On Friday, Qualcomm introduced two new additions to its Snapdragon S4 class of mobile processors: the MSM8625 and the MSM8225 chipsets. These two SoCs will come packed with dual-core CPUs clocked up to 1 GHz, the Adreno 203 GPU and an integrated 3G modem.

However the best part about the new Snapdragons is that they are hardware and software compatible with the older MSM7x27A and MSM7x25A family of chipsets, making it easy for manufacturers of low-end smartphones to migrate from S1 to S4 designs, expanding their product lines in a cost effective way. Essentially, this means handset makers will be able to swap the faster SoCs into existing designs.

In addition to the new SoCs, Qualcomm has also launched the third-generation of its Qualcomm Reference Design ecosystem program (QRD) so that third party device manufacturers can develop differentiated high volume smartphones with lower development costs and a faster time to market. It comes with a “comprehensive set of software and hardware components” that are pre-tested and optimized for Qualcomm’s chips to help accelerate the overall design process.

“This allows device manufacturers to focus their engineering resources on developing value-added features that will help make their high-volume smartphone stand out from the competition,” the company said. “The QRD ecosystem program is designed to help device manufacturers developing products for regions whose networks are evolving from 2G to 3G and high volume smartphones are becoming increasingly popular.”

On Friday Qualcomm said the MSM8625 and MSM8225 chipsets will be available on its third generation QRD development platform in the first half of 2012 in addition to being available as standalone chipsets. QRD development platforms based on both the MSM7x27A and MSM7x25A chipsets are currently available.

SOURCE via Qualcomm

Running With Scissors is publishing Postal 3 via Steam by Christmas, but there’s an unrated boxed version too that can be purchased from the studio’s online store. On Friday Running With Scissors CEO Vince Desi announced that the third installment to the controversial Postal series is finally “coming home for Christmas.” The game was initially released on November 23 in Russia, but will be released worldwide via Steam presumably around December 25 (no actual date was given). A $40 boxed “unrated” version is also now up for pre-order here.

“Our dearest friend, Editor and original RWS member Bill ‘The Game Doctor’ Kunkel passed away this past September,” Desi said in a press release. “We’d like to honor Bill and the Postal Dude’s best friend Champ (who also passed away earlier this year) by proudly self publishing Postal 3 in their memory.”

Postal originally arrived on the PC back in 1997 as a top-down isometric shooter full of over-the-top violence and irreverent humor, whereas the second installment appeared on the PC in 2003 as a first-person shooter using Epic’s Unreal Engine. This third chapter, which went into development just after Postal 2 hit store shelves, will pull the camera back into a 3rd-person perspective using Valve’s Source engine.

“As a developer, the most important element of an engine is stability,” Desi said about switching engines in 2008. “The Valve Source engine provides stability, for single player and multiplayer, also they provide excellent support.  As Postal 3 is its own unique game, we are doing a lot of custom coding, so it’s better for us to know what we have to work with from the start.  And Steam is a major plus.”

The Postal 3 story takes place just after the “accidental” nuclear destruction of Paradise, Arizona (aka Apocalypse Weekend) in Postal 2. “We rejoin the Postal Dude and his psychotic pitbull Champ as they emigrate to the ironically named town of Catharsis. Unfortunately, due to the Global Economic Meltdown, psychotic left-wing “Green” extremism and hypocritical right-wing Government corruption, life in Catharsis isn’t much better.”

The game reportedly has two paths to take: the “good path” which involves the Postal Dude joining the local police force, and the “bad path” which includes joining in on the schemes of Mayor Chromo and Uncle Dave. The Postal Dude initially ends up in Catharsis because he ran out of gas and the broken economy has jacked up the price-per-gallon cost to $17.

That in itself is a good reason to go postal.

Postal 3 is only slated for Windows PC via Steam and the Running With Scissors online store for now. A PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version is slated for some time in 2012, but an actual ship date is yet to be determined. The studio also plans to release a Linux and Mac OS X version at some point.

The document, which was filed in March of last year, describes the Cloud Print service as one that is integrated into Google’s Chrome web browsers.

“A print server may include an application manager configured to receive a print request over a network from an application executing on a device, and configured to provide, over the network, a print dialog to a user of the application […] A print job router may be configured to route the print job over the network from the print server to a print client associated with the selected printer, for printing by the selected printer, using the printer-specific format.”

Included in the patent are claims to an application manager that authenticates a user via a user account. While cloud print is often seen as a technology to enable users to print from anywhere without a direct, physical connection, Google argues that there is a different benefit to cloud printing, which offers a solution to “conventional printers and printing paradigms [that] often provide a fragmented, expensive, resource-intensive, potentially unpredictable user experience which is sub-optimal at best and unworkable at worst for many users.” Google argues that cloud print via a browser solves the problem of providing and maintaining printer drivers for various platforms, including smartphones, which “may have limited or no resources to execute a print driver.” As a result, customer may see a benefit of “increased printing options and abilities,” while printer manufacturers will not have to release as many driver updates for as many platforms as they had to do in the past.

In related news, Google has also filed a patent that largely covers the recently updated Omnibox location bar in the browser. The document describes Google’s technology to provide the user a dynamically updated listing of search suggestions that are pulled from the history of prior search queries.

Surely you’re hip to the Diet Coke and Mentos phenomenon of a few years ago. When an enterprising duo realized that the hard-coated candies interacted with the soda in an explosive way, an internet meme was instantly born. Over the last couple of years, though, interest in the parlor trick seemed to wane. Until now.

Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, the two men who helped kick off the fun in the first place, are back, claiming a new record for the longest distance traveled in a car powered by Diet Coke and Mentos: 239 feet.

No, that doesn’t seem very far to us, either, though Mark II of their machine is a marked improvement over Mark I. The Mark II vehicle is more aerodynamic and seems to have less mass than its predecessor, which positioned the rider way out in front over a bicycle-like contraption. That said, we think Grobe and Voltz do even better… especially since they used just half the fuel this time ’round.

After dissecting the video, we believe there’s a lot more power in the Diet Coke and Mentos recipe to be had, and there must be a better way to stop so much of the fuel from leaking out instead of providing forward thrust. Duct tape, perhaps?

Until they try again with Mark III, feel free to check out the latest Diet Coke and Mentos-powered car in the video after the break. Read more…

Apple is purportedly readying a new certification chip for accessory makers that will allow wireless access and connectivity to that pile of iOS devices you’re hoarding. Announced during an accessory manufacturer’s conference in China, the new chip would allow connections across AirPlay, Bluetooth and WiFi. The Cupertino crew hope that this will encourage even more iOS-friendly add-ons and docks to market. Apple apparently added that it’s working on support for AirPlay over Bluetooth, presumably bringing with it some improved battery longevitiy, and tying into the new low-powered Bluetooth 4.0 found on the iPhone 4S.

SOURCE via Macotakara

Small screens is a compromise you will have to make with smartphones in the foreseeable time – and even if you are able to use an external screen in some applications, you are likely to lose some key features such as touch on a secondary display. However, a recent patent filing by Microsoft gives some idea how these limitations could be overcome.

Entitled “3D Interaction for Mobile Device” the May 2010 filing describes a projector capability for mobile devices, including mobile phones, which would enable “natural interaction experiences, such as interaction with real 3D objects and display of 3D images.”

The mobile phone is used to project an image to an external screen and provide it with touch capability via infrared cameras that enable interaction “a virtual 3D model of a real 3D object”. According to the patent the creation of a 3D object would take place via analysis of raster lines to detect and simulate the 3D shape of an object in real time. For example, a possible application of the idea would be “a map of the location of a building, and additionally display internal structure of the building as the user moves a retro-reflector card above the projected image.”

This would be a fantastic idea if it was holographic, but we are not quite there yet. This invention still requires a “flat surface” as a projection area. However, it seems that the path is already laid out. Projectors in cell phones could be the next major step in mobile devices evolution.

SOURCE via USPTO