With every state looking to enact (or having already passed) legislation that makes it illegal to operate a mobile phone while behind the wheel, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology and Rutgers in New Jersey are taking it one massive step further.

A team led by Drs. Chen Stevens, Marco Gruteser and Richard Martin have created a system that utilizes a phone’s Bluetooth connection and a vehicle’s speakers to detect if the driver is using their handheld while driving. The algorithm-based system measures the acoustic signals emitted from the stereo and the proximity of the phone to the Bluetooth receiver, essentially pinging both systems to determine where the phone is being operated. If the signals are coming from the driver’s seat, it can shut down the phone with 95 percent accuracy, or around 80 percent if the phone is stashed in a cupholder or cubby.

Obviously, the system is designed to allow passengers to use their phones while the vehicle is in motion, but the biggest hurdles to overcome include the amount of road, wind and background noise interfering with the acoustic signals and a general lack of Bluetooth connectivity in most vehicles. Now the doctors just need an automaker to partner with…

SOURCE via CNET

That’s right, despite its short-lived battle with Apple last year, Meizu has finally decided it is time to make it out of China. Well, out of mainland China at least, as the company has chosen Hong Kong as its launch pad for entering the international market.

Later this month, visitors of Mongkok will notice a brand new Meizu store pop up somewhere along Sai Yeung Choi Street, where the upcoming dual-core, 4-inch 960 x 640 MX Android phone will also be sold starting in early January — just a tad later than its mainland counterpart.

What’s more, the Hong Kong version will come with extra features such as Facebook, Google Mobile Services and various Android Market apps that are absent on the original MX. Prices and absolute date to be confirmed later this month, but either way, we have a feeling that we’ll be seeing some long lines again around China, if not Hong Kong.

SOURCE via Engadget Chinese

Lenovo is in a spree of product announcement this week. With that mild 3.7-inch Android smartphone and the massive 5-inch tabletphone, there’s seriously not much kick to the news. Well, don’t worry, because here’s a little surprise for us all, the LePhone K2.

What we got here is a 4.3-inch IPS display (resolution of which not yet announced), a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 chip, 1GB RAM, 1GB ROM and an eight megapixel 1080p camera. Sadly, like the S2 and the S760, this crouching tiger also packs Android 2.3.5 instead of Ice Cream Sandwich, but without a price or a release date, perhaps there’s still a small chance that we’ll see it eventually launching with the newer OS.

SOURCE via Engadget Chinese

You may recall that last week we had a cheeky peek at Lenovo’s upcoming tabletphone, and now Lenovo had remove the curtain to this mysterious product. Dubbed the LePad S2005 in China (and to be branded under the IdeaTab series elsewhere), this Android 2.3.5 slate packs a 5-inch 800 x 480 LTPS display with 178-degree viewing angle (but same resolution as the Dell Streak 5′s LCD, sadly), a Qualcomm dual-core 1.2GHz chip, 1GB RAM, a five megapixel 1080p imager on the back, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and a 1,680mAh battery.

In terms of connectivity and expansion we have a micro-USB port, micro-HDMI port and HSPA+ radio (so it’s ready for China Unicom’s network). All of this is packaged in a 9.95mm-thick body, weighing a total of 198g. Just as thick as the Streak 5 but lighter, even with the slightly larger battery capacity.

There aren’t any prices just yet, but given that this device is entering the Chinese market in two days’ time, it won’t be a long wait for those obsessed with tabletphones. What’s also odd here is that Lenovo’s marketing this as a tablet rather than a phone.

SOURCE via Engadget Chinese

Apple boldly rejected Samsung’s settlement offer in Australia, and so the cat fight just keep going. The latter certainly isn’t afraid of striking back in its enemy’s front yard you see. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Samsung’s set up a pop-up store merely meters away from Apple’s Sydney store, all for just stealing the thunder from the iPhone 4S launch last Friday. The campaign? For the first ten customers each day up to Friday, the Korean giant’s offering its Galaxy S II for just $2 sans contract — no wonder the line’s already longer than Apple’s, according to the Herald. But of course, Samsung’s also effectively funding some of these folks for their iPhone 4S from next door, so it’s pretty much a win-win situation for both companies. See? There’s always a happy ending.

SOURCE via The Sydney Morning Herald

If this hodgepodge of sorta, kinda official confirmation is to be believed, Windows Phone users can look forward to deeper integration of voice command functionality built-in to the Apollo update. Nokia US’ CEO, Chris Weber, first spilled the speech recognition beans in an interview with VentureBeat back in early August, referring to the tech as a killer WP feature.

Now, a report over on ZDNet backs up that leaked info with resume tidbits from former MS Windows Phone / Mobile Communications team members that had a hand in creating the so-called “Voice-Compose” and “Read-Aloud” features for native email clients– even tipping us off to a possible Windows 8 and WP 8 convergence.

There’s also mention of MS’ lower-end mobile OS splitting into two separate versions — Tango1 and Tango2. We know what you’re thinking. It’s hard to get excited about far-off OS updates when we’re still waiting on Mango’s release. Still, it’s good to know Ballmer and co. aren’t just resting on their Windows laurels.

SOURCE via zdnet

The original Foursquare app for Windows Phone 7 was killed off due to lack of features and a rather sub-par user experience, leaving mayors everywhere unable to verify their credentials for hard-earned discounts. Well fret no more, friends. A new version of the mobile check-in application has been released, showing off a retooled interface that takes full advantage of Microsoft’s panoramic UI. Among other features are live tile, tap-and-hold check-in, and a map that shows friends’ check-ins alongside nearby specials. Version 2.0, as it’s being called, is now available in the Windows Phone Marketplace — your Twitter followers have probably missed all of your Taco Bell Fourthmeal check-ins anyway.

SOURCE via Foursquare

Computex is just around the corner, but there’s still time for some leaked photos and rumours. Asus teased us with a PadFone tablet-with-a-dock, and now the leaked photo which seemed to be a leaked press photo shows the tablet with no shadows.

The tablet seems to have a hinged cover that pop up upon releasing the latch, to have a compartment for a smartphone. You can also just about make out the two ports inside which are likely to be HDMI and micro-USB — one for driving the larger display, and the other for taking care of touch input while possibly sipping juice from an extra battery somewhere.

Indeed this product looks very odd, and what is Asus playing with at here? A tablet with no guts, and can be powered by an Android smartphone?

SOURCE via Pocketnow

We already know that Asus will be unveiling a new tablet at Computex, but it seem that tablet won’t be the only thing shown here. Asus has just posted two teaser pictures at their Facebook fanpage, which can be seen above. The left is actually just a reminder of the Eee Pad MeMO’s June launch, though the words “A Tablet That Jumps Out at You” could also imply a device bearing 3D functionality of some sort. Maybe ASUS managed to upgrade said 7-inch Honeycomb tablet just in time? Well, we’ll know very soon.

What’s new here is the next image, which comes with the “Pad or Phone” teaser. Hopefully it’s not a phone that can transform into a tampon, because the next line “How about both?” really suggest so. The image seemed like a docking-system, yet looking like a tablet. Could this mean Asus is toying with the idea of an Atrix-like docking combo, except the lapdock is instead just a tablet?

SOURCE via Asus (Facebook)

These days smartphone is all about faster and faster processors. We’ve seen plenty of Nvidia’s Tegra 2 dual-core SOC processors, and also Apple’s A5 dual-core SOC. Qualcomm is also going to debut their dual-core Snapdragon in HTC’s Sensation 4G. But there’s another processor coming from Qualcomm which is blazingly fast.

Sitting in Pantech’s 5-inch Android 2.3.3 smartphone (yes, 5-inch!) is Qualcomm’s dual-core 1.5GHz MSM8660. Apart from the extra 0.7 inches of screen size, what we have here is essentially the same package as the Vega Racer: 800 x 480 LCD, 8 megapixel 1080p camera, front-facing camera, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 16GB of memory, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and 14.4Mbps HSPA+ connectivity. Yes, a full fledge notebook already, save for a CD-ROM and a full fledge keyboard.

No word on international availability, but expect this slate to hit the shops in Korea later this month.

SOURCE via Bodnara Korea