Sony looks like it is about ready to shut down its failed “Dash” experiment.
The “personal Internet viewer” alarm clocks saw some popularity when they were released but horrible reviews nailed the coffin.
Reads Sony’s site: “Beginning February 29, 2012, the Sony dash developer website (http://dash.sonydeveloper.com) will close and no longer support development of new applications. This closure includes the dash developer forum and dash developer support email address (dash-support@sonydeveloper.com) which will close on March 31, 2012. Sony dash applications will remain available. Thank you for your contributions and we encourage you to continue your development activity on Sony’s other platforms available at SonyDeveloper.com.”
The original Dash machine has a 7-inch touchscreen, 800×480 resolution, a 500Mhz processor and 256MB DDR2 RAM.
What makes the alarm clocks popular is access to 1500 apps for weather, traffic, social networking, movies, music and games.
Result for: touchscreen
After being in closed beta since early this year, alternative text input software Swype has moved to open beta, giving most Android users a chance to try the application.
For those that have not used the software or seen commercials, Swype lets users slide their finger over the touchscreen to spell words, allowing for typing speeds much faster than normal input, or even physical keyboard input.
Using predictive design, the software will determine what word you are trying to type, even if you spell it wrong when sliding.
Current beta users will get a nice upgrade, as well. Reads the Swype site:
First and foremost - We’ve resolved an accuracy issue that was introduced in the last beta update. Refer to the changelog for more detail on this critical fix.
Second - Swype BETA for Android now supports Double-Tap-to-Edit! Swype choose a wrong word? Just tap the word twice to bring up the word choice window, pick the correct word, and the cursor will return to wherever it was before. It doesn’t get any simpler! See a video demonstration, and check out our other tips and tricks.
And Third - Swype BETA for Android now includes a Voice-to-Text button (available for QWERTY layouts ONLY)! You MUST have Google Voice Search pre-integrated in your ROM for this feature to work. We wish everyone could access it, and are working to adapt our existing code to support versions of Voice Search downloaded from the market, as well as other voice search providers, in our next update.
Result for: touchscreen
Market research firm IDC has said today that the end of the PC-centric era is near, with tablet and smartphone shipments set to overtake PC shipments in 2012.
IDC makes sure to note, however, that PC sales will continue to increase, as well, just at a much slower rate than gadgets that rely on touchscreen and apps.
Worldwide shipments of “app-enabled devices” will reach 377 million in 2011, and 462 million shipments in 2012, exceeding PCs which are expected to ship 402 million in 2011 and 448 million in 2012.
Frank Gens, chief analyst at IDC says tablets and smartphones are “not replacing the PC — that’s a key point — but [they are] expanding the market.”
Overall, global IT spending will jump 5.7 percent to $1.6 trillion in 2011.
