What we can confirm however is that the iPad will be out by late April –few weeks after the

US launch date of April 3. The 3G version of the iPad will be launched in the US first. The UK launch will see both the 3G and non-3G versions of the device come out.

Delayed or not, this is one gadget that we are really looking forward to. Admittedly, there are a major of letdowns. First is Steve Jobs’ absolute refusal to support Adobe –which means that the iPad will never have Flash support (at least it will have HTML5). Second, and even worse, is the lack of multi tasking. This is pretty odd since even smart phones can multi task. The iPad is supposed to have the hardware for it so we simply cannot fathom why we would not be allowed to jump among active apps or programs.

Despite that, the iPad promises to make net access an instantaneous thing to do taking away our reliance on desktop computers and net books when it comes to internet access (of course, it will never replace computers when it comes to other functions). The iPad also serves as a digital eBook reader and library –thanks to the new iBookstore.

The demonstration of the tablet’s capabilities show that the device is able to run 3D games without much slowdown. The graphic capabilities of the iPad are also pretty impressive –auto rotate animation is pretty smooth.

Read more about the iPad release date getting pushed back at the Telegraph UK.

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For Sims fans, your support of Sims 3 has just paid off. EA has found the sales of Sims 3 enough to warrant the release of the expansion so you can start packing your virtual travel bags soon. The game features new careers, quests and four new mini-games. You can even port your Sims 3 characters into the expansion if you ever miss them.

A pocket-sized Skate-It is also included in the mix and along with it comes its signature Flick-it controls. Several real world locations as well as the virtual city of San Vanelona are jam packed into the game and recording controls are still included just in case you want to keep a replay of your run. If you get tired of the default game tracks, you can also opt to play tracks that are already in your iPhone. Sweet!

Of the three upcoming titles, the most surprising of them all is the game previously released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, Mirror’s Edge. Instead of a first-person view, the game is now a platform game. It retains much of its beautiful 3D graphics however and Faith Connors can still do quite a number of acrobatic moves including the ability to wall-run and slide. The game spans 14 levels and is perfect for those who want to take Mirror’s Edge with them on the go.

EA has consistently been spoiling iPhone owners with releases such as Spore Creatures and Rock Band. They may be on the right track because mobile phone gaming may soon replace game-dedicated handheld devices, especially if Sony releases the PSP phone.

For more about these three new games, head over to Geek.com.

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While the lawsuit does not directly affect the Android operating system, it does cover 20 various patents for hardware and software innovations. Apple has been pretty thorough with the lawsuit considering the large amount of patents that it is bringing to the table.

HTC on the other hand has patents of its own and according to reports, the company will be defending their products and innovations. Looks like the International Trade Commission will be going through a lot of filed patents in order to sort out this mess.

In the meanwhile, neither of the two companies has gained the upper hand. Many believe that Apple is hoping that the case would help cripple HTC since the manufacturer is a major partner of Apple’s competitor Google. Should HTC’s manufacturing or shipping processes get complicated, it would mean serious trouble for the Android operating system.

The manufacturer currently has a large lineup of Android devices coming this year starting with a couple of March releases: the HTC Desire and the HTC Legend.

HTC’s Scorpion smart phone is going to be available later this year –posing as a potential threat to the upcoming iPhone 4G. With the Scorpion being considered to be a high end smart phone with a dual core processor, it makes sense that Apple would want to be dealing with less when their new device comes out.

The Apple machine is indeed a scary thing, but Google and HTC are standing their ground. With patent infringement lawsuits being a common occurrence in the mobile industry this will be a standoff amongst pros.

Get more info about the lawsuit from Tech Radar.

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A Revamp of the Liquid A1

Coming from the same line of mobile phones, the Liquid e offers similar basic features to its older cousin. For one thing, the Liquid e carries the Éclair operating system, an update to Google Android 1.6 Donut operating system which came with last year’s Liquid phone. The question remains as to why Acer chose to release a strikingly similar mobile phone instead of just allowing users to update their existing Liquid A1s to Android 2.1. This would be good news to those who have been eyeing the Liquid A1 but have held off purchasing it but a big letdown to those who already got the older mobile phone model.

On the hardware side, the Liquid e carries the same basic specs as its older cousin. It comes with all the standard connectivity options such as a quad band GSM, EDGE and GPRS. The mobile phone also allows for high speed internet access through a 7.2 Mbps 3G via HSDPA/HSUPA networks. Mini USB connection is supported, it has Bluetooth (with A2DP) and of course Wi-Fi capabilities for on the go connectivity.

Its Best New Features

There is good news for those planning to get the Liquid e however. The mobile phone sports a 768 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It is still under clocked from the original 1 GHz but it gets the job done and still boasts exceptional speed. Its threaded SMS and MMS support is an additional incentive for those who often peruse the text messaging service.

Five new home screens grace the Liquid e this time around and its live wallpapers, 3D image viewing capabilities and spiffy new widgets and default apps give it a good edge against its competitors. Because of its Google Android operating system, native support for Gmail is to be expected but is still a great feature. Voice typing also shines in this smart phone because it now allows input on any field and allows users to dictate their emails or Twitter posts.

Not Really for Sleek Style and Comfort

The Acer Liquid e is basically a repackaged Liquid A1. It retains the A1’s blocky exterior and is not really known for the best feel. In general, it is among the larger and more blunt-edged smart phones and it falls short in winning over its sleeker rivals in terms of giving a comfort grip to its users. The chassis just does not match the look of the Google Android 2.1 or the bright new screen and leaves much to be desired in an improved version of the previous Liquid phone.

Acer’s press release on the Liquid e is mostly centered on the Google Android 2.1, which is no surprise considering that it is the best feature of the mobile phone. Bottom line is if you already have the Liquid A1 and having the older Android OS is not a problem, then there is no reason to trade it in for the newer Liquid.

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After all, would you really want your officemates to know that you see them as a bunch of lazy douche bags? Obviously not; and TigerText will help keep it that way. We all know how much of an effort it takes to make sure that our messages on our mobile phones private. People tend to get nosy with sniffing out stuff in places where they should not be. Concerns about officemates and strangers checking your device when you are not looking are pretty valid. It is one of the main reasons why so many scandalous phone videos get spread, and text messages are no different.

TigerText is a brand new application for the Apple iPhone. The service is simple; it replaces your current text messaging software with the TigerText app. With this, you control message expiry dates, deletion methods and enables you to hide or delete messages according to your needs.

People with plenty to hide would obviously benefit from this app as it makes hiding footprints a whole lot easier. Threaded conversations are easily managed with the app’s ability to simply delete specific portions of the conversation.

Of course, not everyone who uses the app is a bad person with secrets; there are simply those who need privacy such as colleagues sending crucial business updates and other forms of internal business communication that have to be relayed ASAP. The app is now available online and is available for purchase and is best when both sender and recipient have TigerText.

Read more about the TigerText app at the Telegraph UK.

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For those who missed out on the news about this Android smart phone, the Nexus One is the very first Google branded device to be released. The phone was manufactured by HTC, a mobile phone manufacturer with deep roots in the development of the Android operating system. HTC is one of the first members of the open handset alliance and they were the first to manufacture a mobile phone that used the Android OS –the HTC Dream.

Since the Android arrived in the mobile phone industry, its popularity grew thanks to its easy to use touch based user interface, the open source system and of course, Google’s own marketing machine. In two years, the OS went from underdog to mainstream, easily placing second only to the Apple iPhone OS in terms of popularity. 2010 is considered to be the year of the Android with the sheer number of devices using the OS set to arrive this year.

The Nexus One has been out since early January. After a small launch event at Google’s own headquarters at Mountain View, California, the device met with very low sales that many attributed to the fact that the phone had limited marketability due to being exclusive to the Google store. Only 20,000 units of the Nexus One sold during its first week. Despite Vodafone bringing the device over to the UK, the only way to get a unit would still be online.

Android fans who are not too keen on the online ordering system might want to opt for the HTC Desire smart phone. It has similar specs to the Nexus One and is expected to be released sometime this March.

Get to know more about the Nexus One heading to the UK at Tech Radar.

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First off, here’s a quick summary of the new WP7 platform. It requires a large capacitive touch screen and plenty of processing power. This is because the layout of WP7 is heavily reliant on touch screen input and gestures. It also has plenty of animations and other dynamic content.

The HD2 on the other hand comes with a large capacitive touch screen, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and of course, it runs the old Windows OS. Of course, people tend to forget that the device also uses the HTC Sense UI.

We do know that the new WP7 is not compatible with skinning and old apps for previous versions of the OS. This will leave HD2 owners having to start from zero with their phones if they wish to update to the latest version. Well, it is still unlikely that HD2 will ever get an update to a newer version. At most, it will get some of the ongoing updates for 6.5 (such as the newer Maldives update that popped up a couple of weeks back).

Right now, it is still too early to listen closely to speculations such as these. While the HD2 does have some hardware that fits the minimum needs of WP7, there is no guarantee that the new OS will indeed run smoothly even on a Snapdragon. Looks like we will have to wait and see until later this year when the new OS finally comes out.

Get to read more about the HD2 getting a WP7 update at Stuff TV.

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HTC HD Mini

HTC have recently unveiled a new range of mobile devices of which their new HD Mini is one. It is a Sense-based Windows device and it aims at delivering the improved specifications of the previously very popular HD2 in a much sleeker and compact device. According to Peter Chou, HTC’s Chief Executive Officer, the original HD2 ended up richly exceeding any and all expectations for its demand, which is what led the company to expand and improve upon both its functions and design in the Mini.

Mr Chou stated that ‘the new HD Mini is designed to deliver all of the experience and capabilities of the original HD2 to customers, only in a much improved and more sleek and compact design’ and he hopes that, in this way, the device can fully satisfy customers in terms of both design and function. He also ventured that the integration of HTC Sense and Windows Phone on the HD Mini would give customers much more choice ‘in an advanced Windows phone that is sleek and user-friendly’.

HTC HD Mini

There is little question that the HTC HD Mini has been painstakingly designed, and a lot of attention has clearly been focussed on delivering a user-friendly device. The originality and strength of the design is fully encapsulated and is clearly evident should wish ever remove the battery holder and look under the cover as doing so will reveal a striking yellow interior. Clearly, no design feature has been overlooked in striving for originality.

Much in the vein of all of HTC’s newly-released devices the HD Mini also runs the HTC Sense system which is also extremely user friendly – as Mr Chou stated, ‘with its aim of putting the user at the very heart of their mobile experience.’ Sense is great to use for virtually all users and it affords the user easy navigation between any of the currently open and running screens by means of pinching and tapping via the Leap or ‘Helicopter View’, operating in much the same way as Expose works on the Mac.

HTC HD Mini

The dedication to putting the user at the very heart of things is continued by the user of Outlook integration, which affords the user the opportunity to see multiple shots in one view – be they text messages, photos, e-mails or status updates from social networking sites. The device also comes complete with an application called HTC Peep which is the company’s Windows-based Twitter application, allowing the user to ‘Tweet’ and follow their Twitter stream. There is also a capacitive touchscreen which allows the user to not only view websites and documents but also to zoom in and out and also re-size – a great feature, especially as files and documents such as PDFs and various Microsoft Office files and pictures can also be affected this way for easier viewing.

Connectivity wise there is also complete 3G broadband connectivity as well as Wi-Fi which allows for easy wireless data transfer to and from similarly enabled devices within range. The Mini comes complete also with a fully rechargeable lithium ion or ion polymer battery that allows a talk time of 400 minutes when fully charged, and the device’s integral 5 MP camera also takes good still shots and packs some useful additional features such as an ambient light sensor, an autofocus facility and a widescreen photo capture ability to help fully capture and appreciate images.

The fully integrated media player also plays back a full range of file formats giving around eight hours of playback, and a range of video formats will give around 12 hours of playback time. Given the interest in the new Mini many people are quite excited to get their hands on one, and if you’re looking for one of your own the HD Mini is slated for release in the second quarter of this year.

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The British Library is offering the world something far more substantial: storing an archive of significant websites for everyone. Starting from sites back in 2004, the Library has kept over 6000 websites for reference.

Well, not exactly the kind of records that people would want to access for artistic inspiration. Most of the old websites used elements such as frames, marquees, embedded Midi files, and dozens of outdated HTML and Java features. Well, that’s the basic idea anyway.

And while it is technically feasible to actually do an archive of important websites over half a decade ago, the same is not applicable for the sheer number of websites we have this year. This 2010, there are millions of websites hosted in the UK alone. Another major restriction aside from sheer volume is the fact that websites are now copyrighted and the British Library needs a new legislation in order to continue their work.

This effort is being pursued in order to avoid the possibility that people in the future would be looking back at our society and would have no idea about the real history of time due to the fact that all the data has been lost when sites were updated to newer versions. It’s a large undertaking, and it is impressive that they have taken it upon themselves to pursue it.

The archive at the library is pretty large, storing plenty of important artistic and academy sites. Users can even compare the visual evolution of websites from their earlier layouts to what they look like now in a timeline scrollbar.

Read more about the British Library at Times Online UK.

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As you may well expect from a device produced by one of the leading sportswear companies, the Puma Phone’s principal and central set of functions are squarely aimed at the sports and leisure user and include such useful features as a pedometer for the user to measures how far they have travelled, a compass for the keen hiker, a GPS tracker in order for users to deduce exactly where they are on the planet to an unerring degree and also a stopwatch in order for the serious athlete to time their training sessions. There is even a compass, a great addition for trekkers and adventurers who want to include as much as possible into one device at any given time. The device’s memory also comes pre-installed with applications that enable the user to access the Puma World Portal where they will be able to obtain a wide range of sports information to help them develop themselves further.

As far as phone performance goes the Puma Phone comes with a reasonable screen display of 2,8-inches and a resolution of 320X240 pixels. The integrated on-screen touchpad is also fairly responsive and easy to use. The device even features an accelerometer which gives the user a smooth an unruffled change from horizontal to vertical screen viewing.

Feature-wise the Puma Phone packs a reasonable 3.2-megapixel integral camera, and luckily the camera also features an LED flash which means that the user can take decent quality snaps in a wide range of lighting conditions. This is a good touch, as some smartphones don’t include a flash and it is a bit of a glaring omission in those that don’t come equipped. Other features include geotagging, allowing the user to keep contacts updated as to their whereabouts online, a decent quality music player and a microSD slot which gives the user the opportunity to ramp up their device’s memory storage capacity. In terms of connectivity, the Puma Phone boasts Bluetooth 2.1 which allows information to be transferred wirelessly to and from a similarly enabled device.

Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the Puma Phone, however, in addition to its sporty applications is the integral solar panel on the back of the phone, allowing the user to easily check recharge levels and power the phone while on the go. The solar cell also displays the number of talktime minutes that have accrued whilst the phone was recharging via solar power and these minutes may usefully be redeemed for official Puma merchandise at their official Website.

The device’s dedication to the sporty lifestyle was very much underscored by Puma’s CEO, Jochen Zeitz, who stated that Puma’s main aim in producing the Phone was to ‘mix the influences of fashion, sport and lifestyle’, and it seems that this has clearly been achieved with the Phone’s range of sporty applications which will doubtless richly appeal to the many dedicated sports fans that might well be attracted to such a phone.

As well as these options the Puma Phone supports the usual range of music files for playback whilst you train and also includes an integrated FM radio. Internet surfing and browsing is also seamless, with Open Browsing and WAP-Push. The device is light too at just 115 grams and can easily be slipped into a pocket. The Puma Phone is likely to hit shops this coming April and as of yet no prices have been released.

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