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Filed under: Displays, Household

Look, we’re not going to argue that those chintzy clap lamps weren’t pretty sweet in their heyday. And we’re also not going to put up a fuss when you assert that snap bracelets were equally adorable in the early 90s. Nostalgia aside, Fraunhofer IPMS is headed straight for the future with its latest OLED breakthrough. Reportedly, the company has devised an OLED display that can be controlled via human touch or by simply waving one’s hand in front of the panel. Unlike similar applications that have come before it, there’s no additional hardware needed — and therein lies the magic. The outfit is currently showing off the design at the Plastic Electronic 2008 show, though it yet to reveal anything close to a release plan.

[Via OLED-Display]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

With Sprint snagging the vast majority of the WiMAX limelight of late, we aren’t going to complain with a similar network halfway across the globe yanking it back. Out of absolutely nowhere comes HTC’s first WiMAX-enabled handset, the sure-to-be-delightful T8290. Reportedly, this bugger packs a 3.8-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, GSM and WiMAX radios and is expected to launch soon on Russia’s Yota. Granted, we can’t take this as hard truth or anything quite yet, but the images that reside in the read link are more than convincing. Oh, and HTC — given that you’re passing on the US with the Touch HD, do you think it’d be possible to get this over here for use with XOHM? We’d really, really appreciate it.

[Via Slashphone, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/HTC_not_bringing_Touch_HD_to_the_States’; This shouldn’t be surprising at all to anyone even remotely familiar with HTC’s tendencies, but the Touch HD is officially not ever shipping to America (unless you import, obviously). The news was dropped via a Tweet (of all things), but evidently, the outcry over what we figured was common knowledge has caused some windows to be rattled in the penthouse offices. Another official Tweet followed to thank everyone for “expressing their desire for the HD,” with the author noting that “US management now knows there’s a grassroots demand for high-end HTCs here.” Really, HTC? You needed a flood of angry Twitter comments to understand that Americans would give their second born for a phone like the Touch HD?

[Via WMExperts, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We’ve received official word from HTC that they’ve been really overwhelmed by the “strong” demand for the HD in the States and other markets where no launch has been planned (with that insane display, it seemed like a no-brainer to us!). Sadly, due to the engineering time required to get a North American 3G version in the pipeline, they say they’re better off just waiting until the next round of products launches — hopefully with some extra bands in the radio this time, eh?

Read - Touch HD not coming to the US
Read - Thanks for the concern

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPod_touch_updated_same_screen_new_case_new_features’; As expected, Apple just updated the iPod touch with a new thinner stainless steel case — it’s still got the same display. There’s now hardware volume controls (hooray!) and a built-in speaker, and a Nike+ receiver is also built in, so you just need the shoe transmitter. On the software side, the UI has been tweaked and the new iTunes Genius features have been added, and the App Store is now included (obviously). Battery life is decent at 36 hours of music and 6 hours of video, and Apple’s doing the same “environmentally sound” design thing it did with the new nano. Three price points: 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399. So much for that rumored price drop below the iPhone’s $199 price point, but we won’t complain too much about a $100 price drop.

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Source: Nilay Patel

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Now that Uncle Walt has gone and opened the floodgates, details are starting to pour in on Sprint’s imminent release of the Touch Diamond, a device that should actually manage to get the carrier damn close to the top of the Windows Mobile pile (for a short while, anyway). PC Magazine is now reporting that it’ll be available on September 14 for $249.99 on a two-year contract after $100 rebate, a sum that would put it squarely in the “average” category for on-contract smartphone pricing in these parts. Of course, with the Touch Pro allegedly just around the corner, it remains to be seen just how much love this thing is going to get; nothing like a good, old-fashioned QWERTY-versus-touchscreen fight, is there?

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Source: Chris Ziegler

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Filed under: Cellphones

It was only a matter of time before the WSJ (Katherine Boehret, in this case) got their hands around Sprint’s still-not-official Touch Diamond, and we can’t say that the conclusion she drew is at all shocking. As Mossberg and his partners so often do, Katherine mentions Apple’s darling just as much as the topic of the review itself, and while she seemed impressed with the hardware, it was the software that suffered the brunt of her attacks. She proclaimed that “despite its handsome TouchFLO 3D software and animated icons, the device failed to disguise the frustrating interface of Windows Mobile often enough for [her] taste.” Beyond that, she also found room to gripe about the “cramped” keyboard, which she felt was “next to impossible” to use with just her fingertips. On the plus side, she did give the browser a decent amount of praise, but if you were looking for support from this critic before picking up the forthcoming handset, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

[Via phonescoop]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones

With all the Touch Diamond / Touch Pro news surfacing for these US CDMA carriers, quite a few AT&T subscribers are beginning to get restless. Calm down, folks — it seems the AT&T Touch Pro is a reality waiting to happen after all. Based on some admittedly dodgy claims and even dodgier photographs, one particular soul has apparently paid $900 for a pre-release Touch Pro with North American 3G. Only time will tell if he got duped, but we’re going to believe that AT&T wouldn’t let this gem pass it by for too much longer until proven wrong.

[Via wmpoweruser]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones

Not that we’d view the actual Touch Diamond as IF or anything, but the Diamond J6 is more along the lines of I3. In all seriousness, this thing isn’t too far from being spot-on identical (maybe it’s an HTC thing?), with a 2.8-inch display, built-in camera, multimedia player, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. And for $160, we’re almost inclined to fall in love here… almost.

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Source: Darren Murph

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