Linux thin clients fit into palm size USB have been available for years. Norwegian technology company FXITech have now applied a similar idea to Android. Cotton Candy is a USB device that contains a dual core 1.2GHz Samsung Exynos ARM CPU, has its own 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microSD slot and HDMI-out while only weighting 21 grams.
The device can be plugged into a PC, for example, and will launch a standalone Android 2.3 Gingerbread window on a Mac, PC or virtually any screen it is plugged into. The device is expected to go on the market in a year’s time for under US$200. By then hopefully we’ll see the latest and greatest Android OS on there.

A new incarnation of the of the remote controlled toy for the smart phone era has arrived with Sphero. It’s the first robotic ball that you can control with your smartphone or tablet via tilt, touch, or swing. Sphero delivers a unique mixed-reality experience with single and multi-player games that let you engage in the virtual world and play in the real one. Most of all, Sphero will challenge, entertain, and always surprise you. It’s the ball evolved.

The ball contains a small Orbotix Smart Robot at 74mm diameter and 168 grams. Its controlled over your device Bluetooth and has a 50ft range and a top speed of 3ft per second. Internal guidance system including gyro, accelerometer and compass. It has an induction chargeable battery that gives over 60 minutes fun at full speed. Inside is a multi-colored LED capable of producing thousands of colors. The Sphero can also change color via an internal multicolored LED.

A few starter apps are also available for Sphero

• Sphero Hub
• Sphero Blox
• Sphero Drive
• Sphero Golf
• Sphero Draw N’ Drive

Check them out here. Read more info and where to purchase on http://www.gosphero.com

After months of rummors today Amazon announced their new Tablet the Kindle Fire. It will retail for $199 in the US and ship on November 15th. In conjunction with the Amazon App store this device is a serious competitor to the iPad. The only problem at the moment is that the device will only be available in the US. This is because it is integrated with the Amazon Cloud, which isn’t available outside the US for legal reasons.

The Kindle Fire is an Android tablet, though it has been heavily skinned do don’t expect to see anything familiar to the current crop of Android tablets. It has a 7-inch multi-touch “vibrant color” IPS display capable of 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi with 16 million colors. It packs a dual-core processor, 8 GB of internal storage, USB 2.0, a standard audio jack and weighs 14.6 ounces. No, there’s strangely no 3G version—for $199 the Fire is Wi-Fi only, though Amazon was quick to add that computer-related system requirements are nil because “it’s wireless and doesn’t require a computer” (take that, Apple?). The Fire also eschews a camera or microphone, which given the importance of both in Apple’s iPad, probably means this is still Amazon’s warm-up to full-blown iPad response. Claimed battery life is 8 hours for reading and 7.5 hours video playback with wireless disabled.

The most intriguing thing about the Fire? Its promised integration with Amazon’s cloud services. Amazon says it plans to offer free storage for all cloud-related content. Also: You can preorder the Fire now, but it won’t ship until November 15.

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Recon Instruments have created a slightly different take on Google Goggles by creating a physical set powered by Android. The MOD Live Goggle (Micro Optics Display) attaches to a set of Alpine ski goggles. It offers real-time feedback, including speed, jump analytics, latitude/longitude, altitude, vertical distance travelled, total distance traveled, chrono/stopwatch mode, a run-counter, temperature and time. MOD Live also integrates with Android smartphones for additional apps and live connectivity giving access to navigation, resort points of interest, caller ID*, text messaging*, MP3 playlists*, buddy tracking*, wireless camera sync, and much more. You can buy them online now from shop.reconinstruments.com.
*Android smartphone required to use some features of MOD Live.

Features:

• Speed
• Altitude
• Vertical
• Distance
• Jump Airtime, Distance, Height and Drop
• GPS Location
• Chrono/Tracker
• Temperature
• Run Counter
• Stats History with Maximums, Minimums, Averages
• Widescreen
• Time
• Bluetooth Low Energy Remote Control
• Navigation
• Caller ID
• Text Messaging
• MP3 Song Playlists
• Wireless Compatibility with Select Wearable Sports Video Cameras
• Transforms your MOD Live into a Viewfinder
• User Configurable Dashboard
• Even more Android Apps available from Recon HQ Online…

Most of the Android tablets proposed this year can be described as high end. These have features we don’t particularly want or need at an astronomical price or continued to be delayed from launch. Acer have managed to get their tab out ahead of much of the competition at a favourable price. The Acer Iconia Tab A500 joins those from Motorola and Asus as some of the early Android Honeycomb tablets on the market.

On the design front the Iconia tab is packaged in a stylish brushed aluminium case. The edges of the case are gently bowed to allow for more comfortable handling. The bezel around the screen at the front is fairly broad in comparison to other devices, in many ways this thumb space is useful to prevent smearing the screen. This does give it a larger heavier feel than the Xoom or iPad2 but perhaps that’s the cost of the lower price tag at around $499. Acer has put effort into cramming useful connectivity options into the device. The Iconia has a good selection of connectivity options which include a 3.5mm jack, HDMI, microUSB, USB 2.0.

Acer has bundled a set of gaming, e-reading, multimedia and social networking apps onto the tablet, grouping them in four custom graphical screens. While certain among these are standard on just about any Android tablet, such as the YouTube app, it’s good to have others such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype already installed too. Battery life is good, comparable to that of the Motorola Xoom. Continuous video play depleted the battery at about seven hours but Acer says general use would see a full charge last around 10 hours.

Feature Summary

• OS: Android 3.0 Honeycomb
• Display: 10.1in 1280×800 capacitive touch screen
• CPU: Nvidia Tegra 1GHz Dual Core Processor
• Memory: 1GB DDR2, 16 or 32 GB options
• Cameras: 5Mp rear, 2Mp front
• Connectivity: 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR
• Storage: MicroSD slot up to 32 GB
• Battery: LI-Polymer, 3260mAh, – 7-10 Hours
• Dimensions: 260x177x13mm, 700g

I recently updated my mobile to the LG Optimus 2x or LG-P990. I’d been holding off since late last year. The Nexus S was very tempting but looked over priced for what turned out to be a half baked Gingerbread feature phone. CES and MWC 2011 featured a selection of mouth watering Android phones and tablets. Eventually I set my heart on the LG Optimus 2x . I had read a few reviews good and bad but decided to judge for myself.

On opening the box I could have been mistaken for purchasing an iphone 4. Its obvious LG’s designers have taken some inspiration from Apple in the clean glass unfeature front fascia. Some reviewers have touted this as an uninspiring design but personally I really like the clean feel to it.
The top of the display has a narrow ear piece, front facing camera and proximity sensor (to disable the display when its pressed to your ear) just visible tucked behind the cover. The base has four buttons for menu, home, back and search. The base has a micro USB port, on the right there are two volume rockers, and the top has a power button, HDMI output and 3.5mm audio jack.

On release the LG Optimus 2x shipped with the LG flavoured Froyo 2.2.2. Updates to Gingerbread should come this year once the release becomes more stable. This is the first time I’ve ran a non-stock Android version. I’m now pretty happy with the LG flavoured home screen dialler, gallery, media player and widgets. In comparison to stock its nice having the extra features. The NVIDIA dual core Tegra-2 chipset makes everything feel snappy. The extra power does mean reduced battery life through the day, as long as your not playing Tegra Zone titles all through the day you should make it back home before the battery requires charging. I don’t see any other smartphone with like for like power improving on this.

Given that T-mobile has pinched the same model for its branded T-Mobile 2x it will be a stern candidate for the 2011 thrown along side the Samsung Galaxy II .

Asus will begin rolling out there range of Android 3.0 powered tablets this April ahead of several competitors. One interesting model is the Asus EeePad Transformer. This is a 10.1 tablet is again powered by the Tegra2 1GHz processor with 1GB RAM. Its keyboard dock provides an additional 8hrs battery life. Amazon UK has a pre-order price at £429.99 for April 6th, coming in a good bit cheaper than the iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom.

Technical Details

• Operating System: Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Platform
• Display: 10.1-inch WSVGA IPS capacitive multi touch display built with Corning® Gorilla® Glass
• 1750 viewing angle(1280 x 800)
• Chipset: NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 Mobile Processor
• Memory: 1GB DDR2
• Wireless: 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR
• Storage: 16GB eMMC Flash (Memory expansion via microSD card slot with support for optional cards up to 32 GB (functionality requires future software upgrade)
• Camera: 1.2 megapixel (Front)
• 5.0 Megapixel (Rear)
• Speakers : Built in stereo speaker
• Card Reader: Micro SD Card Reader
• Input / Output: 1 x Mini HDMI, 2-in-1 audio jack (head phone/mic-in jack), internal mic
• Battery Pack: 24.4 W/h Li-polymer battery (up to 8 hours)
• Dimensions: 10.67” x 6.89” x 0.47” –inches (W x D x H)
• Weight: 1.5lbs
• Color: Brown
• Docking Station: KB, Touch pad, USB*2, SD card reader, and Battery

Still no official release date and pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 but a longer teaser video has appeared:

With many of us feeling physical pain at the price tag of the Motorola Xoom and the LG Optimus Pad lets not forget these are high end Tablets. Android Tablets have existed for the past couple of years but the majority of these devices have been shoddy (with the exception of the Galaxy Tab).

Archos have announced a couple of tablets coming in the near future in sub $200 range – sound interesting. The Archos Arnova 10 will be shipping with Android Eclair 2.1 10.1 resistive multi-touch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and a 600MHz ARM9 processor. Its successor in a few months will ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread use a better quality capacitive display and the AEM Cortex-A8 1 GHz processor. The Archos Arnova 10 will be able to playback 720p videos at 30 fps in avi, mp4, mkv, mov and flv file formats with the subsequent version touting 1080p video playback. You’ve got your standard interfaces with USB 2.0, micro SD slot, WiFi b/g, built in speakers and a front facing camera. The device will come with 4 GB of on board storage which can be extended via a micro SD card. All of this fun will measure in at 272 x 152.3 x 13.5 mm ( that’s 10.7 x 6 x 0.5 inches ) and will weigh in at roughly 570 grams (17.6oz). There is also a smaller model the Arnova 8 with an even smaller price tag. No upgrade plans to Honeycomb have been announced yet but sooner or later a custom ROM with Honeycomb will appear.

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The LG Optimus 3D – clearly it won’t improve your Yoga!

LG have finally unveiled their Optimus 3D handset at MWC Barcelona. Its 4.3-inch touchscreen 3D is provided by parallax barrier technology which also allows the 3D effect to be adjusted or turned off. It can also record 3D video footage with the addition of two 5mp cameras. According to CNET, the device can record 3D video at a resolution of 720p, while standard 2D films output at 1080p. An HDMI connection allows users to view their footage on a TV. 3D films can also be uploaded directly to a dedicated 3D YouTube channel.

Front view of the LG Optimus 3D showing the dual cameras.

A dual-core Omap4430 chipset by Texas Instruments powers the device. This is based around the latest ARM Cortex A9 instruction set and a PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator – the same technology that is driving Sony’s NGP games console.The Optimus 3D will ship with three pre-installed titles from Gameloft: Let’s Golf 2, Asphalt Origins and Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance.

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