Farmville app is now available for download in App Store
Virtual farmers rejoice, the Farmville app is now available for download from the Apple App Store. When one of the world’s most popular social games becomes available on one of the most popular smartphones, there’s no telling what could happen.
With the Farmville app, you can take care of your virtual farm almost anywhere, and there’s no need to worry about withering and unharvested crops, no need to do any work, eat, talk to family members or have any resemblance of a social life.
Yes, this is the app that we’ve all been waiting for. And let’s not forget TIME is still calling farmville, one of the world’s worst inventions.
Here’s a video demo of what you can do with the Farmville app and hit up the iTunes link to download the app.
Apple FaceTime commercial: This is one bloody good commercial
You can say whatever you want about Apple. You can go on and on about how the iPhone is not feature packed enough and there are phones out there with bigger screens and whatever, but one thing you can’t deny about the geeks at Cupertino is that when they get something right, boy do they get it right.
We don’t know about you guys but this advertisement about the iPhone 4 FaceTime calling feature just got to us. The images completely and wholesomely tell the story. The point gets across loud and clear. The soundtrack is just perfect. We simply can’t find anything wrong with this ad. It’s just so fulfilling to watch.
Make no mistake, we’re not openly declaring ourselves Apple fanboys here but we’re not wrong either in saying that this is one of the most powerful ads you’ve seen.
Having said that, we’re still not too happy that FaceTime is only possible over a WiFi connection. Perhaps there could be a reason for that, we’ll just have to try it out for ourselves to know for sure.
In the meantime, head on over to after the jump to view the Apple FaceTime commercial.
First Impressions: WiMAX-Inside laptops from P1 and Intel
Intel and P1 organised a media and blogger sneak peak yesterday to show off their range of WiMAX embedded laptops that will be hitting the Malaysian market next week. We got a first look of what these WiMAX-Inside devices have to offer.
Intel and P1 reckoned that these WiMAX-Inside laptops will offer the same ease of connectivity as WiFi but with the added performance and coverage advantage of WiMAX. We had some time fiddling around with the range of notebooks and netbooks they’ve put out during the sneak peak and we have to agree with that statement.
The WiMAX connection manager looks very much like the WiFi connection manager that you get on your computers right now and it allows seamless and easy management of all the wireless connectivity features built into the laptop. This mean you can toggle WiFi, WiMAX and Bluetooth with relative ease. From what little time we had with the WiFi-WiMAX laptops, connecting to the internet with WiMAX built-in is definitely heaps easier and faster than fiddling with a USB dongle. That is a convenience that we can really get use to.
In fact, the way you connect to WiMAX is very similar to the way you would on WiFi. We’d go as far to say that it is almost the same, which makes it very easy for everyone.
Nokia Football World Tour mobile contest
Nokia is running a mobile contest offering Nokia N8 as daily prizes for eight days and a round-the-world tour as the grand prize. Oddly, the eight-day contest is limited to people who use Nokia phones and must have the latest version Ovi Maps app installed.
We find it very weird for Nokia to exclude other mobile users from the contest as it would be a good opportunity for those who are not familiar with the brand and its products to warm up to it.
But…what do we know about marketing.
Anyways, if you own a Nokia phone and would like to take part in the Nokia Football World Tour on Ovi Maps contest, click on this link. Please remember, you can only access the site using a Nokia phone and you must have latest version of Ovi Maps installed. At least the Ovi Maps app is free.
Motorola Droid to get Froyo in July, Droid X by late summer
After the Nexus One, the next device that’s getting Froyo loving is the Motorola Droid, scheduled for July. This was reported from Android Central that managed to grab some new updates on Motorola’s Android OS update.
The newly launched Droid X was also mentioned to receive Froyo but only in late summer which is around October. Speaking of updates, barely 24 hours since launch, the Droid X already has a software update. Probably some last minute fixes which Verizon/Motorola didn’t have time to update before the launch.
Which reminds us, the rumour about the HTC Desire getting the Froyo on 23rd June remains a rumour. The only significant event for 23rd June is the announcement of Froyo going open source, which means developers have access to the codes.
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Samsung Galaxy S with Swype break world record for fastest text typed
The Samsung Galaxy S, arguably one of the most advanced Android powered phone to hit the Malaysian market will make its debut tomorrow exclusively to Maxis.
Specs wise the Galaxy S doesn’t bring anything new in to the Android game save for the huge 4in Super AMOLED display and the proprietary 1GHz processor that is using the same core architecture as Apple’s A4 processor inside the iPad and iPhone 4. But as with most Android devices, it does come with some nifty custom features that is unique to Samsung.
One of them is the Swype text input interface. Swype allows you to forego the standard virtual keyboard and enter text simply by gesturing on the screen. It’s not a new approach, people using WinMo devices from the days gone by would probably know what we’re talking about.
Well, it appears gesturing technology has moved on quite a bit from the WinMo stylus days, so much so that it can now comfortably compete with physical keyboards in terms of speed and accuracy when texting.
Samsung proved that point with a legit Guinness World Record attempt for the fastest texting.
And like we said, gesture is not something new, even Google has an app for Android that uses gestures to allow for easier searching on mobile devices but the way Samsung has appllied it is devinitely novel.
Head on over to after the jump to see the record attempt being made and a bonus video of the Swype fares against the virtual keyboard on and iPhone 3GS.
New Froyo Update coming to Nexus One via OTA
Android Central reported that a new Froyo update is coming to Nexus One users via OTA.
The new update carries the build number FRF83. The previous OTA update was build FRF50.
If you’re having a Nexus One, try checking for update on your phone today onwards. Once the notification kicks in, it is recommended to download via WiFi or 3G if you have unlimited data plan.
If you can’t wait, the guys at Android Central can show you the manual way to do it here.
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iPhone 4 vs Droid X Specs & side by side Comparison
The Verizon’s Droid X has just launched closely with the official iPhone 4 release which seems to be an interesting Android vs iPhone fight this week. How does the 2 compare? Well to make it easier, Android Central has created a comparison table of the 2 devices alongside with Droid Incredible, Evo 4G and Nexus One. If that isn’t enough for you to decide, there’s a side by side comparison by Engadget as well.
Read on after the jump to compare the both on paper and side by side.
Read the rest of this entry »
Motorola Droid X unboxing and hands-on sneak preview
Although having an earlier pre-launch preview, Engadget had the opportunity to get their hands on an official Droid X right after the launch, just few hours ago.
They shared that the Droid X body built feels similar to the Motorola Droid (Milestone) and it even has 3 mics for inward and outward recording as well as the 3rd mic for noise cancellation.
For input, you have a choice between Motorola’s multitouch keyboard and the 3rd party Swype pre-installed. Although it runs on a 1GHz processor, the UI feels a bit jerky for such speed.
The new Motoblur UI over Android UI is reported to be improved as well with more sleeker looking widgets which smarter resizing and rearranging.
Check out the video of the hands on here.
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Motorola Droid X launched by Google, Motorola & Verizon
Another Android device has been launched called the Droid X. This becomes the 3rd Droid series on Verizon’s offering after the hot selling Motorola Droid (aka Milestone) and HTC Droid Incredible.
What we learnt from the event is that the Droid X features a 4.3″ screen, ability to shoot 720p video and it is powered with a 1GHz ARMv7 processor. Unlike the Motorola Droid, the Droid X does not come with qwerty slider keyboard.
Other key features of the device is a 8 Megapixel camera, 16:9 display, HDMI output, Flash 10, WiFi hotspot and support up to 40GB Memory with 8GB on board memory and 16GB storage media included. The Droid X will initially ship with Android 2.1 but with Android 2.2 Froyo update on the way.
Environmental Friendliness is another highlight for the device as it is claimed to be PVC, bromine, mercury and arsenic free. To drive that green statement further, 65% of its packaging is made out of recycled materials.
On Android’s popularity, Andy Rubin, the key guy for Android has also mentioned that 160,000 Android handsets are sold each day. This is a huge increase from its 100,000 per day figures mentioned at Google I/O. He also announced that Android 2.2 (Froyo) is being made open source today.
The Droid X will start shipping next month July 15 for $199.99. Users will need to subscribe to a smartphone service for $29.99 and additional $20 for mobile hotspot. It will be available in all Best Buy and Verizon stores in the US only.
Catch more details of the launch event here. Don’t forget to check out the pre-launch exclusive preview at Engadget as well.
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