Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini announced

It is a known fact that there is undeniable tension between the two corporate giants in the world of technology at the moment – Samsung and Apple, with the former managing to claim up to $1 billion in damages from the South Korean conglomerate in a court ruling earlier this year, where Samsung was deemed to have infringed upon Apple’s patents. Incidentally, Samsung is one of the main suppliers of parts to some of Apple’s best selling devices including the iPad, leading to that added touch of intrigue. Well, the game of one upmanship continues between the two of them, where we do hear whispers of Apple preparing to roll out a 7.85” version of the iPad, appropriately calling it the iPad mini. Perhaps out of this rivalry, Samsung wants to go one up on Apple with their Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini by announcing it in Germany yesterday.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, as its name suggests, is a compact version of the South Korean conglomerate’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3. The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will deliver a similar high performance, intuitive ease-of-use and nature-inspired design of its larger sized sibling, albeit with a slightly smaller display at 4”, making it the ideal choice for those who want to use their smartphones with a single hand.

As for the operating system of choice, you will find Android 4.1 Jelly Bean installed right out of the box, while delivering what Samsung claims as “stunning graphical capabilities, fast screen transitions, and an upgraded Google Now service featuring contextual search.” Sporting an ultra-minimal curved frame, the Galaxy S3 Mini will deliver a rich natural feel, while its 4” Super AMOLED display lets you view images in a generous manner in brilliant color and clarity. It will also come with S Voice, Samsung’s choice of an advanced natural language recognition software.

No idea on pricing just yet, but one thing’s for sure – if you always wanted the Samsung Galaxy S3 but didn’t really like its size, then the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini might just be the smartphone for you.

Sony Vaio Tap 20 PC announced

I clearly remember that back in the days when fat, chunky CRT TVs were the staple in any decent living room, the TV was divided into two categories – one that had a curved display, while the other was a pure flat display. Panasonic had the Tao, while Sony called theirs the Trinitron (where the name did date back further, of course). Well, one thing is for sure – Sony does come up with aesthetically pleasing devices from time to time, and they used to be well known for the build quality in their products. The thing is, no company remains at the top of their game without doing anything, and somewhere along the way, it did seem as though Sony must have gone off tangent, as their reliability ratings suffered, and more and more people moved on towards South Korean goods. Well, Sony’s foray into the computing world is a hit or miss affair with select models, but at least the Vaio name remained, and their latest PC expression comes in the form of the Sony Vaio Tap 20 PC.

The Sony Vaio Tap 20 PC is said to come with a bright, responsive 10-point multi-touch screen that boasts of engaging interactive applications, family computing options and being able to deliver new experiences in terms of mobile productivity. Steven Nickel , VP, Sony VAIO, said, “VAIO Tap 20 is creating a new category of PCs by combining desktop PC functionality, battery-powered mobility, and multi-angle viewing.This along with the innovative VAIO Duo 11 and the intuitive touch solutions incorporated across our existing PC portfolio, offers consumers flexibility to optimize their Windows 8 experience. Through the combination of compelling applications, Sony’s network services, and cross device connectivity, VAIO is leading the way in developing a new Touchworld experience. We expect when consumers think of touch PCs, they’ll think of VAIO.”

The VAIO Tap 20 might be classified as is a family tabletop PC, but it will be a whole lot easier to use than before, where it has been specially designed to take advantage of the intuitive ease of Windows 8. Boasting a 20” screen, you can lay this mobile desktop PC flat on a coffee table for the entire family to play games (make sure no one has greasy fingers!), while the presence of a removable battery ensures you are able to move the VAIO Tap 20 from room to room without worrying about plugging and unplugging the power cable.

Your ears will also be more than pleased, where the VAIO Tap 20 will incorporate stereo speakers that rely on Sony’s audio fidelity expertise, including Dolby Home Theatre v4 Audio Technology for one to experience full-impact surround sound.The VAIO Tap 20 is said to arrive at the end of this month in either black or white shades, where it will retail for $879.99 and above.

T3 Awards: Gadgets of the Year

Revealed this week were the 2012 T3 Award winners. T3 – the UK’s leading consumer technology resource – once again pitted top manufacturers against each other in the biggest tech award show. Between the 7 judges and the 8th “reader vote” some surprises did arise.

ASUS came out on top as Tech Brand of the Year backed by awards for their Eee Pad Transformer Prime (Design Award) and Zenbook UX31 (Computer). ASUS also boosted their presence as the Google Nexus 7 they manufactured took home Gadget of the Year. Samsung and Apple – although heavily nominated – only saw success in Phone of the Year for the Galaxy S3 and Work Gadget of the Year for the iPhone 4S. The complete list of winners is below:

Innovation of the Year: Raspberry Pi
Gaming Gadget of the Year: Sony PS Vita
Gadget Accessory of the Year: Nike Fuelband
App of the Year: Zeebox
Retailer of the Year: Amazon
Tech Personality of the Year: Rory Cellan-Jones
Digital Media Service of the Year: Sky Go
T3 Design Award: ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime
Commuter Gadget of the Year: Amazon Kindle 4
TV of the Year: Sony Bravia KDL-55HX853
Digital Camera of the Year: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1
Work Gadget of the Year: Apple iPhone 4S
Home Gadget of the Year: Nest Smart thermostat
Computer of the Year: ASUS Zenbook UX31
Music Gadget of the Year: Bowers & Wilkins P3
Tablet of the Year: Google Nexus 7 By ASUS
Tech Brand of the Year: ASUS
Outstand Contribution to Tech: Lord Sugar
Phone of the Year: Samsung Galaxy S3
Gadget of the Year: Google Nexus 7 By ASUS

Find Heat and Charge

Concept alert, concept alert. But oh boy, does this make sense. Stoves, radiators, portable heaters – the list of heat generating devices in our lives goes on and on. And our lives have gone portable with phones, tablets, laptops and the like. Devices have existed to charge electronics via heat sources, but never with the portability aspect.

YankoDesign features some of the latest industrial designs. Highlighted in their Technology section is the EcoCharge, a portable and green option for charging electronics. How so? EcoCharge draws heat from any heating device. Then thermoelectric generator modules convert heat to electricity. Power is delivered out of the unit via USB connection. Then just take your pick of what device to plug in. The concept had previously existed, but not in a portable unit – critical for our charging needs. Designer Ardavan Mirhosseini took it a step further by adding magnets to the side of the EcoCharge. Stick it to any metal surface while you draw out heat and charge. The unit also monitors and displays the conduction process so you could know how efficiently you charge. Imagine attaching EcoCharge to your hot pot of chili? Or how about affixing to the heating unit? It certainly makes sense and perhaps, someday, will become a reality.

Sony Unveils Thinner PlayStation 3

Sony announced a slimmer version of its gaming console, the PlayStation 3, at the Tokyo Game Show Wednesday.

Due to be launched this fall, the new PlayStation will keep the same name as its two predecessors, but will be 20% smaller and 25% lighter than the second-generation model, Sony says. It will available in two versions: black and white, with either 250GB or 500GB of storage memory.

As far as physical differences from the previous model, the new PS3 will be thinner; it will also have a disc tray (instead of a slide-in disc mechanism) and a grooved design on top.

The “charcoal black” model should hit the market on Sept. 25, while the “classic white” should arrive Nov. 22 in Japan.

All the pricing details have not yet been announced, but a limited edition bundle, featuring the 250GB black PS3, UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception Game of the Year Edition and a voucher for more than $30 worth of bonus content for multiplayer shooter DUST 514, will be available Sept. 25 for $269.99.

For Kids, Android Is Safer Than iOS

With the school year under way and the holiday season looming, a lot of kids are asking for (and getting) a new mobile device.

Whatever sort of device you choose, it’s important to turn on the appropriate parental controls. But before you decide on a gadget, you should be aware that some will be easier to control than others — and when it comes to parental controls, kids are much better off with an Android device rathern than an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Android devices give you access to apps that permit deeper levels of control and monitoring without requiring technical know-how to set up.

Devices Designed for Kids (and Parents)

Family Guardian can be installed on existing Android devices, but starting this year, more and more Android tablets aimed at kids come with this level of parental control built in.

Earlier this summer, Techno Source released its Android tablet for children age 5 and up, the Kurio 7. This tablet has an Android skin similar to what you’ll find on Samsung or HTC devices, but it’s much more involved. The skin lets you set up several different profiles on the Kurio, including an administrative profile for you and a restricted profile for the kids.

Restrictions let you block app downloads, in-app purchases and specific apps (even when they’re already installed) and limit websites in the browser. Because you can have multiple profiles, you can personalize restrictions for each child (and grownups, too, should they want to use the device).

Amazon recently introduced Kindle FreeTime controls with its new line of Kindle Fire HD tablets. Set up multiple profiles, restrict access on a schedule, and choose the content kids are allowed to see and use.

When the holiday shopping season gets under way, we’re likely to see still more tablets suitable for kids and young teens. Thankfully, manufacturers are moving away from designing tablets that look like toys or something best suited for toddlers for kids older than 4.

Apple announces iPod nano

So there is no new iPod shuffle at yesterday’s press event by Apple at the Yerba Buena center in San Francisco, California, but that does not mean that things have not gotten slimmer during the announcements. Not only were we treated to the thinnest iPhone to date as well as the slimmest iPod touch ever, we also have another superlative title introduced for the reinvented iPod nano, which is touted to be the “thinnest iPod ever”, measuring at a mere 5mm, now how about that? Despite its small size, do not think that this is an iPod nano to be trifled with, where it will now come with the largest display ever built into an iPod nano at 2.5” so that your eyes will be able to enjoy more of your music, photos and widescreen videos.

The new iPod nano, as mentioned above, will come with a 2.5-inch Multi-Touch display that makes life a whole lot easier when navigating through your music. There is also a home button that helps you return to your home screen quicker than ever before, conveniently located buttons that makes it easy to control volume and quickly play, pause or change songs without having to take a second look.

Music lovers will also appreciate the fact that the new iPod nano comes with built-in Bluetooth for wireless listening with Bluetooth-enabled headphones, speakers and cars. Not only that, boasting a whopping 30 hours of battery life, the new iPod nano delivers the longest music playback of any iPod nano to date, so that you are able to enjoy your favorite music and FM radio longer than ever before. Other integrated fitness features include a pedometer and support for Nike+, meaning you should be able to see newer iPod nano models throughout gyms in the neighborhood.

The new iPod nano will arrive this October in pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver and slate for $149 a pop where it has 16GB of storage space to get you started.