Ematic releases $119 ICS Tablet

If your loved ones want something, you should never buy them a cheap version or a knock-off of that. It's like buying a kid a used Gamecube when they want a Xbox 360, or buying your girlfriend a toy ring when she wants diamonds. Even though you may mean well, the receiver will feel cheated and unfulfilled by the gift that's just not quite what they wanted.

Budget tablets are exactly the kind of gifts that will hurt your relationships. Ematic's new eGlide Steal tablet sounds pretty good on paper: Android 4.0 ICS, 1GB of RAM, 1GHz processor, 4GB of internal storage, microSD slot… All this for just $119. Considering the price and the maker though, it's very likely to come with a terrible display (possibly a resistive touchscreen), weak plastic casing, sluggishness (1GHz processor from unspecified maker sounds very iffy), and general shoddiness. This is a terrible back-to-school or graduation gift. If you are a parent, please don't buy your kid an eGlide when he or she asks for an iPad.

Sean

iPhone 5 parts leak, shows off metal derriere on camera

9to5Mac published photos of the next iPhone, months before the expected launch in the fall. Though it is possible that we are looking at parts from a prototype, these parts seem to match up with what we've been hearing about the new iPhone. The photos show a partially metal back, smaller dock connector, larger screen, and a new location for the 3.5mm headset jack. Did another Apple engineer get hammered and lose these parts at a bar? More pictures after the break.

Winston

Source: 9to5Mac

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Apple announces WWDC keynote - June 11th at 10AM

Apple has officially announced the date and time for World Wide Developers Conference keynote - June 11th at 10AM. Apple has not announced who will be making the keynote, but we can look forward to seeing Apple executives on stage with CEO Tim Cook headlining.

Apple is expected to unveil new details on the next version of iOS, Mac OS X Mountain Lion, and redesigned MacBook Pros at the keynote. It's gonna be a packed show, folks.

Sean

TELUS HTC Amaze getting ICS update this week

It makes us all warm and fuzzy inside when companies keep their promise on delivering software updates. HTC is doing exactly that with the anticipated Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for the TELUS HTC Amaze 4G. Although TELUS announced last week that the update would come today, the word is that "there's been a last minute delay in the ICS software upgrade" and that the update has been pushed to "the end of this week." You can grab the update at the source link when it goes up. If you're interested in the HTC Amaze 4G, read our review of the phone here.

Charlie 

Source: TELUS Android software updates

Facebook reportedly building a Smartphone with ex-Apple engineers

Facebook has had a go at building Facebook-branded smartphones already, but the latest reports suggest that they may have a more ambitious project in the oven. The New York Times reporter Nick Bilton claims that Facebook has hired "more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad" in order to build their own smartphone. 

We've already seen the HTC Status, Facebook-branded smartphone with a dedicated Facebook button, but found the integration underwhelming and superfluous. Well, Winston liked it a lot. Facebook seems to have come to realization that they could not build a full-featured Facebook phone on platforms of others.

Facebook recently released Facebook Camera app for iOS, and previously released a standalone Facebook Messenger app. They also have an app store inside Facebook now. Facebook's expansion into software in the recent months sprouted rumors that Facebook may be working on a smartphone.

Facebook's primary income is in advertising, but they do not have a big presence in mobile advertisements in the current market. Building their own mobile platform with more robust Facebook features and built-in advertisements seems like a natural move for the growing company. Even if a fraction of their 900 million users buy into their platform, they'd have a blockbuster success on their hands. And it seems like they have decent talents to get the job done.

Charlie

Source: New York Times

CloudPic Mobile - Camera to phone with a Bluetooth dongle

DSLR cameras take great pictures, but most of them lack network connectitivy. Smartphones have great social features, but they can't take as nice pictures as dedicated imaging devices. How can we combine cameras with cameras? Introducing CloudPic Mobile.

CloudPic Mobile is a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle that plugs into your camera's mini USB port. The dongle syncs to the CloudPic app (for iOS and Android) and sends those pictures to your phone/tablet at 27Mbps. Thanks to the lighting fast transfer speed of Bluetooth 4.0, the transfer should appear near instant. Once you have the picture in your mobile device, you are free to retouch it and send it to your favorite social site. All of this for just $35 on Kickstarter.

There are alternative methods of moving photos from your camera to your phone/tablet - Eye-Fi memory cards and iPad Camera connection kit, to name a few - but CloudPic Mobile is the only one that gets the job done cheaply and wirelessly. This project is very close to reaching its goal on Kickstarter. Do your part and give it the last boost! 

Sean

Source: CloudPic Mobile (Kickstarter)

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Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 available

Starting today, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users can jailbreak their latest iOS 5.1.1 software to run unapproved apps! Greenpois0n Absinthe 2.0 is now available, and it can jailbreak A4-powered devices (iPad 1 and iPhone 4) and A5-powered devices (iPad 2, iPad 3, iPhone 4S) with a simple click of a button. The only device it doesn't support is the new iPad 2 models with Apple's newer 32-nanometer chipset. Click on the source link to get your jailbreak.

Winston

Source: Jailbreak-Untethered

KaKaoTalk comes with free calling

Korean mobile messaging app KakaoTalk now comes with free international voice chat between its users, allowing millions of iPhone and Android users to talk freely on 3G and WiFi. KakaoTalk is incredibly popular in South Korea, boasting a 98 percent attachment rate to smartphones in a country with over 50 percent smartphone penetration. This means about half of the whole population uses the messaging app. 

Interestingly enough, the voice chat feature will not be introduced to users in Korea due to pressure from the cell operators. This means the 36 million Korea-based users will be left out of the new feature that 9.2 million international users will be enjoying. If you'd like to try the new VOIP feature on KakaoTalk, download the free application at the links below.

Sean

Source: KakaoTalk - iOS App Store - Google Play - BlackBerry

Samsung Galaxy S III launching on June 20th, says Best Buy

Best Buy has a knack for leaking product launch dates whether manufacturers want to announce it or not, and they certainly didn't disappoint us this time. MobileSyrup was able to take a screen grap of the Best Buy Canada web page showing the June 20th date for the Samsung Galaxy S III launch on Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Virgin Mobile. The launch date is in line with what we've heard from Samsung so far, so this date seems solid. MobileSyrup also reports that the pre-orders will go live on May 30th, so mark that date on your calendar.

By the way, isn't in strange how severely inept Best Buy is at keeping secrets? They've got to be the leakest company ever. Perhaps this is a controlled leak from Best Buy or Samsung... Whoa, conspiracy!!

Charlie

Source: MobileSyrup

Malkovich, iPhone 4S. Malkovich.

Malkovich, Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich.

Malkovich.

Winston

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