Microsoft to release Zune Phone this Month!

To counter Google's Nexus One

Microsoft did not do so well with the Zune music player, for obvious reasons, and the fact that Apple outdid it in every possible way. Now the software giant is ready to take on the mobile market with the Zune Phone.
Nothing is official but very reliable sources suggest that Microsoft is indeed prepping up the Zune phone to release this month during the 2010 Mobile World Congress. There's been a lot of secrecy surrounding the project and Microsoft has been absolutely tight lipped about the Zune Phone, and at times has even denied developing the gadget. The Zune Phone may likely be based on the original music player and would be powered by the NVIDIA Tegra processor. Safe to say there would be those standard bells and whistles loaded on the phone, with one or two extra smart phone capabilities to rival the other phones on the market like the iPhone, Droid and the Nexus One.
The Tegra platform was used in the Zune HD player and also in upcoming tablets. The Zune Phone has been given a lot of codenames as 'Project Pink and the 'Microsoft Zune Phone Experience'. It it possible that the Zune phone would run Windows Mobile 7 and incorporate the Zune software just like Apple's iPhone runs the iPod software. What would you like to see in the Zune Phone?

Super Thin LCDs have arrived

They're bendable too!

Gone are the days of plasma screens, OLED TVs and even LCDs - its the bendy new screens from Minority Report and Avatar are on their way to hog the market.
According to reports, scientists from a Japanese consortium of 13 companies and institutions are working to develop super-thin, flexible LCDs by using plastic film instead of glass substrates. Some of the companies in the consortium include giants like Hitachi and Sharp. However one particular member, Japan's Technology Research Association for Advanced Display Materials have suggested that usage of multiple layers of plastic film in order to display colors are a good alternative to using glass substrates. Of course the positioning of the layers is not simple and is a problem but can tackled if the bigwigs set their minds to it.
According to the association, the 'new high-precision production technique combines color filters with other types of thin film'. Fewer processes are required by the production method, and as a result producers need less equipment. Also, the process is good for the environment too, as CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions can be reduced by a massive 75 percent. What's more, the new production technique would result in reduction of energy consumption by 70 percent.
The consortium on Monday revealed a bendable 3.5-inch LCD which is 0.49mm thick and weighs 7g as a first milestone. When bent, the LCD's quality of the color image drops. A superior, more commercial version is slated to release in 2012, and the consortium says that the technology would become mainstream soon after.

The Google Tablet!

Will it kill Apple's iPad?

In the last week of January the world was witness to Apple's iPad, which was supposed to revolutionise the tablet market and blur the line between Netbooks and smart phones. Of course that didn't happen, but no fretting - Google is ready with its own version of the Tablet.
The internet is rife with pictures of how the Google Tablet SHOULD look like, below are two more images, and the photos don't seem too far fetched at all. What's more, the photos were also posted to the official Chromium site. In case you didn't already know, Chromium is the open source project behind Chrome and ChromeOS), but it is not actually part of Google. You'd be interested to know that the mockups were put designed by Glen Murphy, Google Chrome's designer. Vis a vis, the Google Tablet would look pretty much like this.
The other interesting titbit is that Google is not doling out just one Tablet, there are multiple tablets in the reckoning for release in 2010, what with Google working with a number of hardware partners like Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba. There would, however, be one champion tablet with Google's brand name, much like the Nexus One (which was designed by HTC). Given our well documented hate for the iPad, we would like to see Google incorporate Flash and USB support on the tablet. A camera wouldn't hurt either. Its got to be worth the $499+ price tag after all. A Google tablet with those three features alone would shut Steve Jobs up.