Author: Nic Boerma

Sony have just unveiled a new addition to their Xperia line of handsets, the Xperia sola. Two features of note in this Android phone are the new ‘floating touch’ screen and Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality. The Xperia sola’s ‘floating touch’ screen allows users to navigate websites by hovering their fingers above the screen. The onscreen cursor will follow a user’s fingers without them ever having to make contact with the screen. The device is also NFC enabled and will ship with two Xperia SmartTags that have been pre-configured with for several tasks around the home. “Xperia sola supports NFC…

Tag Heuer has jumped in to the mobile phone arena with an entry called the Racer. Inspired by Tag’s involvement with GT vehicles and Formula 1, the handsets will feature a “…shockproof rubber chassis is supported and strengthened by the screwed-in titanium and carbon fiber bridges.” Owning one of these Android handsets will take some sacrifices, like a spare kidney. The product line, which is expected to launch in July this year, starts at 2800EUR or R28,000 in local currency. Little is known about the specs of Tag Heuer’s Racer phones but it will boast a “high speed processor” and…

Microsoft demonstrated new translation software at their TechFest 2012 event, which took place last week, revealing some unique features of their Monolingual TTS translator. The first unique feature is that, while users talk into the translator as normal, the Monolingual TTS system outputs the translates speech by generating facsimile of the user’s voice rather than a using a computer-generated voice. The translator also generates a 3-dimensional copy of the speaker’s head which repeats the words back. “The ambition is to create a visualized language teacher that can be engaged in many aspects of language learning from detailed pronunciation training to…

Apple has sold out of the new iPad in every country that the company was due to release it on 16 March. Deliveries of the tablet will be delayed, in some cases for up to 3 weeks. Early pre-orders of the new iPad will still be delivered to consumers in the USA and Canada on 16 March when the device goes on sale. Other pre-orders will only ship the following Monday, on 19 March. Australia will see deliveries starting from 22 March while Japan and several European countries – including the UK – face a 2 to 3 week wait…

Marvel Comics have taken another step towards an increased digital presence with their products by demonstrating a new augmented reality feature for their printed offerings. The company unveiled an initiative called Marvel ReEvolution at South by South West (SXSW) over the weekend, part of which is Marvel AR. Marvel Augmented Reality makes use of a printed comic book and an AR app that functions on a smartphone or tablet. The augmented reality comes in by giving readers extras, viewable via the Marvel AR app, such as the progression of the panel being viewed from pencil drawing to fully-inked comic pane.…

iOS photo-sharing app Instagram has recently passed the 27 million user mark according to reports. Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom revealed the milestone at the South by South West (SXSW) conference in Texas over the weekend. Systrom was also punting the upcoming Android version of Instagram. While the app was not ready for a full demonstration Systrom said that “In some ways, it’s better than our iOS app. It’s crazy.” He also spoke about why it has taken so long for an Android version to make an appearance, saying “I don’t think it took us so long. We just had priorities.…

Google and Asus will be revealing a new co-branded 7″ tablet that will be aimed at competing with Amazon’s Kindle Fire, according to a report from DigiTimes. The tablet is expected as early as May this year. The report cites unnamed industry sources who claim that Google approached several Taiwanese manufacturers at the end of 2011 with the device in mind. HTC and Acer were apparently both contacted with regards to the tablet, which HTC reportedly being unwilling to collaborate on a low-cost device and Acer being passed over because they had insufficient research and development capability. Asus was eventually…

Western Digital has completed the acquisition of Hitachi’s hard drive division, in the process setting up two subsidiaries in accordance with the conditions laid out by antitrust regulators. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is now wholly owned by Western Digital, who paid $3.9 billion and handed over 25 million shares to Hitachi to close the deal. The two companies will continue to operate as independent entities for at least two years. The split forms part of the terms set by China’s Ministry of Commerce, who approved the merger. Western Digital has already been compelled to sell off hard drive manufacturing assets…

A judge has stopped Apple from reinstating patent infringement-related legal action against Kodak. Apple is concerned that the bankrupt company may end up selling the patent in question during restructuring. Judge Allan Gropper, who is presiding over Kodak’s bankruptcy case, refused Apple’s request to get the International Trade Commission (ITC) to unfreeze a patent lawsuit between the two parties. The patent, which covers a method of previewing digital images on an LCD screen, forms part of a collection of image-based patents that Kodak is hoping to sell. Apple is concerned that the patent will change hands before its ownership is…

Google is reportedly putting pressure on Android developers to adopt the Google Wallet service in favour of other third-party offerings like PayPal, with a warning that their products could be pulled from the newly re-branded Android Marketplace/Google Play. Google is demanding a higher percentage of transactions through the Google Wallet service than others are taking but several developers have stated that they are aware of what Google is trying to do. “On Android it used to be laissez faire, you could use any payment provider you liked,” said Zipline Games’ Todd Hooper. “It’s probably naive of developers to think they…