Roland Unveils Its New Wireless Connect Apps And Hardware

Roland has this week introduced a new addition to their range of products called the Roland Wireless Connect, which consists of a USB adapter and two new iOS apps. Roland Wireless Connect has been designed to allow users to enjoy their instruments on iOS devices. The first new application from Roland is the Air Recorder, which enables you to record from a Roland synthesiser or V-Accordion directly to your Apple iPhone. Tracks can also be played on your iPhone and sent directly to the instrument, enabling you to jam along and record the result back in the Air Recorder application.

To make the connection to the Roland instruments a USB adapter WNA1100-RL manufactured by Netgear has been used, that plugs into a USB port on your Roland instrument, allowing your iPhone and instrument to communicate via your wireless network.

The second of the new applications is called V-Drums Friend Jam for iPhone, and is an iOS version V-Drums Friend Jam, the popular drum practice software. While the Mac/Windows version of V-Drums Friend Jam requires a USB or MIDI connection from a V-Drums sound module to a computer, Roland Wireless Connect provides a direct, convenient connection from the module to the iPhone. The app allows V-Drums users across the globe to interact with each other while improving their drumming skills with play-along audio songs and practice evaluation features.

Roland Wireless Connect: More Fun of Roland Gear with Your iPhone:

Panasonic Eluga Launches In Japan March 29th, Europe Next Month

Although Panasonic promised it would conquer Europe with its products, it appears that the company still considers the Japanese market over the European one. This is why the recently announced Panasonic ELUGA will be released in Japan on March 29 and in Europe a month later. The smartphone will be exclusively available in purple at NTT Docomo starting next week. There are no details regarding the ELUGA’s pricing options yet, but we know that European prices are set at about £399 (630 USD) outright.

Even though the Panasonic ELUGA will be shipped with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread platform out of the box, the Japanese company promised to upgrade the phone to Ice Cream Sandwich soon after launch. The selling point of the smartphone seems the thin bar form factor as the ELUGA comes in at 123 x 62 x 7.8 mm, and it only weighs a bit over 100g (battery included).

Unfortunately, the smartphone lacks a microSD card slot for memory expansion and only offers 8GB amount of storage. Without pretending to be one of the most powerful Android phones on the market, Panasonic ELUGA embeds a dual-core TI OMAP 4430 processor clocked at 1 GHz and 1GB of RAM.

Panasonic ELUGA is IP57 certified which means it is dust and water resistant. According to the manufacturer, the smartphone has been tested for up to 1 meter for 30 minutes under water. It also sports a 4.3-inch OLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports qHD (540 x 960 pixels) resolution, as well as an 8-megapixel rear photo snapper with autofocus and LED flash. The ELUGA only accepts microSIM cards and drains energy from a rather low-capacity 1150 mAh Li-Ion battery, which is rated by the manufacturer for up to 300 hours of standby time or up to 4 hours of talk time.

Panasonic Eluga Hands-On at MWC 2012:

Windows Phone Overtakes Symbian In The UK

According to a recent report from Kantar Worldpanel, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has overtaken Symbian here in the UK, although the report shows that Microsoft’s mobile platform still only makes up a small percentage of overall smartphones.

The period covered in the report are the twelve weeks up to the 19th of February 2012, and Symbian has now dropped down to 2.4 percent of the smartphone market, where as Windows Phone has now risen to 2.5 percent of the market. Of course Microsoft still has a lot to do if it wants to get anywhere near the two most popular mobile platforms, Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS.

According to the report 87 percent of the Windows Phone sales for the period are down to one smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 800. "The fact that WP7 sales have overtaken Symbian based on one handset is encouraging,” said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director for Kantar Worldpanel. However, Nokia will need to expand the range quickly in order to keep up with the slew of next generation competitor products being launched in quarter two.”

The report also released the share held by Android and iOS, showing that Google’s Android OS is the most popular platform in the UK with a 48.5 percent share and Apple’s iOS is in second place with a 28.7 percent share, in third place is RIM with a 17.1 percent share.

Android vs. WP7 vs. Symbian3 browser smoothness test:

New Improved A5 Chip And Brand New A6 One On The Way

According to rumors Apple is reportedly working on an improved A5 chip as well as a brand new A6 offering. This comes as part of the speculation on what the reported Apple media event due to take place in early March will bring. This media event will let everyone know what the new iPad 3 is gong to hold and many think that Apple could be planning more.

A large number of the rumors around the iPad 3 seem to be in agreement that it will feature retina display and have an improved rear camera. Over the past couple of days there has been disagreement over the processing power that the new iPad 3 will have. Some say it will be the quad-core idea whilst other believe that Apple will stick with the current A5 offering as a base but improve on the existing chip by possibly adding an improved graphics engine.

If these latest reports are to be believed, Apple could be planning a double barrelled approach by improving the A5 chip and developing an improved quad-core processor which is likely to be called the A6. 9To5Mac are reporting that the A5X chip is a halfway upgrade between the current a5 model and the next model which will be the Apple A6. Evidence has also been found within the iOS 5.1 beta releases that points to Apple working on the S5L8950X and S5L8945X model numbers which would seem to point to two individual processors with the current A5 model being the S5L8940x number.

The fact that two separate processors are being worked on by Apple will be enough to produce plenty of rumors and possibilities but if this is what is happening then logic reasoning would point to the fact that the A6 chip would be used in the new iPad 3 while the A5X processor could be used in the revamped Apple TV set top box. As with all rumors this is just speculation and it could be that Apple is deciding which processor to use. Only time will tell and we are all waiting anxiously for the March media event to see which rumors are in fact true.

iPad 2 Review:

How To Bypass iOS 5.1 Restriction When Installing iMovie v1.3 on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch Running iOS 5.0.1

The Apple media event last week caused quite a stir and Apple announced the release of a brand new iPad and Apple TV. Both of these new products are going to be released to the public on the 16th of March at 8am. The pre-order section of the Apple website was inundated with pre-orders and this caused a number of server and store down issues. Apple also took the opportunity to announce some of their apps at the media event that have been updated so that they are now compatible with the new iPad Retina display and these include the iWork Suite, GarageBand and iMovie.

For those of you that can’t live without your jailbreak the update of iMovie is going to be tough. This new app benefits from a great deal more functionality and an improved user interface but it also comes with a requirement that iOS 5.1 be installed. This means that jailbroken users who wish to keep their untethered jailbreak on iOS 5.0.1 won’t be able to download it. That’s what most people thought anyway.

It seems that the App Store makes a quick reference check against a .plist entry saved in the CoreServices directory of the device to determine what version of iOS is installed. If the check returns a value less than the minimum version required, an alert is displayed advising that it requires a specific iOS version.

If you have a jailbroken device it is simply a matter of using a program such as iFile or SSHing into the device and changing the version string in the SystemVersion.plist, which will fool the OS into believing that iOS 5.1 is installed and this will allow you to download iMovie. This means that jailbroken devices can benefit from the great new features and additions to the newly updated iMovie App. All you have to do now is head over to the App Store, download the iMovie app and enjoy all the cinematic goodness that awaits.

Nexus S To Get Android 4.0 ICS In The Next Few Weeks

It seemed as if Google had all but forgotten about its once beloved Nexus S. The company’s previous flagship handset was slated to receive an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update in December, but due to unforeseen problems that still remain a mystery, Google pulled the update shortly after its release. Since then, there has been radio silence from Mountain View as owners anxiously awaited details regarding the company’s plan for the device.

There has been some speculation when the Nexus S would be getting the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, and now it looks like it has been confirmed. According to the guys over at Engadget it looks like the Nexus S will be getting the Android 4.0 update after all, and the update should be available on the device within the next few weeks. The Nexus S 4G will also get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, unfortunately we don’t have a specific date on when the update will be available.

Android Beam on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich:

Guitar iPhone 4/4S Case

Owners of Apple’s iPhone 4 or 4S smartphone who are looking for something a little more original to protect their beloved device. Might be interested in a hard case that is currently available over on the Etsy website, which will transform the back of your iPhone to look like a Fender guitar.

The case is made from hard clear plastic and the printing is covered with a high gloss glass like coating that protects the graphics and artwork from fading and wear and tear. The iPhone 4/4S Fender Guitar case is now available over on the Etsy website for $19.99 and has been created by stickitskins.

This is one of the slickest iPhone 4 videos we have seen in a long time. A guitarist (justkylevids on YouTube) apparently wondered what it was like being inside his guitar while playing, so he dropped his iPhone 4 in with the video camera running and captured this incredible video. The effect you see is mesmerizing, but not really representative of the way that guitar strings actually oscillate. Instead, it's another example of how the iPhone 4's rolling shutter can create some interesting photos and video. Still, it's fun to watch.

For more information:

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/guitar-iphone-44s-case-14-03-2012/

Guitar Oscillations Captured with iPhone 4:

Swivl Motion Tracking Smartphone Camera Dock Starts Shipping

Anyone patiently waiting for the arrival 0f the Swivl motion tracking smartphone dock, we first featured back in November last year. Will be pleased to know the device has now arrived and is ready to purchase.

So if you pre-ordered the Swivl for $179 you can expect it to arrive very shortly as shipping has now started, according to its creators and developers. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.

Swivl will first reach those of you who first shared our vision the soonest and we will continue to fulfill pre-orders in the coming weeks” -“If you pre-ordered but have not confirmed your order yet with credit card information, check your email or head over to the site and do that right now.

Swivl has been designed to hold your smartphone and then follow you where ever you may walk within your room through 360-degrees. The system uses a “Marker” which is worn by the person that wants to be tracked. The “Marker” also doubles as a remote control for the Swivl.

The Swivl has been designed to provide a hands free unit that lets record your actions with your iPhone, iPod Touch, Android phone, GoPro, or Flip. Although the remote control will only currently work with iOS devices via an additional application.

Swivl Motion Tracking Smartphone Camera Dock:

Square Reader Gets Protection with Hoodie

Are you worried about your Square Reader? getting smashed into pieces in your pocket or inside your bag. Then just forget about it and thanks to the Square Hoodie. Funded by Kickstarter and designed by Charles Mercader and Sam Dominguez, the Square Hoodie acts as a case of your reader, as well as its loop. You can then attached it to a set of keys, ID lace, or a zipper.

The advantage of the Square Hoodie among other protectors for the Square Reader is that one does not have to remove the case while using the reader, which is clearly not the case for earlier models. The Square Hoodie is currently available for pre-order at $9, or $25 for multiple cases. For those who are not familiar with the Square Reader, it is a credit card reader for iPhone, iPad, and Android, which lets your device pay with or accept payments from major credit cards.

Introducing Square Hoodie:

Billet Dock Hits Kickstarter Looking for Loot

There seems to be no end to the number of projects that hit Kickstarter looking for the money for development. One of the latest products to hit Kickstarter is the Billet Dock. This is an iPad or iPhone dock and is easy use. At reminds me more the little of a slide from a handgun. The device is made from a milled chunk of billet aluminum and has a slot in it for the iPad and the iPhone along with their charging adapters.

There also appears to be a model that is made for the iPad alone and will work with or without a case. Versions of the Billet Dock are shown in multiple colors and the design looks really cool. The company is looking to raise $50,000 to bring the product to market and has 34 days left to go. So far, it has raised $2575.

The Billet Dock for the iPhone alone is expected to sell for $58. The dock for the iPad will sell for $69. A duplex Billet Dock will sell for $115 with space for both iPhone and iPad. You can go over to Kickstarter right now and pledge those amounts to get the dock if it makes enough money for construction.

UK Mobile Provider Three Abolishes Out Of Bundle Data Charges

There's an announcment from UK Mobile Provider Three that, they are getting rid of out of bundle data charges, which is good news for their customers and smartphone users. Previously if you went over you monthly data limit, you would be charged more for any data you used over you allowance, and this has in the past been standard across the mobile industry here in the UK with the exception of T-Mobile, but this could change as Three is one of the first companies to remove the excessive charges.

Now when you go over you monthly data allowance on your smartphone or tablet, Three will basically stop you from using any more data for that month, and also give you the option to buy more data, with 250MB of data costing you £2, or the option to buy all you can eat data for £5, which will last for thirty days. Three have also announced that they will be launching a new range of price plans, you can find out more information over at the Three Blog.

The fastest growing mobile network; Three UK:

Instaprint Location Based Photobooth

A small company called Breakfast that specialises in creating devices to bridge the gap between online and the real world, unveiled their new Instaprint location based photo booth. Its been designed to transform parties by allowing anyone to print photos using Instaprint that has been set look out for specific locations or hashtags. The photos are then printed on ink less paper automatically. Watch the video after the jump to see Instaprint in action.

Over the past year the team at Breakfast have been creating prototypes and have now perfected their device. The team have now published it on Kickstarter and are looking for help to make the jump from concept to production. The team behind Instaprint explain:

“Going from prototype to consumer product is a massive step, and is something BREAKFAST has been working on for almost a year. It’s a huge endeavor that will require us to bring on more staff and dedicate many months to make it all happen. Some things are sure to change as we get into the thick of it, but that means things will only get better.”

If you would like to see the Instaprint location based photobooth become a reality jump over to the Kickstarter to make a pledge and help it on its way.

Keshot Social Media Photo Booth: The Picture Collection:

SprintTV iPhone App Launches

SprintTV has finally launched an iPhone application for users, enabling iPhone owners to now view selected live and on-demand programming from partners such as ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, The Disney Channel, MTV and Comedy Central to name a few.

SprintTv also provides premium packages allowing you to watch to more than 40 paid premium packages with popular shows including “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “The Daily Show with John Stewart.” Which start at $4.99 rising to $9.99 per month. You can now download the new Sprint TV Applcation for free from the iTunes App Store. The entire lineup of options available through the Sprint TV App can be viewed over on the MobiTV website.

Use of Sprint TV is included in plans with unlimited data. Sprint is the only national wireless carrier offering truly unlimited data plans for all phones, with no throttling or overages. Casual data charges of $0.03/kb and standard text messaging charges will apply to customers not on a plan with unlimited data and messaging.

Sprint TV App Review:

MWC app updated for 2012 just before the show

The Mobile World Congress taking place on Sunday this week. The event is expected to bring some of the best devices for 2012 - the first quad-core smartphones, the first phones based on 28nm architectures like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4, and much more.

We already know that there will be a lot of new devices - some of them have leaked out, others we’ve heard rumors about, and one app that will help keep track of all the novelties and help you not get lost (if you’re in Barna, as the locals call it) is the GSMA App. GSMA is the association organizing the event.

The GSMA App is a portal for the show’s agenda, with names of exhibitors, search and huge video section for live streaming of events. It also has a map showing what’s where and if you’ve been to a show this big you’d appreciate it. Hit the Android link below, it’s free, so it wouldn’t hurt checking it out. Don't forget to also take a peek at the schedule of MWC's most important events here.

T-Mobile will have 10 LTE devices and iPhone-compatible 4G network by 2014

10 LTE devices and its 4G network will be compatible with a future T-Mo-branded iPhone by the end of 2013 by T-Mobile, chief technology officer Neville Ray said at the carrier’s Challenger Strategy conference call. T-Mobile’s CTO said the carrier will cover 50 major markets with its upcoming LTE network and detailed plans about managing spectrum to best serve the needs of more intensive data networks.

“Our 4G network will be compatible with a broader range of devices, including the iPhone” Ray said. Now, this is a clear reference to a 4G iPhone, unless Ray considers the current HSPA+ compliant iPhone as 4G, something Apple has never done. It seems though that T-Mobile's CTO is referring to the roll-out of HSPA+ 3G and 4G services in the 1900MHz range, which the iPhone is compliant with. This is a huge $4 billion investment by the fourth-largest US mobile operator.

The big problem with the iPhone on T-Mobile is the awkward AWS bands that the carrier’s 3G runs on. The iPhone currently doesn’t support them and remains limited to slow EDGE data transfers. Theoretically, T-Mobile’s LTE network will deliver up to 72Mbps, but we expect the realities to match those of the current LTE networks. That would mean download speeds of between 5Mbpas and 12Mbps.

4G network test: Verizon 4G LTE vs Sprint 4G Wimax vs T-Mobile 4G HSPA+:

Samsung’s Featurephones To Come With Opera Mini Browser

Very soon Opera Software will receive a significant usage boost of its Opera Mini browser after it announced that it has partnered with Korean smartphone giant Samsung to preload the software on a number of its feature phone devices. Opera Mini will be available on Star3, Star 3 Duos, Champ Deluxe and Champ Deluxe Duos range, with scope to add more devices throughout the year, providing owners with faster browsing using it’s server side webpage compression technology.

The slimline browser cuts down page-load times to a tenth of their original size, consuming upto 90% less data in the process. This makes it a fantastic tool for featurephone users on lower value mobile tariffs or in emerging countries where data access is at a premium. It doesn’t stop there though, Opera Mini provides tab support, a password manager, Opera Link (to connect accounts) and Speed Dial, to allow instant access to a user’s favourite websites. In December, the browser-maker signed an agreement with Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek that saw Opera Mini bundled with MediaTek’s Runtime Environment (MRE) platform.

MediaTek, one of the leading chipset manufacturers servicing regions like the Asia-Pacific, sees more than 40 percent of all phones in the Indian mobile market running on its chips. The MRE platform is a layer that allows third-party software companies to develop integrated apps for MediaTek’s affordable smart feature phones. The Samsung deal looks set to solidify Opera Mini’s position as the most popular mobile browser in the world – it’s already seeing 160 million monthly unique users.

Opera Mini Browser on Samsung Wave/Wave II (Demo on s8530):

iFrogz Boost Speaker Uses Near Field Audio Technology

This week iFrogz unveiled their new iFrogz Boost Speaker which is equipped with near field audio technology. Which enables the little black box to be able to amplify a smart phones audio without the need for a connecting cable, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection.

Though the near field audio technology might sound very impressive. The reality is that iFrogz have embedded a microphone into the speaker system which takes up the audio from your smartphone and feeds it directly to the speaker.

So if you were expecting high quality reproduction you may be a little disappointed. But if you would like to just increase the volume of the audio from your cellphone, this little iFrogz Boost Speaker might be just the thing. The new iFrogz Boost Speaker system will be arriving in the spring of 2012 and will be available to purchase for around $40.

ifrogz Boost Near-Field Audio Amplifying Speaker: First Look:

Fix Sim Errors On iPhone 4S With iOS 5.0.1 Build 9A406

iOS 5.0.1 was launched specifically to fix battery issues occurring on the iPhone 4S. Apple has however managed to deliver a couple more surprises with this release including the fact that invalid SIM or No SIM card installed errors. Security issues have been scarce since the initial release of iOS 5.0 back in October. Apple has however managed to allow modders and developers some promise in their quest to port Siri through to devices other than the latest iPhone 4S.

MacRumors has reported that iOS 5.0.1 also fixes another problem with the iPhone 4S and that is the No SIM card installed error that some people are having problems with. According to a new supporting document that has been released by the Cupertino based outfit it has become clear that the build 9A406 has been issued to those users that have experienced these SIM related errors. This update comes ahead of the next update which is expected to be iOS 5.1.

The battery drainage issue has gained a lot of attention on Apple’s discussion forums and it has also been revealed here that a number of users are having problems with SIM card errors too. Here is what Apples new support document has to say:
In certain situations, iPhone 4S may have difficulty recognizing a micro-SIM card, resulting in the following behaviors:
- "Invalid SIM" or "No SIM Card installed" alert appears intermittently.
- Status bar displays "No Service" or "Searching" in a location with good network coverage.

The document then goes on to describe the recommended solution to these issues and this includes backing up and then restoring the device. This involves iTunes pulling down the new Build 9A406 of iOS 5.0.1 and installing it on your device. Once you restore your iPhone 4S you can then restore your content and settings from the backup.

Some users have reported that this does fix the SIM card errors whilst others have stated that there has been no improvement. It’s not sure what the problem is and if there are other issues that need to be addressed but for the moment we have to wait to see what more users have to say before specific conclusions can be made.

iPhone 4S iOS 5.0.1 Update (9A406) Details! Should Fix No Sim Card Installed Problem:

TinyUmbrella 4.30.05 Released For iOS 4.3.1 AppleTV – How to Save AppleTV 2G iOS 4.3.1 SHSH Blobs

Notcom, the developer of a MUST have jailbreak tool TinyUmbrella as well as one of the key member oif the Chronic Dev Team, has just released the TinyUmbrella 4.30.04 to bring support to the recently released iOS 4.3.1 (iOS 4.2.1) for the second-generation AppleTV.

What is TinyUmbrella?
TinyUmbrella is an essential tool for all iOS jailbreakers and unlockers because it will help you to save the SHSH blobs for all iOS device such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and AppleTV. The SHSH blobs are important if you accidentally upgraded your device to new iOS and wanted to downgrade from the previous firmware version. In addition, some of the new tethered jailbreak tools like the iPhone Dev Team’s Redsn0w 0.9.7 (which still in beta form) also uses SHSH blobs to obtain permanent untethered jailbreak.

How to Save AppleTV 2G SHSH Blobs Using TinyUmbrella:
STEP 1: First you have to download the latest version of TinyUmbrella (v4.30.05) from this link and save it on your desktop

STEP 2: Then install TinyUmbrella tool on your AppleTV 2G by simply double clicking the downloaded package file. Follow the onscreen instruction to complete the installation

STEP 3: Now open the application folder and double click the TinyUmbrella to run the application

STEP 4: Now connect your AppleTV 2G to the computer using the micro-USB cable then click on your device form the list of Connected Devices on the left-upper side

STEP 5: C lick the save SHSH button. Once completed, you will see a new entry in the Saved SHSHs for Apple TV list confirming the successful save of your SHSH blobs.

How to save your SHSH's using Tiny Umbrella:

New Video Shows Siri Opening The Door To Third Party Control

What we have to share with you is awesome. It seems that a hacker going by the name of plamoni has released a video on YouTube what shows that Apple’s Siri can be used to control a thermostat. All this is thanks to a Siri server that is being run on a computer with the iPhone 4S looking to it in order to fulfill requests asked of it.

This is all done by cracking Siri’s security protocols which means that those who are familiar with coding can actually interfere with how Siri works and they can inject different code and data at will. This server allows developers to create custom Siri handlers for different actions. The example of the hacker we mentioned allows him to set and check the status of a WiFi thermostat and there is no reason why this couldn’t link into the APIs of other devices. Imagine you could tell your TiVo to record TV shows using Siri. With this hack the possibilities are almost endless.

The great thing about this hack is that you don’t have to have a jailbroken device. This hack really does show off the potential power of Siri. This is one thing that we really will be keeping our eyes on and we hope that Apple picks up on this and brings it to us all sooner rather than later. Check out the video below for more information.

Siri Proxy demo: