Smaller, 7-inch iPads on the way by Christmas?

A Taiwanese newspaper is reporting that Apple is readying a smaller iPad with a 7-inch screen by Christmas.

The current model, featuring a 9.7-inch screen, has sold more than three million units since debuting in April.

A smaller iPad might sell for $100 cheaper than the current model, which begins at $499.

Subway and PlayStation team up to offer free gear with sandwiches

Next time you go to get your $5 dollar (five-dolla, five-dolla) footlong, you may be able to quench your gaming jones, too.

Turns out that Sony and Subway have announced a "marketing alliance" that will allow you to win PlayStation prizes, including some products before you can buy them in stores. Sony says the prizes will be worth more than $1 million in retail value and that it expects to award them at a rate of a prize per minute during the promotion period. Those prizes include a shot at the new PlayStation Move controller before they hit stores next month.

How to get some of that PS3 goodness you ask?

Buy specially marked items at Subway like chips, sandwiches and drinks and enter redeeming codes attached at subwayfreshbuzz.com or via mobile devices at subwayfreshbuzz.modi or via text to 87963. You'll learn instantly if you've won and how to redeem your prize.

And besides the anticipated Move controller, Sony plans to give away collector's edition boxes of Gran Turismo 5, LIttle Big Planet 2 and UNCHARTERED 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition. It will give away 3D and HDTV entertainment packs and PSP entertainment packs that include a movie and game.

The promotion starts today.

DirecTV offers bonus coverage from PGA Championship

I'm starting to really like this bonus golf and tennis coverage we're getting from DirecTV. The sat-caster is again providing extra coverage from this week's PGA Golf Championship, the final major of the season.

Beginning at 1 p.m. today, DirecTV will offer the main broadcast feeds (TNT and CBS) plus a channel dedicated to a marquee group (think Phil and Tiger), another focusing on the day's most challenging hole and a channel featuring highlights and interviews.

These channels are offered in HD and standard definition for free to DirecTV subscribers beginning on channel 701.

PGA.com will also offer some additional coverage and there's a PGA Championship app available for iPhone and other smart phones that delivers live video, video highlights and instant scoreboard.

DirecTV will also offer an instant leaderboard option by pressing buttons on the remote control.

Dell Streak Tablet pricing set: $549 unlocked, $249 with 2-year deal

Dell's highly anticipated "Streak" smartphone/tablet is scheduled to go on sale soon in the U.S. And we've finally got pricing.

The device is $549 for full retail or $249 with a two-year AT&T contract.

The device, which has a 5-inch screen, will run Android OS.

Dell calls the Streak "the perfectly-sized, go-anywhere entertainment, social connection and navigation device."

The device, according to Dell, features:

* Widescreen display optimally designed for mobile web, video and movies
* Integrated social networking widgets and apps, plus tons of apps through the Android Marketplace
* Crystal-clear damage-resistant Gorilla® glass screen
* Google MapsTM with navigation and text-to-voice, turn-by-turn directions with Street View
* Multitasking Google Android OS

Madden 11 demo now live

The new Madden 11 videogame demo is now up on Xbox Live and should hit PlayStation Store laster today. The game features full five minute quarters and only two teams, the Colts and Jets.

The game has:

· Teams: Colts vs. Jets (as voted by fans)
· Stadium: Jets Stadium, East Rutherford NJ – 1:00pm, clear
· Full 5 minute quarters
· All 4 skill levels selectable – Rookie, Pro, All-Pro, All-Madden
· Build both offensive and defensive gameplans
o Unlock “Master Strategist” achievement/trophy in the retail game
· GameFlow or Conventional play call is selectable
· CoachSpeak audio and text overlays – hear the coach via your headset or see the text overlay on-screen
· Coaching Tips – receive tips in-game to assist you in playing Madden NFL 11
· Audio presentation:
o Play-by-play (Gus Johnson), commentary (Cris Collinsworth)
o Stadium music – hear classic tracks like Crazy Train and more
o Team specific chants

Have you downloaded it yet? What do you think?

Rooting or jailbreaking your cellie is no legal?; and new Madden demo comes tomorrow

Couple interesting tidbits from the tech world today:

1. Cell phone users running the popular iOS (Apple) and Android operating systems may now legally run software applications not approved.

The new ruling will allow users to "jailbreak" or "root" their phones legally. The Library of Congress, which oversees the Copyright Office, reviews and authorizes exemptions every three years to ensure that the law does not prevent certain non-infringing uses of copyright-protected material.

Quoting from the Associated Press story: "Unless users unlock their devices, they can only download apps from Apple's iTunes store. Software developers must get such apps pre-approved by Apple, which sometimes demands changes or rejects programs for what the developers say are vague reasons.

"The new government rules, however, won't stop Apple from continuing its practice of disabling jailbroken phones with software upgrades. That means owners of such phones might not be able to take advantage of software improvements, and they still run the risk of voiding their warranty."

2. Tomorrow, Xbox Live and PlayStation network will host the new Madden 11 demo featuring a playoff game between the Jets and Colts. There will be five-minute quarters and four difficulty choices.

The new Madden debuts Aug. 10.

4 in 5 iPhone users say they'll buy another; Android? Only 1 in 5

Interesting bit of information unearthed by the Yankee Group, a national research firm.

It finds that 77 percent of iPhone users will buy another iPhone, compared to only 20 percent of Android customers.

The Yankee Group says iPhone users net AT&T $50 more per customer each year than other smartphone subscribers and that the iPhone will account for $1.8 billion in sales for AT&T and $9 billion in revenue for the company over the next five years.

That's $750 million more each year than AT&T would make if it had a different flagship smartphone.

Does Droid X suffer from antenna problems too?

Interesting video posted by Apple showing Verizon's new feature phone dropping signal when held a certain way. Thoughts here?

Rumor: Apple in "serious" talks to bring iPhone to T-Mobile this fall

Cult of Mac reports that Apple is in serious talks to bring iPhone to T-Mobile this fall, possibly as early as September.

Cult of Mac quotes a source saying the deal is 80 percent likely. This rumor is interesting because unlike Verizon -- the popular iPhone is coming rumor company -- T-Mobile uses a network chip similar to the one used at AT&T. Unlocked iPhones have run on T-Mobile's network, with slower data speeds, for a long time.

Rumors persist of Verizon and Apple joining forces in January, but a T-Mobile move might be easier.

For the consumer, a move would be good. T-Mobile has cheaper plans than AT&T and any iPhone carrier choice would make AT&T react with better pricing.

Flipboard: One incredible App for iPad (that changes everything)

I don't own an iPad, but I think this is one of the best apps I've seen for it yet. It takes content from your social apps and organizes them into a magazine style layout, and it updates constantly.

You'll never have a moment without fresh content, right?

Click the video below for a demo.

Bloomberg: iPhone 4 to Verizon in January

Bloomberg is quoting sources as saying the new iPhone 4 will come to Verizon in January.

That would bring an end to the iPhone's exclusive three-year run on AT&T's network and open up new revenue streams to Apple and CEO Steve Jobs. Recent surveys indicate more than 14 million Verizon customers would get the device if available on the network. Verizon has nearly 93 million U.S. customers.

Interestingly, Verizon plans to launch its new faster 4G network this fall and introduce wireless devices on it in 2011. At the January Consumer Electronics Show, the company is expected to debut devices that will compatible with the network.

AT&T recently increased fees it would charge customers who break contracts earlier to go to new carriers, moving from $175 to $325. This was done just before the new iPhone 4 debuted.

There have been lots of rumors that the iPhone might move, however, and it has been on AT&T exclusively. We'll see if this one pans out.

Countdown to iPhone 4: Apple's new OS makes old phone glimmer again

As most of you know, Apple will release its new cell phone, iPhone 4, on Thursday. Some shipments have been made to the more than half million people who ordered early. Some may get the new device on Wednesday.

Monday afternoon, Apple released the operating system that will run the new phone. It's called"iOS4," and users of most current Apple devices were able to upgrade. Apple says its adds more than 100 new features (click here for more info).

iPad owners will get the new operating system this fall.

The most current iPod Touches and iPhone 3GS users got almost all the new features, including multi-tasking, allowing you to have more than one app open at once. I have an older iPhone, the 3G, which is not powerful enough to support this feature, which is something I wanted. I like to go walking and would love to have AOL Radio or Pandora rolling at the same time as my iMapMyWalk app that tracks how far and how fast I'm going.

But the new OS includes a tap-to-focus camera and adds zoom. My 3G camera seems sharper and I like the 5x zoom. Email accounts now neatly appear together in one file (as some other phones already do), so you can choose to see all your email in one folder or in separate folders. Emails are now threaded, so you can much more easily follow one email conversation. Those of you who use Gmail are quite used to this neat addition.

I also liked the new folders add-on. If you have page after page of apps, you can now drop 12 apps into one folder. I have, um, a few games on my phone and now have them organized onto one page. I have news apps organized, utilities, music, etc. It's neat to have much quicker access.

Overall, I like the new OS, which also adds the new and popular iBooks reading store that was released with iPad a few months ago. I put the (free) King James Bible on mine and now when I go to church, I don't have to carry The Good Book with me.

We'll follow news on the iPhone 4 release in this space all week.

DirecTV offers bonus U.S. Open Golf Coverage this week

As it has done at recent golf and tennis major championships, DirecTV is broadcasting bonus U.S. Open golf coverage on Channels 701-705. The coverage is offered in standard and high-definition.

Viewers can watch the network broadcast, a featured group (think Phil and Tiger), coverage of play at holes 7 and 17 or play at hole No. 18

Mix Channel viewers will see the home network channel and three feature channels that will follow a group of golfers around the 7,040-yard course, focus on particular area of the course and provide an “in-depth” channel with live updates, highlights and interviews.

Customers with interactive receivers can view all four channels in the Mix and use their remote to listen to any channel’s audio or tune directly to the full-screen channel. The Mix also features a real-time leaderboard.

Apple sells more than 600K iPhone preorders, about 7 per second

It looks like Apple's upcoming iPhone 4 is going to be a big hit.

The new totally redesigned model goes on sale June 24, but Apple started taking preorders Tuesday. In the first 24 hours Apple announced it had sold more than 600,000 new iPhones worldwide.

That's slightly more than 7 per second.

Demand for the new phone crashed servers at Apple's cellular partner and the company, too. Only the black model was available for preorder. A new white model will be available later.

Apple is already saying new preorders won't ship until mid-July, so looks like the best way to get one of these new phones is to stand in line at Wal-Mart or Best Buy or Radio Shack or AT&T or the Apple store at launch.

iPhone preorders cause hysteria; ATT CEO talks cell service

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson did an interview with CNBC today to talk about his company's relationship with Apple and the new iPhone 4. Apple began taking preorders today for the device which launches in about 10 days and demand has caused network problems for AT&T and Apple. Lines at retail outlets have been impressive.

In the interview, Stephenson talks about the strength of iPad for business use and about his company's oft-maligned wireless network.

He said AT&T is working to make things better. Rumor has it the new iPhone 4 antenna system will improve reception. We'll see

EA Sports' new game controllers add zip to Wii titles

I'm very impressed with EA Sports' new solo shot game controllers. The game controllers are replicas of tennis rackets and a baseball bat, which I tried. There's also a golf club available.

The controllers include a wireless Wii remote and a rubberized grip that is easy to hold. The controllers are compatible with many popular Wii golf and tennis games and take the realism to a new level.

It's one thing to play tennis holding the "Wii-mote" like a tennis racquet. It's entirely another to actually hold a tennis racket.

I didn't get to try the golf club, but I think that could be the best of all, especially considering how good the Wii version of the Tiger Woods videogame already is.

I'd highly recommend these for any sports game lover.



Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/06/14/1501154/jordan-back-on-court-with-nba.html#ixzz0qsRVCfOd

Big changes ahead for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

The big news out of the E3 electronics and entertainment convention so far has been from Sony and Microsoft, which are giving their popular console game machines two big face lifts.

Microsoft announced that it's new Xbox 360 slim has launched today. It comes with integrated 802.11n WiFi (the fast stuff). It comes with a 250-gig hard drive and will cost $299. Reports say the new model is quieter (thankfully) and much thinner that the current model.

Microsoft also officially gave its Project Natal hands-free control system a name. It's called "Kinect" and it will launch Nov. 4 with 15 titles. The Xbox 360 add-on uses advanced camera and whiz-back computer tech to allow you to interact with the console and play games by just moving your arms and legs. No more Wii-mote. Journalists who saw the technology in a demo this week came away impressed.

EA Sports is already developing "EA Sports Active 2" ($99.99) for the Kinect system. The company promises the exercise game will track full body moment. On Kinect, users will be ability to go through workouts using voice and gesture recognition. PS3 and Wii players will use leg and arm straps with motion sensors built in.

As for Sony, there are big rumors about the company's presentation tomorrow that involve two new PS3 bundles. One will have a 250 gig hard drive and the other will get 500. Both machines will also get updated to the wireless N standard and may ship with Sony's new Wii-mote like motion controller called "Move."

Also look for 3D PS3 games. So get your glasses ready.

And speaking of 3D, Nintendo promises its new 3DS handheld console delivers 3D without the glasses.

Uh oh.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo runs runs until Thursday in Los Angeles.

Time Warner cable vs. Windstream DSL Part II

On Thursday, I wrote about beginning to change from years and years of solid service from Time Warner Cable's Road Runner broadband internet service to Windstream DSL. You can click here to read that blog.

My initial Windstream order was not done correctly, and I was only getting download speeds of 3 megabits per second yesterday, which was much slower than the 13 I was getting from Time Warner.

At 13 megabits, you can download a good sized movie in about eight minutes or an iTunes song in four seconds. At 3 megabits, the speeds I was getting, it's 14 seconds for the song download and 35 minutes for the movie.

But more than that, the internet was just slow. And after Road Running for a long, long time, it felt like I was back on the old AOL dial up connection waiting for that infernal blue bar to move all the way to the right.

That wasn't going to work.

Long story short, I was making the change due to Windstream's new bundle offer -- $49.99 for internet and phone with unlimited long distance for life. The $49.99 offer is good for 3 megabit speed, so I upgraded to 12 megabits, as fast as Windstream offers. That pumped up my bill to $59.99 (or $66.49 after taxes).

Well, it took three calls to customer service and about an hour of total time to get things fixed, but a Windstream tech made a switch to my service this morning, which involved changing a PIN number. That opened up the broadband pipe to my home. I am now getting speeds of 12.63 megabits per second, not far off the 13.31 I was getting from Road Runner yesterday. My upload speeds are twice as fast (0.64 to 0.35) as I got from Time Warner.

Best of all, I'm getting a home phone again plus speedy internet for about the same price as I was paying Time Warner Cable for Road Runner alone.

Late last year, I dropped my home phone service and just went cellular. It trimmed my bills, but giving the kids your cellphone to use whenever they needed to make a call -- or giving it to guests -- got a little bit old.

So next week, I will cancel my Road Runner service, turn in my modem and move on.

Am I making the right call?

The Broadband Wars Part I: Windstream vs. Time Warner Cable

I have had Time Warner Cable's Road Runner high-speed internet service since it debuted in Charlotte. The installer who put it in my house told me I was one of the first 10 people in Charlotte to get it.

It's always been great. I've never had a problem with it. This morning, I did a speed test and got download rate of 13.3 megabits per second. That's fast enough to download a song in four seconds or a good sized movie in about eight minutes.

But I may be leaving all that Time Warner goodness.

I've been getting these letters, like I'm sure many of you are, about a fabulous bundle offer from Windstream. The telephone company is offering DSL plus phone for $49.99 -- a price the company said will last as long as you remain in your home and don't change the service.

The $49.99 includes download speeds up to 3 megabits per second, which after using Road Runner from TWC is like crawling. With 3 megabits, you're talking 35 minutes to download that same movie I was talking about earlier, or 14 seconds to download that same song.

In real life, it just means having to wait for things to load that you're not used to waiting to load.

I signed up for 12 megabits down, which raised my monthly price to $59.99 (or $66.49 after taxes). That's about what I was paying for Road Runner. I figured it was a good deal.

Installation today went fast. I got a new modem and everything runs through the existing phone jack. You use a splitter, sending one phone cord to your phone and the other to your modem.

The only bad part was Windstream messed up my order. They signed me up for 3 megabits, so as I write this, things are, um, rather deliberate.

I couldn't live with these speeds.

Tomorrow, a technician will come back out and flip some magical switch and raise my speeds (I hope). I'll report back with what I get and let you know how it goes.

Have any of you tried DSL and gone back to cable? Or vice versa? Would love to hear your stories.

God Of War III: Incredible, bloody, unforgettable

I've been playing Sony's highly anticipated "God of War III" for a few weeks now and I'm just amazed.

I'm amazed at the graphics, the violence, the blood, and the depth of the story and characters here. Like God Of War II, this is a real candidate for the game of the year. And like GOW II, this is not a game for anyone younger than 18. Beyond the violence, there is nudity and rather graphic depictions of sex, both group and same sex.

GOWII ended with a big cliffhanger, a man turned greek god, Kratos is ascending Mount Olympus on the back of a giant creature, a Titan called Gaia. His mission: kill all the gods, including Zeus himself. Kratos, a former captain of Sparta's army, believes Zeus has betrayed him. He intends to destroy the most powerful Greek god of them all.

If it sounds a little like a Hollywood blockbuster, well, it is, and it's got just as much violence as "300" ever did. We're talking heads ripped arms, arms cut away, blood spewing in all directions; some really violent stuff. And, yet, this game is breathtaking. There are characters here, called Giants, that are immensely large, and they are drawn superbly to scale. The worlds themselves are huge and you can interact with virtually anything in them.

Some of the animation scenes -- parts of the game where you see action but cannot do anything -- are as impressive as anything you'd see on the big screen. I'd go so far as to say this is the best action adventure game of all time. Ever. I didn't see any animations in portions of the game that were open for play that didn't appear to be happening in real time (as opposed to a character made to run to a certain point automatically or climb a wall without you controlling him).

You can gain addition weapons as Kratos by taking down your prey, best achieved by mastering button combos to allow him to make multiple strike attacks.

I will tell you that Sony promises this is the last game in this story line, but maybe not the last in the series. I will tell you that Kratos fails in his attempt to start the game at destroying Zeus. He's betrayed again, by Gaia, who could've saved him. As he descends to a river in the Underworld, where he's attacked and weakened, he swears revenge on her, too.

And from there, if you're good enough, Kratos will find his way out of hell, and start working through his enemies, which include a familiar character named Hercules, boring through them -- if you're good enough -- like Tony Montana in the last hour of the 1983 cult classic "Scarface."

The action never stops and your fingers will virtually never come to rest on your PS3 controller. Played on a hi-def TV with the volume turned up, this game will enthrall you.

But parents, be warned, this is too much for your teens.