World Tech Update 115

On World Tech Update this week Verizon confirms that it is working on a tablet with Google, Microsoft introduces Office 2010, Verizon proves that it’s 4G LTE network is up, Sprint announces availability of the HTC Evo 4G smartphone, Sony introduces new digital cameras with interchangeable lenses, Square Up lets you pay almost anywhere using an iPhone and a credit card.

World Tech Update 115 Thanks for joining us here on World Tech Update. I’m Nick Barber. Coming up on this week’s show Verizon demos it’s 4G LTE network. E-paper gets a splash of color and you want to stick around to see why this teddy bear is so special. We’ll start this week’s show with a confirmation for Verizon that it and Google are working on a tablet computer that will compete with Apple’s iPad. The wireless operator would not provide details about the device and Google said it had nothing to announce. The tablet would presumably run Google’s Android Mobile operating system which can be and already has been used to run a tablet. The two companies will have a tough road against Apple though. Apple said it sold 1 million iPads in the first 28 days that the device was available. Microsoft launched office 2010, the latest version of its office productivity suite to businesses this week. Consumers will have to weight until next month but with the new offerings, Microsoft has dealt a blow to Google by offering web based capabilities to the updated software. That means office will now include some features that Google Docs has like concurrent editing and accessing documents from multiple computers. The new web apps are free and are designed to complement the desktop apps. Office web apps will be available in the coming months. Verizon Wireless said in March that it’s 4G LTE network was showing higher speeds than expected in real world test near Boston. This week it released a YouTube Video proving it. The long term evolution 4th generation mobile network scheduled for a commercial availability in 25 to 30 markets later this year proved to deliver between 5 and 12 megabytes per second down and 2 to 5 megabytes per second up. Test it at a pizza shop on the Boston University campus the video shows 8.55 megabytes per second down on the LTE laptop versus 2.21 megabits per second down on the 3G laptop. Any event in New York this week’s prince said that HTC’s evil 4G Smartphone will be available in the US on June 4. The Smartphone will be able to connect to WiMax wireless networks in specific coverage areas. In a demo here you can see the speed of the web browsing and with visiting ABC.com the phone was able to play the Flash content on the site. The phone includes 2 cameras, a back facing 8 megapixel autofocus camera and a forward facing 1.3-megapixel camera which could allow for a multi point video conferencing. The Smartphone could also function as a hot spot to which other Wi-Fi enable devices can connect. The phone is priced at $200.00 with a 2-year contract. Sony officially introduced two new compact interchangeable lens digital cameras and gave us a sneak peek of an interchangeable lens camcorder that they’re working on. The two still cameras that NDX5 and NDX3 offer mirrorless bodies that are about an inch thick at their thinnest point. They have 14.2 megapixel APS HDC most sensors that are about 30% larger than the centers in micro port 3rd cameras. Both cameras can shoot HD video and 3D sweep panoramas. The camera is and additional lenses will be available in July starting at $550.00 to $650.00. The company also gave us sneak peek of a new AVCHD camcorder with an interchangeable lens system. It will be out this fall and uses the same lenses as the NEX digital cameras we just showed you. Credit cards are not just for a big name stores and online eCommerce anymore with the debut of square from Twitter co- founder Jack Dorsey anyone with an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android powered device can accept credit cards. A small free card swiper plugs into the device’s headphone jacks. Customers can sign right on the device’s screens and then receipts are emailed. Square up the company behind the creation makes money by charging per use. When a card is swiped square gets two and three-quarters percent of the sale plus an extra 15 cents. A new type of display that can be curved around walls or pillars is on display in Tokyo this week. The screen is a plasma tube array in which hundreds of millimeter high plasma tubes are arranged one after another. The tubes are thin and all run parallel to each other so the screen can be gently curved in one direction. The new screens combine the deep colors and fast response time of a plasma screen with the bright images needed for applications like Digital signage. The screens will be commercially available in the latter half of this year but pricing details weren’t announced. From Fujitsu this week was the latest color electronic paper prototype from its labs. Fujitsu’s latest is about a third brighter than a previous model and also has a higher contrast. It also writes information on the screen at about double the speed. Commercial versions of the display should be available by later this year. Fujitsu also showed off a digital reader that features a color e-paper screen, the device is still a prototype and is just a few millimeters stick and ways about 160 grams. Content can be loaded on Twit via USB or Bluetooth but there are no media plans to put it on sale. Asus tech this week showed off its latest collection of laptops made using bamboo as well as a family of laptops with bang and all of sound systems. They’re not the first bamboo laptops made by Asus though but the material has been praised as a good alternative to plastics because it’s tough, easy to find and grows fast. One drawback though is that palmers added to the bamboo mean it’s harder to break down or be recycled. The company’s N90 includes bang it all of as in speakers that extend past the keyboard when the lead is close. All the laptops will start shipping around mid June and the first are aimed at North America, Asia and then Europe will follow. When we think of robots we imagine cooled metal moving around with no feeling but how about this little guy. This robot on show at a Fujitsu company event in Tokyo this week is designed to motivate and entertain children and the elderly. There are 13 sensors across the bear’s body that detects human touch including sensors on both hands and internal tilt sensor, a microphone and a camera that’s mounted in the bear’s nose. Through this inputs it attempts to gather information about its surroundings and the emotional state of its user then armed with that information tries to react in an appropriate way, if you smile it smiles back. If you wave it waves back and when it’s all done it even gets sleepy. Well that’s our show for this week. Thanks for joining us here on World Tech Update. Next week my colleague Marlon Williams will be hosting from Tokyo as I’ll be out on an assignment. To find out what’s coming up be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. I’m Nick Barber and for all of us here at the IDG News Service, thanks for watching and we hope to see you next week.