Rumors of an Amazon tablet have been rife for months and months. Last I recalled, it started at the end of last year out of nowhere. This morning, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos confirmed that yes, the device does exist, and it will be going on sale November 15, and he just showed to the world Amazon’s very first attempt at the tablet world at their press conference, the 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet.

Very much a member of the Kindle family (Kindle leads to Fire, get it?), the Fire looks a lot like the Kindle Touch that was launched together earlier on this morning. However, there are some notable differences. With a darker color, the body of the Fire is closer to the charcoal grey color of the old Kindle than the silvery-white hue we’re seeing in the new Kindle and Kindle Touch models, and it’s also got a 7-inch display instead of a 6-inch screen. Oh and by the way, the rumors regarding the display were true — this is the first ever full-color Kindle.

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Two yet-to-be-announced Cedarview Atom CPUs, the D2700 and the D2500, are now officially listed as available for tray purchases. Both versions are clocked higher than their predecessors, but are offered at lower prices.

The D2700 arrives with 2.13 GHz and support for four threads, while the D525 was available with four threads support and 1.80 GHz. The D2500 is clocked with 1.86 GHz, supports only two threads and will replace the D425 with 1.80 GHz.

Intel also responds to criticism that its Atom processors are too expensive. The D2700 has a tray price of $52 and the D2500 carries a $42 price tag. The D525 is currently offered for $63.

The Cedarview processors are still in a lofty price range, even if we hear from Intel that these new processors may be substantially faster than their 45 nm counterparts. For tablet applications, we already know that good-enough processors dominate the market and Intel will have to come much closer to the $20 to $30 price range to have a greater chance to become a rival for ARM implementations.

If you’re rocking Windows Phone 7, there’s a good chance you’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of Windows Phone 7.5, also known as Mango. For the impatient, the fact that this update is being rolled out slowly is probably particularly painful. WPCentral reports that it’ll take up to a month for everyone to get Mango, so you could potentially be waiting weeks. However, there is a way to force the update and it’s not that difficult, if you’re willing to take the risk.

According to WPCentral, the trick is disconnecting your internet for just a couple of seconds. Sound weird? Yeah, we thought so, too, but here’s how it works: Connect your Windows Phone to a PC and launch the Zune software. If the software tells you there’s no update available, you can force the update by clicking another button (WPC says any of the options above or below the word ‘Update’ will do). After that, you’ll want to click the ‘Update’ button again and then briefly disconnect your computer from the internet 1-2 seconds later. If you get the same ‘your phone is already up-to-date’ message, you didn’t disconnect fast enough. After about 30 seconds or so, a pop-up should appear telling you that an update is available.

You’ll likely need to do this a few times, as WPC says there are two pre-Mango updates, which are 7392 and 7403. After you’ve forced 7403 your phone should start automatically installing 7720 (Mango). If not, you’ll need to force the update using the instructions above.

SOURCE via WPCentral

There have been some rather wacky ideas such as cutting the audio plug in half, but there have been rather ingenious thoughts that prove how serious Apple is about its product design as well. Most of these approaches relate to ideas that apparently have been sparked by the need of a more compact design, even if a specialized manufacturer does not offer it.

A new patent application that describes a multi-pane circuit board may be one such example. To save space, Apple seems to be thinking about replacing traditional cables that connect circuit boards with flexible circuit boards. The purpose of these flexible boards is to transmit data and power between two boards – and to reduce the bill of materials and assembly cost of the circuit boards in its mobile devices.

From the patent application: “The flexible [board] can be deflected or twisted to connect first circuitry on the multi-plane rigid circuit board to second circuitry associated with another device component. The flexible member can be formed as an integral component of the multi-plane rigid circuit board, i.e., the flexible member and the multi-plane rigid circuit and the flexible member share a common substrate.”

The document frequently refers to design advantages and mentions specifically that “the advantages of the invention are numerous.” However, Apple refers to only one particular advantage: replacing flex cables.

SOURCE via USPTO

Akitio just announced their SK-3501 Super-S3 desktop hard drive enclosure, which wraps a 3.5-inch drive in an aluminum shell.

The stackable enclosure comes with a combination interface for eSATA, Firewire 800 (x2) and USB 3.0. Akitio uses a heat sink for passive cooling and integrated a perforated front panel to dissipate hot air. The design and support for USB 3.0 does not come cheap: Akitio charges $150 for the pretty aluminum case that may even look nice sitting next to an iMac.

For those who couldn’t care less about the industrial design of the enclosure, but simply want the USB 3.0, there are options from about $30 on the street.

SOURCE via Akitio PR

The German edition of the Financial Times recently reported that Intel and Samsung may be merging the failed MeeGo OS with LiMo and create a new Linux-based operating system with strong HTML5 support to support their hardware platforms.

This report may have been confirmed by an announcement that the LiMo Foundation and the Linux Foundation will building a new open source platform called Tizen, which is scheduled for a Q1 2012 release. The OS will be targeting smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems. There has been no official confirmation that Intel and Samsung are, in fact, the major industry forces behind this new platform.

Intel’s MeeGo hopes died with Nokia’s decision to dump all efforts and focus on Windows Phone. Previously, Intel promoted Moblin Linux with its first generation Atom processors with Silverthorne core in 2008. Moblin was based on Asianux, which included components of RedFlag Linux, Miracle Linux and HannSoft.

So far, Intel has not had much luck with its operating system ideas, but Tizen could be of a different caliber as it appears to be backed by Samsung as well. If that is the case, however, there may be new rumors what will happen to HP’s WebOS, as Samsung was rumored to be one of the bidders to acquire the software. Perhaps we should start thinking into the direction of other platform companies, including Qualcomm?

People curious about the forthcoming Amazon tablet, and more importantly, curious to see if it will actually have useful features, might have reason to check it out. At least if they’re into fashion, golf or travel magazines. According to All Things Digital, Amazon has reached an agreement to sell digital versions of Conde Nast, Hearst Publishing and Meredith magazines on their tablet.

This largely continues an already fruitful relationship between the publishers and Amazon, and reportedly is similar to Apple’s 70/30 split of proceeds from iPad magazine sales. The elephant in the room is that Time Warner has yet to sign on with Amazon, though both parties suggest a deal is imminent by year’s end, ensuring a steady flow of bland news to a Time Magazine-hungry public.

Amazon already claims to be the world’s largest online retailer, with over 34 billion in sales in 2010. With that market advantage taken along with this publishing deal, the launch of their Android-based tab might represent the real competition for Apple’s iPad.

It also comes with a free subscription to Amazon Prime, and a built-in sales platform that actually rivals iTunes has the potential to offer tough competition, or at least keep Amazon in the game until their rumored bigger tablet drops sometime next year.

SOURCE via CNET