The powers at the ETSI just released the specifications for a new SIM format. This card, the fourth form factor or the 4FF, is 40% smaller than the current micro-SIM card. It looks very similar to traditional SIM cards with a rectangle design and a notched corner. It’s just smaller at 12.3mm by 8.mm with the same thickness as the current cards. Even with the smaller size, these cards will be packaged in a way that will make them compatible with existing SIM hardware.

Even though the ETSI didn’t come out and say it, as The Next Web points out, this card seems to match up with the design Apple proposed. If true, this flies in the face of other industry giants, Nokia and Motorola, who previously argued against Apple’s design, citing that several issues with the smaller SIM card including that it would not be friendly with mobile hardware. At this point it doesn’t matter. The ETSI has ruled and the 4FF will eventually be rolled out industry wide.

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ETSI Formalizes The 40% Smaller 4FF Nano-SIM Standard

Sharp announced earlier this year that it was starting to crank out LCD panels based on new indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) technology and now it’s ready to show some off at the Society for Information Display show in Boston. Currently sized for phones and tablets, the first prototypes include a pair of LCDs, one a 4.9-inch 720×1280 display, and the other coming at 6.1-inches with a resolution of 2560×1600. As an example of what will be possible further down the line, it also has a pair of OLED panels, one 13.5-inch 3840×2160 QFHD panel based on White OLEDs with RGB color filters (similar to the LG HDTV recently introduced), and a flexible 3.4-inch 540×960 screen (shown above). According to Sharp the new tech means screens with higher resolutions, lower power consumption, narrower bezels and higher performance touch screens because it enables even smaller thin-film transistors than the ones currently in use. The Associated Press reports it expects to apply the upgrade to production lines in this fiscal year, for now you can hit the source link for a few diagrams and examples of crystalline structures or check the gallery for pics of the other displays.

Sharp shows off IGZO LCD and OLEDs including a 13.5-inch QFHD screen originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp shows off IGZO LCD and OLEDs including a 13.5-inch QFHD screen

The new account is unlikely to alter Iran’s view of the US, seen here in a mural on the old US embassy in Tehran

David Holt

In 2011, the US government rolled out its “International Strategy for Cyberspace,” which reminded us that “interconnected networks link nations more closely, so an attack on one nation’s networks may have impact far beyond its borders.” An in-depth report today from the New York Times confirms the truth of that statement as it finally lays bare the history and development of the Stuxnet virus—and how it accidentally escaped from the Iranian nuclear facility that was its target.

The article is adapted from journalist David Sanger’s forthcoming book, Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power, and it confirms that both the US and Israeli governments developed and deployed Stuxnet. The goal of the worm was to break Iranian nuclear centrifuge equipment by issuing specific commands to the industrial control hardware responsible for their spin rate. By doing so, both governments hoped to set back the Iranian research program—and the US hoped to keep Israel from launching a pre-emptive military attack.

The code was only supposed to work within Iran’s Natanz refining facility, which was air-gapped from outside networks and thus difficult to penetrate. But computers and memory cards could be carried between the public Internet and the private Natanz network, and a preliminary bit of “beacon” code was used to map out all the network connections within the plant and report them back to the NSA.

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Confirmed: US and Israel created Stuxnet, lost control of it

We’ve potentially seen a lot of the next iPhone’s exterior; it may be the interior’s time for a shakedown, as an unusually detailed rumor out of 9to5 Mac has claimed scads more about the processor and iOS 6. Going by the tips, the 2012 design would use an S5L8950X, a processor with unknown specs but likely a step ahead of what we’ve seen in the iPhone 4S (8940X) and new iPad (8945X). There would likewise be a new spin on the PowerVR SGX543 graphics from the iPad as well as 1GB of RAM — which doesn’t sound like much next to a 2GB Galaxy S III, but stands to produce a similar speed boost for a lightweight platform like iOS. As for iOS 6 itself, the software is supposedly using underlying code newer than recent OS X Mountain Lion builds and is dumping Google Maps, as some have claimed ever since iPhoto for iOS made that step in the spring. The new Maps app (possibly pictured here) is said to be rough, but the OS as a whole could be coming along so swimmingly that Apple might have no trouble shipping on time.

As always, we’re skeptical when so much detail is in flux. The rumor still jives with much more tangible behavior from Apple, such as its experimentation with 32-nanometer processors and a tendency for Apple to refine the chip from the current year’s iPad for the iPhone months later. We may know the accuracy soon enough: more leaks are promised in the next two weeks, including an “entirely new iOS app.”

Rumors give 2012 iPhone shiny new chip, 1GB of RAM, mystery iOS app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 17:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumors give 2012 iPhone shiny new chip, 1GB of RAM, mystery iOS app

We sure hope you like surprises, because we’ve got a good one for you. It seems as if MSI wasn’t quite pleased with the killer graphics on its feature-loaded GT70 laptop and decided to give it a quick boost. Earlier today, the outfit announced its fresh gaming machine will now ship with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 675M GPU instead of that already powerful GTX 670M found in our review unit. MSI says the change was driven by the company’s beliefs that “exceptional performance starts with outstanding components,” and, needless to say, we’re certain you’d agree. In case you’ve yet to grab one of these for yourself, you can do so at the source below.

Continue reading MSI GT70 gaming laptop kindly updated with GeForce GTX 675M graphics

MSI GT70 gaming laptop kindly updated with GeForce GTX 675M graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI GT70 gaming laptop kindly updated with GeForce GTX 675M graphics

Today marks the much-anticipated debut of Microsoft’s Windows 8 Release Preview, and just ahead of that unveiling Redmond has posted the server edition of the new OS. Now available for download, the Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate includes a made-over Server Manager and replaces the Start Menu with the Metro UI. Moreover, Microsoft has reportedly removed legacy code that would allow users to boot into the classic desktop Start Menu. Windows Server 2012 will also feature the new Resilient File System for handling heavy-duty data and managing shared storage across machines. Applications that run on the current Windows Server 2008 should be compatible with this new version

Microsoft outs Windows Server 2012 release candidate ahead of big Windows 8 reveal originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft outs Windows Server 2012 release candidate ahead of big Windows 8 reveal

Skype CEO Tony Bates just took the stage here on the final day of D10, and he got right into the news delivery mindset: as of now, there are 250 million monthly connected users. Said Bates, “When we closed [the Microsoft deal], we had 170 million monthly users, so haven’t skipped a beat in terms of momentum.” Continuing on when asked from Kara Swisher about integration with Microsoft, Bates said: “I’m not going to talk about future products, but I’ll steal a line from Tim Cook. We’re going to double-down on integration with Windows 8, and we’re doing to double-down on secrecy.” Specifically, he mentioned that there’d be some “great integration points” with Windows 8, noting that Skype is viewed as an “experience, with most folks viewing it as a Swiss army knife, regardless of where and how it’s used.” Kara followed up with a question on Kinect, and Bates did his best to dodge the bullet by re-referencing intent on Windows 8 and Windows Phone — there wasn’t a peep mentioned in either direction on if it’d end up there.

Kara asked what his most important smartphone platform was, and Bates said: “I wouldn’t classify it as one most important. As far as download numbers, it’s absolutely iPhone, but Android is gaining momentum. Our top priority is mobile; we made two acquisitions in that space. The Android marketplace — as many know — is quite fragmented, and this was a big challenge for us from an engineering standpoint. This team in the Qik acquisition really helped us there. I’m very hopeful — Windows Phone is very exciting for me because of that people-centric nature.” Kara pushed to see if Windows Phone would get a “special” version of Skype, and Bates simply said that he “hopes they can add value.” Given that both Windows Phone and Skype now live under the same roof, though, we’re guessing that he’s underselling things in the effort of “doubling-down on secrecy.”

Continue reading Skype CEO Tony Bates confirms 250m monthly users, talks Microsoft partnership and future plans

Skype CEO Tony Bates confirms 250m monthly users, talks Microsoft partnership and future plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 14:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype CEO Tony Bates confirms 250m monthly users, talks Microsoft partnership and future plans

Intel has officially unveiled a set of 22nm Ivy Bridge CPUs to be used specifically in its Ultrabook initiative. The dual core, hyper-threaded processors are designed for very slim and light notebooks that maintain a $1,000 price point, and arrive alongside a few new requirements that notebooks must follow in order to carry the Ultrabook label.

The Ultrabook-specific generation of processors is named “Ivy Bridge DC,” CPUs with 17-watt power envelopes of the Core i5 and i7 variety. The processors have half the cores and half the last-level cache (3MB in the i5s and 4MB in the i7s) of previous Ivy bridge releases. TechReport notes that an Intel PR rep refused to disclose the usually available information about the chips’ transistor counts and die size, leading the outlet to guess that Intel is recovering quad-core Ivy Bridge chips by disabling half their cores and cache. TechReport’s ten-page article on the new processors and a prototype Ultrabook is well worth a read.

The new i5-3427U is priced at $226, while the i7-3667U will cost $346 (the other two don’t yet have listed prices). Intel’s prototype Ultrabook using one of the new processors includes a 1600×900 13.3-inch display, 4GB RAM, and a 240GB solid-state drive, yet still weighs only 3.22 pounds. According to Intel, such a system should retail for $1,000-1,100 when the new Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks debut around June 5; we must say, a notebook like that would hit a lot of sweet spots for us. Intel hopes to reach price points as low as $599 with the new Ivy Bridge processors.

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Intel Ultrabooks to get dual-core Ivy Bridge chips

It feels like it was just yesterday that I was downloading Fruit Ninja on a review unit of the iPad, swiping away at juicy watermelons and nearly-invisible kiwis.

But the app has been around for a while — two years to be exact. And over the span of 24 months, Halfbrick’s deliciously addictive game has become so popular that it is now installed on 1/3 of the iPhones in the United States.

The app has surpassed the 300 million download mark, with 1.5 trillion pieces of fruit sliced. But the crazy stats don’t end there. Every day, the cumulative time we spend playing Fruit Ninja over the course of 24 hours tops 100 years. Who knew slicing flying fruit would be such a sensation?

That said, an update to the app is available now in the App Store, offering a few new features, fruits, and a virtual currency: Starfruit. Gutsu and his merchant cart are now acting as a marketplace, from which you can buy power-ups that let you add time, explode, or swat away bombs in exchange for Starfruit.

In other words, expect to see both scores and in-app purchases go up in Fruit Ninja.

Check out the video introducing Gutsu:

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Fruit Ninja Tops 300M+ Downloads After Two Years, Now Installed On 1/3 Of All U.S. iPhones

The crew of carriers that have been allowed to sell the iPhone has been growing steadily over the past few months, but today’s announcement from Cricket Communications wasn’t one most us expected to see any time soon.

They revealed earlier this morning that they will start selling the iPhone 4 and 4S sans contract starting on June 22, making them the first prepaid carrier in the country to do so.

If you’re not terribly familiar with Cricket or their plans, I can’t blame you — with roughly 7 million users, they’re the seventh largest wireless carrier in the United States behind the Big 4, MetroPCS, and U.S. Cellular. Nevertheless, they hope to rope budget-conscious customers in by offering the iPhones with their $55 Unlimited plan, though there’s a catch. Users will only be able to use 2.3GB of data bandwidth at full speed before getting throttled.

Of course, when it comes to buying prepaid, the hardware is much more expensive since there’s no hefty subsidy to take the sting out of the price tag. In this case, an 8GB iPhone 4 will set customers back $399, while the 16GB iPhone 4S can be had for $499. Sadly, there’s no sign of the 32GB model anywhere, so people who take the plunge may have to be more thoughtful about what they throw on their new device.

Nabbing the iPhone may seem like a coup especially for a carrier like Cricket, but rumors of the iPhone making its way to a prepaid provider have been brewing for years now. The prime suspect for a while was Sprint-owned Virgin Mobile, which makes sense considering the relationship we now know Apple and Sprint had at the time, but Cricket and parent company Leap Wireless seem to have been a more receptive target.

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Cricket Will Sell The First Prepaid iPhones In The United States Starting June 22