What’s in store for the iPad in iOS 4.2? Well a lot of things have made the transition from the iPhone version, including multitasking, but we didn’t get too many juicy details unfortunately.

Multitasking

The iPad will have multitasking just like the iPhone does. It works just as you’d expect, and will most definitely be a welcome addition to the iPad. It looks like the controls and functionality will remain mainly the same, but multitasking is multitasking, right?

Wireless Printing

In addition to the multitasking that will appear in iOS 4.2, users will now be able to enjoy wireless printing on the iPad! This is huge news for anyone who wants to print their documents or spreadsheets from the iPad.

Do you have an iPad and excited about the new news Apple have released? Have you been in the dilemma between an iPhone 4 and an iPad and finally settled on one since the release of iOS4.2? Is it just a little bit late with the firmware and will competitors Samsung with their Android based tablets have the upper hand as they may have the firmware right first time?

One of these measures is called CCleaner (or CrapCleaner being its full name) – a great utility for, well, cleaning out the unwanted tempory files or ‘crap’ from your hard drive.

Weighing in a little over 3MB, CCleaner packs a lot of useful features which have had me using it religiously on every one of my PC’s since its original release a few years ago. When you open it for the first time, you’re presented with the default “Cleaner” window, where you have the choice to either “Analyze” or “Run Cleaner” – more options are available for a more in-depth analysis of your PC.

I find this a very handy feature, as you can see what and how much will be deleted before you actually run the cleaner.

The next tab, “Registry” does just what it says on the tin, clearing out your registry and removing unused file extensions. I usually run CCleaner once a month to clean my computer and on average it finds around 1000 registry issues which needs fixing. Don’t worry about destroying your PC though, a backup is made of your registry before permanent changes are made – so you know you are safe!

In the “Tools” tab, you’ll find a replacement for the Windows Add/Remove Program aptly named “Uninstall” which allows you to view or uninstall programs. There’s also the option to remove programs from the list if they shouldn’t be there. Finally, you can also manage startup programs, which is a lot easier than going into MSConfig to add or remove startup items.

I must say, CCleaner is one of the most essential programs on my system, and it looks like remaining in that position for the foreseeable future. It’s lightweight computer cleaning software, simple to use and very effective at keeping your machine as good as new.

Have you tried CCleaner? Do you find it useful as an application? Any great feedback about this application or good alternatives?

The video was recently posted to the official BlackBerry blog and demonstrates the new interface, described as being “with a mobile experience that is fun and approachable, yet extremely powerful.”

The new interface features a redesigned home screen which can be personalised with apps and contacts as well as universal search and ‘context-sensitive’ pop-up menus. Browsing is already a bit of a talking point thanks to the WebKit Browser although it seems it’s not the only feature to get a revamp – I want to know more about the media player improvements!

Other new features of the Blackberry 6 OS include applications such as Social Feeds, which integrates your RSS feeds and social networks into one central hub and appears to allow for easy sharing across all/some of your platforms – key for those of us who like to be selective about what we share where!

There are some concerns that all new features seem touchscreen-specific, so handsets like theBlackberry Storm 9500 would be well catered for while other Blackberry handsets like the Bold 9000may be left feeling neglected. As one Blackberry blog commentor put it: “Stop creating more varieties of BlackBerry — too hard to support for RIM & developers. Create three lines at the most: (a) Hard keyboard (AKA Bold 9700), (b) hard keyboard w/ touchscreen (AKA Torch 9800), (c) touchscreen (AKA Storm 9520).”

While an exact date has yet to be confirmed the BlackBerry 6 OS is expected to arrive later this summer. What do you think to these new updates to the Blackberry OS? What would the new wave of smart phones be? Could this possibly be a new OS ready for the ‘BlackPad’?

But, DSG International, the company behind Dixons, Currys and PC World as well as others, is looking to change all of that with the launch of their cheap, own-brand of gadget ‘Essentials’.

The plan is to split the brand into 2 separate ranges. The first being Currys Essentials, which will be sold in Currys, naturally, and the second being PC World Essentials being sold in… you guessed it, PC World.
Currys Essentials aims to provide “straightforward, no-nonsense, functional products at an unbeatable price”, which includes the likes of office kettles and student toasters as well as a whole host of other pretty uninspiring electricals.

PC World Essentials is more focussed on PC peripherals, consumables and accessories such as USB memory sticks, mice, various cables and printer cartridges. Plus, it is said that they will also aim to produce cheap netbooks to buy too….but I’m guessing we won’t be able to buy the Apple iPad as a PC World essential!

So would you buy a PC World or Currys ‘own brand’ of gadgets? Or would you prefer to go with a reputable, big name brand such as Sony or HP?

Scheduled for a Q4 2010 release, smartphone and tablet fans are sure to get a kick out of this one. The Q4 release is looking pretty perfect for that webOS tablet of HP’s by Q1 2011 as well, so keep an eye out for that one!
The question remains, however, do we really need 1.5GHz dual core processors driving our phones? From a common sense point of view, the answer is most probably no at this point in time given more than capable smartphones such as the HTC Desire.

However, technology will obviously continue to advance, especially in the mobile market, so as long as battery technology also improves to efficiently power these devices and I can still get through the day without having to recharge the battery of my phone, I’ll be a very happy camper.

I’m looking forward to seeing what kinds of mobile phones and tablets this advance will bring to market, however knowing that these higher power devices are coming later 2010 and early 2011, would you be put off getting a new smartphone now?

Does this news even put you off buying an Apple iPad as we can now expect to see Android tablets with even better performance?

Sources state that the device is being built by HTC, similarly to the Nexus One, and that it is most definitely real. The apparent plan is for Google to launch the tablet in the USA in conjunction with Verizon, which is no surprise considering their tight relations of late.

The price point is yet unknown, though it is expected to be heavily subsidised by Verizon and as for the release date, well being Black Friday, the busiest shopping day on the American calendar, it will come as no surprise if it turns out to be entirely true and fruitful for Google.

Specs are also unknown for sure at this point, though it is expected to feature:

• NVidia’s ‘Tegra 2′ platform
• 2Gb of RAM a minimum
• 32Gb SSD
• 1280×720 multi touch display
• WiFi and 3G connectivity
• GPS, Bluetooth
• Webcam
• and perhaps a multi-format memory card reader for expandable storage.

If the Nexus One is anything to go by, then perhaps this is a device really aimed at the geek in you, as opposed to the more widespread appeal of buying an Apple iPad for Christmas, but it could also inspire innovation and development of the Chrome OS platform like the Nexus One did for the Android mobile phone manufacturers.

Would you be interested in getting a non-Apple tablet? Have you been waiting for a Chrome OS tablet device (perhaps one that looked like the concept images shown on this page) or would you be just as happy with an Android tablet? Are Google making a mistake in having two separate OS platforms for their mobile devices?

iPhone and iPad 3G users in the US have been screaming since AT&T’s announcement of a tiered data plan, limiting users to 2 GB of data monthly.  Now it appears that the UK’s own O2 is following the same idea.

According to O2 CEO Ronan Dunne:

“With the wide range of Internet based services now available on mobile devices we’re providing customers with generous clear data bundles that give customers freedom.”

The new smartphone tariffs, on a 24 month contract, look like this:

If you’re a new or upgrading customer, you’ll still have your unlimited data until the 1st of October.  At that point, the new pricing schemes will go into effect for you.  If you’re a heavy data user, you can purchase data “Bolt Ons”, including 500MB for £5 or 1GB for £10.

As for those who are already O2 customers?  You’ll be grandfathered with your existing plan and continue to grab unlimited data.

Rumoured Specs

The tablet is rumoured to have a 10″ display, and an NVIDIA Tegra chip running all of the operations behind the scenes. The interesting point that is made here is that the Smart Pad looks set to run on Google’s Android OS, as opposed to Windows 7 which had been rumored previously.

The more interesting aspects of this tablet come in the ports department, however. Many users will be excited to see the existence of both a HDMI, USB and Micro USB port available on the side of the tablet. These are located next to what looks like an SD card slot too, although this isn’t mentioned in the original source’s post.

Another exciting addition to the hardware is a front facing camera, which will no doubt make use of Android applications such as Fring for video calling “á la FaceTime”.

As this tablet may be on track to be released before the second generation iPad (if it’s released at all – all we’ve seen at the moment is a prototype), the front facing camera may be a huge selling point for Toshiba until Apple include one with the next iPad.

I’m curious to see how the quality of the video calling will turn out on the 10 inch screen, however, as the quality of services such as Fring and FaceTime isn’t exactly stellar on smaller smartphone screens.

I guess we will just have to see what happens around November time with competitors Blackberry and their proposed ‘BlackPad’.

Fortunately, it seems as though the next update to iOS – version 4.1 – may go some way towards fixing these issues.

A disgruntled iPhone 3G user emailed Steve Jobs, saying :

“I’ve waited patiently through 4.0.1 and 4.0.2, looking for a fix that will make my phone work again. I’ve read the forums that advise me to jailbreak my phone or use some other method so I can downgrade back to a version of iPhone 3, however I’m not prepared to use a method that is not supported by Apple.”

Jobs’ response was short and to the point, explaining to the user that there is a “software update coming soon”.

He was no doubt talking about the newest update to iOS 4 which is currently in development.

iPhone 3G users will no doubt be happy to hear that Apple know about their troubles, and hopefully they will see a fix sooner rather than later.

Are you an iPhone 3G owner who upgraded to iOS 4 and been experiencing problems ever since? How did it affect your usage of your iPhone? Do you welcome this news? Or has it taken too much time already and are you still using your iPhone 3G – if so give us a tweet or message on facebook?

To check out the terms to trade up your old router head over to the Linksys trade up website.