We were plenty impressed when we saw the initial tests of AeroVironment’s robo-hummingbird — now officially dubbed the Nano Hummingbird — but we can’t say they quite prepared us for the final product that the DARPA-funded company is now showing off. Not only does the bot look and fly like a real hummingbird (at least if you don’t look too closely), but it packs a built-in camera and a downlink of some sort that’s capable of transmitting live video. According to the company, the hummingbird’s also able to hover for up to eight minutes, reach speeds of eleven miles per hour in forward flight, and remain stable in wind gusts of five miles per hour — not to mention make a perfect landing. (more…)

There is another solution for Android owners disappointed that their phone or tablet may never support Netflix’s official DRM specs, now that PlayOn has unleashed a version of its mobile app (already on iOS) for the platform. The free app uses Adobe Flash so it’s limited to devices running Android 2.2. (Froyo) and above, but like Plex, coupled with a computer running the server software, it brings online video streams from almost any source including Watch Instantly, Hulu, ESPN3 and more over 3G or WiFi. Barring any kind of Roku-style bannination existing users should download the app and get going immediately, while new users can give the server a 14-day free trial before deciding whether or not to pay the $39.99 first year subscription fee.

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This year (no date announced) will bring an update to Windows Phone 7 that will add interactive play with your xbox Kinect. They are like super sophisticated touch screen controllers, and I’m curious to see how far this will go. Kinect already has been hacked to do some pretty amazing things, like fly an unmanned helicopter, or preform surgery by sensing the hand (still in development. What CANT the Kinect do? Can you say Skynet anyone?

So far no concrete evidence exists for anything I’m about to say, mostly just professional industry speculation and a really good understanding about how Apple works. One thing that we DO know is that Apple is going ahead with Qualcomm chips and dropping the Infineon chips that they have used for every previous generation (current version included) iPhone, iPod and iPad. What we can speculate about that information is that they will go with a faster 1.2ghz Snapdragon. OMAP 4 and Tegra 2 are out of the picture, so unless they surprise us all with a Snapdragon 2 dual core, the best they can hope for is 1.4ghz, which will still make it a relevant device. (more…)

Self explanatory really. These images are now live on Nokia’s own “Conversations” website. This makes it official, and quite frankly, I’m a bit excited to see some WP7 devices bearing the Nokia name and in a bit of color as well. Nothing is more annoying than having to wrap you phone in some silicone glove just to give it some personality. On the flip side, nothing is more annoying than loving your phones color and design but having to wrap it in a silicone glove in order to protect it, thus destroying that which you loved about your phone in the first place… Oh what to do?

UPDATE (New Photo Just Release)

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One of my favorite events of the year begins tomorrow “technically” because its being held in Barcelona, Spain,  tomorrow evening will be the 15th in Spain. Anyways, There are already leaked images from the press on site. Though I will not be on location, I will be feeding you information that I gather from the various sources out there who are on location.  Some things I expect to see is all the new ARM based next gen chips from the likes of Nvidia, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm. Predictably Apply will probably not be there to showcase the next installment of their mobile gadgets, i.e. iPhone 5 or the iPad 2. Apple will inevitably holding their equally anticipated event of their own, most likely in New York, shortly after MWC11. (more…)

For most of you, Nokia is a common household name, from way back in the early days of cell phones, when texting cost a lot and the only game worth playing was snake and later snake 2. But unlike the US, the rest of the world still prefers Nokia, to the extent that more Nokia phones are sold every year than any other manufacturer. The problem with them in the US and somewhat in the UK market, is their OS Symbian^3 (current revision) as well as their S40 version. Their OS is not comparable to iOS, Android OS or WP7 OS. So now we get the news that Microsoft and Nokia are beginning a new partnership deal, though details are sparse, its easy to assume that they want to replenish their US market share by offering Nokia hardware with WP7 software. This would be an amazing partnership if it comes true, but to what extent will it? (more…)

SONY’s Flexible OLED Display

Still some more work to be done here, and this isn’t BREAKING new news, but its not available on the market yet, so its still relevent. I think there are some cool possible applications here, what kind of ideas do you have for this?

It was reported that for the first time in computing history, cell phone sales out paced the personal computer, as reported by the IDC (International Data Corporation), which tracks these sorts of things. Cell phone sales in 4th quarter 2010 reached 100.9 million units sold, with total sales of 302.6 million for the year of 2010. Thats up 74.4% year over year since 2009. PC sales managed to sell a noble 92.1 million units in 4th quarter 2010. Unfortunately thats down 4.6% in the 4th quarter 2010. Interestingly, because of the iPad selling seemingly like hot cakes, Apple has dropped from 3rd place to 5th place in PC sales. (more…)

The all mighty AT&T has done it again. Exclusivity with the iPhone for a number of years, premier provider of Windows Phone 7 (3 types at launch), a barrage of Android based phones and the best Blackberry phones on the market. If your all about phone selections, AT&T is where its at. If your about great phones for an even better price, then you cannot argue with $100 for a newly launched HTC smartphone. (more…)