Apple Designs Solar-Powered iPhones & iPods

Apple may be planning to develop solar-powered iPhones, suggested in patent filings that describe putting solar cells on portable devices and on iPods.

This isn't the first attempt to bring solar power to iPhones. As you may remember, in May, Dexim brought us the DCA19 P-Flip, a solar-powered battery and dock for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The most recent patent filed by Apple was on Touch Sensor Integrated Solar Panels on media players.

While the next couple of iPhones may not incorporate solar cells, given the recent patent applications by Apple, it's intuitive to realize that the company is looking to put more and more devices on solar power and eventually include iPhones. According to the patent application for solar cells on portable devices, Apple would completely cover the device in a thin film layer of solar cells, even the display.

According to Gizmodo, Motorola has considered fusing solar cells with LCDs. This would make your device even more efficient, because no matter which way you had it oriented in the sun, it would always be harnessing the power of the sun.

If Apple can cover your iPod or other devices completely in solar panels, then surely they can make a highly efficient solar powered phone. If not, you could always get a solar charging case.

[Patently Apple via Gizmodo]

Apple Designs Solar-Powered iPhones & iPods

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Top 7 Cell Phones

1. HTC Droid Incredible

The Droid Incredible by HTC is the future of computing in the palm of your hand. The super-sleek phone is less than half an inch thick, and yet it packs powerful components such as a 1 GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera, and a large high-resolution screen. Featuring the Android OS with Google, the Droid Incredible gives you access to all your social networks, websites, and thousands of applications, including Google Navigation with turn-by-turn directions.


2. HTC EVO 4G

The speedy HTC EVO 4G packs in some powerful specs and a variety of multimedia features into a stylish, minimalist design, but not everybody will get to enjoy one of its best features--4G connectivity.

3. Google Nexus One

Representing the next stage in smartphone development, the unlocked Google Nexus One phone from HTC offers supercharged power with one of the fastest processors currently available in a smartphone, a 3.7-inch AMOLED touch display, and access to all your contacts and most important data from a variety of Google tools via the Android 2.1 operating system.

4. Motorola Droid

The first Android-powered phone for Verizon Wireless, the 3G-enabled Motorola DROID smartphone offers a full package of powerful mobile connectivity--from easy access to all your social networks and viewing of full Web sites to spoken turn-by-turn directions thanks to the new Google Maps with Navigation Beta app. One of the thinnest full-QWERTY slider phones available, the Motorola DROID also features a high-resolution 3.7-inch touchscreen display and a virtual onscreen keyboard that auto-rotates depending on the phone's orientation. And you'll be able to capture high-resolution images and DVD-quality videos on the go with its 5-megapixel camera with flash.

5. Apple 32GB iPhone 3GS

Performance enhancements distinguish the otherwise evolutionary step-up iPhone 3GS from its previous iterations.

6. Motorola Cliq

The CLIQ 3G-enabled touchscreen phone for T-Mobile, is Motorola's first Android-powered device, and the first to feature the innovative MOTOBLUR overlay to the Android OS, which manages and integrates e-mail and social networking activity including Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. In addition to a brightly colorful 3.5-inch touchscreen, the Motorola CLIQ also offers a side sliding full QWERTY keyboard for quick typing of tweets, status updates, and e-mail.

7. BlackBerry Bold 9700

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone has a large, hi-resolution screen that displays over 65,000 colors; creating a vivid viewing experience for all your photos, videos, files and websites. Access what's important with trackpad navigation based on how laptops are designed. Glide your finger over the trackpad to scroll through menus and icons. A slight press and click lets you select an item to navigate where you want to go. Enjoy music, videos, photos and documents in great color and sound. Easily sync data and audio files from your desktop to the BlackBerry Bold 9700, and get up to 35 hours of music playback time.

Top 7 Cell Phones

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No More Unlimited Data Plans for New AT&T Wireless Customers

Just in time for the release of a new iPhone, AT&T will stop letting new customers sign up for its unlimited Internet data plan for smart phones and iPad's and charge more for users who hog the most bandwidth.

AT&T hopes to ease congestion on its network, which has drawn complaints, particularly in big cities. But the approach could confuse customers unfamiliar with how much data it takes to watch a YouTube video or fire up a favorite app.

Current subscribers will be able to keep their $30-per-month unlimited plans, even if they renew their contracts. But starting Monday, new customers will have to choose one of two new data plans for all smart phones, including iPhone's and BlackBerry's.

Subscribers who use little data — like those who may get dozens of e-mails a day but don't watch much video — will pay slightly less every month than they do now, while heavy users will be dinged with higher bills.

The move takes effect in time for the expected unveiling of Apple's new iPhone next week. Analysts said they expect other phone companies to follow. With no caps on consumption, data use could swamp wireless networks while revenue for the operators remains flat.

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No More Unlimited Data Plans for New AT&T Wireless Customers

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HTC Droid Incredible vs. iPhone 3GS

It's the ultimate face-off between tech's top dogs in this five-round, winner-takes-all fight. You'll find the hottest tech battling it out here for Prizefight supremacy.

It's been a long time since we've given an Editors' Choice Award to a smartphone, and we certainly weren't expecting the HTC Droid Incredible to be one to snatch up that honor. After all, it's not like the Android-powered Incredible offers any new, groundbreaking features. However, after discovering that the smartphone had a stylish and user-friendly interface, plus blazing speeds, the decision to make it an Editors' Choice winner was a no-brainer. It's simply one of the best smartphones on the market today.

It was also a no-brainer to make the Droid Incredible the subject of a Prizefight battle, but picking its competitor wasn't so easy. There were a number of qualified contenders that could take on the Incredible, including the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One, and we had a hard time choosing, so we left the decision up to you. In the end, you guys voted for the Apple iPhone 3GS, so without further ado, here is your Prizefight between the Droid Incredible and the iPhone 3GS.

Let's keep it a clean fight, fellas. Ding, ding! [via CNET]

HTC Droid Incredible vs. iPhone 3GS

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The 5 Best Android Smartphones Out Now

According to a report from PCWorld earlier today, the HTC Droid Incredible, Motorola's Droid, and other Android-based smartphones are strong competitors to Apple's iPhone. Here are their top 5 most worthy iPhone competitors.

1. HTC Droid Incredible

Verizon's HTC Droid Incredible runs the Sense interface on top of Android OS 2.1. The Droid Incredible ($200 with a two-year contract) features a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, a fast 1GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera, MicroSD-card expansion up to 32 gigabytes, multitasking, and the Friend Stream social network aggregator.

The Droid Incredible lacks a physical keyboard. Its touchscreen provides the primary user interface; voice command is also an option for calls, search, and GPS navigation.

2. Motorola Droid

Verizon's Motorola Droid features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.7-inch, 480-by-854-pixel touchscreen display, Android OS 2.1, MicroSD-card expansion up to 32 gigabytes, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 support, a 5-megapixel camera, and hardware-accelerated graphics.

The Droid ($200 with a two-year contract) features an excellent and surprisingly fun voice-enabled search and GPS navigation capability. This makes the Droid stand out from older Android smartphone offerings.

3. Motorola Cliq

The T-Mobile Motorola Cliq features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.1-inch, 320-by-480-pixel capacitive touch display, and the MotoBlur social network aggregator. The Cliq ($150 with two-year contract) has Wi-Fi support, turn-by-turn GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, and a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack.

It runs the now-dated Android OS 1.6, so don’t expect some of the latest Android OS 2.1 apps to work.

4. Samsung Moment

The Sprint Samsung Moment ($100 with a two-year contract) features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-pixel AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, a 3.32-megapixel camera, and Android OS 2.1.

5. Samsung Behold II

The T-Mobile Samsung Behold II has a brilliant 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-pixel AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera, and TouchWiz 2.0, a touch-friendly user interface running over the now-outdated Android OS 1.5.

Note: the newest Android Market apps may require Android OS 2.1 for full functionality.

The 5 Best Android Smartphones Out Now

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Overclocking Your iPhone and iPod Touch

If you weren't already aware of this, Apple decided to underclock the processing speed on two of their most popular devices, the iPod touch and iPhone. The true processing speed of the iPhone 3G is clocked at a maximum of 600MHz, and 833MHz for the iPhone 3GS, but for whatever reason Apple underclocked them at 412MHz and 600MHz respectively. However, it might be your lucky day because a hacker has discovered a simple trick that will overclock your device to its maximum potential in a matter of minutes.

In many cases, companies choose to underclock their devices to save energy, reduce heat and make the overall life of your processor last longer. Overclocking will more than likely increase its operation frequency, which will usually increase its thermal output in a linear fashion, and could increase the internal heat quadratically (x4). Improper cooling may cause chip temperatures to rise almost instantly, causing the processor chip to be damaged or destroyed. It may also decrease the life of your battery, so it is imperative that you take extra precaution if you decide to try this.

Please be aware that these are not my directions and I am in no way responsible for any damage done to your device. This is not recommended for inexperienced users.


Steps to Overclock or Increase CPU Speed of iPhone and iPod Touch: [via GadgetsDNA]

1. Navigate to System/Library/System/System Configuration/PowerManagement.bundle/
2. You will see a file named "com.apple.SystemPowerProfileDefault.plist"
3. Instead of editing, you are just rename it to "SystemPowerProfileDefaultbak.plist" so the device does not recognize it.
4. Do a reboot and you've overclocked your device.

Overclocking Your iPhone and iPod Touch

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