Apple’s rumored tablet to be named iSlate?

Apple’s rumored tablet to be named iSlate?: "

Some slick domain name and trademark sleuthing from MacRumors and TechCrunch uncovered information about several islate-containing domains and the companion trademark “ISLATE” that may point to Apple as the company behind this mark. It all began with MacRumors which uncovered information about the domain islate.com, a TLD that passed through several hands until 2007 where it landed with the registrar MarkMonitor, a well-known registrar that handles and hides domain registrations for large companies including Apple. Close inspection of the domain name history reveals a brief lapse in late 2007 which exposed Apple as the actual owner of the domain. A look at other TLDs reveals that MarkMonitor also registered islate.co.uk, islate.biz, islate.info, islate.jp and islate.cn in the month of November 2006. Other country designations such as, islate.de and islate.fr, don’t fit into the puzzle as they are registered to known companies with islate.de being registered to a Innovative Dynamics GmbH and islate.fr being registered to the IP property law firm of Wilson & Bertherlot. The mystery deepens when one takes a look at the “ISLATE” trademark information uncovered by TechCrunch, though. Hit the jump to read on.

Moving away from the domain information and looking at the trademark information, an unknown Delaware company called Slate Computing filed a trademark the word ISLATE on November 21, 2006 in both the US and the EU. Listed on the EU application was the legal representative Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge, a law firm with a history of working with Apple. Also curious is the priority company listed on the EU application — Trinidad & Tobago, a country used by Apple in other EU trademarks applications. Slate Computing seemingly does not appear to exist online or in real life but the extensive business description provided on the trademark application fits Apple to a tee, leading TechCrunch to hypothesize that the mysterious company is a shell for Apple. Piecing everything together, Apple, either through MarkMonitor or a shell company called Slate Computing, may have registered a series of iSlate TLDs and filed a trademark for “ISLATE” in both the EU and the US. BGR readers with an opinion chime in and let us know what you think — is Apple behind all this activity surround the name “islate”? Is iSlate really destined to be the name of the rumored tablet? We’re not feeling the name one way or another.

Read [MacRumors] Read [TechCrunch]

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Nokia Update N82, N95 and N95 8GB firmware to v35

Nokia Update N82, N95 and N95 8GB firmware to v35: "

How about that for an early Christmas present? Aimed at the Nokia N95 (which must be drawing its pension by now), Nokia have released a new firmware for the device. We're off to dust down the older phones (they must be in here somewhere) to find out what delights are in v35.0.001. Be aware that user data is not preserved in a firmware update on the N95 range, so you must back up your data first if you want to keep it. The N82 also gets v35, though this does have User Data Preservation, making the upgrade a little easier.

"

Want to connect your iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard? There's a (jailbroken) app for that (Update: video!)

Want to connect your iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard? There's a (jailbroken) app for that (Update: video!): "

The wait has been long, but now there's finally a means by which to connect your dear, yet almost buttonless, iPhone or iPod touch to a Bluetooth keyboard for some more intense finger tapping action. The project that delivered us this teasing video back in February has at long last reached the application stage, where simple commoners like us can use it to synergize our gear -- provided we've had the wherewithal to free it from Cupertino's overbearing clutches first. The BTstack Keyboard app is now available in exchange for $5 at the Cydia store, so if you want to be the first to write a bestseller on his or her iDevice, there's no time like the present.



Update: We've done the inevitable and had a quick play with the app ourselves. Pairing our iPhone and keyboard was a veritable cinch, and we were met by delightfully rapid responsiveness throughout, whether using it in Safari, composing text missives, or jotting those novella notes down. You should note that command, cut, copy, paste, and highlighting functions are not yet active, and then hurry along past the break to see a video demo.

Continue reading Want to connect your iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard? There's a (jailbroken) app for that (Update: video!)

Want to connect your iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard? There's a (jailbroken) app for that (Update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vendo Sony Playstation 3

IMG_0001
Originally uploaded by Frankie Lab

Vendo Sony Playstation 3
-60GB
-Modelo CECHA que tiene soporte para juegos de PSX y PS2 de fabrica
-4 usb
-Lector de memorias

Incl. los sgtes juegos:
-Call of Duty 4
-Motorstorm
-Damnation
-Gran Turismo 5 prologue
-Gran Turismo HD (en el disco duro)

Incl.
-Cable HDMI
-1 control six-axxis
-RCA cable out

Precio:
$12,999 neg

Interesados llamar al 829-347-0858

Republica Dominicana: Estado Fallido?

Republica Dominicana: Estado Fallido?
Originally uploaded by Frankie Lab

Latest AT&T spot calls Verizon's 3G network a headless, sluggish wannabe

Latest AT&T spot calls Verizon's 3G network a headless, sluggish wannabe: "

We hate to point out the obvious, but it really seems that the marketing gurus at AT&T have this all wrong. Look guys -- no one's debating that AT&T's 3G isn't the fastest where available. We even saw as much ourselves. But Verizon's recent slew of ads have been calling out the size of your 3G network, which you absolutely can't argue is incredibly small when placed next to red-tinted competition. That said, AT&T is still fighting a battle to which no one has challenged it by employing the admittedly quirky Luke Wilson to show off just how much faster his favorite network can download a JPEG of himself compared to VZW. We've got to say that the results are fairly hilarious, but frankly, we would've rather seen that huge ad buy go towards a few more 3G towers here in the US of A. Vid's after the break, per usual.

Continue reading Latest AT&T spot calls Verizon's 3G network a headless, sluggish wannabe

Latest AT&T spot calls Verizon's 3G network a headless, sluggish wannabe originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Passion runs Android on 3.5-inch OLED and Snapdragon in Verizon's early 2010?

HTC Passion runs Android on 3.5-inch OLED and Snapdragon in Verizon's early 2010?: "Ever since the WinMo-powered HTC HD2 started to drip, drip onto our pages in the form of leaked images and details, we've been asking ourselves one question: where's the Android version? And while we've heard whispers of a supposed Snapdragon-based Dragon device running Android ever since early October, we're left to rely on Motorola's Droid / Milestone to fulfill our Android 2.0 dreams this holiday season. And if DigiTimes is correct, that picture likely won't change until early 2010. Taiwanese DigiTimes' sources have its Taiwan-based neighbor launching its Passion handset running Android 2.0 (or even 2.1 by then) on a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset with 3.5-inch multitouch OLED display sometime in early 2010 (not 2009 as previously tipped) as HTC continues to tweak the device's software. And if previous rumors are true then this CDMA variant of Dragon will be making its debut on Verizon at that time. DigiTimes' sources also claim that HTC will announce a QWERTY-toting Android device, possibly named Espresso, at the huge Mobile World Congress event in February. Of course, all this is rumor for now so hold tight as HTC's roadmap unfolds.

HTC Passion runs Android on 3.5-inch OLED and Snapdragon in Verizon's early 2010? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Super Monkey Ball 2' – A Vast Improvement, But Not Quite There Yet

'Super Monkey Ball 2' – A Vast Improvement, But Not Quite There Yet: "

With its monkey rolling, twitch-balancing action, the Monkey Ball series seems like an easy sell on the iPhone. Despite stemming from a console franchise that’s been around for nearly a decade, the concept almost feels like it was grown specifically for the iPhone. If anything, this was a series that was waiting for the right platform to come along. But when Super Monkey Ball was released alongside the AppStore launch last summer, the results were anything but super. The controls were poorly executed and the visuals felt like a hand-me-down from the days when 16 bit gaming was trying to step out of 2D – the whole experience just wasn’t up to par. Now, 18 months later, Sega gets much closer to delivering the Monkey Ball game that everybody wants.

The objective in Super Monkey Ball 2 (like all games in the series) is to guide a monkey who is trapped in a ball to an exit without letting him roll off the playing field. You’ll navigate a variety of wild and well designed environments all the while using the power of tilt to control the ball. The game relies heavily on the concept of momentum, so you’ll need to make sure that you’re always moving at a controllable speed so that you can navigate the treacherous terrain laid before you.

Super Monkey Ball 2, while far from perfect, is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. Visually the game has stepped boldly into the world of 3D graphics, looking a fair bit like the Gamecube games that paved the way for the series success. Both the main characters and the environments look completely up to what you’d seen in its home console brethren. Considering the last game felt less like a modern portable and more like the bonus stage from Sonic 2, this is a massive and welcome improvement.

While stepped-up visuals are nice, the real sticking point with the series previous entry was the controls. The game sees a major improvement here as well, but it’s still far from perfect. The good news is you’ll never have a problem telling your monkey where to roll anymore. The bad news? You can’t set your default position for the tilt and you can’t control tilt sensitivity. To keep your monkey perfectly still you’ll need to hold your iPhone at about 10 degrees from a perfectly upright position. That means you’ll need to prop your iPhone directly in front of your face if you want to control your amiable ape without much difficulty. Those of us who don’t want to look like schmucks while rolling our monkeys around on the bus are completely out of luck, as holding the iPhone near your lap is really going to ramp up how difficult it is to get a handle on your monkey.

The lack of a tilt sensitivity adjustment definitely came across as an annoyance as well. Sure anyone can adjust to what’s offered in terms of tilting, but I found that sensitivity was just far too touchy for my liking. I had to make extra tiny delicate little moves to control my simian without bowling him clear off the playing field. As a big, brutish, relatively careless gamer, the forced precision seemed a little excessive. Tilt sensitivity controls would have fixed all of that.

Despite these annoyances, the controls still feel far more responsive than what we experienced in Monkey Ball’s first iPhone outing. This time around the controls are manageable and anyone can adapt to what’s on the table.

The game has seen other improvements as well. Mini-games have always been a staple of the franchise, but they were conspicuously absent from the previous endeavour. This time around the game features Monkey Bowling – a complete bowling game where you roll your monkey ball instead of the traditional three-holed variety. Two other mini-games – Monkey Golf and Monkey Target – have placeholder spots in the menu with big “coming soon” messages attached. It’s a shame that the content wasn’t included at launch, but at least we know more is on the way.

Multiplayer is also a welcome addition, supporting up to 4 players over local wifi. The multiplayer offering isn’t incredibly deep – you can race against friends to complete each level in record time and play mini-games together – but that doesn’t keep it from being a nice bonus to players seeking a party experience. If anything, it’s what games like Monkey Bowling were made for.

Monkey Ball fans are going to be delighted by the improvements here, but it’s hard to deny that Super Monkey Ball 2 is far from perfect. Should Sega decide to introduce some tilt adjusting options when they release the extra mini-games, Super Monkey Ball 2 would be a much easier offering to recommend. In the meantime, I still found it just a little too twitchy and sensitive to keeps the waves of frustration at bay.

App Store Link: Super Monkey Ball 2, $9.99

"

5 ways to save money on iPhone apps

5 ways to save money on iPhone apps: "

Filed under: Deals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

With over 100,000 iPhone applications in the App Store, finding the right app can sometimes be a bewildering experience. Apple's getting better at refining the interface -- it's certainly easier to find what you're looking for now than when the App Store first launched -- but if you're on a limited budget or just love a good bargain, the App Store doesn't give you the tools you need if you're waiting for that $9.99 app to go on sale for $4.99.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to the App Store's built-in search engine that do let you know when iPhone apps go on sale, and they can save you tons of money. As of right now I have 74 third-party apps installed on my iPhone, and out of those, 34 of them are paid apps. Out of those 34 paid apps, I snagged 17 of them when they were temporarily available for free; almost every other paid app I've downloaded at a significant discount from the nominal, full price.



I've saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 on apps for my iPhone, and I got the opportunity to try out apps I might have ignored otherwise. It's all thanks to two websites and three iPhone apps that monitor App Store prices and let you know when apps go on sale. Read on to find out what they are and how they can save you buckets of cash.



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Continue reading 5 ways to save money on iPhone apps

5 ways to save money on iPhone apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

5 ways to save money on iPhone apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Groundspeak's Geocaching app turns 3.0

Groundspeak's Geocaching app turns 3.0: "

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review

When it's warmer than the current 12°F here in Denver or I'm on a trip somewhere, I love to go geocaching. If you're not familiar with the pastime, geocaching involves using a GPS receiver to find hidden caches that can contain logbooks, "prizes," or even clues to other caches. To find out where a cache is hidden, you need to have an account with Geocaching.com and then search by city or location to see what's near you. The rest is up to your ability to find the cache based on the latitude and longitude provided, as well as clues that may have been supplied by the person who hid the cache, or by other people who have found the cache before you.



The company that popularized geocaching is Groundspeak, and they've just released version 3.0 of their self-named Geocaching app [US$9.99, iTunes Link]. Like a fine wine, this app is definitely getting better with age. Groundspeak added a pile of new features to the app, including the ability to view geocache photo galleries, rotate maps to match your heading (iPhone 3GS only), and view geocaching.com web pages without leaving the app.



One feature I like is the ability to save maps and photos for offline use. Sometimes when I'm geocaching in areas that don't have good cell phone service, I've felt that it would be nice to just shut the phone feature off. Now I can do that by searching for sites near a location, and then saving the information on my iPhone for future reference.



For geocachers who purchased earlier versions of the app, Geocaching 3.0 is a free upgrade. I highly recommend getting the update, and remember to restart your iPhone after installing the app.

Groundspeak's Geocaching app turns 3.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Groundspeak's Geocaching app turns 3.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Maps 3.3 syncs your favourites and starred places

Google Maps for Symbian just got updated to v3.3, with direct syncing support for your 'starred' places (to the full Web version of Google Maps). In addition, on the first sync, your Nokia/Ovi Maps favourites also get uploaded. You can get v3.3 by going to m.google.com in Web on your phone. There are a couple of screenshots after the break."

Multifaceted adapter combines 3-port USB hub with iPod / iPhone connector

Multifaceted adapter combines 3-port USB hub with iPod / iPhone connector: "Multi-purpose adapters aren't anything new, but it's often the simplest of the bunch that prove most useful. Take this bugger for instance, which is little more than a vanilla 3-port USB hub connected to an iPhone / iPod dock connector port. The purpose for its existence? To prevent you from having to haul Apple's flimsily built charging cable and a USB hub with you each time you scurry out, and to just generally make your time on this planet entirely more enjoyable. Now if only it could recharge our prototype Volt that we've secretly got hiding in the Engadget Garage, we'd really be able to extol the $14.99 asking price.

Multifaceted adapter combines 3-port USB hub with iPod / iPhone connector originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oranch y la Portabilidad

Asi es que se esta yendo la gente de Orange Dominicana gracias a la Portabilidad
Originally uploaded by Frankie Lab

Asi es que se esta yendo la gente de Orange Dominicana gracias a la Portabilidad

Videollamada en el iPhone? Si, gracias a Fring!!

Desde hoy tenemos videollamada gracias a Fring en nuestros iPhone / iPod Touch usando el protocolo de videollamada de Skype.

Mas info en el blog de Fring

Algunas imagenes del sistema: