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The biggest Pac-Man game in the world – online, and free

The biggest Pac-Man game in the world – online, and free

Photo: matt hutchinson / Flickr In a bid to showcase the capabilities and features of Internet Explorer 9, Namco-Bandai, the original creators of Pac-Man, have joined forces with Microsoft Australia to create the biggest Pac-Man game in the world. The project is ...

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iPad is costing Americans jobs

iPad is costing Americans jobs

Photo: Anirudh Koul / Flickr American activist Jesse Jackson has a reputation for saying some ludicrous things. His son, Jesse Jackson Jr. clearly wants to build on his father’s legacy. The politician says that the iPad is costing thousands of American jobs, ...

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Angry Birds coming to Windows Phone 7 soon

Angry Birds coming to Windows Phone 7 soon

Photo: SimonQ錫濛譙 / Flickr Microsoft has finally snagged the big mobile game it’s been after – cultural icon Angry Birds is headed to the Windows Phone 7 platform. Pigs everywhere should find somewhere safe to hide, with the title crash landing onto the ...

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Multi-functional release from Asus with the Eee Pad Transformer

Multi-functional release from Asus with the Eee Pad Transformer

Photo: Asus Asus recently released the Eee Pad Transformer, an interesting and innovative hybrid device which can function as either a laptop or tablet, or both. As the name suggests, it can transform into either device, while the display disconnects at the ...

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Amazon Cloud music locker beats all to the punch

Amazon Cloud music locker beats all to the punch

Photo: ottonassar / Flickr The race has been on for some time to be the first major company to launch an online service for storing all of your own music and media, and streaming it from there. Many have called this a ...

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Gmail for iOS released, then pulled
Gmail app
Photo: rinconmac / Flickr

Google made a big gaffe. The company yesterday released a native Gmail app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that was pulled from the store soon after because it was underwhelming at best, or so buggy it didn’t even start up at worst. (Read more…)

Tags for this article: apple, smartphones, google


iPhone 4S Siri data usage investigated
Siri data usage
Photo: vasile23 / Flickr

The big feature of the iPhone 4S is the Siri voice assistant. As amazing as the service is conceptually, it does come with the one drawback that every query uses up mobile data, since all queries run through a data service before being sent back. Yes, even queries for tasks that happen natively on your phone, such as setting up calendar appointments and so on. Ars Technica investigated just how much data Siri consumes in total. (Read more…)

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BBM music available in US, Canada and Australia
BBM Music
Photo: Florian SEROUSSI / Flickr

Research In Motion’s BBM Music service has gone live, the company announced in a blog post today. The service is currently available for BlackBerry users who reside in the US, the UK and Australia. (Read more…)

Tags for this article: blackberry, music


iPhone 4S battery drain fix coming, says Apple
iPhone 4S battery drain

Photo: Photo Giddy / Flickr

The initial excitement of getting the iPhone 4S and talking up Siri was very quickly tapered by poor battery life, as reported by some users. Apple has publically acknowledged the problem, saying that an incoming software update would fix the problem. (Read more…)

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BT promises fibre for two-thirds of UK homes by 2014
444874_cabels
Photo: Stock.Xchng

The benefits of high speed internet cannot be exaggerated, and BT has made a commitment to playing its part to boost the UK’s global competitiveness in broadband speed. The firm recently announced that it is on course to cover two-thirds of the UK with fibre by 2014. (Read more…)

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PayPal warming to NFC
Paypal
Photo: Oldmaison / Flickr

Online payments giant PayPal has been against NFC as a mobile payments platform, but that position may be changing. At a New York event where they are showing off mobile payment solutions including a tap-to-pay NFC setup. (Read more…)

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Tim Cook’s recipe for success already evident at Apple
Tim Cook
Photo: falfi.strife / Flickr

Apple CEO Tim Cook has had the position for just shy of two months, and reports are already emerging that his leadership style – one that is quite different from that of Steve Jobs’ –  is having an impact on the company. (Read more…)

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Motorola Xoom 2 to cost €399
Xoom
Photo: ramseymohsen / Flickr

Rumours of a Motorola Xoom 2 being in the works have been swirling for months now, and Carphone Warehouse appears to have become the first major retailer to confirm the existence of the tablet PC. In a new print advert, the retailer revealed that the Xoom 2 would be available throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe at a starting price of €399 before Christmas. (Read more…)

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ST-Ericsson supplying Nokia Windows Phone 7 processor
Nokia Lumia
Photo: Vicchi / Flickr

While there were rumours earlier in the year that a dual-core ST-Ericsson processor would power some Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets, it has emerged that all Nokia WP7 handsets going forward will be powered by the company’s processor. This is both a major victory for ST-Ericsson, and a significant blow for NovaThor all at once. (Read more…)

Tags for this article: Nokia, microsoft


Sony to post full year loss of $1.2 billion
Sony Logo
Photo: Sony

Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp has had a rocky 2011, with the company’s many setbacks looking set to take a heavy toll on its earnings for the year. The company has forecast that it will report an annual loss of $1.2 billion (£749m) as it has slashed sales target for its struggling television business, and the yen’s steady climb hits all time highs. (Read more…)

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HTC sells 13 million phones as earnings grow steeply
HTC Desire
Photo: Retinafunk / Flickr

Smartphone manufacturer HTC has been on a tear, posting record earnings and unit sales numbers every other quarter. The momentum has not slowed, with the company seeing a profit increase of 68 per cent and nearly double the unit sales it posted in the same period last year. (Read more…)

Tags for this article: smartphones, htc


Battlefield 3 sells 5 million copies in just one week
BF3
Photo: Dekuwa / Flickr

Electronic Arts has announced that internal estimates suggest that it has sold an astonishing five million copies of Battlefield 3 in just one week. The first-person shooter, which is available on the Xbox 360, PS3 and on PC, has quickly become the fastest-selling game in the venerable publisher’s history. (Read more…)

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HP CTO Phil McKinney resigns
Phil McKinney
Photo: dfarber / Flickr

Hewlett-Packard chief technology officer Phil McKinney has retired from the company. McKinney, who was one of the most visible HP TouchPad evangelists, leaves the company in a time of great change, following the ousting of CEO Leo Apotheker and up-in-the-air strategic blunders. (Read more…)

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MiFi sales top three million; MiFi doomed
MIFI
Photo: Halans / Flickr

Novatel yesterday announced that its mobile WiFi device, the MiFi, had crossed a significant threshold of 3 million units sold over its lifetime. As impressive as that landmark is, there is reason to believe that the Novatel MiFi is living on borrowed time, as more and more mobile OS platforms allow WiFi hotspot sharing straight from a user’s smartphone. (Read more…)

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Three says 97 percent of network traffic is data
on the phone
Photo: jeremyfoo / Flickr

British mobile phones carrier Three has announced that data accounts for a remarkable 97 per cent of all traffic on the network. This leaves a maximum of 3 per cent for voice calls, which, only recently, was basically the only thing we did on mobile networks. (Read more…)

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WP7 to benefit dramatically from Nokia’s strong carrier relationships
Nokia Lumia
Photo: RafeB / Flickr

In the Wake of the Nokia Lumia reveals, various tech writers and industry analysts have chimed in on whether it will be enough to save the Finnish mobile phones giant. Peter Bright of Ars Technica argues that beyond resurrecting the ailing company, it will also be a massive kick in the backside for the Windows Phone 7 mobile OS platform. He attributes this belief to Nokia’s strong carrier relationships. (Read more…)

Tags for this article: Nokia, smartphones, microsoft