We’re back with our second installment of our top tech predictions for CES 2012. In this part we will be looking at computing, tablets and mobiles. We’ll cover everything from what Microsoft has planned for Windows 8, Intel-powered Ultrabooks and everything you should expect when it comes to mobile phones and tablets.

Home Computing 

Xbox 720 aside Microsoft is expected to the have more details on its new Windows 8 operating system at CES. Steve Ballmer is expected to give an opening keynote speech where he is expected to show off the tablet-friendly OS.

So far the tech world has only seen a developer preview of the new OS, with a beta expected to the ready for February – so it’s expected that Ballmer & Co will take to the stage for the last time and announce the exact date of the beta. So keep your eye’s peeled.

Other computer related news expected from Microsoft is their decision to start supporting ARM processors with Windows 8. We’re not whether they will support both desktops and tablet architecture with Arm. But, it could be that we’ll see some Windows tablets in the future with ARM processors and more traditional desktops and laptops sticking to tried and tested Intel power plants.

Intel

Intel Chief Paul Otellini is set to deliver one of the keynotes at CES, and is expected to show off some new Ivy Bridge hardware, which should be in the form of Ultrabooks, although Ivy Bridge, the follow-up to Sandy bridge, isn’t expected until later 2012.

Graphics cards-wise AMD is likely to be on hand at CES to show off their new Southern Island, 28nm graphics card, which are expect to hit retail stores by Q1 2012. Nvidia is also expected to show off their 28nm cards too, but it’s not know whether the Kepler architecture cards will be shown on the show floor or behind closed doors.

One of the main draws for many at CES will be: Ultrabooks. This is because Intel is throwing a lot of money at the manufacturers to make a line of laptops that will reinvigorate the ailing laptop market. Over the last 3 years we’ve seen an explosion of Netbooks, then Tablets and Intel now hopes the consumers will jump on board their ultra-thin Intel-powered laptops. They are essentially MacBook Air’s, but, running Windows. From what we’ve seen of Ultrabook they do make Windows laptops cool, but with a hefty price tag and increased competition from tablets they might be too expensive for hard-up consumers to stomach.

Mobile Technology

The Mobile industry tends to make its announcements at the MWC in Barcelona, but with such a competitive marketplace many companies are likely to steal a march and get some of their announcements out before the rest of the competition. Tablets will also be big business at CES, with many manufacturers making the switch from dual-core Tegra chipsets to the new Tegra quad-core chipsets.

HTC

HTC has yet to give a UK release for their Jetstream tablet – so we’re not expecting that tablet but something entirely new – known as the HTC Quattro. It’s the usual 10-inch tablet that we’ve seen so many times over the last 12 months. For us, it’s not the hardware that is keeping Google from competing with Apple, but the fragmentation of the Android OS – especially the app marketplace – which is way off the quality and reliability of Apple’s own app store.

HTC will no doubt have several mobiles on the show floor at CES, but, they tend to make their products for different markets – so many of the new handset may well be US-only for the time being. But you should expect details on the HTC Edge, HTC Ville and possibly some quad-core phones too.

Acer

Acer is expected  to show off a new tablet, which will hopefully be a bit more exciting than the rather drab Iconica A500. This time around they’re hoping that the A700 might grab some positive headlines – especially as it’s thought to come with a 1080p resolution screen.

Samsung

Samsung is expected to show off the follow-up to the Galaxy S2, it’s been the at the centre of plenty rumour-mongering – so it’s highly likely that they could unveil it at CES and once again grab a decent head start over Apple and the iPhone. It’s expected to be dramatically different from the previous version as Samsung wants to move it away from the iPhone and avoid any further legal action.

LG 

LG is expected to show off a new Android 4.0 mobile called the Optimus U1, which could be worth keep an eye out for, especially if they managed to get it out to retailers with Ice Cream Sandwich in toe before the competition.

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson might use CES to the finally officially unveil the Xperia Arc HD, which has been the subject of many leaks recently. It’s expected to come with a 4.3-inch LCD display, with an impressive 1280×720 resolution, a matte finish and for the first time the Arc will have the power to match its looks. The current Arc only has a single core, which by todays standards is like a pocket calculator.

Sony will want to make a splash at CES, they are in the process of buying the mobile company outright, so a good showing at the show would allay any fears from nervous shareholders and investors.

Nokia

Nokia is expected to unveil its next Windows Phone at a Window Phone-themed press conference, there’s no word on whether the reported Lumia 900 will make it to the UK, but the phone is expected to come with a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen, better battery life and their fantastic Carl Zeiss 8 megapixel camera.

We’ll be reporting all the latest news from CES – so stay tuned from the 9-13 of January.

CES 2012: Gaj-it’s Top Tech Predictions Part 2 is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

If you are a new customer, and are opting for a 30Mb, 50Mb or 100Mb broadband plan, then you will get six months of free Spotify premium, thus saving you cool £60. This offer will also be available if you renew your existing contract for 12 months. The Spotify Premium will also feature an exclusive VM Music tab, which will let Virgin users access exclusive content. Though, it is not quite clear what exactly this ‘exclusive content’ entail. Virgin has sent a rather cryptic explanation, stating, “Customers can expect to benefit from a range of exclusive content, for example videos/performances, competitions, tickets to events like V Festival for example as well as behind the scenes interviews with artists.”

Virgin also said that it would be coming up with more plans in future. The company is looking to offer a new app to TiVo owners too.

Virgin Media Offers New Spotify Bundles is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The BT spokesman who began talking of Virgin Media’s new service praised the company, saying it was “encouraging to see Virgin say they will upgrade their network by 2012” and “good for UK plc that there will be another high speed network”. However, this praise is short lived as the spokespersons true objective was clearly to still insist that BT was superior.

At the moment BT is giving fibre optic broadband to 17 million homes and services with a cost average of around £20 a month. Virgin Media’s new service which goes live from Christmas and will be available to 12.7 million homes by mid 2012 comes in at £45 a month on its own or £35 if packaged with a phone line. BT has obviously hung up on this since a rival costing over double the price does have its obvious advantages when marketing against it.

BT’s services at the moment however only run at a 40Mb speed, and isn’t expected to have a 100Mb+ service until next year, and it is believed in the time it takes Virgin Media to hit their 12.7 million homes, BT will only have hit 2.5 million. As well as this, Virgin is already offering a 50Mb broadband service at £15 which comes in cheaper than BT. So maybe criticism here is not well advised.

Via: Electric Pig, ISPreview

BT Attacks Price of Virgin Media’s 100Mb Broadband is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Virgin Media’s Executive Director of Digital Entertainment, Cindy Rose announced: “Our pioneering TV On Demand service continues to offer the greatest choice for all the family and we’re delighted to bring our customers these great shows in HD from NBC Universal. With more and more consumers enjoying the flexibility of watching TV whenever they want, our new online and mobile services also give our customers a fantastic way to enjoy content wherever they are.”

The NBC deal means you will be able to watch some of the biggest US television shows including House, Heroes, 30 Rock, Law & Order and The Office (US). As well as this, you will be able to watch past seasons from December this year on TV Choice. All of these shows from NBC will be available on more than one of Virgin Media’s services, including their television, online, and mobile network services.

Via: T3

Virgin Media Completes VoD Deal with NBC is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The service simply called 3D Movies on Demand is powered by Filmflex where movies can be rented for 24 hour periods for £5.99. To use the service you will require a Virgin HD or HD+ Box and a 3DTV. Unfortunately, we aren’t exactly counting our blessings on what’s available at the moment, with the launch title available right now being Street Dance 3D. Upcoming content from Virgin Media includes; Garfield’s Pet Force 3D, Disney’s A Christmas Carol 3D, Step Up 3D and Despicable Me 3D.

In the press release of the new service, Virgin Media’s Executive Director of digital entertainment Cindy Rose says, “”We’re really excited to bring a taste of 3D to our customers in the comfort of their own homes. As we’ve already seen with the take-up of high definition programmes, viewers are continually looking for new ways to experience their favourite shows, and with the addition of 3D On Demand, they will be able to watch eye-popping movies whenever they want.”

Virgin Media also announced an exclusive 3D TV partnership with Samsung, selling their 3D TV’s in Virgin Media stores and doing joint 3D showcases.

Will you be using Virgin Media’s new 3D TV service right away or are we still looking at the baby steps for 3D TV? Will they ever offer a 3D that doesn’t have 3D on the end of the title? Leave your thoughts below.

Via: T3, Virgin

Virgin Media Launches 3D Movie Service is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The service, which is free to anyone with an internet connection, incorporates elements of social networking, giving you your own name and custom avatar which takes its place in one of the sofa-shaped stands. You can then take part in real-time voting, based on certain events in the match such as goals, referee decisions and player performance. Your avatar can also be animated to make certain actions (it bares a strange resemblance in my mind to being in the1vs100 crowd on Xbox Live) and with the click of a button you can be heard making whatever noise you wish. If you are mic-less, don’t fear there is a chat-box for all to use too.

The service will also show fans what people are saying about the game via Twitter using ‘Tweet Watch’ and fans will be able to post comments straight to various social networks such as Facebook, all for the purpose of venting your frustration (or delight) on your social spaces instead of your TV screen.

Virgin Media’s Executive Director of Digital Entertainment, Cindy Rose has said, “Sofa Stadium is the perfect place for armchair supporters, commentators and managers alike, to get actively involved in football, and a brilliant way to bring together the multi-screen entertainment experience. A perfect companion for fans looking to get the most of their football experience, Sofa Stadium provides an incredible way to enjoy the beautiful game, especially with Sky Sports now available in HD on Virgin Media.”

If you’re intrigued by this newest app for football fanatics make sure you register for the next match on Sofa Stadium, which is Stoke vs West Ham on Saturday at 12:45 on Sky Sport 2. What do you think of Virgin Media’s free new service? Are you going to take couch supporting to the next level? Leave your thoughts below.

Sofa Stadium Demo

Virgin Media Releases Sofa Stadium for Football Fanatics is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Overview
The Lobster 700TV is not just for making and taking calls. Its for watching TV and a whole lot more. Virgin offers 50 DAB digital radio stations and four TV channels – BBC1, ITV1, C4 and E4.

The phone offers a seven-day electronic programme guide (EPG) so you can find out what’s on now and next and features ‘red-button’ interactivity for you to interact with the programme you are currently watching.

Review

This option is a far cry better than what we are used to getting with jerky screen images and poor battery life. With the Lobster 700TV, Virgin offers a solution in that it has an onboard DAB decoder using BT’s Movio platform. Stay in one place and as long as you’ve got coverage you can lock on to a signal and watch television to your heart’s content. However, as soon as you start moving, like on a bus or a train for example, things start to go downhill. The sound quality and battery life is excellent and I was able to get a good couple of hours before the battery died.

You’ll also want to use the phone for other things such as, making calls, and the Lobster 700TV is perfectly good at this, too. It’s a smartphone, using Windows Mobile as its operating system, so it can also handle cut-down versions of Outlook among other programs. There’s a camera on board, but this is unexceptional at 1.3 megapixels

The main drawbacks are it�s not the best looking phone. With it disappointingly large in size and weight (it’s 140 grams and bigger than the early 3G handsets), you may start complaining about it taking up soo much room in your bag. Also, aside from the TV and Radio options it gains average marks for it�s other features such as offering a poor camera and no Wi-Fi.

Specification
Dimensions: 112 x 58 x 24 mm
Battery: Removable, rechargeable Lithium-ion (5 hours talk, 140 hours standby).
Display: 2.2 inch, 240 x 320 pixel colour screen (64,000 colours)
Memory: 64MB RAM / 128Meg ROM
Expansion: MicroSD storage cards
Navigation: four-way navigator
Processor: 201MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 750
Connectivity: GSM/GPRS, USB, Bluetooth
Includes:

• TV services including BBC 1, ITV 1, ITN News and E4, with content from Channel 4
• DAB Digital Radio (up to 50 stations)
• Electronic Programme Guide
• 1.3 Megapixel camera
• Smartphone powered by Windows Mobile v5.0 software
• Triband

The Gaj-it Verdict

• Design: 6/10
• Usability: 7/10
• Features: 7/10

• Love: TV on the move is an eye-catcher with a good, sharp screen
• Loathe: chunky design and DAB TV and radio don’t work on trains.

We say: We really like this phone to kill five minutes waiting for the train or waiting for garlic bread to cook, however it’s TV channel range is limited, and it�s large and heavy and the battery is something of a let-down, which explains the bulky and heaviness of the phone. If you�re not bothered about trading your pocket friendly phone for this bulky option just to be number one in the cutting edge of the mobile phone world, then go on give this one a whirl.

Virgin Mobile Lobster 700TV is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com