It's been two years but it looks like we're finally getting close to a G2 launch.

The G1 was the first Android phone to launch after the iPhone, and the smartphone market was a very different place back then. The G1 was expected to unseat the iPhone as king of the smartphones, or at least offer some kind of competition. However, it wasn't until we started seeing Android phones from several more manufacturers did Android really start to take off.

Today we've got official shots of the G2, the successor to T-Mobile's G1. Sent exclusively to Cell Phone Signal, these shots show a phone that's similar to the DROID 2 in that it's got a slide out QWERTY keyboard with a full touch screen on top. The HSPA+ phone is silver and has a single square button just under the display. It also has the usual 'back,' 'menu,' 'home,' and 'search' softkeys along the screen bezel.

Specswise you're looking at a 3.7-inch OLED, a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus, 3G HSPA+, WiFi and hotspot capabilities, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.

_{Source: Cell Phone Signal}

Itching for the latest in smartphone technology but don't want to sign a contract? Verizon will soon have you covered.

Signing contracts is a real drag, and though prepaid is an easy solution, a lot of networks don't have the same awesome line of phones for prepaid customers as they do for contracted subscribers.

Things on Verizon are about to get a little bit better for prepaid users, as the company reportedly has plans to release prepaid BlackBerrys along with a host of prepaid Android devices and both the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi. Android Does reports that all of the DROID phones are including in the line up, along with the HTC Incredible, the LG Ally and the as yet unreleased Samsung Fascinate.

Proof comes via these screens sent to Android Does, which clearly show a list of the phones that will be available prepaid, along with a month-to-month price plans for the devices in question. The price sheet points to $30/month for unlimited data paired with a voice plan costing $45 (450 minutes), $65 (900 minutes) or $75 (unlimited minutes).

Engadget also received proof in the form of a prepaid BlackBerry Curve box that displays the same prices detailed above.

No word on when we can expect to see these phones on the market, nor do we know how much the handsets themselves will cost. We'll keep you posted.

_{Source: Android Does, Engadget}

As if things weren't already crowded enough with today's Apple TV announcement and rumors of Google's possible movie and TV streaming service, Sony and Amazon are being ushered onto the bandwagon.

Word on the street is both Sony and etailer giant Amazon have plans to start their media services. The Financial Times cites sources in the media that say Sony's new subscription service will launch on the PlayStation 3 first (we assume via the PSN), before creeping across to the company's other devices, such as its Vaio computers, Sony Ericsson phones, Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, and Walkman PMPs.

Though Sony phased out its Connect music service in 2007, FT cites Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer who last year said 90 percent of the company's devices would be connected to the Web and each other by 2011. The paper also points to Sony's $260 million acquisition of Gracenote in 2008 as further evidence that the company could be prepping a content service. Gracenote tracks and identifies music files across devices, and FT says it could play a significant role in Sony's new media service, which has been two years in the making. The service is not expected to go live until next year, after Sony has cut all the necessary deals with studios and labels.

It's not immediately clear if Sony's service will be similar to iTunes, in that you pay for what you want, or if it will be an all you can eat subscription that streams content to the user's device.

Also said to be working on a media service is Amazon. Reuters reports that the etailer has approached media companies for a subscription service that will rival Netflix. The company has reportedly spoken to Time Warner, CBS, and Viacom about the service, though people familiar with the discussions say it's unclear whether the media companies have agreed to anything just yet.

Amazon already offers TV shows and movies via its VOD service, but Retuers reports that this new service will differ in that instead of paying for content by the episode, or movie, customers will pay a subscription fee. A Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon may choose to bundle its subscription service with its Amazon Prime service that gives customers free, 2-day shipping (and other perks) for just $79 per year.

Would you subscribe to a service with either Amazon or Sony? Let us know in the comments below!

_{Source: Financial Times, Reuters}

Apple held its fall event today and it was a doozie. Aside from Apple TV, we also got a completely new iPod line, new iTunes (complete with social network) and a peak at iOS 4.2. Whew!

Apple's event today packed plenty of surprises. If you missed our live blog, you can check it out here. But it's hump-day and we're all busy people so there's a condensed version below if you're short on time.

New iPods

The fall Apple event is always iPods and music orientated. Though this year did bring an Apple TV announcement (it's not called iTV), the biggest surprise still involved iPods, amazingly enough. This is because Apple decided to completely revamp the iPod line, introducing all new designs across the line.

The iPod shuffle is both regressing and progressing as Apple is bringing back the click-wheel from the second generation shuffle, but keeping the VoiceOver playlists that everyone loved about the third generation shuffle. It's teeny, holds 15 hours of battery and it comes in five colors. Available next week, it's got 2GB of storage and it costs $49.

The iPod nano also got a major redesign, despite the fact that it was updated last year. Apple ditched the video camera that they added just recently, completely took away the scrollwheel, made the screen smaller and added multitouch. It's now a tiny little cube with a multitouch display covering the front of the device. Steve and his friend's also added the clothes-clip that shuffle users will be familiar with. It's still got Nike+, an FM radio, a clock, etc, everything is just in a really small package. While the old iPod nano was supposed to be pretty good for watching videos (hence it's widescreen display), I can't imagine anyone but Thumbelina would want to watch video on this thing. Swipe to either side to reveal more menu items (playlists, artists, radio, Nike+), and use two fingers to rotate the screen. This has 24 hours of battery and comes in seven different colors. It sells for $149 for the 8GB version, $179 for the 16GB. Again, it'll be available from next week.

Last in the line of iPods is the iPod touch. The touch went on a diet this summer and the new model is much skinnier and sleekier. Other than that, it's pretty much the same aesthetically. This generation comes with the iPhone's Retina display, offering 4X the number of pixels, the Apple A4 chip, 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1 and two cameras. The front-facing camera is for FaceTime, which allows users to video call with other iPhone and iPod touch owners. The back camera is capable of shooting HD video. Again, just like with the iPhone, you can edit and upload these videos directly from the iPod. It's got a 40 hour battery life and it's retailing for $229, $299, and $399 for the 8GB, 32GB and 64GB, respectively. Like the other two, it's also available next week.

iTunes

Steve Jobs also revealed some details about iTunes 10, which is available for download starting today. The biggest change in iTunes 10 is Ping, a new social networking service that allows you to follow updates from friends and favorite musicians. With Ping you can see your friends favorite music, gigs that bands you like are playing, and photos from various different artists. You can follow tons of people or just a few, and there's the option to have all your shared posts, songs, and photos visible to just a few people, or you can share with everyone.

Also added in to iTunes 10 is a space-saver that makes list-view look a little more colorful. If you have more than five songs from the same album, Apple will take the space from the repeated album name listing and use it to display that albums art work instead. For songs where you don't have the complete album, iTunes will still display the name of the album where it always has.

Apple also changed the logo of iTunes, ditching the CD and opting for a music note inside a blue circle.

Apple TV

This is the one a lot of people have been waiting for: A streaming TV service from Apple. Rumored to be called iTV, Apple has instead kept the Apple TV moniker and reinvented the old version. The company reduced the size of the device, so it's now 75 percent smaller, and a cool graphite color instead of the old brushed silver.

Portswise, it's got just three in the back: Power, HDMI and Ethernet. If you don't want to use Ethernet, it's also got built-in WiFi. To keep the price of content down, Apple is moving away from purchasing and towards rentals. Renting movies costs $4.99 for new movies on the day they're released on DVD. This price will drop as the movie gets older. Renting TV shows costs just 99c an episode. Apple has currently only partnered with ABC and Fox, but hopes that more networks will come onboard when they see how great the service is. In addition to renting, Netflix subscribers can stream content from the service like nobody's business. Steve Jobs called this, "the best implementation of Netflix yet." As for price, Appe is killing the old $299 price and replacing it with the much more wallet-friendly $99. The new Apple TV is available in four weeks time. 

iOS 4.2

Steve also briefly demonstrated iOS 4.2, which will focus completely on iPad. When it comes out in November, it will bring wireless printing; AirPlay, which allows users to stream photos, video or music to their Apple TV from their iPad or iPod; and of course, multitasking.

Check out the live blog for a more detailed run down of today's event!

Sure, the press releases detail the various different updates, but what actually went down at the Apple event in San Francisco this morning? We've got the live blog, along with juicy pictures of Steve and the goods, so click through for the full scoop!

Apple's got a San Francisco event planned for just a few minutes time. Traditionally the company announces new iPod at this event, so we're expecting an iPod touch with a camera, and possibly the same Retina display that's present on the iPhone.

Aside from the usual iPod rumors, there are also reports that Apple will announce it's new Apple TV streaming service, iTV. Though the invitation didn't hint toward anything of the kind, it would definitely be more interesting than just the regular iPod announcement.

Either way, I'll be tap-tap-tapping away at my keyboard to bring you a blow-by-blow of the event. Check back regularly for updates!

10:53 They're playing Alanis at the YBCA Theatre in San Francisco. "You Learn" if anyone's interested.

10:55 They've moved on to "Layla" by Eric Clapton. Much better, thank you Apple.

10:57 The 'turn off your phones' announcement just hit. Should be getting started in a few minutes now. Bye bye Clapton, hello Jack Johnson.

11:00 Anyone watching via the live stream from Apple.com is seeing a copyright warning right now. Aaaaaand, there's Steve. We're off!

11:01 Lots of clapping, cheering and whooping for Steve. Now Steve is demanding applause for Steve Wozniak, who's in the audience.

11:02 Updates on the Apple stores being built at the moment. First up is the genuinely stunning new Paris store. They spent 18 months restoring the building. Apple also opened up a store in Shanghai store recently. A 40-ft high glass cylinder with the store all underground. Lastly is the one in London's Covent Garden. Again, a restored building, but it's massive and Steve seems proud. Apple has 300 stores in 10 countries now. Several times a month there are days when a million people pass through the stores. Yowza.

11:05 Teaching 80,000 of the one-to-one classes. 50 percent of customers buying Macs are buying their first Macs.

11:06 Moving onto iOS discussions. "It's been a revolution in both touch and apps ... Mobile applications were completely different before the iPhone." Steve says they've now shipped 120 million iOS devices since the beginning. That's 230,000 new activations per day.

11:07 The App store has hit 6.5 billion application downloads. That's 200 apps every second. "Whoosh, there's another 200," Steve says. Lots of cheering and clapping for that. 250,000 apps in the App Store. Of those, 25,000 are iPad apps.

11:08 Today they're announcing iOS 4.1. This includes bug fixes for the proximity sensor and Bluetooth, and the introduction of HDR or High Dynamic Range photos.

11:10 HDR allows for better exposed photos. When taking pictures, it actually takes three images, with different levels of exposure, and combines them to make one image. Some of the examples are pretty impressive.

11:12 They're also adding Game Center, which is focused around multiplayer games. You can link up with your friends, "And if you don't have any friends, we'll match you up with some." Laughs from the audience.

11:13 Steve's invited Mike Capps from Epic games to show us a game that uses Game Center.

11:14 We've got a very graphically impressive game demo for a game called 'Project Sword.'

11:15 They're showing off multiplayer and how achievements unlocked are available for everyone to see on Game Center. Project Sword is going to be available this holiday season on iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. And Steve's back.

11:16 iOS 4.1 is available next week for iPhone and iPod touch for free via iTunes. 4.2 is coming later this year and is completely focused on iPad. Wireless printing, and something called AirPlay, which we'll hear more about later. Streaming, perhaps? Steve is demoing wireless printing now. Looks pretty neat and nifty.

11:17 So what's AirPlay? Well AirTunes is streaming music over AirPort, something we've heard of before. They're changing AirTunes to AirPlay because AirPlay is now about streaming video and music. "More about that later." Woo-heee! Now Steve is demoing iOS 4.2 multitasking on the iPad. Listening to music via Pandora and then emailing and Web browsing.

11:19 "When is 4.2 coming? It's coming in November and it's going to be a free update for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch."

11:20 "Now I'd like to get on to the entree today. This is our music event where unveil out cool music devices that we unveil for the holidays." Apple has sold 275 million iPods to date. Big clapping for that number. "One of the secrets to the iPods success is that we've never rested on our laurels. Every year we try to improve the iPod for users and this year, we've gone wild. All-new design of every single iPod design. It's really exciting and it's the biggest change in the iPod line ever."

11:22 The new iPod shuffle is a mash-up of the last two generations. It's got buttons, which people missed in the last generation model, and it's got VoiceOver playlists, something people loved from the last generation. It's got a 15 hour battery, comes in five colors and retails for just $49. Wow!

11:24 Next up is the iPod Nano. Steve says they want to make it "smaller and better." They're taking out the click-wheel and they're giving it a multitouch display. It's gorgeous. It's got the same clip as the iPod shuffle, and is 46 smaller and 42 percent lighter. FM radio, Nike Plus, Pedometer, volume buttons, 24 hours of battery. No camera, interestingly. That's something they only added last year. Not surprising they ditched it, as no one really understood why it was there. Steve is giving a demo right now, and showing navigation, which is similar to the iPod touch. Lots of swiping to different screens. Homepage holds four icons, e.g., albums, playlists, artists, now playing etc. It's also got photos and two-finger rotating of the screen. How much? It comes in seven colors, and it costs $149 and $179 for 8GB and 16GB respectively.

11:25 Next up is the iPod touch, which has become the most popular iPod and the number one portable game player in the world. Lots of clapping for that. "The iPod touch outsells Nintenod and Sony portable game players combined. It's got over 50 percent of the worldwide marketshare."

11:26 The new iPod touch is even thinner than the last. "But even more remarkable is what's inside it." It now has the new Retina display; 4X the number of pixels, 24-bit color, LED backlit. It's got the same A4 chip that powers the iPhone, 3-axis Gyro for better gaming, iOS's new Game Center and, drum roll, FaceTime, complete with front facing and rear facing camera. The latter does HD video recording (no stills?) and editing, and it's got 40 hours of battery. 8GB model for $229, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399.

11:36 All of these are available next week, pre-orders starting today. Watching the trendy people in the new iPod ads.

11:38 So those are the new iPods. Now he's talking about iTunes. They're just about to cross the 12-billion song downloads mark. 160 million credit cards accounts have downloaded 450 million TV episode, 100 million movies, 35 million books. Next spring, iTunes sales will surpass CD sales, so they're ditching the CD in the logo. They're adding album artwork to listview. If you have more than five songs from the same problem, they'll show you the album artwork using the space where they would have displayed the album title.

11:41 They're announcing a new feature called Ping. Steve says it's, "Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes. It's a social network all about music. You can follow your favorite artists and friends, and follow what music they're listening to." Ping will give you a custom top 10 chart comprised of all the stuff the people you're following are downloading. Posts from Lady Gaga show favourites songs, posts, music, shows. Now he's showing recent posts from friends, gigs he's going to, favorite songs. "Ping is for social music discovery." You can set yourself to "anyone can follow" or "I have to approve followers." There's also a 'circle of friends' option where you and ten friends can only follow each other. Over 17,000 concert listings and open to all users immediately.

11:46 Demo of Ping now, showing photos Jack Johnson posted from a tour he's on. Previewing a song his friend Eddie shared, which he can buy by clicking the buy button. Lists of concerts on the bottom right, and you can mark which one's you're going to.

11:49 Ping is available from iPod touch and iPhone too, so you can social network on the go. iTunes 10 is available today, for free from Apple.com. And we're done with iTunes! What next? C'mon, give us some iTV.

11:51 "We've got one more thing ... Actually, it's one more hobby." Steve is talking about how Apple TV hasn't really been a big hit in the last four years. "We talked to people who use Apple TVs and they love 'em! They use them a lot! So what have we learned in the last four years? The number 1, 2 and 3 things that they want is Hollywood movies and TV content. They also want everything in HD and they want lower prices. They don't want a computer on their TV -- they want to be entertained with their TV. They don't want to manage storage. When you buy a lot of stuff, you have to go into storage management. They don't want to sync to a computer. They want to pull content off it, they don't want to sync it. And, they want the hardware to be silent, cool and small." Sounds a LOT like streaming to us.

11:54 Introducing the new Apple TV. A quarter of the size of the old Apple TV and it fits in the palm of your hand. It's got a power supply built in, one HDMI port, Ethernet, and WiFi. It comes with a teeny remote too. It's all HD and they've gone to the rental model. "The prices are more affordable and there's no more storage problems."

11:55 You can stream stuff from your computer, including photo slideshows.

11:56 "iTunes has the largest library of HD movies in the world." $4.99 for first run movies, the day they come out on DVD. TV Shows used to be $2.99 to buy. Renting is now dropping to 99c. "Remember, these are commercial-free." Right now, they only have ABC and FOX. Steve is hoping the rest of them will have a change of heart when they see how popular it is.

11:58 You can also stream Netflix content, if you're a subscriber, and stream from YouTube. Again, streaming music, photos and videos.

11:59 The store shows Rotten Tomatoes ratings for movies as well as user ratings. TV shows are click-to-rent and you can start watching "within seconds."

12:00 We're getting a demo from Steve now. Slideshow, movie ratings, searching for movies with your favorite actor. You can rent a movie to watch later, or right away. Steve rented Iron Man 2 and he's skipping chapters and playing the movie for attendees. The quality is excellent from what we can see.

12:03 You can flag your favorite TV shows and it will show you how many new episodes have aired since you last watched. Steve is watching Glee now. "So that's TV shows. ... If you're a Netflix subscriber, you can get all this stuff for free. This is by far the best implementation of Netflix too."

12:05 So that's Apple TV. Now, back to AirPlay. "One of the things we can do with AirPlay is stream content from an iOS device to Apple TV." Steve is streaming Up from his iPad. All you do is select the AirPlay button, and select 'Apple TV living room' and watch it on TV. Also handy for showing iPhone photos as a slideshow on your Apple TV.

12:08 Content for Apple TV is available in US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Germany, and more countries will be added this year. The new Apple TV is available next month and costs $99.

12:09 Steve is recapping the whole show now. Looks like we might be done for the day. Steve is bringing out Coldplay's Chris Martin to entertain the masses. We're finished folks. Lots of smiling faces in the audience for Chris Martin who says the rest of the band were too lazy to come. "I'll just play one song and then you can ask for another one and another and we'll just keep going like that until you feel like lunch."

Steve Jobs' car of choice is a Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG.

The Mercedes-Benz S class is arguably the best luxury, fat-cat sedan in the world. It's everything that that three-point star is known for in a glorious package.

Famed tuning house Brabus has taken a Mercedes S 600 and made what it calls the "iBusiness", which is an odd combination of automotive power and Apple technology.

What gives it the "iBusiness" name is all the Apple hardware inside. The centerpiece is a Mac Mini housed under the rear shelf in an electrically deployed drawer, and is connected to a 15.2-inch TFT display with 16:9 aspect ratio integrated into the headliner.

The entire Brabus multimedia system is controlled from the passenger seat or the rear compartment by two iPads that also control the car's standard COMAND system with all functions such as radio, navigation system and telephone.

While on the move the two iPad and the Bluetooth keyboards can be safely secured in the recesses of the rear leather-topped tables. The tables are electrically deployed from seatback consoles and are infinitely adjustable to any angle.

The music comes from a 64GB Apple iPod Touch and the sound is reproduced either by the sound system of the S-Class or by Sennheiser Noise Gard headphones. The whole car gets its internet via UMTS and HSDPA.

While all the techno bells and whistles are nice, this car also has go along with the show. The car is powered by a Brabus SV12 R Biturbo 750 engine that has a special crankshaft with longer stroke, forged pistons with larger diameter and increased cylinder bore bump displacement from standard 5.5 to 6.3 liters (336 to 385 cu. in.). In addition, the inlet and outlet ports of both cylinder heads are optimized for improved mixture flow. Four special camshafts also contribute to that same effect.

The Brabus engine specialists also fit the engine with larger turbochargers, a more efficient intercooling system and a stainless-steel high-performance quad exhaust system with free-flow metal catalysts. This pushes the rated power output to an awesome 750 hp (740 bhp) / 552 kW at 5,500 rpm. Its peak torque of 1,350 Nm (995 lb-ft) hits at 2,100 rpm.

The engine is mated to a modified five-speed automatic, which sounds a little dated, but no matter, this large car can hit 0 – 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.0 seconds and to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 11.9 seconds. The top speed is electronically limited to 340 km/h (211 mph).

Brabus Mercedes aren't cheap, and neither are Apple products, so we're not surprised that pricing wasn't one of the revealed features.

Marketing teams would love this bullet point.

Everyone should know that a camera capable of resolving a greater number of megapixels is not necessarily superior, but nevertheless, Canon has developed one amazing sensor that we all want.

Canon said that it has successfully developed an APS-H-size (29.2 x 20.2 mm) CMOS image sensor that delivers an image resolution of approximately 120 megapixels (13,280 x 9,184 pixels), the world's highest level of resolution for its size.

Compared with Canon's highest-resolution commercial CMOS sensor of the same size, comprising approximately 16.1 megapixels, the newly developed sensor features a pixel count that, at approximately 120 million pixels, is nearly 7.5 times larger and offers a 2.4-fold improvement in resolution.

The new CMOS sensor sports a maximum output speed of approximately 9.5 frames per second and also incorporates a full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) video output capability.

Canon says that images captured with its 120-megapixel CMOS image sensor, even when cropped or digitally magnified, maintain higher levels of definition and clarity than ever before.

Unfortunately, Canon didn't mention any plans to bring this technology to market, if ever. It could just be another step in the company's research in making better image sensors.

Is this enough for you to perfect that combo in Super Street Fighter IV?

Even almost five years after its release, the Xbox 360 is still going through hardware evolution. While we saw the console itself get an overhaul with the Xbox 360 S console, today we learn about a new controller tweak that should make the d-pad better.

While most Xbox 360 games don't rely on the digital d-pad that much, those who play fighting games know how imprecise the Xbox 360 controller can be. Microsoft is aiming to fix that this fall with a new, tweaked controller that'll be showing up on November 9.

The d-pad can be switched between the current, smoothed form to a more discrete plus-sign like the classic Nintendo design through a 90-degree twist. Check out Major Nelson demonstrating it.

The only downer is that this will not be the default controller and won't be purchasable on its own. Instead, it'll be part of a bundle with the play and charge kit for $64.99.

Digg users unhappy with the recent redesign yesterday struck back against admins by flooding the front page of the community sharing website with links to articles on Digg rival Reddit.

The new version of Digg is a departure from the very community-orientated Digg of days gone by. Previously, Digg was driven by a group of 'power-users' who had a huge influence over the content appearing on the site. The new design removes this aspect of the site, instead focusing on a customized news line-up on content chosen from your social-networking circle as well as celebrities and brands that you choose to follow.

Though the new design is more conducive to mainstream growth, Diggers who have been there since the beginning are angry that the site is no longer all about the community. Digg users on Twitter are using the hashtag #DiggRevolt to discuss the redesign, while the more hard-core Diggers have gamed the site so that the front page is almost completely dominated by Reddit posts.

A quick search for #DiggRevolt on search.twitter.com reveals that many users feel the new version is nothing more than "a publishing platform for corporate media sites."

_{Source: CNet}