iPhone 3GS Gets HD Video Recording Hack

Apple didn't want you to have this one, but you can hack it in yourself.

One of the new features that Apple introduced in the iPhone 4 was HD video recording, allowing users to capture 720p video from their handsets. It's a great new feature, but hackers have found a way to enable that feature on the iPhone 3GS.

It seems that iPhone 3GS with its similar CPU and GPU has enough power to pull HD video from the 3 megapixel sensor in the main camera.

Those who have iPhone 3GS and are adventurous enough to jailbreak and dive into the system files can turn on video recording at 1080×800 at 30fps at up to 20Mbps, which is a huge jump over the default 640×480 at 3Mbps.

Check out Redmond Pie for the procedure if you want to get some new tricks from that older iPhone.

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SingTel and Samsung Annouces Launch of Samsung Galaxy Tab

SingTel and Samsung Electronics today announced that the eagerly anticipated Galaxy Tab will be available in Singapore only to SingTel customers from 13 Nov 2010.

The Galaxy Tab allows users to enjoy PC-like web-browsing and multimedia content on a striking 7-inch display. Users can stay connected via voice and video calls, emails, SMS/MMS and social networks on the move. Powered by the Android 2.2 operating system, the Galaxy Tab supports the latest Adobe Flash Player and is able to play music and HD video in a wide range of formats.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s Executive Vice President of Consumer Group, said: “SingTel is committed to bringing the latest innovative products to our customers. Earlier this year, we created waves by being the first to launch the Samsung Galaxy S smart phone. We are now proud to be the first to introduce an exciting new category of mobile multimedia devices (MMD) to Singapore. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is the first device of this category and we expect many more to come.

“The Galaxy Tab changes the way people look at mobile devices, as it combines the benefits of smart phones and laptops into a single, highly portable multimedia device. It provides a fresh new way for our customers to enjoy content and services on the move. I believe this new category of devices will be very popular this Christmas!”

Mr Moon Sung Hyun, Managing Director, Samsung Asia, said: “Samsung recognises the growth potential of this new segment and the needs of today’s discerning consumers. To address these needs, we have developed a device that is best in its class, the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab brings all of Samsung's leading innovations together to provide users with a revolutionary mobile computing experience. We believe that the Galaxy Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market and are pleased to be partnering with SingTel to bring this innovation to consumers in Singapore. With the Galaxy Tab, consumers will be able to maximise their online experience and stay connected to work, friends and family, no matter where they are.”

New interactive way to enjoy content

SingTel has developed a wide range of innovative apps to bring the best out of the Galaxy Tab’s 7-inch display and rich multimedia capabilities.

With SingTel’s new De!ite app, users can download and view a wide selection of Singapore’s most loved magazines. This includes popular titles such as Hardware Magazine, Australasia Scuba Diver and ZbBz. Besides its basic reading function, De!ite also allows readers to perform keyword searches, make side notes and share their favourite excerpts on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, customers will enjoy one-stop convenience with all magazine purchases charged to their monthly SingTel bill.

To keep customers entertained on the go, the Galaxy Tab is pre-loaded with SingTel’s award-winning AMPed social music service and MobileTV video streaming service. Customers will also be able to catch the football action of the Barclay’s Premier League.

SingTel’s exCiteTV service for the home has been adapted for the new category of devices, starting with the Galaxy Tab. This new service, called exCite Video, allows users to enjoy the widest range of videos that the Internet has to offer. It also incorporates a powerful search engine that brings together the latest and best videos on the web.

Ideal for the office and the home

The Galaxy Tab is the ideal business productivity tool for today’s increasingly mobile workforce. Customers can use it to access cloud computing services such as SingTel’s OneOffice solution, which offers email, shared documents, web hosting, e-fax, calendars, scheduling and collaboration tools via the web.

SingTel’s Roam Track app will also be pre-loaded into the Galaxy Tab. This app enables users to monitor their overseas mobile roaming expenses and alerts them when charges have exceeded a pre-defined level. Customers can also enjoy tremendous cost savings on their overseas calls with the GD121 app. This provides easy access to SingTel’s popular GlobalDial 121 service.

With dual WiFi and 3G capabilities, the Galaxy Tab is perfect for home use. Users can switch easily between WiFi and 3G, thus enabling them to enjoy seamless ‘always-on’ connectivity, even when they leave the home.

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Apple overtakes RIM in phone sales

Research in Motion (RIM) has been squeezed out to fifth place as Apple has become the fourth largest mobile phone vendor on the planet.

According to IDC's quarterly statistics, Apple and RIM posted the highest growth rates out of the top five vendors. However, it wasn't enough to save RIM's skin as the company fell out of the top four. Apple blindsided RIM with 1.7 million more units sold. That still leaves Nokia in first place by a huge margin with Samsung and LG in second and third.

The drop to fifth will hurt RIM but it will smart all the more because the company is losing much needed ground, in particular in sales of Iphones to the great unwashed. Both companies are pushing into each other's product space with RIM consumerisng its portfolio and Apple heading in the other direction, getting its products seen as viable business tools.

The handbags at dawn rivalry came to a head recently with an astounding claim from a reality distorting Steve Jobs. The INQUIRER reported last week that Jobs said during Apple's third quarter earnings call that RIM wouldn't catch up now that Apple had overtaken itin phone sales. Does Jobs not know that sales can go up as well as down? In the great scheme of phone sales, 1.7 million is a mere whisker.

While Apple and RIM are fighting tit-for-tat battles, both firms have lost sight of the bigger picture. Neither has a snowball's chance in hell of catching Nokia's 32.4 per cent market share and a 98 million sales lead. But who will get that information through Jobs' reality distortion field?

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Google Nexus Two may be Samsung Galaxy S with front camera

The recently uncovered Nexus Two may be a relatively modest phone if unveiled next week, a reported hands-on with a prototype hinted this evening. Backing rumors that the phone is made by Samsung, a source with purported access described it as resembling a touch-only Galaxy S but with a front camera and tapering on both the front and back. It may go so far as to include the same four-inch Super AMOLED screen, Gizmodo was told, but the build quality would be a step down from the Nexus One's metal to glossy plastic.

Software would likely be the distinctive feature. The device, whose name may change if it's released as expected, would be the first shipping hardware with the just-finished Gingerbread release of Android. Likely to be called Android 2.3, it should have a video chat feature similar to what's found in Gmail and with at least a passing resemblance to Apple's FaceTime. Many other features are still mysteries, though tight integration with Google TV and extra visual polish are probable. Samsung would keep to the stock Android rather than depend on the TouchWiz UI it runs on its usual Galaxy S phones.

The existence of the phone still has its doubts given official denials, but Samsung's November 8 event is due to center around an Android device and is unusual given that Samsung has already unveiled most of its main devices so far. The only other main candidate is the Continuum, a dual-screen, Verizon-only model.

When Google introduced the Nexus One, it had tried to position the device both as a way of shaking up the traditional carrier model but also as a form of rival to the iPhone that would have one company control both the hardware and the software. It was pulled half a year later after low sales and a lack of exposure, but Google may be eager to avoid repeating mistakes with retail launches and much more public attention.

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Opera Mini 5.1 beta hits Symbian, and it's a native app

Why would you prefer the trimmed down Opera Mini over the vastly superior Opera Mobile browser is beyond us, but if you do, here comes some good news. The Norwegian company just released the Opera Mini 5.1 and you can take it for a spin right away.

Of course you could use Opera Mini 5.1 on Symbian even before that but that was the Java version and now we are talking some native coding.

The new version promises improved start-up and page loading times as well as better performance when scrolling. It also lets you use whatever text input options your device offers (Swype, anyone?) and comes with new fonts that should be easier on the eye.

The final new feature of Opera Mini 5.1 for Symbian is the option to set a default access point once and for all, which puts paid to all those annoying dialogs.

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