Though the Meizu M8 isn’t going to be as far from iPhone as we’ve all been hoping in its next few refreshes, the user interface seems a lot more polished than before. Can you say “So-fist-ti-cated”? The crisp high-definition icons seem to be only the beginning of it. We got a dock at the bottom of the screen that seems to say there’s going to be real multitasking. Meizume says it’s coming in August.

[meizume via engadget]

While we continue to wait for the iPhone Dev Team to come out with their version of an iPhone 3G S jailbreak, Geohot has released his own 3G iPhone S jailbreak called purplera1n.

Running this jailbreak seems simple enough. Connect your iPhone to your computer, click purplera1n, and once your iPhone reboots, run Freeze on bootup. It’s that easy! However, before you proceed, it is important to note that this version only works on Windows and it’s still a beta release. Thus, don’t be surprised to encounter a few bugs along the way.

Nonetheless, if you’ve been aching for a jailbreak tool to hack open your new iPhone 3G S, this is the only one available at the moment. If you manage to build up enough courage to try this one out, do hit us up in the comments section below as we’d love to hear your take on this new purplera1n iPhone 3G S jailbreak.

[purplera1n, iphonejtag via bgr]

It’s still pretty sketchy as to if and when the HTC Hero Android phone will hit the North American market, but with this latest bit of news, the situation is now a bit clearer this time around. Having gotten FCC approval, the possibility of the HTC Hero being distributed in the US and Canada is close to being certain if not guaranteed already. In addition to that, since it comes with 850/1900MHz 3G bands, it’ll most likely debut on AT&T (US) and Rogers/Fido (Canada). Of course, this isn’t official by any means, but based on the available info, this is what we can surmise about the HTC Hero and its eventual release in the North American region.

Sprint is also being rumored to be testing the HTC Hero, but if they do release one, this probably won’t be it. There’s still no date as to when it will actually hit the North America market, but it should be available this month in Europe with Asia to follow thereafter.

[engadgetmobile via cellphones etc]

Here it is folks, a cheaper VAIO P that no one except friends and relatives will know its a Shenzhen imitation of the real thing. Just how close is the Gemsta Viva to the VAIO P?Read on to see the full specs, but I’ll tell you know that for a bigger screen and slightly less portable form factor and the processor options, the 2000 yuan ($294) seems like a crazy business-man’s special offer.

[via clonedinchina]

CPU: Intel Atom Z515/Z520/Z530
Chipset:   Intel Poulsbo US15W
Memory:   1GB
Storage:   16GB/32GB, up to 64GB
LCD:     8.9”, 1024×600 LED Backlight
Graphics: Core Integrated
Web Camera:   1.3Mega Pixel
Audio HD Audio, Sterero Output
Wireless Wifi 802.11b/g, Blue Tooth
3G Wireless Module:   Embedded, Support TD-SCDMA/CDMA2000 1x EVDO and WCDMA
Interface:   USBx2, Audio-Out DC-In
Extension Storage:   SD Card Slot
Expansion Port:   Support VGA, LAN
Working Time:   4 Hrs

Want to a peek into the crystal ball and see what the future holds for you iPhone owners out there? Well, read on and be amazed at these potential iPhone 4.0 features that may soon be available in a firmware update down the road.

Discovered in a bunch of pending patent applications, this first one is called “Event-based modes for electronic devices.” What this basically does is allow your iPhone to automatically adjust its setting based on your location and “life events”. So, what exactly are these “life events”?

[via unwiredview]
More details after the break.

Based on the patent application, “life events” can be any one of the following:

any location-based event (e.g., the device entering or exiting a specific geographical location, such as a country, or a specific type of location, such as a movie theater, etc.), any environment-based event (e.g., the device being subjected to a specific physical orientation, movement, temperature, sound, light, etc.), any calendar-based event (e.g., the device reaching a specific time of day, day of week, date, etc.), any usage-based event (e.g., the device being used for a specific function, for a specific period of time, the device’s battery having less than half of its capacity remaining, etc.), any news-based event (e.g., the device receiving information about a particular worldly occurrence, such as a weather forecast, news report, or sport score, etc.), and combinations thereof.

Another pending patent is called “User-programmed automated communications.“ This feature allows your iPhone to perform an appropriate action based on a particular event, location, caller and other similar conditions. Say, for example, it’s your wife’s birthday. This new feature will allow your iPhone to automatically send an SMS to your wife greeting her on her special day.

Last, but certainly not the least, there’s also a “Systems and methods for intelligent and customizable communications between devices” that’s also waiting for patent approval. Simply put, these allow you to set up your iPhone to respond accordingly and differently to your various contacts depending on your current situation and availability.

As you can see, these new iPhone features is all about automation, but being that these are all just patent applications, there’s really no guarantee that these will make it into the real world. These do, however, give us an idea of what to expect, and based on what we’ve seen so far, it sure looks good. How about you guys? What do you make of these iPhone features waiting for patent approval?

The Toshiba TG01 has already been launched in Japan albeit going by a different name, T-01A on NTT DoCoMo, and now, it’s Europe’s turn to get this Snapdragon-powered touchscreen handset this month. The launch is scheduled to happen on July 9 when we expect to get more details on its pricing. First unveiled in the early part of this year, the Toshiba TG01 will possibly debut on O2 in the UK. Granted that the upper hand went to the TG01 as far as speed was concerned when matched up with the iPhone 3G, it looks like the Toshiba TG01 now has a more capable rival in the speedier iPhone 3G S which should now be available in Europe as we speak.

[via slashgear]

For 799 yuan or just about $117, it’s the cheapest WiFi-enabled MID to date, cheaper than the Chuwi W3000. The Cube MID B53WIFI runs has a 4.3-inch touchscreen and runs on Linux. It plays multiple video formats including RMVB and AVI. Apparently, the Cube B53WIFI has a server multimedia search engine. Not sure what it is exactly, though, whether you’ll have to live in China to use it.

[via pcpop]

Hot off the release of the iPhone 3.0 and iPhone 3G S, Apple has now made available iPhone OS 3.1 beta to developers. We’re still not quite sure what exciting new features this latest firmware will come with, but taking a cue from its name, it’s probably more a set of bug fixes with only a handful of new treats to spice up the package. We’ll report more on this once additional info is made available, but nonetheless, this is a sure sign that work on an iPhone 3.1 jailbreak/unlock should now finally commence.

Likewise, we’re still waiting on an iPhone 3G S jailbreak to the public. For those running iPhone 3.0 already, iPhone 3.0 jailbreak Pwnage tool and redsnow are already available for your jailbreaking needs as well as ultrasnow to unlock your iPhone.

[via engadget]

This is by far the best news this year for true music fanatics. The amazing COWON S9, which was our PMP of the year last year, just got significantly better with firmware update 2.31b. Additionally, there’s no support for M3U playlists. Wow. The new firmware also provides playback support for damaged AVI videos. Got a lot of that in my computer.

Features of 2.31b (international version) firmware for the Cowon S9

• Gapless playback for FLAC, APE and Lossless WMA, as well as Ogg Vorbis and WAV
• M3U support
• plays damaged AVI
• support for AVI containers
• typist feature: notepad with keyboard

[read more at dapreview]

We’ve heard about the mouthwatering features of the Nvidia Tegra chip and seen it go to work on the Zune HD. Now, get ready as we hear this versatile Nvidia Tegra chip also plans to invade smartphones before 2009 comes to a close. Both Samsung and Motorola are the ones currently rumored to be producing the Tegra-powered smartphones with Android as its possible OS. Apart from that, details are still pretty scarce at the moment. However, as far as its release is concerned, the early part of Q4 of 2009 has been mentioned as the likely period when we’ll see the first Tegra-based smartphone hit the market. With the entry of the Nvidia Tegra into the mobile phones scene, the competition is definitely shifting up to the next level.

[via unwiredview, the street]