CES is in full swing and today we’ll give you some interesting details on origami laptops, tablets, 4K camcorders and even an Apple rumour.

Right, let’s get this Apple iPad rumour out of the way first. Now, everyone knows that Apple isn’t at CES (or are they?). Well, according to iLounge they’ve seen something interesting from Apple at CES.

The iPad 3. Now before you start the obligatory trolling, let’s just give them a chance. First of all there’s no picture. Ok….. But there’s the testimony of someone who has seen it and works for a reputable publication: iLounge.

Jeremy Horwitz, has been shown what he was a told is the new iPad. What does it looks like? Well, the iPad 2. According to Horwitz, if you had them side-by-side then you’d struggle to tell them apart. The only visual difference was that it’s a tiny bit thicker: 1mm. According the whistleblowers the design changes are more akin to the changes we saw in the iPhone 4 to 4S. Basically none.

The main talking point about the rumour is the screen. Although iLounge didn’t get to see it working (we know) the new iPad has indeed got a Retina display. According to Horwitz and his manufacturing sources they reckon the new tablet will be with us within 2 months under the name iPad 2S or iPad 2HD.

It’s not the first time new tech is shown off behind closed doors, remember the time Reuters saw the iPad 2 at The Daily Launch?

We’d say file this under: just maybe.

Now, for the tech announcements that actually did happen – remember the 4K screen’s that we’ve been talking about over the last week or so. Well, we made a caveat that we’d be interested to know what content they’d show off on these new TV’s as we weren’t aware of any film footage in this mind-bogglingly high resolution.

Well, that’s not true: JVC has announced a new camcorder, called GY-HMQ10, which offers recording at 3840×2160 at 24 or 50p. Even more exciting is the fairly reasonable £4340 price tag and the promised UK release of March. This is a professional offering and is sure to future proof yourself for an expected move to 4K content in the next 18-24 months.

For the technical of you, the new camera is powered by HVC’s Falconbrid large-scale integration (LSI) chip, which has a half-inch CMOS imager with an impressive 8.3 million active pixels.

Product manager, Gustav Emrich. “We’re witnessing the birth of what is destined to become a broad market for full 4K end-to-end production. The GY-HMQ10 is a breakthrough product that opens up 4K imaging to users who previously wouldn’t have considered it.”

JVC explains that the big problem with 4K for video is processing power, but that this is now shifting.

“There just hasn’t been the ability to capture, process, display and record full 4K images in real time until now,” adds JVC.

Lenovo has been incredibly busy at this year’s CES with plenty of smart TV’s and laptops, but, the device that caught our eye is their up-and-coming IdeaPad Yoga. Admittedly it’s not the greatest name, but, just look at it.

It’s a Windows 8 laptop than can also double up as a tablet in a similar vein as Asus’ Transformer, which saw impressive reviews and sales last year.

The current trend of latops sharing design cues from tablets is something we’ll see a lot of in 2012. So expect everything to get thinner and lighter. Essentially Yoga is an Ultrabook laptop that’s as gorgeous as a MacBook Air, but also doubles as a impressive tablet.

The hybrid laptop comes with a 13.3-inch screen and has 10-finger touch capabilities. Although, we fear that it might just be to heavy to use as an every-day tablet as it weighs twice as much as an iPad 2.

Lenovo expects the IdeaPad Yoga to ship when Windows 8 is available commercially, which should be in the third or fourth quarter of this year. The company expects the device to run for less than $1,200.

Razer’s newly announced prototype tablet is getting a lot of coverage and when you first set your eye’s on it you can see why.

Gaming on tablets can be cumbersome and fiddly. Anyone who has played GTA3 on iPad or Android will testify to this. At the moment Apple isn’t making any plans to make a games controller for their tablet, so it’s up to companies like Razer to show them where there are going wrong.

Hydra controllers connected up to a PC gaming tablet certainly appeals to us – especially with some impressive suggested specs. They’ve included an impressive workhorse in the form of a Intel Core i7 processor, and a 1280×800 display. Now you’d look quite the wholly if you popped this out on your daily commute to work. But gaming on tablets is big business, Angry Birds is proof of this, but so far we’re yet to see a hardcore game really find a home on tablets – could this be the answer?

There are also magnetometer and accelerometers thrown in to take advantage of its mobility.

“Adapted from a full featured PC gamepad, Project Fiona’s integrated dual controllers coupled with its advanced multi-touch screen are designed to make complex game navigation ergonomic and intuitive without compromising on the portability of the tablet,” states Razer.

“You’ll be able to carry out headshots and command troops in-game with ease. This first-of-its-kind PC gaming tablet with integrated dual controllers is definitely not for playing casual games about unhappy birds or zombie-killing flora.”

It’s only a prototype, but it’s good see companies trying to marry tablets and gaming in a perfect match for each other without have to dumb down today’s complex triple-A titles.

More CES news tomorrow.

CES 2012 Round-up: iPad 3, 4K JVC Camcorder, Razer Tablet & Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

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

According to Barclays Capital, the industry is likely to see mild to no growth during the coming year. The firm had earlier predicted the segment to grow by 5.1 percent, but later heavily trimmed the forecast down to 0.8 percent. The biggest threat to PC market comes from smartphones and tablets. These gadgets are gaining acceptance in the mass market and are eating away PC’s market share.

The PC industry is also grappling with parts shortage problem. Currently, it is facing shortage of hard drives and the problem is likely to continue through the first half of next year. The problem has been exacerbated by recent flooding in Thailand, which has disrupted various manufacturing operations. Barclays Capital has also blamed sluggish economic scenario for lax demand. As global economy is not showing any signs of picking up any time soon, the PC demand is also likely to remain damp in the new year.

Barclays is not the only firm to revise its PC shipment estimates downward. Earlier, IDC had revised its forecast from 5.1 percent to the range of 2.2 percent and 3.4 percent.

Outlook Cloudy for PC Shipments in 2012 is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The new Macs will be upgraded and will be powered by Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor architecture and will ship by the beginning of August, sources have said. The refreshers will come with Apple new Thunderbolt data ports, Intel’s high-speed connector, and of coure Mac OSX Lion.

It is thought that the refresh will be for the internal parts and will not cover any form of cosmetic changes.

The update would be in keeping with what Apple has done for its iMac range in May, when they added Intel’s second-generation quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs (former code-named Sandy Bridge) as well as Thunderbolt data ports. They also match updates Apple made to the MacBook Pro line earlier this year.

Thunderbolt debuted with the updated MacBook Pros and offers a new, bidirectional data port designed to simplify external device connections to laptop and desktop computers. The standard supports both data and video throughput simultaneously with the appropriate connectors.

Both the Mac Pro and the Mac mini are around a year old now, and given Apple’s past form a refresh seems timely. Other reports recently have suggested that the MacBook Air will also be fitted out with the Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt combo and that all new products launches are on hold until after the Mac OS X Lion launch.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is due in July and is more than a simple operating system upgrade. It hooks users into iCloud, Apple’s new storage service, which offers benefits including seamlessly storing music and personal files online. iCloud represents a major new direction for Apple, which sees it as a way of tying together its various desktop and mobile platforms, as well as providing an additional method for delivering media to users.

Mac Pro And Mac Mini To Get Refresh In Time For Lion OSX is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

We reported last week that Apple will be releasing new iMac computers on May 3rd and seeing that the online store is down surely this is the day of the refresh.

It’s not going to be a major overhaul as that was done last year, but you can expect to see a speed upgrade and a new thunderbold port.

Speculation is rife with Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge CPUs top of the likely additions to the range, and some are even speculating a whopping great 30-inch variant an intriguing yet highly unlikely possibility in our book.

Your unlikely to see Blu-ray drives onboard as Steve Jobs is refusing to pay the licensing fee to get the High Definition drives in Apple computers.

Apple has changed graphics card suppliers more time that we care to remember,  so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the ATI Radeon 5750 used in most of the current line-up getting either a speed bump or kicked into touch altogether in favour of something from arch rival Nvidia.

The only thing that’s certain is that no-one really knows what Apple has up its sleeve, but they usually have a couple of surprises, we’ll know more when the store comes back online, and you’ll be first to know.

What would like to see in the new iMac’s would new processors and a new port make you sit up and take notice? Or is this another cynical Apple upgrade. All talk and no trousers.

Apple Store Down, New iMac’s Imminent is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

You’d be forgiven for thinking that typewriters weren’t made anywhere, anymore anyway, but they had remained reasonably popular in India where certain areas did not have much computer access. But as the country developed and began to adapt to Western tchnology, the iconic typewriter lost favour and now it is gone forever leaving budding authors with Mac Books and coffee instead of the classic typewriter and cigarette duo, like the good old days.

In saying that, there’s something attractively romantic about the quill too, but nobody is going to write up their work report or college essay with one. The whole point of technology is to make our life easier which is why the computer keyboard combination prevailed as soon as it became affordable.

But even the keyboard as we know it is under threat now as we go touch-screen mad. The good old QWERTY started with the typewriter and moved onto the computer keyboard and now it’s virtual but will it even survive or will we begin to replace it with a new way of typing? Only time will tell, but with features like predictive text the future of the keyboard isn’t too bright.

The Computer Has Won: Last Remaining Typewriter Factory Closes is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Its been so popular – it has had a serious effect on the sales of traditional PC’s. Business analysts IDC and Gartner both reported that PC sales were much lower than expected; with just a 2.7 – 3.1 per cent year-on-year growth for the sector.

According to researcher David Daoud the blame lies at Apple’s door, he said: “Growth steadily slowed throughout 2010 as weakening demand and competition from the Apple iPad constrained PC shipments”.

Netbooks are also finding it tough going too, and Daoud see’s the slump continuing well into 2011 and beyond. Something that Apple will want to see, as any fall in PC sales essential means a net benefit for Apple – due to the fact that consumers can only really choose between Windows or Mac OS.

We’d expect Android to take a large slice of the cake with loads of Android Tablets being planned for 2011. But Apple are the true beneficiaries.

“This situation is likely to persist in 2011, if not worsen, as a wave of media tablets could put a dent in the traditional PC market” he added.

When it came to manufacturers Lenovo and Toshiba were the two that bucked the trend with around a 21 per cent and 12 per cent growth respectively.

But PC giants including the HP and Acer recorded fallen sales year-on-year and Dell only recorded a “modest” increase.

Are we seeing the end of Microsoft’s home dominance ? Have you made the switch from Windows to Mac and its various OS’s? Let us know below.

iPad Blamed For Poor PC Sales In Second Half Of 2010 is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Dissidient, a member of the hacking community Hackulous (which infamously managed to crack Apple’s Digital Rights Management for iOS) has managed to develop a piece of software called Kickback; a programme which allows users to pirate any app in the Mac App Store. The Kickback software is supposedly going to be available to pirates at some time in February 2011.

Also, a tutorial on how to download and install cracked apps has surfaced, which uses a loop in ‘freemium’ apps which allows users to trick the app into thinking you’ve purchased it, making the full version available for use.

It is unknown how Apple are going to deal with these problems so quickly after the Mac App Store’s release, but expect plenty of patch counter-measures in the future. Of course we don’t advocate piracy, and hope that Apple can sort out the piracy hack before developers get too heavily affected by it. Jailbreaking your Apple devices is still cool though of course.

Via: Geeky Gadgets

Mac App Store Hacks Open Piracy Opportunities is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

According to sources from Loop however, it seems the Mac App Store could be up and running worldwide at 12:00pm ET on Thursday 6th, which then means that it will be out at 9:00am PT, which is the time zone which contains the Apple’s HQ in Cupertino, California. If this time is accurate, then we in the UK will be seeing the Mac App Store appear at 5:00pm GMT.

With the release of the Mac App Store, it seems Apple will in turn be closing down the Mac OS X downloads site. Any users who attempt to access the Mac OS X downloads site will be redirected to the Mac App Store.

The Mac App Store was announced back in late October, and it seems Jobs’ promise to open the store in 90 days was actually kept. In early November, Apple announced that they will start taking App submissions, so hopefully that was enough time to give plenty of debut Apps for the launch.

Via: Geeky Gadgets

Apple To Launch Mac App Store Today is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The first thing is the icon which seems to not have changed since it’s first appearance on announcement with it’s pencil, paintbrush(?), and ruler(?) placed into an “A” logo. The logo has been screen-shotted alongside other shortcuts on the Mac OS X 10.6.6 dock.

The second screenshot, which is of the login page shows us that users will be able to access the store with their Apple, iTunes or MobileMe accounts.

According to some coding in the app, it looks like the Mac App Store will have iOS-like parental controls, allowing parents to stops their kids getting age restricted games.

The Mac App Store is set to be a free download for Mac OS X Snow Leopard users, and is expected to be released on January 6th (a date shared with the CES kick off).

Via: T3

Mac App Store Images Emerge is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com