Sony Ericsson Aino now Remote Playing with European PS3s

We know Sony Ericsson's PS3-lovin' Aino would be hitting European shelves at some point during the month, and now Sony itself has stepped forward to confirm that the handset is on sale. We're hearing that it's selling for £399.99 ($639) sans a contract, and just in case you're wondering why you and your PlayStation 3 should care, the Aino is capable of turning your console on and off, browsing the XMB user interface, accessing DRM-free content on the HDD, shopping for items in the PS3 Store and watching live TV via PlayTV. Hit up the read link for all the nitty-gritty, and be sure to hit your British friend up if you're stuck yearning here in the States.

Adobe Launches Creative Suite 5.5

Adobe has just announced its Creative Suite 5.5. This is a “mid-cycle release” that brings improvements and addresses a number of customers requests before the next major release (supposedly 6.0) comes out, next year (or so). Clearly, the Creative suite is quite big, and there are *a lot* of changes. Here are the few areas that I think you should not miss:

1/ Mobile development: Adobe has improved the “develop once, target many platform” process in Flash. It is now easier to integrate multiple bitmap resolution within a same project for example. Adobe is also releasing a Photoshop SDK that allows developers to create Tablet applications that can access a Photoshop running on PC/Mac. This could be used to turn your tablet into an extension of the computer to display fancy interfaces, but anything is fair game.

2/ Web: JQuery is now supported. It is a popular JavaScript library that developers can use to create interactive user interfaces. Adobe has also made the in-app browser preview better, and reminded us that the company is very much committed to HTML5 and CSS3.

3/ Subscription pricing: from now on, if you “rent” CS apps if you want to. For example, Photoshop CS would cost $35/month. You can use it on two computers at any given time. All you need is to install the software and login with your Adobe ID. To be clear: this is *not* a web-based Photoshop. However, it would be possible to install it on a friend's computer and use it with your password – this could be handy. I would love it if they could extend this licensing check to all their software. I have 3 computers, and the machine-based licensing is a pain in the neck.

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Peel Fruit and iOS app review: channel surfing of the future

There's no shortage of devices that aim to replace your always-missing remote control with your always-present smartphone, and the Peel is one of the more recent and unique entries into the space. A software / hardware combination consisting of a "Peel Fruit" and accompanying iOS app, the package brings a new approach to finding what to watch -- and it's unlike most other smartphone-IR options we've encountered so far. Does it all come together, or are we left wishing for more? Read on past the break to find out!

Hardware

The hardware half of the Peel system consists of the Peel Fruit and accompanying Peel Cable. Designed by Yves Behar, the Fruit resembles a pear, and represents the IR-blasting component of the remote controlling pair. It's meant to sit on a coffee table within a recommended 10-15 foot range away from your TV, all-the-while emitting the necessary commands to perform other control functions issued from the companion Peel app. The Fruit takes a single C battery, and has a purported battery life of about six months -- thanks to its use of the ZigBee communication protocol instead of traditional WiFi.

The Peel Cable plugs into an Ethernet port on your router and into a standard power outlet as well. Since the entire hardware communicates via ZigBee, there should be virtually no network setup needed once your router assigns an IP address to the Peel system. We had some problems getting this to happen at first, but plugging in the Ethernet cable with the router off, and then powering it up seemed to remedy the connectivity issues. In general though, we definitely appreciate the ease of setup that comes with using ZigBee as opposed to dealing with user-unfriendly things like IP addresses and port-forwarding (we're looking at you, Sling).

Software

Once the hardware's in place, it's time to load up the Peel app on your i-device and link your Peel Fruit. The process is pretty straightforward, and involves typing in a five-digit identifier into the app and walking through a quick setup procedure. This is where we hit our first speed bump -- there was no suitable IR code for the Sanyo TV we're using for the review. Subsequently, we had to fake the app into thinking it had a correct TV before it would even let us configure our set-top-box. Thankfully, we didn't have the missing codes problem with our Comcast DVR, and the app pulled in the correct channel lineup for us in Philadelphia. We asked the Peel crew what the procedure would be for folks whose devices weren't supported, and they say they'll add the IR codes to their database within about 24 hours after you give them a call. True to their word, our Sanyo model sprung to life just a few hours later after we received an email from support notifying us that the code had been added.

The Peel app is interesting for what it does -- and what it doesn't. The product's tagline -- "there's something on" -- demonstrates the company's view on content coordination. Rather than providing you with a familiar number pad or even channel up / down buttons, the main screen of the app has smaller frames showcasing programs it thinks you may like. By favoriting and blocking shows and channels, it attempts to build on your tastes over time to more accurately suggest content that you might like. We like the fact that it makes suggestions, and found ourselves watching shows on channels we wouldn't normally have tuned to. Still, the lack of choice is a major setback -- at least with this version of the software. We can't help but wonder why there's no straight up program guide, since it's clearly pulling in that data already.

The app's main screen consists of "top picks," which are presumably coordinated by the demographic information you enter (or choose to opt-out of) during setup. Selecting the 19-24 male group gave us top picks like "Jersey Shore" and "Bones", and we'd imagine that these picks will get better as more and more folks start using the service. The app further breaks down content into TV shows, movies, and sports. Each of these categories is further divided by genre, so you can swipe through and try to find something that suits your mood. The only annoyance when browsing is that it seems to be contextual menu after contextual menu, especially when trying to change channels. There's a handy "Last 5 Channels" button, but only when the controller is toggled into "Playback" mode (as opposed to "Navigation" mode), but we wish that was available in more screens. We also like the option to set reminders from right within the app, so you don't have to worry about missing an upcoming episode or special. The content discovery options here are certainly robust, but many folks will be perturbed by the fact that it lacks a full representation of the remote control it aims to replace.

We got to speak to the Peel guys and raise some of our concerns with the app as it is now, and we have to give them credit for having some good responses to our biggest issues. They told us that 99.9% of the core functionality used on a daily basis is present in the current version of the app, and that oddball buttons like PIP and A, B, C are rarely used. According to them, the app is really designed for tuning to programs and controlling DVR'd content -- and for those two functions it definitely does a good job.

When we asked why there was no channel up or down button, or if there were plans to add a regular program guide, they told us that "it's the show you care about, not the channel number." They do have a point, but we were assured that future releases will address some of these issues (we weren't given specifics). We did find out that an iPad app is in the works, as are apps for Android and Honeycomb specifically, so the Peel won't be iOS only forever. Finally, social sharing options will most likely get beefed up as the app matures. We're envisioning beefed up Twitter and Facebook sharing as well as possible friend following, which will hopefully help refine the suggestions even further.

Wrap-up

The Peel -- at this point in time at least -- is a great concept for folks who don't know what they want to watch, but those who enjoy channel surfing in its current form may find it to be limited. That's not to say it's not useful when you don't know what to watch, but as power TV watchers, we'd like to have some more options. Still, the concept is definitely unique and we're all about finding new interesting stuff instead of watching DVR'ed episodes of "Gossip Girl." Overall, we like the current iteration of the Peel, and we're excited to see what's in store as the little orb starts to invade coffee tables everywhere.

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Banana TV Streams iOS Video, Pictures to Mac

Banana TV enables an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to stream photos and video to a Mac.

One of the coolest gimmicks of iOS is AirPlay, a button you press on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to stream photos, videos and audio to a huge display connected to an Apple TV. Problem is, you can't normally use this nifty feature without your Apple TV (or an AirPort Express, if all you want is audio).

Enter Banana TV, a Mac app that allows you to use AirPlay to beam your videos and photos from an iOS device to a Mac. This way, you can enjoy streaming your media onto a bigger screen even if you don't own an Apple TV.

The best part about Banana TV is it's seamless. Launch the app and it's ready to go, so long as your iOS device and Mac are on the same Wi-Fi network. On your iOS device, open any AirPlay-compatible video or photo, and an icon will appear to stream it via AirPlay. Hit the AirPlay icon and boom, the picture is displayed on your Mac.

This will come useful in many scenarios. Say you're visiting relatives who have a 27-inch iMac, and you want to share photos of your family vacation, stored on your iPhone. Just load Banana TV on their iMac and stream it from your iPhone with AirPlay.

Or let's say you give presentations at work, and the PDFs are stored on your iPhone. Just connect your Mac to the projector, run Banana TV, open the PDFs on your iPhone and hit the AirPlay button. Voila — the image will be showing on the projector, and you can swipe the screen to move between PDFs while you're giving the presentation.

Created by prolific programmer Erica Sadun, Banana TV cost $8 over at BananaTV.net. It's not available in the Mac App Store, probably because Apple wasn't cool with people reverse-engineering the AirPlay code, according to Sadun.

“There's never been anything Apple's built that I haven't wanted to reverse engineer somehow,” Sadun said. “I'm sure there's probably medication for that, maybe therapy.”

Wired.com previously covered Banana TV, which was formerly called AirPlayer, when it was still a work in progress. The near-final version of Banana TV released last week is snappy and fast, as if it came straight from Apple headquarters. It's a must-have app for any Mac customer with an iOS device.

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Tethered iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak now available

Apple released the latest version of its mobile operating system last Friday and within 24 hours, a tethered jailbreak method became available to the public. This should hardly be unexpected, as the Dev Team had said it would wait for iOS 4.3.1 before releasing a jailbreak solution for iOS 4.3 in order to avoid having Apple fix the latest security hole the Dev Team planned to exploit. A “tethered” jailbreak affords users the same ability to customize iOS as the standard jailbreak, but it requires that the device be tethered to a computer in order to boot. An untethered jailbreak is not advisable for most users and the wait for an untethered solution won't be long, so we definitely recommend waiting a few days before jailbreaking your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Sit tight - we all know how fast the Dev Team works.

Sources

Apple iOS 5 To Be Unveiled AT WWDC 2011 But May Launch In Fall!

It may seem a little disappointing to reveal but word is in the air that Apple iOS 5 launch may be delayed considerably as Apple is allegedly planning to postpone it to Fall instead of the summer release.

"Solid Sources" reported TechCrunch of the possible delay in iOS launch. Contrary to everyone's expectations, Apple iOS 5 maybe released in fall despite its scheduled official unveiling at the upcoming WorldWide Developer conference 2011 in June.

As per Apple's tradition, the next generation of the "world's most advanced operating system" should be announced at WWDC 2011 and subsequently released, but reports suggest otherwise. This will therefore cause the iPhone 5 to ship with a version of iOS 4.x instead of iOS 5.

Featured : Possible iPhone 5 Design

According to TechCrunch which broke the news of iOS 5 release date today -

* iOS 5 will launch in the fall and will be a major revamp of the OS.
* It could well be previewed at WWDC, it just won't be released then.
* The iOS 5 launch is also likely to coincide with the release of a new type of iPad, which we previously reported on.
* The new iOS will be heavily built around the cloud, and we could see several new services launch from Apple that take advantage of this.
* Yes, one of those is very likely a "music locker" service. There is also a fall launch aim for this, during Apple's annual music-themed event.
* But much of the cloud stuff will first be talked about at WWDC, Apple's developer event which will take place in June.
* One of the new cloud service elements is likely a location service that focuses on finding friends and family members.
* As we said yesterday, OS X Lion is still on pace for a summer release - some of the new cloud components are likely to be baked into it as well.

If Apple were to launch the iPhone 5 with iOS 4.x instead of iOS 5, a majority of iPhone users will be disappointed for the iOS 5 is expected to be a major revamp of the iOS 4 software version, and we are irresistibly curious to absorb the iOS 5 update once it's released.

Furthermore, rumors reveal that Apple will possibly announced the next-generation iPad (also rumored as iPad 3) in the month of September this year. But, if that is the case Apple will be breaking its cycle of releasing only one iPad model every year.

For now, these revelations about Apple iOS 5 launch and such should be treated as rumors and should be taken with a grain of salt as Apple hasn't commented on the reports or have committed anything officially in this regard. Meanwhile, here's the best iPhone 5 rumor roundup for your perusal — just in case you needed to feast your eyes with one.

We will keep you posted as more details surface. Stay tuned!

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Download Native HTC Compass App for Windows Phone 7

HTC has released digital compass app for HTC Windows Phone 7 devices which is available for download through Marketplace yet not available on HTC Hub.

To play with HTC compass app on WP7 go to Windows Marketplace and download it for free whereas developers with unlcoked phones can grab .XAP file from XDA.

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HSN details Nook Color update for 'mid-April': Android 2.2, Flash, apps and push email

Spent some quality time watching the Home Shopping Network this morning to hear just how the Nook Color will be improved? That's what we thought... but we bit the bullet and tuned in ourselves to get the details for you. Simply put, HSN says Barnes and Noble will start rolling out an over-the-air software package in "mid-April" that will update the Nook Color to Android 2.2, bringing Adobe Flash Player, Angry Birds, and push email of some sort. It'll also apparently include "lots of Nook apps," though the channel's pitchmen only had one to show on air - a kid-friendly sketch pad, with a variety of drawing utensils and colored paper. HSN hosts also claim that customers who purchase the Nook Color today from HSN are "guaranteed to be the very first people updated," though we're not sure we'll take them at their word, considering some of the other fabulous exaggerations we just heard.

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Download Lookout Mobile Security App for Android

Lookout is a security app for Android, developed by XDA member Sonic Design which protects your Android handset from malware and viruses.

Lookout can also help to locate your lost or stolen phone on Google Maps with a Find My Phone feature, and also provides a backup and restore function.

Download Lookout for Android

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Blio e-reading software still alive, will come preloaded on T-Mobile Android devices

Remember Blio? Yes, our memories of this colorful ebook-reading software are starting to fade too, but now T-Mobile's about ready to yank it from the shadows of obscurity with a newly announced partnership. Content provider Baker & Taylor will be responsible for installing the Blio Android app on "select future products from T-Mobile USA" and populating it with compelling content. The Blio store has grown to now encompass a healthy three million titles, both free and paid, and should you have the Windows version of its software, you'll get the sweet automation of having it sync with your mobile device as well. To get your reading started nice and early, jump past the break for the full press release.

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NOOKcolor to receive software update this April

The Home Shopping Network website did suggest that the NOOKcolor e-book reader is going to receive a major software update this coming April, and while the product description lacks an explanation on what will be included within the update, we do know that it was mentioned that Adobe Flash will be supported – so with the powers of inference that are in our hands, this might mean an operating system update that will finally hit Android 2.2 Froyo (or higher, that would be better). At the present moment however, the NOOKcolor will ship with Android 2.1 Eclair, and that doesn't do Flash at all. The Home Shopping Network also has their customers at the top of their priority list, making it available to them first. Does this mean sales of the NOOKcolor will come to a standstill between now and April?

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Opera Announces and Shows Off New Browsers at CTIA 2011 (Video)

Insanely popular web browser Opera came into CTIA 2011 with arms swinging, ready to throw punches at the competition with its latest updates to both its Opera and Opera Mini browsers, which are available for almost every featurephone and smartphone platform sold today (the new versions are not yet available on iOS).

An Opera rep was happy to show off the latest enhancements to the browsers to me.

VIDEO

Opera Mini 6 is the latest browser for J2ME and is The new browser brings some sorely needed improvements such as higher speeds and pinch-to-zoom (on touchscreen phones that support pinch-to-zoom functionality, that is). It also offers faster rendering and smoother scrolling, as well as a handy button to share what you're looking at via Facebook or Twitter.

Opera Mobile 11 can be downloaded on smartphones such as



Full press release:

Can't get no satisfaction from the mobile Web? Then you will fall head over heels for the new Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers launched today, now also available to cherish on tablets. Opera's mobile browsers are the world's most popular, the weapon of choice for 100 million people worldwide, used on more than 3000 devices. If you still haven't found what you are looking for, there is an Opera out there available for you. Download to your phone from: m.opera.com and don't stop til you get enough.

Improved scrolling, panning and zooming make the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers the sweetest thing to hit mobile devices since the Opera Mini 5 browser.

Feel free to twist and shout now that Opera's features include true pinch-to-zoom on devices that support pinch.

When you find something, let it be … shared. The new versions feature a share button, so you can easily post, Tweet (twiddly-diddly-deet), or just shout it out loud on Facebook, vKontakte or My Opera.

Is it any wonder? Opera for tablets brings smooth browsing to your tablet PC with a brand new interface that is sure to rock you like a hurricane.

"If you've lost that loving feeling for the Web on your phone or tablet, don't let it bring you down. Just try one of our browsers," said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. "The sun always shines on TV, but the Opera browser shines on more than 3000 devices."

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Google's Chrome 11 includes text-to-speech, accelerated 3D CSS

In a recent blog post, Google announced two new features it would be adding to the beta builds of its Chrome 11 Web browser: speech-to-text and hardware accelerated 3D CSS. With the newly included HTML speech-to-input API, developers can enable Web applications to translate voice input into text. “When a web page uses this feature, you simply click on an icon and then speak into your computer's microphone,” writes Google. “The recorded audio is sent to speech servers for transcription, after which the text is typed out for you.” The company has also added a GPU-accelerated CSS engine. And if you're looking for a more superficial change, the icon has been updated to look more contemporary, too.

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Windows Phone 7 Launch Scheduled for Oct. 11

Microsoft will officially unveil Windows Mobile 7 in the high-profile events in New York on Oct. 11. Microsoft hopes Windows Mobile 7, the user of Android and to win iPhone.

Microsoft launches Windows Mobile 7 in the high-profile events in New York on Oct. 11. One of the confirmed media Invitation sent AT & T obligations as a leading carrier for the upcoming smartphone platform, a separate Microsoft site suggests that it is representative of the T-Mobile also be present.

Opening event will begin with a press conference this morning hosted Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT & T Mobility and Consumer Markets. After that, Microsoft will host "device window" with AT & T smartphones with Windows Mobile 7

Toward evening, Microsoft is "Open House" event, where many of its future products, such as Xbox and Windows Mobile 7 Kinect display host.

During the day, invite the media only mentions AT & T, a page on its corporate web Microsoft, lists of sites as an agenda item: "T-Mobile reps now shows its part and its services you will." T-Mobile reportedly preparing smartphone on Windows Mobile HTC HD7 7 for the U.S. version.

Microsoft previously confirmed that Windows Mobile 7 will be a GSM-based mobile networks such as AT & T first, before going on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) carriers, including Verizon is available in the first half of 2011. In the 11-meter events in October will AT & T executives are likely timing of the actual device, although earlier reports suggested early November the frame.

"In the development of Windows Mobile 7, we put high quality customer experience, above all," a Microsoft representative wrote in a Sept. 17 letter to eWEEK. "In line with this objective, Microsoft has to provide the GSM version of the first attention in the world, and then a large versions of CDMA in the first half of 2011."

In September, Microsoft released the final version of its Windows Mobile Developer Tools, which it hopes to force the developers of applications for the platform design. Twitter, Netflix, OpenTabe, Flixster and Travelocity are some of the highest profile companies have plans, applications available for Windows Mobile 7 on its release.

Microsoft will spend nearly half a billion dollars in the marketing of Windows Mobile 7 after the initial deployment of the German Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg. "It does make or break for them. You must do everything to take to stay in the game," he told the blog TechCrunch on August 26. "You do not have to share with Android and Apple take as long as they can to attract enough consumers to switch to the phone.

Nevertheless, in fierce competition with Google Android devices and iPhone Apple as a whole, which is Microsoft's smartphone market share has driven in the past few quarters is charged, though the company a franchise used to be a convenient part of the market, thanks primarily a business decision, an increase of the other platforms, see the corresponding dip in user Microsoft.