Google isn’t greedy

The Google Chrome Web Store doesn’t open its virtual doors until October – where it’ll be paired with the release of Google’s new OS – but it has already been heralded as a winner.

In the nuttiest of shells, it allows you to purchase PC apps via your web browser. Rather than taking a 30% share of all monies made, which is the case for the Android Market and the Apple App Store, Google is only taking a 5% cut from apps sold on the Chrome Web Store. This means a massive profit boost for developers and publishers – a sure fire way to make sure that there’s plenty to spend your money on. Speaking of which, at launch you’ll be able to purchase apps from anywhere in the world using Google Checkout, but only with US dollars. Multiple currencies and in-app transactions are slated for the first half of 2011.

The likes of Lemmings, Quake II and Lego Star Wars and Plants vs Zombies will be available on the service, claims Google.

Hit the jackpot? Then buy a Jackpot

You may have heard of Gresso before – they make incredibly expensive, but rather nice looking, luxury phones and watches. Their iPhone covers recently got websites in a tizzy because of their $4,500 price tag but they’ve managed to outdo themselves this time round with a phone that costs $1,000,000. One million dollars!

Only three Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot phones are going to be made. The 12mm thick phone has a case made of pure gold (180g by weight) and is encrusted with rare 45.5 K black diamonds. The back panel is produced from 200-year-old African Blackwood while every key is manufactured from single crystal sapphire with a total carat weight of 32.

In other news, Tesco have launched a £6 mobile phone contact.

Tokyo’s vending machine for the 21st century

The newly installed 47” touch screen vending machines at Shinagawa Station work just how you would expect them to – simply touch the image of the drink you want and it’ll pop out at the bottom.

There’s a little bit more gadgetry going on inside the device though. Built-in face recognition software is able to determine a customer’s gender and age and will then displaying products that have proven popular with their demographic. Rather sneakily, customer data can then be collected for marketing purposes.

The screen can also display adverts which are beamed to it via WiMAX wireless broadband and can be changed depending on the time of day. For instance, in the morning it may show adverts for coffee while during hot spells adverts for cold water could be shown.

Manufacture JR East aims to install 500 machines at its stations in and around Tokyo over the next two years. With the enhanced promotional functions, the company expects the new machines to ring up 30% more in sales than standard units.

iPod Touch 4 rumour round-up

The rumour mill has been churning like mad over the past few days over details for the iPod Touch 4 – or iPod Touch 2010 – as some websites have been calling it.

The speculation actually started back in April when BoyGeniusReport did some digging around in the iPad’s OS file structure and found references to “iPod 4”.

Then posh UK retailer John Lewis mentioned that their autumn catalogue will include an updated iPod Touch with the same 5-megapixel camera with flash, FaceTime software, and HD video capabilities as the iPhone 4.

However, 9to5mac – which is where the image above comes from – seem to think that the camera will be only 3.2 mega pixels.

Hardmac gave us perhaps the biggest glimpse though – they claim that Apple has been sending out size dimensions of the device to various case manufactures so that they can get their cases into stores the same time as the device itself. The story was backed up with an image of a finished iPod Touch 4 case which shows a rounded back and a hole for a camera.

In summary, then, it’ll be pretty much identical to the iPhone 4 only with a rounded back instead of a flat surface on the reverse.

I very much doubt that Apple are bothered about these information “leaks” – it’s bound to sell well whatever happens.

Best Buy jump on iPad bandwagon

US retailer Best Buy are planning to release their own iPad-style tablet under their Rocketfish label. It actually started off as a communication tool to be used between employees but Best Buy had a brainwave and thought it would be ideal to sell to ‘Joe Public’ too.

The images above come from Best Buy’s CTO Ralph Stephens who added the two images to his Twitter account. He had also said about a month ago on Twitter that the tablet has a front facing camera and runs on Android 2.2.

A few people have speculated that it’s simply a rebranded HP Slate, but seeing that the images are of a gutless prototype that’s something hard to believe.

Lenovo’s mini PC packs a tiny punch

Lenovo’s super slim desktop PC is not much bigger than a CD case and weighs just 1.4 pounds. At $400 (roughly £260) it won’t leave a big dent in your wallet either.

The IdeaCentre Q150 has specs similar to a Netbook – 1.66-GHz Intel Atom D510 CPU, 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD and 802.11n Wi-Fi (plus ethernet). Nvidia’s ION graphics chip gives it the ability to play decently released PC games, but don’t expect them to run on the highest settings.

An SD slot would have been a welcome addition – I don’t think it would have affected the size of it at all.

Perhaps the highlight though is the mini keyboard – anybody that owned a Nintendo 64 is going to feel right at home with that bad boy.

Wi-Fi in your pocket

The above is not yet another challenger to the iPhone’s crown but rather  Huawei’s newest “Personal Mobile Wi-Fi Device”.

The new E583C has 1-inch color OLED for providing status information at a glance and offers a 3.5G HSPA connection to up to five devices over WiFi and a sixth via a direct USB connection. There’s support for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, with a promise of hitting upwards of 5.76Mbps (up) and 7.2Mbps (down).

Huawei’s has also included a a microSD card slot that can handle a maximum 32GB which can serve as a USB memory stick

It’s going to be arriving in Hong Kong first for HK$1,380 ($177 / £115). Huawei’s first-generation mobile Wi-Fi device, the E5, made it out over here so there’s no reason why this one won’t.

Sony makes a Move in Taiwan

Sony is launching the PlayStation Move in Taiwan next month – 15^th September, to be precise – so in an attempt to convince gamers that it isn’t just a Wii remote with a ping pong ball attached they’ve been out and about demonstrating it via some lovely ladies.

The Move’s line-up does look a little more interesting than the Kinect line-up, including Time Crisis: Razing Storm, a revamp of Resident Evil 5 and Socom 4 along with a handful of predictable looking party and sports mini-game collections.

More photos from the event can be found at Mobile 01.

Look mum, no wires!

UK retailer Currys are going to be exclusively stocking the Duracell myGrid wireless charging station. The device has been mooted as the first real rival to the Powermat.

Simply clip a Power Sleeve onto your MP3 player or mobile and then lay it on top of the device and it’ll start to charge without wires or cables. Up to four devices can be charged at once and as a safety feature it’ll switch itself off if keys or a similar object are accidentally placed on it. It’s expected that one Power Sleeve will come free with the myGrid, with the rest available to purchase separately. The iPhone sleeve is $34.99 (£22) on Amazon, just to give a rough idea.

No price has been confirmed yet. The Powermat retails for around £59.99 though, so expect a similar price.

Google’s Android army

According to Google, around 160,000 Android-powered smartphones are being activated per day. This fits in perfectly with news from research company Canalys, who claims that Android smartphone shipments have increased a massive 886% year-on-year from the second quarter of 2009.

Even with ongoing issues with the iPhone 4, Apple showed the second highest growth with 61%.

Microsoft was the only company to see a drop in shipments during the same timeframe, with Canalys amusingly referring to Windows Mobile 6.5 as a” discontinued platform”.

iPad owners are independent geeks, says survey

Personality assessment specialists MyType questioned 20,000 people to find out what the typical iPad owner is like. The results have provoked a massive response, with a blacklash currently occurring on Twitter.

MyType’s Tim Koelkebeck claims that “The typical person who has bought Apple’s latest gadget is unkind and has little empathy for others. They are self-centred workaholics with an overwhelming interest in business and finance who cherish power and achievement and will not cross the street to help others.”

“[The iPad] appeals to people who spend all day working in front of a computer screen and enjoy interacting with new technology. In their free time they are so used to computers they want another screen to ensure continuity in their lives,” he continued to say.

Koelkebeck adds that the iPad gives users “an identity statement that helps them cope with their own failings – as a mainstream, closed-platform device whose major claim to fame is ease of use and sex appeal, the iPad is everything that they are not.”

He then concludes his report by saying “The next time you see someone sitting on a train smugly using theirs, take comfort from the fact they are probably not a nice person.”

I think the backlash is pretty much deserved. Some people though seem to have got the wrong end of the stick and are under the impression that the report was written by the Daily Mail. The British newspaper is only responsible for printing the results of the survey, not writing it.

The rocker’s radio returns

Even though it was released four years ago demand is still high for Pure’s classic Marshall amp-style DAB radio, with Marshall enthusiasts snapping them up on eBay for around the £150 mark.

A new version has been announced – called the Pure Evoke 1S Marshall – which will now pick up FM as well as DAB and has an auxiliary output for hooking up your iPod or MP3 player. It can run on batteries too – the original was mains-only.

In true Marshall tradition, you can indeed turn the volume dial up to 11.

It’s due out next month as a HMV-exclusive and will set you back £120. An additional speaker can also be purchased for £34.99.