Early this morning, the WSJ revealed that a new Apple iPhone was coming this summer, although they had very scarce details.

Says the article: "Apple plans to release a new version of its current iPhone this summer, continuing its practice of annual upgrades at about the same time of year, said people briefed on the matter. The model is likely to be thinner and have a faster processor, two people familiar with the device said."

Later in the day, John Gruber of DaringFireball revealed some specs for the upcoming "iPhone HD," which should see launch in the summer.

Says Gruber: "And they have no actual details of the next-generation iPhone. Nothing. Not the A4-family CPU system-on-a-chip. Not the 960 × 640 double-resolution display. Not the second front-facing camera. Not even the third-party multitasking in iPhone OS 4. All they have is that there's going to be a new iPhone this summer, period."

The iPhone HD rumor mill has begun.

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Verizon Wireless , who for weeks has been promising the release of the Android 2.1 firmware for Motorola Droid owners, has started rolling out the firmware as an OTA update.

However, the rollout will be staggered so some users will not get the update until Thursday or even later.

Reads the official memo:

Starting 03/30/2010, Verizon Wireless is pleased to announce a new software update for the DROID by Motorola. Users will be able to upgrade their software to version AP: ESE81/BP: C_01.3E.03P to receive new improvements and enhancements.

*Key Advantages:*

o Email - Yahoo Mail is now supported - customers can simply
sign in with their Yahoo! Email address and password. Note:
Yahoo! Email is not available over Wi-Fi
o Pinch to Zoom now available in the Browser, Maps, and Gallery
o Speech-to-Text - Customers can now use their voice instead
of typing whenever a text-entry box appears
o Google Goggles is now preloaded
o The new Gallery application uses 3D layout and shows both
pictures taken with the customer's Android device and images
from Picasa Web Albums account online

*Software Schedule:*
Below is the software-upgrade notification schedule (All times listed are Eastern Time):

o At noon on 03/30, 1,000 users will receive notification of
the update.
o At 11:59 PM on 03/30, 9,000 more users will receive the
update notification.
o After the first 10,000 users receive the update on 03/30,
there will be a 24-hour period when no additional upgrades
will be delivered.
o On Day 3 (04/01), 200,000 users will receive the update
notification at 11:59 PM. This schedule will continue each
day thereafter until the update has been delivered to all users.

*Download & Install Conditions:*

o An OTA download requires 40% or more power availability if
the device is not connected to an external power source or
20% or more power if it is connected to an external source
o If roaming, the customer will not receive the update. The
only option in this scenario is for the subscriber to enable
Wi-Fi and wait for a mandatory OTA. The wait period in this
case will not be more than 12 hours
o User must wait to receive the upgrade via OTA
o User is unable to make or receive calls, including emergency
calls during this time
o Users will see the following information when they select*
More info* on the update screen:/ This software update
includes new enhancements to support Yahoo! Email,
pinch-to-zoom, and many other improvements for your DROID by
Motorola. You will be unable to use your device or make
emergency calls for the duration of the install. The
software updates automatically, and your DROID will power
off and on as part of this software upgrade.

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Zune HD users should be pretty happy to hear that firmware v4.5, first leaked in January, is "coming soon," and will bring native XviD support to the device as well as streaming Smart DJ.

Microsoft says the player will soon have native support for the MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP codec, and the player will playback XviD videos, which is still the codec of choice for most videos downloaded online. The format will play via your HDTV as well if you own the Zune HD Dock.

Smart DJ playlists, a "Genius"-esque song playlist creator, will also be available on the player and not just the desktop software.

If you are connected via Wi-Fi you will be able to to create Smart DJ playlists that incorporate streamed content from the Zune Marketplace, besides the songs already stored on the player.

Video via Engadget:

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TomTom,, the popular GPS maker, has announced that they will begin offer "lifetime map updates," a feature that gives customers automatic updates to the latest digital maps when they become available instead of needing to download them manually.

Adds Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom: "Roads are continually changing– from new street names to closed bridges - so it's important for users to always have the most up-to-date maps. With the introduction of Lifetime Map Updates, customers can rest assured that the directions their TomTom device provides will always be the most accurate and efficient available."

The lifetime map updates will use "Tele Atlas" maps, which are continually updated with millions of miles of road and points of interest.

The company says "in order to download TomTom's Lifetime Map Updates, TomTom users need to simply connect their device to TomTom HOME, TomTom's free desktop software, and if map updates are available, they can be downloaded to the device. Registered TomTom users will be notified of new map updates as they become available. Typically, Tele Atlas releases maps on a quarterly basis."

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Yesterday we reported that Sony was set to kill off the popular "OtherOS" support feature of older "fat" PlayStation 3s on April 1st with a firmware update.

Notable iPhone hacker "Geohot" has posted today on his blog that he is working on a CFW (custom firmware) that will work around the dropping of OtherOS support, also telling PS3 owners to avoid updating their consoles, for the time being. Says the post:

"A note to people interested in the exploit and retaining OtherOS support, DO NOT UPDATE. When 3.21 comes out, I will look into a safe way of updating to retain OtherOS support, perhaps something like Hellcat's Recovery Flasher. I never intended to touch CFW, but if that's how you want to play...

Two things, some people seem to think CFW will enable some sort of piracy. It won't. It'll just be a custom version of 3.21 that doesn't lose OtherOS support. Hacking isn't about getting what you didn't pay for, it's about making sure you do get what you did.

And this is about more than this feature right now. It's about whether these companies have the right to take away advertised features from a product you purchased. Imagine if an exploit were found in Safari on the iPhone, but instead of fixing it, Apple decides to pull web browsing altogether. Legally, they may be within their right to do so, but we have to show them it's the wrong move for the future of the product and the company."

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After years of planning and months of coding, we're happy to announce the launch of Spanish AfterDawn. Spanish version is the fifth localized version of AfterDawn - and second one for this year.

As with the other locales, the Spanish version differs from its big sisters (namely, English and Finnish sites that have been up and running for more than a decade) in a way that only selected site areas have been translated. Spanish version launches with:

• Software section
  • Selection of appx. 500 software items with translated descriptions and another 2000 with download links (but no descriptions yet)
• Discussion forums
  • Obviously still very, very empty. But help us out to get the Spanish forums up and running by posting there too.
• Tech support
  • Same as with forums -- empty, waiting for you guys to get the ball rolling with this one.

We wont be launching Spanish news section or guide section for the time being, but if the site gathers enough interest, we're more than happy to start publishing Spanish language content as well.

How can you help?

As the site is still in beta, it is more than likely that you'll find bugs, missing templates, non-translated items, etc. In that case, please, please get in touch with us and tell what bugs you found and where (and in case it is something that is not translated yet, tell us how to translate it too :-) )

Furthermore, if you'd like to help us translate more software descriptions or even some other site areas, like glossary terms, let us know. After all, the project is the result of volunteers who have helped us translate the site.

Kudos

I would like to thank the guys who helped us by translating the software descriptions, hundreds of navigational elements and much, much more:

locovicio
tranquash
v6gtr
Klinster
interpro
bville1
eurispide
mdrfkr
doblejota
DJ_Starla
pvtallula

Thank you guys!

P.S. We have six active translation projects running as of now -- if you happen to be a native speaker of Dutch (almost ready!), Portuguese, Danish, German, Italian or French and would like to help us out, contact us..

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