Samsung Dart Coming To T-Mobile; Galaxy Mini Variant?

A leaked T-Mobile roadmap mentioned that mid-June would bring the carrier the Samsung T499 Tass, which was speculated to be similar to the Galaxy Mini S5570. Now it looks like the smartphone may be getting a hardware refresh along with a new name, with the reveal of a very Mini-like Samsung Dart. 

According to site Cell Phone Signal, which uncovered the photos of the Dart, the smartphone's specs line up with those already known for the Galaxy Mini. That includes a tiny low-resolution QVGA screen, and like the Mini, we expect the Dart to only have a 600MHz processor. Those specs don't just make for a small phone, they should help make for a cheap one, as well. That's important, because another T-Mobile roadmap shows the Dart destined for T-Mobile's prepaid service. 

Unlike the original Galaxy Mini, the Dart features capacitive Android buttons, but everything else looks unchanged. If T-Mobile launches the Dart with a price point similar to what the Mini is going for, we could see an off-contract Android for something around $200, quite the feat when other Androids cost more even with a two-year service agreement. We should know for sure quite soon, as the Dart's tipped for a June 15 release. 

Is Asus Padfone a copycat of Always Innovating’s Smart Book? [Video]

The device everyone talked about in the past few days already existed since 2009, made by an unknown company.

There’s no doubt that the Asus Padfone has been the most talked gadget from Computex 2011. Some love it, some find it not too practical, but everybody (including us) wrote a lot about it. Now we found out that a similar device already existed since 2 years, but without a similar press coverage!

In fact Always Innovating, a company based in San Francisco and founded by French Grégoire Gentil, combined the two main “innovations” by Asus in a unique terminal already in 2009: the Smart Book is made of a touchscreen tablet which can dock a smartphone and that can be connected to a keyboard, transforming it into a laptop.

Gentil already pointed out the similarities between the Asus Transformer and his own Touch Book, and now Asus seems to have taken again inspiration from the French man’s ideas. See a brief video explaining the Always Innovating Smart Book and notice the similarities.

With an Asus Padfone you can… [Video]

In a promo video, Asus shows us all you can do with its new device.

Wanna get free coffee on the way to the office, steal an umbrella without being caught, bother couples looking for intimacy and skip the bus line? All these and more with the new Asus Padfone! And if you want to keep out some old fashion girls who still listen to schlager music don’t worry: get your Padfone out and they are suddenly replaced with hotter looking ones! Have a look at the video.

0

Asus Padfone is official: ready for Christmas, hints at Ice Cream Sandwich [Video]

More details about the latest Asus double gadget.

Press photos of the Asus Padfone already leaked yesterday, and today at Computex the Taiwanese company presented officially its latest twin devices giving us some more detail. There’s no fuctioning units yet, only mock-ups, and the release is expected for the Christmas holidays.

Technically speaking, the phone has a 4.3-inch display while the pad is 10.1-inch with a 1280x800 pixel resolution. The shared camera is a 5Mpx with autofocus but no flash, while both parts have a front-facing camera. There’s a unique SIM cards giving 3G connectivity to the slate once the phone is inserted in its dock, and the pad’s battery can recharge the phone if necessary. No word on processor and memory yet, while for the Android version Asus said it will have the latest available giving hints on Ice Cream Sandwich. Have a look at an hands-on video made by the guys from Engadget.

Apple Updates iBooks App, Adds iBookstore To iTunes

Besides adding an iBookstore section in the iTunes software allowing you to purchase books from your computer the same way you'd do with music, videos, apps or other content, Apple has also updated its iBooks app for the iPhone to version 1.3. 

The software bump to version 1.3 brings a new read-aloud feature available in select children's books from the iBookstore which automatically reads back the text. "The read-aloud feature uses a real narrator to read the book to you, and in some books, it will even highlight the words as you read along". 

Additionally, embedded audio and video in enhanced books is automatically played back in the new version which also brings some bugfixes and performance enhancements. Grab the update from your AppStore's Updates section or by following the source link below.