One feature that has been conspicuously missing in Android since its launch has been a biggie–multi-touch. Multi-touch is the wonderful input method that reads multiple touch inputs at once. It gives for a more ‘natural’ control of input, instead of zooming in/out by tapping plus/minus signs, you can simply pinch or pull the screen. We’ve said it before but: Multitouch has become the benchmark for touchscreen browsing. The iPhone has it, the Pre has it, Android should definitely have it by now.

Luckily, CNET reports that official multi-touch support will be coming to the Android 2.0 update, which is expected to release this holiday season. Having multi-touch in Android is necessary not because of just its improvement to the user experience but it will take away a bullet point from its competitors. And to clarify, Eclair, not Donut, is expected to be 2.0.

Excited for the multi-touch news?

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Multi-Touch Coming to Android in 2.0, Eclair ?

The Motorola ROKR ZN50 is a 3G touch screen phone complete with a smooth slide opening mechanism which allows the user to access the keypad.

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Phone review – Motorola ROKR ZN50

Remeber the Palm Pre? Remeber how it likes to fall apart? Not anymore, PreThinking has an excellent article following the self destrusctive nature of the first genertion Palm Pre. Some of those poor soles who spent money that saved the company merely ended up with a fragile plastic device lead to no end of headaches. Have a look at the guided tour of Palm Pre horrors and the phone works its way to perfection, again (If your Mobile phone under 18 months you should maybe place it in another room as some of the imagery can be disturbing.)

If you’re an early Pre adapter like myself that nabbed one of the first batches of Palm Pres, then chances are you experienced it firsthand or have heard of some of the build quality issues surrounding the first shipments of Palm Pres. Although the particular Pre I got was one of the solid ones. Palm acted swiftly from the reports, and looks like Pres manufactured in July and up, fixes some of the issues.

I took 20 people that bought a Palm Pre in the last 15 days and found some interesting things. These Pres were manufactured between 7/1 and 7/29 and are in the “sunset” box.

Screen Cracking

Users were reporting spider web-like cracks mysteriously and sometimes not so mysteriously finding its way on to the Pre. Out of the 20 people, no cracking anywhere so far. But then again, they just bought it, so who know…

Pres resetting or shutoff when the user closes the keyboard

It was a common thing to all early Pre adaptors that when the we close the keyboard with a bit of force, the Pre would reset itself or shutoff. The problem lies in Pre’s battery compartment and Palm’s standard battery. The battery fits tightly in the Pre, but when a user closes the keyboard, it sometimes creates a tiny gap between the connectors for a millisecond, just enough to shutoff the Pre or reset it.

Palm fixed the issue by adding a little gray foam behind the tab you pull to get the battery out (Image above).

The finish on the Center Button

This one is not really an issue, but worth mentioning. The first batch of Pres had a center button that looked like a pearl, newer ones have more of a silvery finish.

Screen Twisting/”Oreo Effect”

There is like 1 in a 100,000 chance that your Pre will become what you’re seeing in the image above. But some users have reported twisting between the two halves of the Pre. Though we’re seeing less of this problem in the newer models, at least out of the 20 people.

New Model of Standard batteries

We don’t know if it’s new, but there are definitely two different models of the 1150mAh standard battery. [Thanks for the image, Chi]

Palm Logo embossed on the Pre carrying pouch

This one is not a big deal, but I’d wish my pouch had the Palm logo embossed on it. And BTW, do you place your Pre on top of the pouch? Just curious.

There could possibly be more improvements and fixes, that maybe you guys could point out, and we’ll add it here. But the newer models are really solid, and if you were the few that hold off on buying a Pre because of the quality, nows the time to get one.

Source: PreThinking

Opera has released beta 3 of Opera 10 – with the browser getting ever closer to a full release.

The latest beta includes a few minor changes – like a more visual tab option, continued tweaks to the UI, more languages integrated and crash protection.

However, Opera Unite – the tool that Opera are calling Web 5.0 – is not included in beta 3, with the company explaining that it remains in its Alpha testing phase.

Testing phase

More than a million people have been testing beta 2, to the delight of the company.

“For us, it is a resounding success when more than one million people try your beta and are excited enough to give us so much actionable feedback,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software.

“This third beta comes after a lot of careful improvements. We have never released such a solid piece of technology that not only runs seamlessly, but is so nice to look at as well.

“I am proud of this release, and I hope that the Web-using world will benefit from a browser that is truly ready to do some heavy lifting.”

Change list – in Opera’s words

Tab tweaks – Multiple Opera users who tested the previous betas shared their preferences for more visual tab options. Opera has responded in beta 3 by offering options for tab placement. Now users can view their visual thumbnail tabs on the right or left side of the screen, in addition to placement options on the top or bottom. Tabs are resizable and the thumbnail view is optional.

Eyes on the UI – Designer Jon Hicks continues his renovation of the user interface (UI) by implementing several new tweaks designed to make using Opera even more efficient.

Multilingual – With a whopping total of 38 languages, Opera’s beta 3 aims to make it easier for users around the world to feel more at home while online.

Crash prevention – Opera’s integrated crash logger has made beta 3 a rock-solid ride.

Even more turbo – Opera Turbo has been further refined for increased speed when browsing over slow network connections.

Excerpt from: 
Opera 10 gets to beta 3 stage

This desirable 3G touch screen phone is exclusively available on the Vodafone network & has been beautifully manufactured by Samsung.

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Phone review – Samsung S5600v Blade

The Samsung M2310 is a fabulous looking flip phone which comes with music orientated features which will keep its user entertained at any time of the day or night, wherever the user maybe. The M2310 is from the same Samsung range as the Samsung M2510 & both these handsets offer the user an affordable music phone complete with a wide range of built in features.

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Phone review – Samsung M2310

If you are a regular traveller on buses, tubes or trains then you will know of the annoyance that can be caused by noise-pollution emitting from low-quality earphones, with leading in-ear and over-ear headphones manufacturer Sennheiser calling for quiet on Britain’s public transport this week.

Sennheiser’s little CX 300 II in-ears have pretty much become the de-facto first upgrade for iPod owners, with the manufacturer pleading with noise-polluting passengers using music-bleeding cheap buds and headphones to ‘STFU’!

Hence, Sennheisers new 200 Series of over the head / on the ear phones are, according to one company rep, “the right choice for use on public transport, saving their hearing and fellow traveller’s sanity.”

Closed HD cans

Sennheiser is launching three new Closed HD Models, the HD 218 (L40), the HD 218 BLACK (L50) and the HD 218 WHITE (L50) which you can pick up at your nearby Apple Store or registered Sennheiser dealer.

“Where many headphones leak sound in every direction, these closed back designs reduce background noise and allow the users to listen at lower volumes,” says Sennheiser. “As little sound leaks out, other travellers are not irritated and the user’s hearing is protected.”

The new ‘fold-flat’ cans are optimised for use with iPods, iPhones and most leading MP3-player brands and feature powerful neodymium magnets, ultra-light diaphragms and individually adjustable ear cups, as well as Sennheiser’s standard two year guarantee

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Sennheiser calls noise-polluters to task