Rumors say that the iPhone will be in Canada on December 7th and will be offered by Rogers. To back that up there’s a leaked “supposed-to-be-real” advertisement that will offer the iPhone for $499.99 with a three years voice-and-data plan. Guess what, that’s a great marketing move because people have cash to buy lots of things during the Holidays and the moment couldn’t have been better if you consider that preorders will start on November 20th.

Though the chances to materialize are pretty big I think it’s still a rumor, but let’s wait and see. We’ll keep you posted.

via MobileMag

Remember the story about the “$100 laptop”? It seems the project doesn’t respect the initial plan anymore. The price tag has reach $200 now. Perhaps they should reconsider the campaign’s name in the $200 laptop. The actual reality is far from the Nicholas Negroponte’s projections.

After the laptop was priced at $150 in Februry, at $175 in April and $188 two weeks ago, it reached a new level. The XO laptops were put out for sale in lots of 10,000 for $200 a piece. The One Laptop per Child Foundation announced three countries involved in the project till now - Uruguay, Peru and Mongolia. Probably their credibility decreased in the last months, so the deals with other governments failed.

Currently the laptop features a keyboard that switches languages, a video camera, Wi-Fi and Linux software. Microsoft Corp. has agreed to release a compatible Windows XP version for the XO laptop, but we don’t know when it will be ready.

We are looking forward to receive good new about this project, as it could be a great way of increasing the learning skills in poor regions.

via Reuters

I have just bumped into an article about iPhone and iPod skins. Digi Camo, a vinyl design company presented a list of skins for the second-generation iPod shuffle, second- and third-generation iPod nano, iPod classic, iPod touch, and iPhone. They skins are made of a thicker mil vinyl which make them a little stronger and easier to put on.

If you get bored, there is no problem. The Digi Camo skins are easy to remove and don’t leave any residue on your iPhone or iPod. You can choose between 20 different models. Each skin retails for $10, so you could purchase more in case you want something cool for every weekend. Also you have the option to add your name on the skin for an extra fee.

via iLounge

Perhaps you remember the Skypephone. The device is used for free Internet calls and instant messaging. The British carrier 3 is the first one to sell such a mobile. The Skypephone allows free calls for Skype users, but you can’t dial regular numbers like the PC software does. For that you need to use the 3’s voice services. Skype recommends to use its mobile application with unlimited 3G data plans or Wi-Fi to avoid expensive costs.

The Skypephone has the 3 logo engraved below its screen. It is capable to run regular services like any other phone - calls, text messages, mobile web browser and downloading music from 3 MusicStore. Other features are 2-megapixel camera, MPHutchison 3 player, Bluetooth connectivity, 16MB of internal memory expandable through a Micro SD memory card (max 1GB).

“We are optimistic that if you look at one or two years, (we will sell) millions rather than hundreds of thousands, but in the fourth quarter (2007) we are looking at several hundred thousand worldwide,” told Frank Sixt, the finance director of 3-owner Hutchison Whampoa .

The mobile goes for sale on Friday November 2. The retail price will be £49.99 (or $102.6) free of charge. On the other hand if you sign a contract, you will get it free. The company plans to release the Skypephone by the end of the year in Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Macau and Sweden.

via Yahoo News

Did you know that there is a connection between violent behavior and the levels of lead in gasoline? Apparently it increases your cognitive and behavior traits such as aggressiveness, low IQ or impulsivity which is, as you know, very much related to crimes.

An article in The New York Times a few days ago, explained how the Clean Air Act of 1973 for less pollution and smog in the air phased out the leaded gasoline with a result, violent crimes fallen sharply, by 56%. Jessica Wolpaw Reyes, an economist at Amherst College, conducted research on lead poisoning with the main source, gasoline.

Her research compiled a table that linked crimes and lead levels in the air and though I am not sure this isn’t just an accident that these two are correlated Reyes could be right. If she is right, then warnings should be sent to countries that didn’t ban leaded gasoline because their children are just growing up now and violent crimes may increase in the upcoming years.

Research paper (PDF)

This will be considered a milestone in all this Google PageRank buzz, because the last few days showed that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is really on it this time. Annoyed by the fact that people abuse the PR and makes money out of it, the algorithm changed to penalize link farms. This is still an assumption, though having Matt Cutts screaming everywhere about it, we believe this is the case.

So far, Google rewarded blogs that people linked to, with high PageRank and everyone used it as a method of appreciation of how good the blog is. However this changed very sudden with top ranking blogs like Engadget going from PR7 to PR5, AutoBlog going from PR6 to PR4 and DownloadSquad to PR4 down from PR5.

The problem I see now, and TechCrunch mentioned, is with small blog networks that relied on PR in order to make sales. A blog without traffic could sell because of the rank, but now if Google is trying to catch everyone I am not sure if they might close their doors.

This news thrilled me, because even my laptop’s hard drive has only 80GB. But technology never stops. Samsung announced an advanced process to pack the maximum of 16 of the multi level cells just 30 nanometers. That means they are able to deliver 64 gigabits of flash memory onto one chip. The process was called self-aligned double patterning technology (SaDPT).

By using the process described above, Samsung can produce 128 GB NAND memory card. Consequently, the price for memory cards will drop, which is a good thing for the consumers. Also, the high storage cards could replace the traditional hard disks being more efficient. But we have to wait till the technology will be released, perhaps in 2009.

Source

Research in Motion (RIM), which is BlackBerry’s producer, will sell its smartphones in China. The company has already shipped the first BlackBerry transport to China and intend to put them to sale later this year, perhaps close to Christmas holidays.

RIM has signed an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent for the Chinese distribution. The Chinese market has a great potential for increasing the company’s sales. Also, the RIM officials announced the company is interested to ship BlackBerry for the Indian market too. Both China and India are hot prospects for BlackBerry service subscriptions.
RIM said it has over 10 million subscribers and has shipped its 20 millionth handset recently. Although the company has a strong financial background, the Chinese market could be tough. RIM will face the low-cost rivals and a popular service called RedBerry, which I think is a copy of BlackBerry.

via Yahoo News

After many discussions around Apple’s policy of banning third-party developers to produce iPhone compatible applications, Steve Jobs agreed to change the policy. As Apple announced before, this was a measure o security. Being the most advanced phone on the market, the iPhone would have been a serious target for malicious attacks.

However, Apple’s engineers have launched 200 applications for the iPhone’s browser. Even the restriction was lifted, the kit for developers will be available on February, as the company works out how to open up the phone without exposing it to malicious programs. In other words, Apple tries to upgrade the operating system to avoid future problems caused by third-party applications. Nevertheless, the iPhone won’t accept any kind of programs, but only the ones accepted by Apple, suggested Steve Jobs. I think they try to use only signed programs like Nokia does for some mobiles.

via Reuters

Griffin Technology has launched recently a new wireless sound system. The product was released on BestBuy.com, an online shop. The Evolve Wireless Sound System features a base unit dock, two wireless speakers and a RF remote control.

The dock station is compatible with iPod video, iPod photo and 1st- and 2nd-generation iPod nano. The unit recharges your iPod too, as it streams digital stereo sounds. The wireless speakers are powered by built-in lithium-ion batteries, which deliver up to 10 hours of functioning. Evolve Wireless Sound System has auxiliary audio in RCA jacks for alternate audio sources like other MP3 player for example.

You can buy it for $299 at BestBuy.com. (via iLounge)