Rogers iPhone for Canadians May be too Pricey

It’s officials, the tech-hungry Canadians will have their own iPhone, thanks to a deal struck by Rogers Wirless with Apple. Rogers refused to release information on pricing and availability, though they promise to do it so later in the year. “We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned,” said Ted Rogers, CEO of the company. It’s not as if a Rogers iPhone isn’t a forgone conclusion but I’m sure the official word is a relief in many Canadian’s mind.

In fact, the official announcement did not even merit a statement of its own from Rogers. It came as one of the announcement in a financial report release by Rogers today, the number four item in the 2008 highlights of the wireless company. Canadians, no doubt, are ecstatic. Savvier Canadians worry that as usual they will be paying a high premium compared to their counterparts down the border.

via pmptoday

Apple iPhone not Going Intel but P.A. Semi

Apple may opt for P.A. Semi’s super-efficient chip, boasting 300% more power efficiency compared to closest competitors. Dan Dobberpuhl, the founder, as developed a dual 64-bit 2GHz chip powered at 5 to 13 watts. Apple has been in talks with P.A. Semi before they went to put Intel processors on their Macs. Apple has spent $278 million to buy out the company and may be a warning shot to Intel and ARM, the provider of iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s processor. For handhelds P.A. Semi has its work cut out for it. The competition is fierce with ARM boasting a 0.25 watt A9 chip at 1GHz, VIA with a 0.1 watt chip that runs at 500MHz and Intel’s Atom running at 800MHz for .8 watt of power.


via wiyule

Archos + GPS, TVPortation, Web TV, Internet Radio and so much more

Archos Gen5 PMPs just got better, way better. With several press releases, the French PMP manufacturer has made available GPS feature on the Archos 605. Once a rumor, it’s now official and Archos didn’t even have to make hardware changes. According to Archos, the 605’s 4.3-inch screen is unmatched by other GPS devices in the market. “With more than 50 times the hard drive size, twice the screen resolution, and similar pricing as stand-alone GPS navigation products, the ARCHOS 605 GPS is the ultimate navigation and entertainment device.” The GPS sells for $129.99 separately or comes bundled with a 30GB Archos 605 for $399.99.

TVPortation is Archos breakthrough technology that convert a portable device into portable TVs. It’s available for the 605 and 705 WiFi Archos PMPs. It uses the Archos TV+ as media server. Henri Crohas, ARCHOS founder and CEO claims, “The ARCHOS TV+ is the first home entertainment device that combines a home TV streaming server with a DVR, giving TV, movie and music fans everything they need to stay entertained and connected both inside and away from the home.”

Through a free firmware update, 605 and 705 users will be able to support Adobe® Flash® 9, Windows Media Video® (WMV) 9 and ON2 video formats. This will open up almost all videos on the Internet for Archos WiFi PMP users, and it’s free. Plug-ins for Web TV and Radio have also been made available for $19.99.

Last but not least, Archos and Paramount has signed an agreement allowing Archos users to watch movies like “Cloverfield,” “Shooter,” and “Beowulf” on their portable players. In North America and Europe, Paramount content will be preloaded to ARCHOS TV+ WiFi Digital Video Recorder (DVR) so you can get movies directly on your Archos WiFi portables.

MUMU ican MP3 Player is Thin and feeling is good

There is not too much information yet from MUMU Music Wyatt, about their new and fancy-buttoned ican MP3 player, except that it has a 1.5-inch TFT screen and support for Mp3 and APE, FLAC lossless. It’s supposed to play videos but we cannot say which files it supports. It does have PlayFX audio enhancement. It’s also very thin, if you take the product photos as Gospel truth, with a 2GB onboard memory. The tag line says: “I can get more fun at mumumusic.” Hm, it is not bad for a translation job.
via pmptoday

Clarion’s New DrivTrax Models Announced

The DrivTrax DTR-P7DT is a 1-SEG tuning, GPS navigating and MPEG4, WMV, MP3, WMA playing PND. It’s powered by a 400Mhz Samsung processor and runs on Windows CE. Screen is 4.3 inches, which is really all you need in an all-around PND. The P7DT and its Bluetooth-connected brother, DrivTrax DTR-P50, will be released and priced in early June. We’ve written about a GPS-PMP from Clarion before and these new releases are even more mind-blowing than that.

The first commercially available pico projector out in Hongkong

Sunlink International Holdings and iView Limited had announced the SunView PMP Projector (PMPP) in Hongkong which always gets the good stuff first. It is supposedly the first commercially available portable integrated pico-projector. The device is an integrated PMP running Windows CE, is capable of producing a 640 x 480 projection,has an embedded 3.5-inch LCD display, and utilizes an SD slot for additional storage.The projector includes a built-in rechargeable battery, a speaker, remote control, a SD card slot, and is powered by Microsoft Windows CE 5.0 core and includes Office Viewer. It measures 133mm x 79mm x 25mm. The price is still not availiable.

via madeinchina

Dell's Vostro 1310, 1510, and 1710 small business laptops redefine boxy

Dell just pumped out a trio of Vostro laptops for small businesses. The new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 (starting at $749), 15.4-inch Vostro 1510 (starting at $599), and redesigned 17-inch Vostra 1710 (price, undisclosed) all feature a slot loading optical drive and thinner / lighter designs. They also ship with 10GB of free online storage, Network Assistant and PC TuneUp -- all crapware free. The 1310 and 1510 are available today in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) then May 1st for the Americas. The 17-incher hits mid-May.

Cheap iRiver E100 at J&R

When we see iRiver E100,a rather capable PMP, maybe we would terribly impressed by its size or functionality but don’t worry, you won’t complain for its $110 of 4GB storage. You could found it at online store J&R and Amazon and other sites you could try to find also. The 8GB player is selling for $160 which was priced at around $200.