Samsung to skip Donut, first bada phone in H1 2010

During a Samsung media event today, a spokesperson revealed that the company will be skipping version 1.6 (codenamed Donut) altogether for its lineup of Android phones heading to Asia in Q1 next year. The company has already released three devices using Google's mobile operating system, all of which come with version 1.5 (Cupcake).

In his presentation, product marketing manager Winston Goh said an Android phone will be available in Singapore come Q1 2010. This product will first launch with Cupcake and then be upgraded to Eclair (version 2.0). He did not say which phone this will be, but given Samsung's announcement of the I5700 on Monday, it seems likely that the Galaxy Spica will be the one. Subsequent Android phones from the company, he added, will ship with Android 2.0.

Aside from Android, Goh also briefly described the Samsung bada and the direction of this new mobile platform. This was announced earlier this month and will give developers an SDK to create applications for future Samsung smartphones based on the company's own operating system. He mentioned that the first phone based on bada will be announced in the first half of 2010, confirming some of the rumors that have been floating around.

Google Translate now helps with pronunciation

Google made several improvements to Google Translate Monday, such as the ability to translate words written with unique character sets with their phonetic spelling.

Google has been steadily adding languages to Google Translate over the last couple of years, but if the language used a completely unfamiliar character set--such as the Roman-character based languages like English or Spanish versus Chinese characters--the service was only useful for those trying to write in the language. Now Google Translate will help those trying to translate English into Chinese for speaking purposes by providing a phonetic version of the translation in Roman characters.
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Google Earth 2.0 for iPhone gets My Maps feature

Google Earth made a splash when it spun onto the iPhone last October, giving users the capability to explore the virtual globe for free from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection. But without some practical mapping features, like turn-by-turn navigation and street maps, Google Earth was largely a discovery tool that didn't have much real-world impact.

This week, Google Earth 2.0 for iPhone gets more useful by pulling those Google maps you saved in the My Maps section of the Google Maps Web site into the app's mobile orbit.

In Google Earth, you'll tap the settings icon (the "i") and sign in to your Google Account. Just below the login field, there's any entry for My Maps. Tap it to view your saved maps, and tap again to select the map you'd like to zoom to. While you can view a saved location or route in Google Earth, the app doesn't replace Google Map's directions-dispending feature.
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Glass speakers for the filthy rich well-heeled

I'm not a fan of see-through speakers, but if you have to impress your tycoon and millionaire business partners, the US$566,000 "The Force" collection from Perfect8 technologies will fit the bill. These exquisite glass boomboxes comprise five floorstanders and a passive subwoofer (The Cube). The former include a pair of life-sized 2m towers (The Force), a center speaker (The Force Center) with height-adjustable midrange and treble drivers, and two surround speakers (The Point) enhanced by flat ribbon drivers. If it’s a simple stereo setup you're interested in, The Force is also available separately for US$149,000.

For this insane amount of cash, Sweden-based Perfect8 technologies is promising nothing short of a perfect musical reproduction according to its Web site. That's a pretty ambitious statement to make, but I guess only the most well-heeled audiophiles will ever know the truth. If the price is not a deterrence, fill up this electronic form here to make an enquiry.

Via CNET.com

Cool tees for shutterbugs

I own a couple of camera/photography related tees, and I have to say they are some of my favorite wear. But looking at PetaPixel's collection of such clothing makes me want to hit the links and get a couple of them.

My favorite has to be this "oh, crop" design which takes a leaf out of Adobe Photoshop's Crop tool. The Camera Display Panel shirt looks pretty awesome, too, and I'm still trying to figure out which dSLR display it copies. Of course, there are plenty of t-shirts on the market now which have a camera hanging around the neck, but that's so passe.
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