When the team at repair site iFixit decided to tear down the HTC Surround, they thought they were doing “something completely different.” What they found, instead, was a whole lot of Nexus One déjà vu.

HTC made the Nexus One smartphone for Google, and seemingly was so pleased with its handiwork that it decided to repeat it.

“Five of the major chip packages on the Surround’s motherboard are identical to the Nexus One, and the sixth (Samsung NAND + SDRAM) appears to be just a revised chip found in Uncle Nexus,” Miroslav Djuric, iFixit’s director of technical communication, wrote in a press note.

Calling it a “very solid, capable phone that will undoubtedly please its users,” Djuric nonetheless added, “Still, we’re a bit underwhelmed that HTC chose to put year-old hardware in it, especially since dual-core phones are coming right around the corner.”

The HTC Surround was among the five smartphones that Microsoft, amid much media hubbub, introduced with its Windows Phone 7 operating system on Oct. 11, 2010. Exclusive to the AT&T network, the Surround is billed by HTC as the “ultimate multimedia device.” It features a slide-out speaker wall, integrated kickstand, a customizable equalizer, Dolby Mobile and the sound driver SRS WOW HD, for a serious audio and video experience.

iFixit also found that Surround uses two microphones, in conjunction with an Audience A1026 voice processor, to cancel out background noise during phone calls—just like the Nexus One does.

And again harkening back to the original Google phone, iFixit found that the Surround’s motherboard interconnect cable is “sandwiched between the many layers of the upper motherboard,” a design that requires less space for connectors and sockets, and that the motherboards are attached with “a large ribbon cable spanning the gap between them.”

Included on the motherboard are a Qualcomm multi-band UMTS/EGPRS transceiver integrated with GPS; a 1GHz Snapdragon processor; 5MB of NAND Flash and 512MB of SDRAM memory from Samsung; a Skyworks power amplifier; and Qualcomm ICs for power management. All of this, says iFixit, is identical to or newer versions of chips found on the Nexus One.

Other details of note that the team came across are that the slider mechanism on the phone’s speaker grille is downright hefty, so should keep doing its job for years to come. And that metal plates with “strategically placed holes” are soldered to the front of the phone’s two speakers to enhance

Follow this link: HTC Surround iFixit Teardown Reveals a Nexus One Do-Over

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A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the iPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through “Jeopardy”-like games and math with step-by-step animation of complex problems.

As part of a pilot program, Roslyn High School on Long Island handed out 47 iPads on Dec. 20 to the students and teachers in two humanities classes. The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students.

The iPads cost $750 apiece, and they are to be used in class and at home during the school year to replace textbooks, allow students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios.

The rest is here: More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool

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Visit link: Nexus S receives MeeGo and Ubuntu ports, makes our nerd senses tingle (video)

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Read more from the original source: Recycle Your iPhone–While Protecting Your Data (And Making Money)

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Originally posted here: Review: Incase Snap Battery Case for iPhone 4

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After years of rumors, there finally really is a version of the iPhone that runs on Verizon Wireless’s network. Verizon announced today that the iPhone 4 will be available begining Feb. 10. In most respects, it’s the same iPhone 4 that AT&T has sold since last summer. But there are some differences in the phone as well as in the Verizon network and capabilities.

Q: What networks does the Verizon iPhone 4 run on?

A: Verizon’s CDMA 3G network. It will not take advantage of the faster LTE 4G networks that Verizon has begun rolling out. It also will not work on the GSM networks used in most other countries, so it cannot function as a “world phone.”

Q: What models will Verizon offer?

A: It will sell the 16GB iPhone 4 for $199 (with a two-year contract) and the 32GB iPhone 4 for $299 (also with a two-year contract).

Q: Can I use my move my existing iPhone 4 to Verizon?

A: No. The devices use different radios, so to switch from AT&T to Verizon means getting a new iPhone. Likewise, if you’re visiting the U.S. from another country and have an existing iPhone, you can only use AT&T (if you get an AT&T SIM) as your carrier while visiting. Through iTunes, you can transfer all your existing AT&T iPhone’s music, vdeos, and apps to a Verizon iPhone.

Q: Can I use the phone and data services simultaneously on a Verizon iPhone?

A: No. The CDMA technology used by Verizon allows only one service — data or voice — to be active. There are technologies that allow CDMA networks to allow simultaneous voice and data usage, but Verizon has not deployed them.

Q: Does the Verizon iPhone 4 do anything an AT&T one does not?

A: Yes.The Verizon iPhone 4 comes with a HotSpot app that lets the iPhone act as a Wi-Fi hot spot, so other devices can access the 3G network through it. However, it’s unknown whether this tethering capability will require an extra cost to be used.

Q: What data plans does Verizon offer for the iPhone 4?

A: Unknown. Verizon has not yet revealed its data plans. Currently, the company offers a $15-per-month plan with…Read the rest here!

Read more: FAQ: What You Need to Know About the Verizon IPhone 4

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The iPhone 4 for Verizon Wireless is … an iPhone 4 for Verizon Wireless. It looks, feels, and acts just like the existing iPhone 4, except for a new wireless hotspot app and a potential change to the antenna that just might solve the “death grip” problem. But after all, that’s what Apple and Verizon promised: the iPhone experience, on Verizon’s 3G network.

Let’s make this clear: this is a 3G, CDMA iPhone. There’s no LTE, no GSM; it isn’t a world phone. It works on Verizon’s 850 and 1900 MHz bands. The device might also work on Sprint, if Sprint can close a deal with Apple. Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said the Verizon agreement was non-exclusive, so a Sprint arrangement is possible.

Verizon’s demo devices were stuffed full of apps, as if to show that this iPhone will run all the existing apps. And yes, it appeared to have all the iPhone 4 features: retina display, camera, and FaceTime, for instance. I surfed to a few Web pages, and responsiveness was just fine. Trying to surf to a speed test site, though, presented errors, so I couldn’t check the effective speed of Verizon’s network. Verizon’s CDMA system is slower than AT&T’s if they’re both working well.

The Verizon iPhone says “Verizon” rather than “AT&T” in the top corner, of course, and Verizon appears in various settings screens. You can access the wireless hotspot app from the settings menu. It lets you turn on the hotspot with one click and set a WPA password for security.

If you try to surf the Web while you’re making a phone call, you get an error: “cellular data connections are not available during this call.” Surfing works fine during calls if you’re on Wi-Fi. I made a call, and the call sounded clear, although the speakerphone wasn’t very loud.

There was no Verizon bloatware on the phone, and there’s no physical Verizon logo anywhere on…

Read more  here: iPhone 4: Hands On

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Blass reports, “Update: So not only has Offwire seemingly pulled all of the products which once showed up in the iPhone 4 Verizon category, a commenter over at Phone Arena pointed out that Case-Mate already has a website dedicated to products for[...] Check out the post for the full listing of accessories.

View post: Verizon iPhone 4 accessories appear

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After asking if reporters could try out a personal iPad in Dexim’s new cases, the exhibitors said it was for an upcoming version and wouldn’t fit the original. The placeholder inside is allegedly slimmer with the speculated dual built-in cameras and a giant symbol for a speaker. The home button also has a lower location and the structure of the machine is said to be reminiscent of an iPod touches edges, more “tapered” than the iPad.

But what about the case itself? It sounds like a fairly inter[…}

Read more, see more! : iPad 2 case on display at CES

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