Technology Minds

PlayStation Phone: Innovator or Imitator?

2011-10-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Sony's new phone is aimed at avid gamers, but it's unlikely to challenge the iPhone.

After seeing the mobile gaming market invaded by smart-phone makers in recent years, Sony Ericsson has now launched the first "Playstation phone," called the Xperia Play. The device resembles a regular smart phone but has gaming buttons that slide out from beneath the screen.

The Xperia Play, launched this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, is designed to fend off growing competition in the mobile gaming market while carving out a new niche among many other mobile devices.

Smart phones have encroached on the mobile gaming market in recent years—in 2009, revenue from iPhone games surpassed revenue from Sony's mobile PSP device, according to figures from research firm NPD and Flurry Analytics, a mobile analytics company.

Smart phones are now more powerful than many mobile gaming devices—the Samsung Galaxy S, for example, has three times the video processing of the Nintendo 3DS. Multitouch, motion-sensing interfaces have led to simple types of games that appeal to casual gamers. And smart-phone games sell for a few dollars, compared to around $30 for PSP games.

The Xperia Play's hardware matches that of any high-end smart phone. It has a one-gigahertz Snapdragon processor, an Adreno 205 graphics processor (both made by Qualcomm), and uses Google's Android operating system. It has a 10-centimeter, 854-by-480-pixel multitouch LCD screen, an eight-megapixel camera, and has eight gigabytes of SD memory, expandable to 32 gigabytes. Games can be downloaded via the Android Market.

In a time when many phones are focused on multitouch and motion control, the Xperia Play's slide-out keypad, featuring Sony's trademark gaming controls, may seem slightly retro. "It's almost like a step backward," says Daniel Ashdown, a mobile gaming research analyst with Juniper Research. But for the serious gamer, the buttons make sense, Ashdown says: "Sometimes you can't get such a good interaction without a keypad."

"If you are playing a driving game, you can use the accelerometers to steer, but it's quite hard to do braking and acceleration," adds Dan Hays, a mobile technology analyst and director of the consulting firm PRTM in Washington, D.C.

EA Games, which released its first games for the Android platform last October, has released two new titles for the Xperia Play: Fifa 10 and The Sims 3. According to Travis Boatman, VP of Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile, the company has been working with Sony Ericsson to ensure that the device's keypad gives players more control in the Xperia Play versions of its games.

Making PlayStation games available through the Android Market could help broaden the appeal of the platform, says Hays. Accessories could allow other Android handsets to play those games. But Xperia Play is unlikely to compete with the iPhone, says Hays. He believes the popularity of Apple and Android devices has both helped and hindered existing players in the mobile gaming market. It has drawn some customers away from dedicated consoles, but it has also drawn in fresh new users who may not have previously considered buying games, he says.

The trick, for Sony Ericsson, will be persuading some of these new players, as well as dedicated gamers, to buy the Xperia Play.

How To Install 2.2 Froyo on your Samsung Galaxy 5 I5500/I5503

2011-10-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today we are going to show you how to Install FROYO 2.2 on your SAMSUNG GALAXY 5 mobile phone.

What you will need:

1. A Samsung Galaxy 5 (Lol)

2. The 2.2 Firmware i5500 (click here to download, password = samfirmware.com).

2.2 for i5503 is now available (click here to download, password = samfirmware.com)

UPDATE : WE HAVE REPORTS that the i5503 is not working properly with the above rom. So try it at your own discretion.

3. ODIN downloader (click here to download).

4. OPS files (click here to download).

5. A Windows PC + samsung data cable.

Important NOTES:

If you get errors after upgrade : i.e. error: phone application has stopped working or get constant crashes,do the following:

To fix phone not working, initiate restore phone to factory settings command from Settings – Privacy

TAKE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION BEFORE UPGRADING AND HAVE YOUR BACKUP IMAGE READY IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG – use the OLD FIRMWARES: (passwords next to link)

ASIA : I5508ZCJH2 : ANDROID 2.1 : DOWNLOAD (pass: samfirmware.com)
Europe : I5500XWJK3 : ANDROID 2.1 : DOWNLOAD (pass: samfirmware.com)
USA : I5500LUYJI1 : ANDROID 2.1 : DOWNLOAD (pass: samfirmware.com)

NOTE

Make sure your device is fully charged!

BE sure to backup all your data!

You are doing this at your own risk, Although, This will NOT void your warranty!

Your phone does not need to be rooted to get this working.

UPDATE : AFTER BACKUP – FACTORY RESET YOUR PHONE BY ENTERING THE FOLLOWING CODE

*#*#7780#*#*

TO AVOID PROBLEMS

STEP 1

Download all the files above, and make sure you have the latest version of KIES software installed.

STEP 2

Extract the RAR to get a .tar file.

STEP 3

Open ODIN Downloader.

MAKE SURE you select One Package, Auto Reboot and Protect Ops checkboxes.

Select the Ops file (the file we downloaded earlier).

And finally select the tar package we extracted from the RAR earlier.

NOW CLOSE ODIN.

STEP 4

Backup you phone and data with the KIES software (after you are done exit KIES)

Turn OFF the Galaxy 5 and remove the Battery

Reinsert The Battery and Press the following buttons together

VOLUME DOWN + CENTER HOME BUTTON + POWER BUTTON (END CALL)

Hold the buttons together till you see the downloading screen

STEP 5

Now Connect your Phone with your PC using the ORIGINAL DATA cable and wait for windows to finish installing the hardware

Once you get a prompt – “the device is ready to use”

Fire up ODIN DOWNLOADER (make sure the settings are same as before) Your phone will now show up connected in Com Port

STEP 6 (Final Step)

CLICK START and wait for process to finish, once done your device will automatically reboot and will have Android 2.2 running on it.

Enjoy!

Few features that are in the 2.2 update -

A very colorful menu interface

The ability to Install apps to the SD CARD

And the ability to play FLASH content Natively (websites, online videos etc.)

Apart from general Performance boost in processor, better battery and ram management.

I tried this yesterday and got my Android updated. Damn awesome method and that's why im sharing you this.

Download Paid Apps in Android For Free

2011-10-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

How to Download Paid Android Applications for Free?

This is the question asked by millions of people. So i'll explain you the step-by-step process to help you download any Paid Android App for free.

First of all, to get started you to download ASTRO FILE MANAGER.
Make sure your Android Phone supports Applications from Unknown Sources. If not, untick that option from your settings.

Now goto www.4shared.com. In the search bar, Search for the file you wanted with ".apk" extension. For example : If you are downloading "Cut The Rope" Paid Game App, you have to search for "Cut The Rope.apk". And there you get to download the .apk file. Then transfer the .apk file into your SD card. Using Astro File Manager, open the .apk file and install it into your phone. This is considered to be one of the best ways to crack Apps.
You can even download the 4shared App from the Market so that you can download the .apk files directly into your SD card.

A New Android Market for Phones

2011-10-17T04:46:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, Google has launched several important features aimed at making it easier to find great applications on Android Market on the Web. They're very excited to launch a completely redesigned Android Market client that brings these and other features to phones.

The new Market client is designed to better showcase top apps and games, engage users with an improved UI, and provide a quicker path to downloading or purchasing your products. For developers, the new Android Market client means more opportunities for your products to be merchandised and purchased.

In the home screen, they've created a new promotional page that highlights top content. This page is tiled with colorful graphics that provide instant access to featured apps and games. The page also lets users find their favorite books and movies, which will help drive even more return visits to Market.

To make it fun and easy for users to explore fresh content, they've added their app lists right to the Apps and Games home pages. Users can now quickly flip through these lists by swiping right or left, checking out what other people are downloading in the Top Paid, Top Free, Top Grossing, Top New Paid, Top New Free, and Trending lists. To keep the lists fresh and relevant, they've made them country-specific for many of the top countries.

To help you convert visitors to customers, they’ve made significant changes to the app details page. They've moved the app name and price into a compact action bar at the top of the page, so that users can quickly download or purchase your app. Directly below, users can flip through screen shots by swiping right or left, or scroll down to read your app's description, what's new, reviews, and more. To help you promote your product more effectively, the page now also includes a thumbnail link to your product video which is displayed at full screen when in landscape orientation.

For users who are ready to buy, they've streamlined the click-to-purchase flow so that users can complete a purchase in two clicks from the app details page. During the purchase, users can also see a list of your other apps, to help you cross-sell your other products.

With a great new UI, easy access to app discovery lists, a convenient purchase flow, and more types of content, we believe that the new Market client will become a favorite for users and developers alike.

Watch for the new Market client coming to your phone soon. They've already begun a phased roll-out to phones running Android 2.2 or higher — the update should reach all users worldwide in the coming weeks. We encourage you to try the update as soon as you receive it. Meanwhile, check out the video below for an early look.

iOS 5 Available for Download.

2011-10-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

The waiting is over, iOS 5 has finally hit Apple’s servers.

Head on over to iTunes to grab it, but please note you may need to restart the program to see it. Not sure if your device can handle it?

Leave us a comment letting us know if you’ve successfully downloaded it!

UPDATE: If you’re having issues with downloading iOS 5, here are direct links for you to try via Redmond Pie.

Apple iPhone 4S - The most amazing iPhone yet

2011-10-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

The all-new Apple iPhone 4S was released on October 14, 2011 in United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan.

It is said to be released on October 28, 2011 in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

"Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything." That was Steve Jobs talking in 2007, as he was about to introduce the first iPhone. He was right about it being a landmark. But he was also correct that it was a once-in-a-while event. Most products including Apple ones are merely evolutionary and only change some things.

Fortunately, Apple isn't just an expert at revolution; it also does evolution uncommonly well. Consider its new iPhone 4S, which went on sale on October 14, 2011.

It contains the following additional features. The dual-core A5 chip delivers even more power. The 8MP camera with all-new optics also shoots 1080p HD video. And with Siri, iPhone 4S does what you ask. Talk about amazing.

It also has the new Retina display with 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display. And has 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi.

It contains a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery and talk time upto 8 hours on 3G and 14 hours on 2G (GSM). Internet can be used upto 6 hours on 3G. Audio playback upto 40 hours and video playback upto 10 hours.

The prices ranges from $199 to $399 depending on its capacity of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

In the iPhone 4S box, you might discover the following products :

iPhone 4S

Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic

Dock Connector to USB Cable

USB Power Adapter

Documentation

Welcome Technology Freaks

2011-10-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

To all those technofreaks out there who wants to know the A to Z of today's technology, I welcome you to the brand new blog of Technology Minds where you will be updated with everyday's Technology news,

I'm also currently recruiting writers with decent English skills to manage the blog everyday along with me.

Thanks for reading through this patiently.