HTC One S, E and X smartphones revealed ahead of MWC

With less than a week to go before MWC kicks off, HTC has revealed three of the devices it intends to showcase at the event – the HTC One S, E and X. All three devices are expected to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and release in Q2 2012.

The HTC One X, previously known as the HTC Edge and HTC Endeavour, will feature a 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, a 4.7-inch 720p HD display, and an 8MP f/2.2 camera, and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. Some press shots of the device have also leaked, and can be seen below.

The HTC One E, previously known as the HTC Ville, will feature a 4.3-inch 960x544 pixel display, feature a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8MP autofocus camera, and is expected to be around 8mm thick. Benchmarks of the One E have also made their way into the wild, showing some impressive performance compared to current generation devices.

The HTC One S, which was previously known as the HTC Primo, will apparently not feature the 1GHz dual-core processor, instead, be available as a low-end offering with a 1GHz single-core processor, and a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display.

Earlier reports indicated that HTC might also launch a new tablet at MWC this year, but according to recent rumours, the Taiwanese mobile manufacturer will only be revealing a new tablet later this year. The same earlier reports also indicated that HTC might be launching a music streaming service at MWC, and a recent interaction on the company's Facebook page, asking fans which music they were listening to, might be another indication.

Study finds chemical reason behind Facebook 'addiction'

From time to time, you hear people make the tongue-in-cheek assertion that they're "addicted" to Facebook. But recent data suggests that there might be some truth to such statements.

A group of researchers from the University of Milan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) identified chemical reasons at the root of the pervasive need to check social networks, Boy Genius Report has learned.

They found that users exhibit physical and psychophysiological responses when they log onto Facebook, similar to the sensations experienced by people when they play an instrument or engage in some kind of creative activity.

Researchers monitored 30 subjects ages 19-25 as they looked at photos of nature, tried to solve math problems, and perused Facebook. They recorded physical reactions including skin conductance, blood volume pulse, electroencephalogram, electromyography, respiratory activity, and pupil dilation to uncover a pattern.

The study says: "Statistical analysis of the psychophysiological data and pupil dilation indicates that the Facebook experience was significantly different from stress and relaxation on many linear and spectral indices of somatic activity. Moreover, the biological signals revealed that Facebook use can evoke a psychophysiological state characterized by high positive valence and high arousal."

It added that it's possible users reach a "positive affective state" when they access their social networks.

The report comes the same week that a University of Chicago study found Facebook can be more addictive than cigarettes or alcohol.

With Facebook boasting 845 million users and Twitter at around 300 million, this research could be part of the reason for their enormous numbers. In fact, the researchers indicated that people seek out sites like Facebook and Twitter to receive this type of satisfaction, which has in turn, boosted their growth.

There's been no shortage of Facebook studies lately. Another report released last week found that those with a low self-esteem could suffer more by using the site, as posting negative items to Facebook often makes them appear less likable to their friends.

Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.

Source: Study Finds Chemical Reason Behind Facebook 'Addiction'

LG reveals Optimus 4X HD, with ICS and quad-core Tegra 3

LG has unveiled yet another Android phone ahead of MWC next week, the Optimus 4X HD, considered the successor to the Optimus 2X flagship. While the 2X introduced the first dual-core processor in a mobile phone, with the Nvidia Tegra 2, the Optimus 4X HD will bear one of the first 1.5GHz quad-core processor (or should we say, 4-PLUS-1 architecture), with the Nvidia Tegra 3 ‘Kal-El’ processor.

The slim 8.9mm-thick LG Optimus 4X HD also boasts of a massive 4.7-inch (1280 x 800 pixel) True HD IPS display. The Tegra 3 processor (read more about it in our previous coverage), is coupled with 1GB of RAM. Other specifications include 16GB of built-in storage, an 8MP rear autofocus camera, a 1.3MP front camera, MHL and DLNA connectivity, and a large 2,150mAh battery to power it all.

The LG Optimus 4X HD runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with Optimus UI on top. Surprisingly, for an ICS device, the 4X HD will feature hardware Android buttons. LG hasn’t revealed any other details about the device, but will do so at MWC next week. The Optimus 4X HD is expected to be launched in Europe in Q2 2011. LG will also be revealing more details about the Optimus L3, L5, L7 and 3D Max. 

At MWC, the HTC Edge/Endeavour is also expected to launch with the ICS and Tegra 3 combination.

iPhone app controls tiny Hot Wheels car

Hot Wheels' iPhone app controls the little Ken Block Fiesta radio controlled car.

Most remote control cars come with dual stick controllers, but Hot Wheels opens up many more driving options with its iPhone controller app.

Although a little clunky to set up, Hot Wheel's iNitro Speeders gives the option of using an iPhone to control its little remote control cars. The iPhone app includes the standard dual stick controller, but also lets you drive the car with the iPhone's accelerometer, choose a predefined driving pattern, or draw your own pattern.

The iNitro Speeders car is less than two inches long.

Hot Wheels sent us the iNitro Speeders kit with a Ken Block Fiesta car, one style of about eight. The Ken Block Fiesta is only 1 3/4 inches long, with a 1 inch width body. The body style is very close in look to the actual car on which it is based, but the wheels stick out far from the body.

The car comes with a carrying case that serves as charger and physical controller. This case has the dual stick controller setup, with forward and reverse on the left, and turning on the right.

Push the control stick forward, and the car takes off like a shot. Hit the turn stick and it pulls 180s and 360s. The car is a little too fast, making it difficult to control. Instead of having the front wheels actually pivot, the car turns by torque, shifting power to the left or right.

But the cool thing is the iPhone app controller. The car relies on infrared signals for its remote control, something not native to the iPhone. So Hot Wheels includes an infrared module that plugs into the iPhone's headphone port. It is not the most elegant solution, but it works.

After a calibration function, which does not seem to make much difference, the app shows five different methods of controlling the car. The first is the dual stick controller, which offers some interesting graphic choices. It works just like the carrying case controller, and is equally difficult to do much but make the car go zipping off in random directions.

The iPhone app lets you draw custom paths for the car to follow.

The accelerometer option lets you control the car by tipping the phone forward and back, right and left. This one might be easier to use for people with a fine sense of balance. However, we still found the car charging off, albeit making more interesting maneuvers that were almost under control.

An option called Slide shows something like the old Spyhunter game graphic, and you control the car by moving your fingertip up or down over the graphic. This method seemed to be the easiest for actually controlling the car.

We found the final two options the most intriguing. The first lets you select patterns, such as a figure eight or spiral, which the car will follow. The second is similar, but you can actually draw a pattern, then make the car follow it, kind of like a cross between an Etch A Sketch and a car controller.

Hot Wheels says the iNitro Speeders are appropriate for children eight years old and up. Not many children that age own an iPhone, but many a parent hands over a phone for games. And although having to attach the control module to the iPhone is a little clunky, the app gives some interesting control possibilities. It also includes a built in racing game you can play anywhere.

Now Motorola Razr gets a price cut; selling at Rs. 29,990

Motorola has slashed price of its latest Android smartphone, Razr, by approximately Rs. 4,000. The Motorola Razr, launched in November last year, was selling for Rs. 33,990. The device is now available at select online stores for Rs. 29,990. The Razr price cut comes days after the pricing of the Motorola Defy+ was slashed by Rs. 2,000.

To refresh your memory, the Motorola Razr sports a 4.3-inch AMOLED touch display, front-facing camera and an 8MP rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video recording capabilities. The Razr runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS. It has a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. The Razr comes with an in-built storage of 16GB, which can be expanded up to 32 GB via microSD card. On connectivity front, the Razr supports Wi-Fi, GPRS and Bluetooth.

The Motorola Razr had received an impressive 4.5 out of 5 ratings in our review. The new Motorola device has an ultra-slim design as Motorola brands the device as the world's slimmest phone. The Razr has a good camera for stills and videos, while the Super AMOLED display is also impressive. The huge size of the phone and poor battery life of the Razr may turn you off a bit though. For more insight, check out our Motorola Razr review.

Three years on, Chrome at last arrives on Android

Chrome for Android overlays multiple tabs if you tap the tab button in the upper right.

(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Google today released a beta version of its Chrome browser for Android, a momentous step that marries two of Google's most important programming projects.

The new browser, unlike the stock Android browser, is available in the Android Market so that people don't have to wait for handset makers to offer it through an operating system upgrade. But its reliance on newer hardware acceleration interfaces means it only works on Ice Cream Sandwich, which despite emerging last year on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone remains a rarity in the real world.

Chrome comes to Android, but only ICS

Chrome for Android (review) includes the desktop version's V8 JavaScript engine, has gesture-based controls for moving among multiple tabs, synchronizes with the desktop version of Chrome, and shuts out plug-ins including Adobe Systems' Flash Player and Google's own Native Client. With its performance and features, Google expects Android users to increase their browser activity.

"In general, we have seen usage go up," said Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and Apps. "I expect to see more people use the mobile Web."

Tour the first Chrome beta for Android (screenshots)

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It's    unfortunate that it's limited to Ice Cream Sandwich, but Chrome doubtless will take off widely among those with Android 4.0. Even in beta, it's a compelling browser at least on the Galaxy Nexus I tried it on, and it's and a much better match for Apple's Safari on iOS. And eventually, its success is all but assured when it simply becomes what ships with Android.

Google tried to examine every aspect of browsing and if necessary adapt it for the mobile world. "The intent was to reinvent mobile browsers," said Arnaud Weber, engineering manager for Chrome. "We went through every feature of Chrome and brainstormed every feature."

Peas in a pod
Android and Chrome are made for each other. Each arrived for the public to use in the closing months of 2008. Each started as small, rough projects that exploded in usage and became top priorities for the company.

Each project isn't actually an end in itself, but rather a means to an end: get more people to use the Internet and Google's services on it. Android and Chrome are vehicles to carry people to Google search, YouTube, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google+, and doubtless many future online services. Not coincidentally, Chrome and Android are set up to work better if you're signed into a Google account.

With so much to gain from each other, it's somewhat surprising that it took more than three years for the Chrome chocolate to get stuck in the Android peanut butter. But Google wanted to make sure Chrome for Android would be good enough, Pichai said.

Chrome for Android runs only on Google's Ice Cream Sandwich version of the mobile operating system.

(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

"We really wanted to get the full capabilities of a desktop browser--stuff like V8--in a highly capable browser that's optimized for the mobile experience," Pichai said. "It was a challenge."

And Google didn't want to brand the stock Android browser with the Chrome name. It wasn't based on Chromium, the open-source foundation of Chrome, and Google wanted to ensure the "underlying mobile platform could run things you're used to in desktops," Pichai said.

Feature frenzy
Among the features in the browser:

• The browser shows multiple tabs like overlapping pages when you tap the tabs button. Swiping one of the pages to one side or the other close it in much the same way that you can sweep away notifications on Ice Cream Sandwich. Once you click a page, it expands to fill the whole screen, at which point you can switch to new pages by sliding your finger from one edge or the other.

• The browser can preload pages in advance when Google has high confidence that you'll likely tap its link. That means pages don't have to wait so much for the network.

• Chrome for Android has hardware acceleration for tasks such as scrolling. It also uses it for slick visual feedback effects like browser tabs.

• It supports a wide range of Web standards, including Web Workers for multiple computing processes, Web Sockets for fast server-browser communciations, HTML5 video and audio, and IndexedDB for offline storage.

Chrome for Android synchronizes with Chrome for personal computers.

(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

• The browser is rejiggered for tablets. "On tablets, we realize consumers expect a similar experience to what they get on a laptop," Pichai said, so for example the tab strip looks like what you'd see on a personal computer.

• You can synchronize data such as bookmarks and Web address autocomplete suggestions with your desktop browser, with passwords arriving in a later upgrade. As with Firefox for Android, tabs you had open on your laptop or desktop can be opened from a list in Chrome for Android. To use sync, you must be signed into your Google account.

• The browser has incognito mode that doesn't leave traces such as cached images, cookies, and browsing history on the phone. It's walled off into a separate stack of tabs; if any incognito tabs are open, you can move between them and the ordinary stack of tabs by tapping the tab button and then tapping the appropriate stack.

• Programmers can use their PCs to remotely debug Web pages that don't work properly on Chrome for Android. A command on the PC will open the mobile browser's Web pages for scrutiny.

Web apps or native apps?
Chrome for Android increases a certain tension within Google: should software run natively on a particular computing device or as a Web app within a browser?

For Android, the answer clearly has been largely the former as Google has pushed the Android Market and worked to improve programming tools and interfaces. But part of Chrome's raison d'etre has been to spur Web-app innovation, a subject near and dear to Google's heart. Because browsers run on so many devices, Web apps span them and at least theoretically offer programmers the promise of cross-platform development.

Naturally, with Chrome on board, Android becomes a much more powerful foundation for Web applications. That's especially true since Chrome will be on the Android Market and therefore Android users will be able to upgrade it even when their handset manufacturers can't be bothered to keep up with newer Android releases.

"The mobile ecosystem is evolving at such a rapid pace that native apps will always be there, while the Web works its way there," Pichai said.But Chrome's arrival doesn't herald a new age when Web apps rule on Android.

Chrome for Android doesn't yet overwrite the stock Android browser. The latter is still used, for example, by other Android apps that need a browser engine.

Android 4.0 only
Google stuck required Ice Cream Sandwich because it has necessary interfaces such as those for hardware acceleration. It sure is convenient, though, that it means Google doesn't have to worry about a lot of problems with compatibility and performance of a lot of older phones.

In fact, Google passing over earlier Android versions is almost exactly what Microsoft chose to do with Internet Explorer 9 when it dropped Windows XP support, in part because it lacks newer graphics interfaces. That cuts off a lot of people but simplifies engineering and support.

"ICS represesnts a big leap forward," Pichai said of Google's choice. "It made sense to aim there, to build for the future."

Likewise, don't expect Chrome on other mobile operating systems, most notably iOS. Apple permits other browsers on iOS only if they use its WebKit engine to render Web pages; although Chrome stems from the same WebKit lineage, it's a different bundle of bits with, for example, a different JavaScript engine.

"On iOS, we can't run V8 or our multiprocess architecture," Pichai said. "There are a lot of limitations."

Chrome for Android is based on Chrome 16, the current stable release of the browser for computers. Google plans to update Chrome for Android every six weeks, just like the desktop version, and eventually the browser version numbers will sync up, Pichai said.

Net Applications' January 2012 numbers show the gradual rise of the unbranded Android browser to third place after Apple's Safari and Opera Mini in terms of usage. Expect Chrome for Android to steadily supplant the unbranded browser as Android 4.0 spreads.

(Credit: Net Applications)

"Our intent is to have the smallest possible gap" between the desktop and mobile versions of Chrome, Weber said.

Chrome for Android won't support Flash, Pichai said. Google has been a tight Flash ally with its creator, Adobe Systems, but Google was spared a tough choice when Adobe scuppered its attempt to extend Flash from desktop to mobile last year.

Google's own Native Client, for running Web apps compiled to run at native speeds, also isn't an option, said Dave Burke, the Android engineering director. For that sort of software, programmers will simply write native Android apps, he said.

But Google loves the mobile Web--and it's a big deal financially.

"We believe one in every seven searches on Google comes from a mobile device," said JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth in a research report yesterday.

Advertisers pay only a half to a quarter the amount for each ad when people click on them compared to what they pay on personal computers right now, but more mobile usage likely will mean more advertisers bidding and therefore higher cost-per-click payment rates for Google, he said.

But overall, a lot of Google's excitement seems to be just about finally giving a top company brand a prominent place in a fast-moving, important market.

"I think mobile browsing is in its infancy. As phones are getting more powerful, as screen sizes are getting larger and higher-resolution, and as connectivity is getting better going from 3G to 4G, I think mobile browsing can be huge," Pichai said. Now using Chrome on Android, "my browser usage has sky rocketed."