Cell Bytes

I’m not sure Google TV will be the holiday thing of 2010 although it should be- it’s the type of attraction folks will have to see in the home of their family or friends, and in action, before the real momentum shift occurs. But mark my words that I will have Google TV before the year is over and with all the capabilities promised, an effective remote will be a requirement.

Whether or not a Galaxy Tab or ARCHOS Tablet will double as a great Google TV Remote remains to be seen, but Sony is working on a Google TV Remote of their own to go along with the Google TV hardware they’re launching (and announcing on October 12th). The Sony Google TV Remote, pictured above, was spotted in an ABC Nightline video that you can view below.

The video doesn’t seem to be loading at the moment but looking at the picture above, I can’t decide if it’s ugly, functional, or both. The full QWERTY is a must which brings along some heft automatically. I never thought i would say that I personally like the form factor of the Motorola Backflip, but honestly, I think an unfolding form factor with different remote uses on different sides could perform really well in this scenario.

To what Google TV accessories are you most looking forward?

[Via Engadget]

Before I type anything else, I just want to ask one question: who names their tablet the “T-Touch Tab?” Anywho, Telstra’s getting set to unveil just that pretty soon as not only their first Android tablet, but their first one with their name backing it. The Australian carrier could just be rebranding Huawei’s SmaKit 7-inch tablet, however. Not entirely unbelievable considering Huawei makes their money on producing cheap devices for carriers to sell under their own name. We can’t really say much for sure until we get an official confirmation, however, so take this for what you will.

[via AusDroid]

Samsung’s hit another Galaxy milestone that they’re rightfully proud of. Today, we learn that they’ve crossed the 5-million mark for the amount of Galaxy S phones sold in all regions. This includes the United States where over two million people have grabbed up arguably one of the fastest Android phones on the market thanks to the 1GHz Hummingbird processor it packs. Their next biggest market was their home turf – South Korea – where the Galaxy S and the Galaxy U (We don’t know how Samsung can tie this phone into these figures, but it’s their money.) sold a combined 1.2 million units.

Recently, we learned Samsung wasn’t going to stop with the Galaxy S just because it’s been launched on most major carriers in the regions that count. It’s said they’ll be bringing out more variations like the U to shake things up while still considering it a part of the Galaxy S family. (We heard they might do this with the Samsung Continuum, though nothing’s confirmed.)

Say what you want about the Galaxy S phones: they’re popular, fast, and successful. The fact that they run Android makes me optimistic for the future as more companies learn they can turn a sinking ship around by producing stellar products. (Just ask Motorola how they’re doing these days.)

Hello, Concrete!

Last week we told you that NTT DOCOMO was poised to get the Galaxy S in late October and the Galaxy Tab in March 2011. Great news: NTT DOCOMO has issued a press release (what’s more concrete than that) announcing the Galaxy S in late October and Galaxy S in late November.

I’m sure Japanese Phandroids are delighted at having Samsung’s high powered Androids on their up-and-coming list. And to hear the company is beating rumored Tab dates by 4 months and in time for the holidays? Sweet.

UPDATE: Pricing revealed via Bloomberg

The Galaxy S mobile will sell for about 30,000 yen ($359) and the computer for about 40,000 yen, both with a 2-year contract, President Ryuji Yamada said in Tokyo.

Find the full Press Release below:

DOCOMO to Launch Samsung GALAXY S and GALAXY Tab in Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN, October 5, 2010 — NTT DOCOMO, INC. today unveiled its Japanese-market versions of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.’s GALAXY S smartphone and GALAXY Tab smart media device. The docomo Smartphone GALAXY S is scheduled to launch in late October and the docomo Smartphone GALAXY Tab in late November.

Both mobile devices are powered by the Android™ 2.2 operating system, enabling users to choose from a large variety of applications available at the mobile portals Android Market™, docomo market and Samsung Apps. The GALAXY S and GALAXY Tab also support DOCOMO’s new e-book service, which will launch on a trial basis in late October, as well as the sp-mode™ service that allows DOCOMO users to access i-mode™ mail accounts with their smartphones.

The GALAXY S features a 4-inch, ultra-bright SUPER AMOLED screen and supports Flash® for PC-like access to diverse Web content. Its 5.0 megapixel camera shoots high-definition video that can be played back on the phone’s vivid, high-resolution screen. Multi-touch functionality enables intuitive control of the screen.

The GALAXY Tab provides an all-new way to experience Internet browsing on the go. The large 7-inch screen allows full Flash-compatible browsing and displays images in PC-quality 600 x 1,024 -pixel resolution. It is an exceptionally portable tablet device that can be held easily in one hand, measuring just 12.1 mm in thickness and weighing only 382 grams.

The GALAXY S and GALAXY Tab will be exhibited at CEATEC Japan 2010 in Makuhari Messe, Japan from October 5 to 9.

[Thanks Tony!]

If you haven’t already heard, the Cestos 2 beta is going on right now. Don’t know what Cestos 1 was? Go on and download it from the Android market as it currently sits as a free download. The objective of the game is to direct your balls around the board using your finger to set the direction and distance. Once the timer expires, they’ll begin rolling where you told them, but it doesn’t end there. One of the greatest things about Cestos 2 (and the first one, for that matter) is that you’re not just playing alone or against computer-driven artificial intelligence.

The “Bullseye” gametype sees you trying to fit your ball into the designated circle while keeping others out. Easy enough, but you don’t get a real challenge until you play “Minefield” where you’re surrounded with – you guessed it – heartless, explosive mines. Your job there is to try and stay alive and pray that your opponents meet their ultimate demise. You could try and force their failure, but you’re more likely to run into a mine than you are to force your foe into it. I haven’t had a chance to try out the other levels yet, but there is a nice amount that should keep things fresh as you try and unlock more achievements down the line (which will really add a lot of value to this game.)

You’re given the ability to customize your ball using coins earned through gameplay (you’ll get the most coins through earning the various achievements provided through the system OpenFeint provides. Customizing your ball is really just for show (outside of changing its base color) as you can’t see anything else while you’re duking it out on the plane. You also earn experience which will help you grow levels, earn coins, and unlock more achievements.

There wasn’t much else to check out in the beta as a lot of the features are still locked, but Chickenbrick – the developers – are always updating it (for instance, we can only try out the 3 player mode for now, but support for 4 player is coming very soon. Development progress is communicated to you through the app so if there are any new messages to be had, you’ll see them whenever you open the app.) You can also consider this a quick first look at OpenFeint as it was my first time using the system (I know there are several games either coming out or already in the market which use OpenFeint, but I haven’t tried them yet.)

It gives you a central account that you can sign in to track achievements and progress on various games. What’s great is that if you have an OpenFeint game on the iPhone or iPad, your achievements from any Android games will still count (and OpenFeint opens up the possibility of playing against people on the iOS platform, but we have yet to see anyone take advantage of the cross-platform functionality. I asked OpenFeint about any possible plans to port Cestos 2 to the iPhone, but they said it’s an Android-only game for now.)

OpenFeint can be described as the “Xbox Live of smartphones” and I hope more game developers adopt the platform going forward as I see it making for one of the best compliments to the booming gaming experience that Android users are soon to see. Look out for Cestos 2 in the Android market when it lands later this year.

Wow, what a mistake this was. Looking 'amateur' can be fun, if done right, but this is just… NO. just. NO.

The rub is it'd not a DIYr, which can be forgiven for looking a bit roughshod, but apparently the mounting brackets have the BMW logo.

Why would you ruin a car like that? Isn't that what focus groups are for?  To let you know something is a bad idea.

Some of the details include the ability to rotate the iPad to your desire and the power cord runs into the seat.

On this size of a car the installation looks out-of-place and clunky, bad idea. Bad, bad idea.

SOURCE

Finally, a Cheap Highly Portable iPad Stand!

Today the Dev-Team found that the SHAtter exploit can actually the Apple TV 2G into restoring a pre-jailbroken IPSW.

This was confirmed with an update to one of their recent posts: 

UPDATE #2:  It’s confirmed…SHAtter can trick Apple’s new AppleTV 2G into restoring to a pre-jailbroken IPSW from PwnageTool too!   Literally the only UI application on the ATV is Lowtide.app, but now the window is open for jailbroken apps of all varieties.  (Just like the early iPhone days, the only apps you’ll see on the AppleTV will be jailbroken ones).  In the meantime, here’s a video showing root access (via ssh) into Apple’s new product.

See, the UI in Apple TV 2G is essentially an App called Lowtide running in iOS. It's the only App the box is designed to run. However, they were able to kill the App and open the custom IPSW. This may indicate that in the future you should be able to run JB Apps on Apple TV.

Here's some related information where you will even see a user get Lowtide to run an iPod Touch: Apple TV Will be Very Hack-Friendly

Credit: Dev-Team