmarks, but for the time being have scores for the web suite, GLBenchmark 2.0, and RightWare's Basemark ES2.0. We now have independent confirmation that those previous Droid 3 results from the GLBench online result browser weren't crazy, in fact, Egypt has gone up slightly. 

The Droid 3 is a world-branded phone, and thus includes a dual-mode baseband. If you've been following some of Motorola's other devices closely, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Qualcomm's MDM6600 baseband is inside the Droid 3.

There's the standard CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev.A 800 / 1900 MHz connectivity for Verizon and some roaming on other CDMA carriers, alongside GSM/UMTS 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 support for roaming abroad. There's 2.4 GHz 802.11n support, though no 5 GHz love for 802.11an.

Motorola Droid 3 – Network Support

CDMA2000 1xRTT/EVDO Rev.A

800 / 1900 MHz

GSM/EDGE

850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz

WCDMA/UMTS

850 / 1900 / 2100

HSPA Speed

HSDPA 10.2/14.4 (UE Cat. 9/10), HSUPA 5.76

 

Qualcomm MDM6600

The Droid 3 comes running the very latest version of Gingerbread out right now, 2.3.4. It's a breath of fresh air to play with something that isn't launching running 2.2 Froyo for a change. The device is also running the new brand of Motoblur Motorola's UI skin, which includes a new lock screen and some eye candy on the application launcher and home screens. I'm still making my mind up about how this compares to the previous brand of Motoblur that comes with the Droid X2. 

The other big change is of course the new five-row QWERTY keyboard, which thus far is honestly spectacular. I picked up the Droid 3 and immediately was speeding along comfortably. The domes are convex, very clicky, and provide great haptic feedback. I have to admit that I initially questioned the wisdom of dedicating an entire row to 0-9, but I completely understand how helpful this is after entering my 20 character WPA PSK and getting the Droid 3 on my WiFi network. Moreover, it provides a nice buffer so fingers and long nails don't hit the bottom of the slider. The slide mechanism still isn't spring loaded or on a particularly smooth rail, however.

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The device is also 0.8 mm thinner than the Droid 1 and 2, and it's surprising how much that actually translates to a device that feels like it hasn't put on weight just because it has a keyboard. Check out the gallery for some shots of the sides and all around.

The Droid 3 curiously comes without a microSD card, instead going with 16 GB of internal storage. I was a bit confused at first, but sure enough there's no microSD card mentioned on the box. 

There's an 8 MP rear facing camera with LED flash. It's down to one LED instead of two with the Droid 3, but it looks like the LED has an improved fresnel lens atop it, and no doubt more power output. There's also a VGA front facing camera. 

The device can capture 1080p30 video at 15 Mbps with stereo audio. I'm not passing judgment quite yet, but things in the lightbox look a bit undersaturated, but there's great high frequency spatial detail. Check out the gallery for some quick pictures I took with the rear facing camera.

{gallery 1239}

Stay tuned for our full review!

TAIWANESE HARDWARE MAKER Asus has announced that its Eee Pad Slider tablet will be available in the UK this Autumn.

The Slider is one of Asus’ Android Honeycomb tablets that we’ve all been waiting for, for a long time. The exact date is yet to be confirmed, which Asus said it will reveal, along with pricing, later this month.

Via its Facebook page Asus said, “[The] Eee Pad Slider will be coming to the UK this Autumn. We’ll confirm dates and pricing later in July.”

Already upon us from Asus is the Eee Pad Transformer, which we gave a 10 out of 10 score because we liked it so much. Initially, the Slider was meant to be launched in April but was then delayed until June, and the wait goes on.

We’ve been unable to speak with Asus to find out why the Slider isn’t coming until later on in the year.

If it’s as good as the Transformer, then the Slider will be worth the wait. It too offers a keyboard, but instead of having a detachable one it is built in to the body of the tablet.

As far as we can see, the specifications for the Slider are identical to those of the Transformer. It will have a 10.1in touchscreen with 1280×800 resolution and will be powered by the same Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor.

Its storage options are still 16GB and 32GB, with unlimited Asus Webstorage for a year. Cameras are also the same with 5MP rear facing and 1.2MP front facing lenses.

The major differences are the size and the weight, due to the built in keyboard. The Slider weighs 960g and is 17.3mm thick whereas the Transformer weighs 680g and measures 12.98mm. µ

 

For many, the deal breaker for the Logitech Revue and other Google TV products was two words: IR blaster. Opting to act as a supplement to your current home theater set-up rather than a replacement for a cable/satellite set-top box, the device was hamstrung by a somewhat complicated set-up process. But this was never about the hardware, the workhorse of this product was the Android-based OS behind it all. Bringing the web to the TV has been a concept bouncing around the consumer electronics industry years, and Google’s effort leveraged the Chrome browser to bring any content to your living room. The execution, though solid, failed to meet expectations; primarily because there seemed to be so much left on the table. Like Apple TV, Google TV products had no access to the apps that made their respective OS’s so popular and full featured. 

 

 

Google used I/O 2011 to announce that apps would be coming to Google TV during a reset that brings Honeycomb 3.1 to the table. First reported by GTV Source shortly after the conference, Google went so far as to invite some devs to participate in a beta of the new software under a project called ‘Fishtank.’ In recent days there’s been signs of progress in this program based on the appearance of device listings for Google TV devices under the Android Market’s settings menu. Though apps could not yet be sent to user devices, this was a good indicator.

 

Now, it appears that the appearance may be tied to the Fishtank programs deployment. As reported by Geek.com’s Russel Holly, images and details of the hardware received by Fishtank developers. The hardware closely mirrors that of Logitech’s Revue, featuring the same Intel CE4100 SoC and even the same wireless keyboard. Port selection mirrors the Revue but is notable for the presence of a blanked out second HDMI in port; a coaxial connection is noted but, based on its size and appearance, is likely to be used with a WiFi antenna. 

 

 

Loaded in the device is what’s known as Google TV 2.0 beta, the Android 3.1 based OS we’ve been waiting for, complete with apps. Unfortunately the only apps up right now are a Clock app and Live TV app, whose source is the HDMI input on the device. The interface retains Honeycomb’s blue and black theme and shows plenty of effective optimizations for the big screen. Fishtank is supported by a private Groups message board through which the main request from the 50 or so participants is the ability to overlay video with data from an application. This feature is apparently available while on the home screen, but not open for developers to use. 

 

Fishtank isn’t the only testing ground for Google TV 2.0, though. We can confirm that Logitech is testing the new software on Revue units on their campus and working with in-house developers to prepare a suite of apps for its users. Current Revue owners can expect the new software to land late this summer, a broad window to be sure, but better than no window at all. Logitech would not comment on new hardware, though with such an upgrade in software it would be surprising to not see something new in hardware. It’s certainly comforting to see that GTV early adopters will not be left behind, as can so often be the case. More information on Google TV 2.0 as it becomes available.

I mentioned in our Mid-Range SSD Roundup that most SSD vendors like sampling the best balance of capacity/performance when it comes to SSD review samples. For the SandForce SF-2281 with 25nm NAND that just happens to be 240GB. Unfortunately there's a pretty big fall off in performance when going from 240GB to 120GB due to the decrease in total number of NAND die (8GB per die x 32 die vs. 16 die). I've explained this all before here.

Enter OCZ's MAX IOPS drive. Using 32nm Toshiba Toggle NAND instead of 25nm IMFT ONFI 2.x NAND the die capacity drops to 4GB, which means you get twice as many die per NAND device. The end result? 240GB Vertex 3 performance for slightly more than 120GB Vertex 3 pricing.

 

I ordered the 120GB MAX IOPS drive at the beginning of the week and just got it in yesterday so I've only had a small amount of time to test with it thus far. Check out the 120GB MAX IOPS drive vs. the Intel SSD 510 in Bench using our 2011 storage test suite. Expect the full review in the coming days.

CHINESE MOBILE MEGACORP Huawei has announced its flagship Android smartphone called the ‘Vision’ that it expects to launch in the UK in the second half of the year.

The device will feature Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is currently still in the prototype stage, but it’s clear that the company wants to compete with other premium handset manufacturers like Samsung and HTC. It has even developed a 3D user interface to help navigate around the Android home screens. Unlike HTC’s Sense UI, it’s a lot more practical and actually seems to offer functionality over flashiness.

But even with a rotating 3D home screen navigator, the company is likely to have a fight on its hands. It is going to be hard to tempt consumers away from the likes of HTC, Samsung and LG, all of which have impressive user interfaces and formidable brand recognition.

The company is also looking into Windows Phone 7 handsets and it is certain to put out a branded tablet at some point this year, too.

Even so, Huawei sees its Vision handset as its way into the branded smartphone market in the UK. The company is already a big success behind the scenes, providing a lot of the infrastructure for mobile service providers, and it is a huge provider in developing countries like Kenya, where it has 70 per cent of the smartphone market. It is also king of the 3G dongle, providing USB devices to mobile operators like Three and O2.

The company was keen to quash comparisons with HTC, though, which previously provided unbranded handsets to firms such as Orange and O2. Huawei, on the other hand, wants to deliver end-to-end technology, not only offering customers phones but also providing the telecoms infrastructure to back them up and give mobile companies tools to help them improve the user experience. µ

CHINESE MOBILE MEGACORP Huawei has announced its flagship Android smartphone called the ‘Vision’ that it expects to launch in the UK in the second half of the year.

The device will feature Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is currently still in the prototype stage, but it’s clear that the company wants to compete with other premium handset manufacturers like Samsung and HTC. It has even developed a 3D user interface to help navigate around the Android home screens. Unlike HTC’s Sense UI, it’s a lot more practical and actually seems to offer functionality over flashiness.

But even with a rotating 3D home screen navigator, the company is likely to have a fight on its hands. It is going to be hard to tempt consumers away from the likes of HTC, Samsung and LG, all of which have impressive user interfaces and formidable brand recognition.

The company is also looking into Windows Phone 7 handsets and it is certain to put out a branded tablet at some point this year, too.

Even so, Huawei sees its Vision handset as its way into the branded smartphone market in the UK. The company is already a big success behind the scenes, providing a lot of the infrastructure for mobile service providers, and it is a huge provider in developing countries like Kenya, where it has 70 per cent of the smartphone market. It is also king of the 3G dongle, providing USB devices to mobile operators like Three and O2.

The company was keen to quash comparisons with HTC, though, which previously provided unbranded handsets to firms such as Orange and O2. Huawei, on the other hand, wants to deliver end-to-end technology, not only offering customers phones but also providing the telecoms infrastructure to back them up and give mobile companies tools to help them improve the user experience. µ