Apple review: A Brief History of Apple Not Buying Things

And so it begins again. BGR has an exclusive scoop from an "unproven" (ooh!) source: Apple is in talks to buy Barnes & Noble, the country's last remaining national bookseller. As BGR points out, the acquisition would get Apple B&N's digital books and other publications (which it might conceivably want) and Nook hardware (which it surely doesn't), along with hundreds of retail outlets which it could either shutter or convert into Apple Stores. (Enormous Apple Stores! Usually located conveniently close to existing Apple Stores!)

Here's a bit of deep insight from another BGR source (the story doesn't say if it's a proven or unproven one):

It also almost makes too much sense for Apple to do this, said another source of ours, mentioning that Apple doesn't make moves that appear logical to most outside observers at the time.

Well said. For years, Apple has confounded the rest of us by not buying things that it should clearly be buying. Not purchasing other well-known companies is so core to Apple's strategy that it must have a whole department devoted to non-mergers and un-acquisitions.

We've been over this before, but it's worth a recap:

2003: Apple shows it's not that serious about this music thing after all when it doesn't buy Universal Music!

2004: The world wonders if Steve Jobs has lost all common sense when Apple doesn't buy Pixar, a company Jobs already runs!

2005: Industry watchers the world over do a double-take in unison when Apple doesn't buy TiVo!

2006: Apple tips its hand to its disinterest in the phone market by making a strategic decision not to buy Palm!

2006: It makes no sense at all, but Steve Jobs' large ownership stake in a legendary Hollywood company doesn't lead to Apple buying Disney!

2006: For reasons lost to history, Apple doesn't take the easy route to success in gaming by buying Nintendo!

2006: Bizarrely, it turns out that Eric Schmidt didn't join the Apple board so Apple could buy Sun!

2007: I still recall my shock and disbelief when I learned that Apple would not be buying AMD!

2008: Steve Jobs' legendary fondness for Flash inexplicably fails to result in Apple buying Adobe!

2008: Two years after its mysterious refusal to buy Nintendo, Apple once again spurns the Japanese by not buying Sony!

2009: Apple makes a rare strategic misstep when it ultimately decides not to buy Yahoo!

2009: Apple's continuing disinterest in gaming is confirmed when it doesn't make a dramatic bid to buy Electronic Arts!

2009: Apple's WWDC is a memorable one as Steve Jobs doesn't announce "one more thing:" Apple is buying Twitter!

2009: In a move surely made primarily to confuse us all, Apple does buy Lala.

2010: With unprecedented boldness, Apple doesn't use its huge stockpile of cash buy EA, Sony, Netflix, Facebook, or Disney -- yes, simultaneously!

2011: Apple's careful consideration of a Hulu bid continues to result in...nothing!

Now, take this for what it's worth -- remember, I'm not a professional analyst -- but a careful reading of history indicates that the news of Apple's discussions with Barnes & Noble can lead to only one outcome: Apple not buying Barnes & Noble. Like BGR says, it's simply too logical to happen.

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Samsung is taking a big step for phone sales

Samsung is taking a big step for...er, backward in the increasingly competitive smartphone race.

The company has announced it will no longer report specific phone sales data. Until now, Samsung repeatedly listed detailed data about how many phones it sold during a given quarter.

Now, however, "As competition intensifies, there are increased risks that the information we provide may adversely affect our own businesses," Samsung chief of investor relations Robert Yi justified.

The fact that Samsung used to give the general public such specific sales figures was kind of a step in the opposite direction of the company's usual modus operandi.

But Samsung has done so well in the mobile space thanks to the advent of Android, that it just had to brag about it. For example, in the first quarter of this year, Samsung said it sold 70 million mobile devices, which includes phones and tablets.

That sounds pretty impressive, until you consider that Strategy Analytics's third-party number crunchers had predicted 74 million unit sales. So as a result, it ended up being something of a low point for Samsung.

By no longer publishing that kind of sales data, the risk of not meeting expectations will not be nearly as high. The same information stoppage will also apply to Samsung's tablet sales.

So in the end, Samsung is taking a step backward in company transparency, but justifies it as saying it cannot afford the risks involved.

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Apple review: Next iPhone might have larger screen, thinner Profile

What’s the only thing that Apple fans love as much as the release of a new iPhone? The iPhone rumor mill of course.

According to 9to5Mac, a supposed case mold design for the fifth-generation iPhone was leaked on the Internet. And as of now, it would seem that Apple’s cash cow is going to be getting a total redesign.


  
The image of the mold shows a larger display, a larger home button, and a thinner profile. The original coverage of this diagram also has a mockup of an iPhone 5 case.
   
9to5Mac was able to obtain a real fifth-generation iPhone case from their source, and it’s not just a mere mockup. They claim that their source provided them with accurate design representations for the iPad 2 in the past. They’ve also confirmed that Asian case makers are now showing off case designs to sellers around the globe for branding purposes.
   
At this point a lot of this information is still unofficial, possibly even false. However, these cases have actually been made, and the case makers are willing to invest millions on quality information to make the most of the iPhone 5 release.
   
This gives the online Apple community reason to believe that the leaked iPhone 5 case shows off the next iPhone’s look. At the very least it could mean that the design was in a prototyping phase at Apple’s Asia-based manufacturing plants at some point.


  
Rumors of a thinner iPhone 5 have been around since March. Macotakara reported on it months ago, this is the same website that exposed Apple’s technique for revealing the white iPhone 4, which happens to be a new painting method for white devices.
   
There was another rumor floating around in April that said Apple was testing iPhone 5 hardware pieces inside of iPhone 4 casing to keep things nice and mysterious. The Jobs father loves his secrets.
   
Right now, all we can say is that the iPhone 5 rumor mill is a tricky one. Everyone who covers tech is offering conflicting details about the new smartphone. Apple fans will have to wait until September to know the truth. That’s when we will all find out if the leaked cases accurately depict the iPhone’s next design.

 

    

Don’t rule out disinformation on the part of Apple. Keeping people guessing is good for their bottom line.

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Review: Google+ suspends accounts over ToS violations

Mountain View has frozen or purged a number of Google+ accounts and related services such as Gmail/Docs for allegedly violating the company’s Terms of Service (ToS).

Google+ social lead Vic Gundrota acknowledged Google may have made "some mistakes" in its first round of suspensions for users who had not signed up with their real names. 



However, Gundrota claimed the suspensions hadn’t really targeted those who weren’t using their legal names, but rather, accounts with strange characters or obviously fake logins. 

Gundrota said Google would "make an effort" to inform people as to why their accounts have been suspended, while also trying to find a way to deal with pseudonyms. 



Nevertheless, Violet Blue reports that a "striking number" of Google+ accounts have been deleted in recent days, as the fledgling social network appears to be struggling with its community standards policy.

According to Violet, the list of deleted Google+ accounts affected even Limor Fried, AKA Lady Ada/Adafruit, a well-known tech guru. Interestingly enough, Fried’s account was subsequently restored.
Other suspended/frozen accounts include ex-Google employee Kirrily "Skud" Robert, Madge Weinstein, A.V. Flox and Dr. Popular.
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Will Apple Launch a White iPod touch? post by akkuschnell.de

Apple caused a frenzy with the long-postponed white iPhone 4, and now it's rumored that the company will also offer a white version of the iPod touch when it launches the fifth-generation MP3 player.

9to5Mac posted leaked images of the rumored white device, and cited Concord Security analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who has claimed Apple will launch a white model in addition to the regular black version. Kuo also says the form factor of the device will be relatively similar to that of the fourth-generation iPod touch.

Any tweaks to the fifth-gen device will be "more about internal changes," 9to5Mac says citing iOS SDK data. The iPod touch could get a dual-core A5 processor as well as an upgraded camera, the site notes.
According to 9to5Mac, Kuo has been correct about details of forthcoming Apple products in the past. However, the site added that it's possible that Apple could be toying with the idea of a white model, but never actually release it.

Apple finally launched the white iPhone 4 at the end of April. The iPhone 4 was supposed to be available in both black and white when it launched, but the white model was delayed for about 10 months. Apple said a white model proved "more challenging to manufacture than expected."

"It's not as simple as making something white," Apple's Phil Schiller told All Things D in April. "There's a lot more that goes into both the material science of it and how it holds up over time… but also in how it all works with the sensors."

But considering Apple now offers both a white iPhone 4 and a white iPad, it would be possible for the company to produce a white iPod touch, too. Apple will likely launch its fifth-gen iPod touch this fall.

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Nintendo has just launched a flagship 3D streaming video service in US

Nintendo has just launched a flagship 3D streaming video service on the 3DS.

The new downloadable app, called Nintendo Video, was already released in Japan, but now consumers in the US have access to streaming 3D video from the palm of their hands.

The localized version of Nintendo Video has short videos, including a 3D trailer for the upcoming film Captain America. The company plans to offer more movie trailers, as well as music videos, sports clips, and exclusive Nintendo content as the channel matures.

Earlier this month, Netflix was introduced to the 3DS, allowing users to watch all the thousands of TV show episodes and movies on the service with no additional fee, as long as they're connected to a WiFi network.

However, the Netflix 3DS app doesn't have any 3D videos available yet, even though the leading video streaming company says it does plan to roll out 3D content eventually.

In a press release announcing the new Nintendo Video service, the company said over the next few weeks, videos from OK Go and the Blue Man Group will be added, as well as viral video classics from the website College Humor.

Some of the content will be exclusive to the 3DS, or will at least only be available in 3D on the glasses-free handheld.

Nintendo doesn't have a specific update plan in terms of when new content will be added, but says it plans to be very active in securing videos in the future.

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Lenovo - A skydiving laptop must boot up quickly or face certain death

Frustrated with the sluggish boot speed of your laptop? Lenovo suggests chucking it out of an airplane with an elaborate parachute rig set to deploy if, and only if, the machine can get itself going before smashing into pieces below. We'd speculate that most contemporary computers, given the proper flight equipment, could make the fall in one piece. But should you find yourself pondering the hunk of twisted metal on the ground that used to contain your life, you might be ready for a new one.

Lenovo would be the brand for you. Its latest ad shows a portable PC, the epitome of grace and poise, surviving just such a skydiving trip—thanks, of course, to its speedy startup time. It's definitely fun watching the machine plummet through the stunning azure skies toward golden prairie—extreme computer sports at its best.

But it's a fairly contrived stunt, and the actual selling point—that the laptop takes only 10 seconds to boot up—kind of gets lost in all the drama. (Perhaps case in point: The parachute takes 15 seconds to deploy in the spot; 10 would have made more sense.) Meanwhile, we're not sure a 10-second startup is all that compelling in and of itself. And the spot feels derivative—a similar race-against-time concept in Google Chrome's speed tests is much more effective.

Nonetheless, an unidentified Lenovo shill eagerly attempts to convince us in a behind-the-scenes video (also posted below) that the whole thing is "real"—in the heavily edited, highly stylized manner reality TV hosts tend to employ. Yes, it was an amusing idea to toss a computer overboard, and kudos to the engineers for designing the DVD-tray-triggered parachute chassis. But we can't help but feel it's more entertaining to watch the laptop crash spectacularly against the rocks on the failed attempt than the perfectly staged landing of the final shot in the spot itself. Not the best effect.

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Twitter has just updated its official Android app - akkuschnell.de

Twitter has just updated its official Android app, bringing with it one of the most requested features from the Google mobile community.

Yes, push notifications are finally available. This means when users get a new Direct Message on the micro-blogging site, or there is some other activity with their account they want to be notified of, that information will now pop up on the Android status bar.

 

 

Previously, users had to set their app to manually refresh every few minutes or go into the app itself to get the latest updates. The new push notification feature puts it in line with the official Facebook Android app, where push notifications are now a standard feature.

 

Additionally, another welcome update is the ability to juggle multiple Twitter accounts from the same app. Many people now have multiple Twitter accounts to divide their activity between work and personal life, so the previous app's limit of having one account open at a time was rather restricting.

There's now seemingly no limit to the number of accounts you can have associated with your app. Toggling between accounts is as easy as tapping a button to bring up a new "Accounts" menu, at which point you click on the account you want to use. Just be careful you don't post a message under the wrong account.

So get ready to spam away (er, that is, get ready to post more meaningful messages than ever before).

The new version of Twitter for Android is now available on the Android Market as a free download.

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Amazon Tablet vs iPad - Who will win the Battle ?

All indicators point to Amazon readying a tablet for this year. And according to a report by the Wall Street Journal today, the online retail giant will introduce its first color offering "before October," according to unnamed sources.

The timing makes sense: A September or even early October introduction would be well-timed to position Amazon going into the holiday shopping season, and to build anticipation for a tablet that could be the most asked-for stocking stuffer of 2011. It also coincides with when arch-rival Apple plans to launch its iOS 5.0 mobile operating system, and, potentially, a new, higher-resolution iPad to complement its current blockbuster, the iPad 2.

Amazon and Apple aren't the only ones planning fall tablet launches. Sony's first Android tablets are due in the fall as well.

As expected, Amazon isn't saying anything-the company never confirms or denies the ever-churning rumor mill. However, the company's CEO, Jeff Bezos, has indicated in the past that a tablet is its next frontier. And that makes perfect sense, on numerous levels.

For one, Amazon and Apple are two behemoths each vying for consumers' digital media purchase dollars. Books, music, video: Both companies are all about content consumption, and both are well-positioned in the fight for your wallet.

Amazon established itself as a contender in the hardware space when it launched, and cultivated over the past four years, its Kindle series of e-readers. While Apple grew its ownership of the digital music market, Amazon forged a place amongst e-book consumers, and the Kindle was critical to that strategy.

Fast forward to the post-iPad Era. Apple's first-generation iPad made it clear that mobile technology was powerful enough for a media tablet, and that consumers were ready to adopt a tablet, in droves. Pair that development with the wild upswing in Google Android's popularity, and the release of Google's Android Honeycomb platform, and the door suddenly opened wide for Amazon to develop a viable competitor to Apple's iPad.

The details of the Amazon tablet remain vague. Rumors put the screen at "roughly nine inches", per the Wall Street Journal's report. The tablet will run Android, presumably Android 3.2 (or later, if another version comes available). The Journal also says its sources claim there won't be a camera.

Frankly, if those specs pan out, they will make an Amazon tablet something of an odd duck. The vast majority of Android tablets-including notables like Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Toshiba Thrive-use a 10.1-inch screen. Apple's iPad 2 and HP's TouchPad each use a 9.7-inch display. Only LG and Samsung have announced 8.9-inch units. Samsung still hasn't disclosed U.S. availability for its Galaxy Tab 8.9, while LG's has shipped Stateside in the form of the T-Mobile G-Slate. In use, the 8.9-inch size is a tweener that's too large to hold for long periods in one hand, but not quite large enough to impress. More trouble: Some developers have said outright that, until Google's Ice Cream Sandwich unifies the company's fragmented mobile operating systems, they won't support anything but 10.1-inch displays for Android 3.x.

The lack of a camera would also be a competitive oversight. I'd understand omitting the camera if Amazon was positioning its tablet primarily as a reading and media consumption device, much like Barnes & Noble has done with its Nook Color (which runs on a variant of Android 2.3, but only has access to B&N's own app store). But based on steps the company has taken this year, that's an unlikely direction.

Why Amazon Will Succeed With a Tablet

Earlier this year, Amazon (somewhat quietly) introduced its Appstore for Android. By adding Android apps to its existing online retail empire of digital books, music, movies, and television, Amazon set the stage for the introduction of its own tablet hardware.

Hardware and store integration are not new concepts for Amazon. The company led the e-reader market for so long because, in large part, of its tight integration with Amazon.com. Tight integration between tablet (and phone and media player) and the iTunes Store is what propelled Apple to its sales summits. Amazon certainly must be hoping it can build on the success of its Kindle devices by creating its own, tightly integrated shopping, buying, and consuming experience on an Android tablet.

Presumably, this will be an experience that's more organic than the one you get by shopping at Amazon today on an Android tablet, using the various Amazon apps. And it will presumably leverage the breadth of selection and attention to customer experience and other details that a retail Goliath like Amazon can provide.

Other tablet makers are trying to integrate their own branded digital stores too, Acer and Toshiba among them. And meanwhile, Google is chasing both Apple and Amazon with its own Android Market services, which for now include selling apps and books, and renting movies.

It's obvious that Amazon knows how to sell (the company logged $9.86 billion in sales in the first quarter of the year). All the company needs is a competitive platform to integrate its shopping and playback experiences. That will be the raison d'etre for any forthcoming tablet.

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Google needs to clean up its Android Market malware mess

Come on! I like a lot of what Google does, but its refusal to keep malware-laden apps out of the Android Market is inexcusable.

Just today, researchers at Lookout Mobile Security spotted more variants of DroidDream malware in the Android Market. On the same day, Fortinet spotted the Zeus banking Trojan in Android.

It’s not that Android is uniquely vulnerable to malware. It’s not. In fact, Android, which is based on Linux, has not only the Linux operating system’s higher than usual resistance to attack; it also has the advantage of running applications in a Java-like virtual machine (VM), Dalvik. What all that means is that malware should actually have a great deal of trouble running on any Android device, and even if it does get on one, it should be locked in the VM where it can’t harm any other applications.

So why, does security firm Trusteer CEO Mickey Boodaei claim that mobile malware will affect more than one in twenty devices within the next two years? And, specifically that “Compared to Apple’s App Store, Android Market is the Wild West. You can’t always trust applications you download from it.”

I’ll tell you why: Because Google doesn’t do an adequate job of checking programs registered for the Android Market for hostile intent and poisoned payloads before letting the public at them. When you download a malicious program, it’s going to nasty things to you. It’s that simple.

It seems like all a hacker needs to do is submit their attack program to Google for the Android Market and it gets approved. What’s that all about? You, and not Google, get to do the security and beta testing. This is insane.

The only reason we have so much malware on Android is that Google doesn’t do basic security checking. I’m not asking for much Google. Just run the applications on some test devices, see what they do, see if they grab resources and information they shouldn’t be grabbing. This isn’t rocket science. This is basic quality-assurance.

As it is, you need to report bad applications using the poorly named Report Inappropriate Apps page to Google. Even once bad applications are out in the wild, Google doesn’t seem to do a good job of tracking them down.

My job includes checking out programs for mistakes. Your job probably doesn’t. Your life certainly doesn’t. Security 101 is Google’s job, not ours.

When you download an application from Google, you should be reasonably certain that it will do what it says it will and that it won’t try to damage your system or steal your credit-card number. Is that too much to ask for Google? I don’t think so. I really don’t.

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LG Optimus 3D: Fun, Powerful, and a Little Gimmicky

One of the most buzzed-about phones at Mobile World Congress was the LG Optimus 3D, the first mainstream phone to rock a 3D display. On top of that, the Optimus has a slick design, a dual-core processor, and a 3D camera/camcorder. We were disappointed when LG announced that the Optimus 3D was neither a 4G phone nor destined for the United States. Imagine our joy, however, when we found out at CTIA that it would be rebranded for AT&T's HSPA+ network as the LG Thrill 4G. The Thrill 4G isn't available yet, but LG sent us an Optimus 3D review unit as sort of a preview of what's to come.

Polished Design

The Optimus 3D looks a lot like the LG Revolution 4G, with brushed-plastic detailing and a silver strip running down the battery cover. Like the LG T-Mobile G2x, its backing has a nice curve. It feels well made and sturdy, with metal around its borders and a rubberized matte-black battery cover. Measuring 5.07 by 2.68 by 0.47 inches, the Optimus 3D is slightly bigger than the 5.03-by-2.63-by-0.52-inch LG Revolution. The Optimus 3D is a bit lighter, though, weighing 5.93 ounces as opposed to 6.06 ounces. Still, it is a little on the hefty side--and for my small hands, the Optimus 3D isn't the most pleasurable thing to hold up to my ear for a long amount of time.

The display and ( Lg SQU-805  Lg R410 ) touch-sensitive buttons are glass, which gives the phone a high-end feel. At the top of the phone, you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a power/lock button. On the left spine are the HDMI and USB ports (they're covered, which is sort of an interesting design choice). On the right spine is a volume rocker, along with a button that lets you toggle between 2D and 3D mode.

3D Display

Although 3D is slowly becoming more prevalent in other product categories, such as TVs and cameras, it certainly isn't a mainstream technology. As for phones, just two other 3D phones are out on the market: the Sharp Lynx 3D (available only from Docomo in Japan) and the HTC EVO 3D (available in the United States on Sprint).

Fortunately, you don't have to wear goofy glasses to see up to 720p 3D video on the Optimus 3D. So how does this 3D technology work? Such phones have parallax barriers, a layer placed in front of the display to allow it to show a stereoscopic image (that is, a 3D image) without the need for those dorky glasses. Basically, the layer consists of a series of tiny slits that allow each eye to see a different set of pixels.

The downside to the technology, however, is that in order to see the 3D effect, you must be positioned directly in front of the screen; if you view it at a slight angle, the image will be a blurry mess. Looking at the display straight on can be difficult with a small screen, such as that of a phone. With an image or a short video clip, it isn't too hard to hold the phone directly in front of your eyes for a few seconds. With a longer 3D video, however, I can see it being a real pain. You'd have to set the phone up on a dock and then make sure you're angled correctly throughout the entire movie--no lying on the couch.

If you're expecting the Optimus 3D's display to resemble a big-screen 3D movie, you'll be disappointed. Images don't exactly burst out of the screen. Rather, it looks as if you can peer into the phone much as you would a diorama. It is a neat effect, for sure, but after awhile my eyes started to get tired from it. I have similar problems with the Nintendo 3DS, so this might just be my personal preference.

In my hands-on comparisons, I found the Optimus 3D's three-dimensional display slightly blurrier than the EVO 3D's. You can also see the touch sensors (which look like tiny dots) in the display when the handset is in 3D mode; the effect isn't particularly noticeable, but it doesn't make for a very clear image either.
We're going to pit the Optimus 3D and the HTC EVO 3D against a Nintendo 3DS and the LG-made T-Mobile G-Slate, all of which have 3D displays. Check PCWorld.com next week to see which device reigns supreme in the battle of small 3D displays.

3D Content

The Optimus 3D has a dual-lens 5-megapixel camera (more on that later), so you can capture 3D video, upload it to YouTube 3D (LG has announced a partnership with Google's video-sharing service), and share it with other 3D devices. You can also hook up the phone to a 3D TV via the HDMI port. Again, though, how many people have 3D TVs?

When you press the 3D hardware button, the phone switches into 3D mode and takes you to the 3D Space, a carousel of 3D content. You can also get there by touching a widget on the main home screen. From there you can access YouTube 3D videos, your 3D Gallery, the 3D Camera, and the 3D games from Gameloft. It is nice to have all of your 3D content in one easy-to-find place.

The 3D quality of the YouTube videos varies, but I found a couple of neat videos. 3D videos are marked with a small badge so that you don't accidentally hit a 2D clip and think that your eyes are bugging out. Nature and landscape videos are the coolest by far, and they had the best 3D effects out of all the videos I tried. I highly recommend the Northern Lights video of Iceland.

The 3D games include Asphalt 6, Gulliver's Travels, Let's Golf 2, Lg X110 Series and Nova. Gulliver's Travels is actually more of a pop-up ebook than a game, but it is the perfect showcase for these kinds of 3D effects. The 3D effects in Asphalt 6, a racing game, aren't as pronounced, but the graphics are pretty cool otherwise and look great on the Optimus 3D's display. When you speed up, however, your car gets really blurry, so it is hard to keep control.

A message pops up before every game warning you to take breaks, as the 3D effect can cause dizziness. Let me underscore this advice: After only about 5 minutes of gaming, my eyes felt strained, and I got a headache. That's definitely not fun.

Decent Android Overlay

Unfortunately the Optimus 3D does not ship with the latest version of Android, otherwise known as Gingerbread. LG hasn't gotten back to us yet with an exact date for when it will update from Android 2.2 to Android 2.3.

LG has a custom-built overlay running atop the OS. Mostly, the overlay behaves as native Android does. You get a slick swipe-up lock screen and a useful home-screen system. Dots running across the home screen help you keep track of which home screen you're on. As in HTC Sense, here you can see thumbnail-size versions of your home screens by pinching out on any screen; from there, you can jump between them. Four icons--Phone, Contacts, Messaging, and Apps--consistently run below the home screens. The LG widgets are resizable, à la Android Honeycomb, which is a nice touch.

The Optimus 3D's App Drawer is kind of a mess--I really wish LG had kept it untouched. Preinstalled applications are organized by category: Communication, News & Search, Media, Tools, Applications (which is empty), and Downloads. The apps are organized for you, but you can drag and drop the app icons to reorganize them to your liking. Regrettably, you can't create your own categories. I appreciate LG's attempt to practice some kind of app taxonomy here, but it feels a bit restrictive.

2D and 3D Camera

As I mentioned previously, the Optimus 3D's camera has dual lenses, so you can shoot video and still pictures in both 2D and 3D modes. The camera interface has a dedicated button that you can tap to switch between the two modes. (You can also press the 2D/3D hardware button on the phone's spine if you prefer.) Other than the 2D/3D switch, the camera interface is very simple and similar to that of other LG smartphones Lg X110-G A7HBG .

The phone's 2D images look really good, with natural colors, crisp details, and little to no pixelation. Its 3D images looked okay, but a bit on the blurry side. However, the image quality was pretty much in line with that of the HTC EVO 3D's camera. Again, in the near future we're going to do a side-by-side subjective test of camera image quality with the EVO 3D, the Nintendo 3DS, the Optimus 3D, a stand-alone 3D camera, and the T-Mobile G-Slate, so stay tuned.

Bottom Line

The LG Optimus 3D is a powerhouse phone--whether you take its 3D features into consideration or not. But my opinion of 3D on the small screen remains more or less the same: Though it is fun to watch short videos in 3D or to take 3D photos, 3D is still a novelty feature. I'm definitely curious to see how the phone looks when it debuts in the U.S. as the Thrill 4G on AT&T.

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Apple news: iPhone 5 release date sees only high-end iPhone 4 model survive

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The sure sign that the iPhone 5 release date is coming sooner than later is that both of its U.S. carriers are already taking steps to burn their existing iPhone 4 stash ahead of launch. But the shocker comes when it’s revealed which of the two iPhone 4 iterations the carriers are targeting for extinction. Both Verizon and AT&T are taking steps to blow out the low end iPhone 4 model by slicing its price by as much as twenty-five percent before the iPhone 5 gets here.

That means the carriers don’t likely plan to continue offering that model during the iPhone 5 era. But as of yet there isn’t equal talk of cheapening up the plush high end iPhone 4 model ahead of the generational turnover, meaning that the plan may be to keep it, and not the entry iPhone 4, around as the bargain big option once the iPhone 5 release date is underway. And that could be a big deal.

If Apple is indeed setting up the high end thirty-two gigabyte iPhone 4 as the next cut-rate iPhone model to take the place of how AT&T has been using the iPhone 3GS for the past year, that means Apple must have such confidence in what it has up its sleeve for the iPhone 5 that it’s not concerned about making the plush iPhone 4 too attractive of a proposition. That could signal that the iPhone 5 is set to debut at a whopping 64 gigs for the basic model and a stunning 128 for the high end. Or it could mean that the base iPhone 5 will indeed be at 32, but the iPhone 5 outshines its predecessor so thoroughly in other areas that Apple isn’t concerned about needing to use capacity as an upsell factor between the 4 and the 5.

There’s also the equal possibility that the carriers are simply sitting on a larger pile of inventory for the low-end iPhone 4 model than the high end, and are thus tending to blowing it out first; in this case, the high end iPhone 4 would also see price reductions closer to the iPhone 5 launch date if need be. But either way the moves seem to point to the notion that the low-end iPhone 4 won’t be around in the year of the iPhone 5. The question, then, may be whether there will be any iPhone 4 on the market at that time at all, or whether Apple plans to introduce new iPhone 5 models which cover the pricing spectrum including the bargain bin. Here’s more on the iPhone 5.

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New report: Apple orders 15 million iPhone 5 units

A new report suggests Apple is in fact ready to launch the iPhone 5 in September.

As is typical with Apple rumors, stories about the next iteration of the popular smartphone have been going back and forth for some time now. There's been a lot of speculation that a new ipad is coming out early this fall, but reports have varied on whether or not it will carry the 'iPhone 5' name or some variation of 'iPhone 4.

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 Some earlier reports said that the next iPhone would be called something like the iPhone 4S, which would be a similar move to when Apple released the iPhone 3GS as a bridge between the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 4.
Now, however, respected industry follower Digitimes says that Apple has placed an order for 15 million units of a new phone from Taiwan-based manufacturer Pegatron Technology. Digitimes refers to the device as the iPhone 5.

However, it also reports that the phone features no major upgrades or enhancements over the iPhone 4, meaning it may be a rather un-spectacular showing when Apple reveals the new device.

That isn't to say the iPhone 5 won't still be the most souped-up version of the iPhone to date. It's widely expected that the new handset will include an A5 processor - the same kind that comes with the iPad 2 - as well as an improved 8-megapixel camera.

If the September launch date rumors are true, expect the official announcement of the phone to happen, well, in September.

 

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Review: 6 Ways to Find Your Stolen Laptop

Think quick; where's your laptop right now? I bet you felt just a little twinge of worry until you remembered its location, right? Imagine how you'd feel if it was lost, misplaced, or stolen. How would you get it (and your data) back? How could you keep a thief from making evil use of private or corporate data stored on the laptop? We've rounded up a half-dozen products that aim to put your mind at ease.
A laptop antitheft product should keep your data safe, and keep strangers from using the computer. It should protect your private data and resist a thief's attempts to disable its protection. On a laptop that's merely lost, it should create a communication avenue for an honest finder to arrange the laptop's return. And of course, if the laptop has truly been stolen it should help you recover it. Different products emphasize different goals. Here's how they stack up.

Location, Location, Location

When you can't find your laptop, the first thing you want to know is its current location. Most antitheft products use WiFi lookup to determine the laptop's geolocation. They check nearby WiFi hotspots against a database, typically Google's or Skyhook's, to find out where the laptop is.

It's also possible to roughly determine the device's location based on the IP address of the network to which it's connected. IP-based geolocation doesn't have nearly the accuracy of the WiFi-based technology, though. Where WiFi can locate the device within a city block or better, simple IP geolocation can be off by miles.

Snuko Anti-Theft & Data Recovery Premium ($29.95/year direct, 2.5 stars) uses IP as a fallback if it can't obtain a location using WiFi. That fallback proved important in testing, because at present Snuko's WiFi geolocation isn't fully functional on some XP-based systems. LoJack for Laptops by Absolute Software ($39.99/year direct, 4.5 stars) uses only IP-based geolocation, meaning you can probably determine what city the laptop is in, but not much more. WiFi geolocation comes as part of LoJack's premium package, which costs $20 more.

If you're at all concerned about privacy, you'll probably decide you don't want the laptop maintaining a history of everywhere you go. You can protect your privacy by turning off the geolocation history until and unless the laptop goes missing. GadgetTrak Laptop Security ($34.95/year direct, 3 stars) offers a nice compromise. You can set it to display just the latest known location, without keeping a history. That way you'll know a thief's current location even before you remotely enable location history.

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Stealth or Scare Tactics

Laptop Cop ($65 direct, 4 stars) and LoJack install in stealth mode, deliberately hiding their processes and leaving no visible evidence of their presence. Their aim is to covertly gather information about the thief without letting him know he's under observation.

LaptopSentry 3.1 ($9.99 direct, 2.5 stars) and Laptop Superhero ($29.99/year direct, 2.5 stars) take quite the opposite approach. LaptopSentry sounds a loud alarm if a locked-but-running laptop is disconnected from its power cord. Laptop Superhero sounds a loud, whooping alarm when the owner remotely sends it a lockdown command.
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