HTC Magic

HTC finally released its successor to the G1 in the UK at the start of May, making it the second phone running Google's open-source Android mobile operating system.

The HTC Magic bears some similarities to the original G1, although it lacks the physical keyboard and the lines are a lot smoother. Like its predecessor, the Magic has a large 3.2in touch-screen, below which is a trackball and six keys to help drive the device.

The lack of keyboard makes the Magic a lot lighter and slimmer than the G1. It measures 113mm x 55mm x 14mm and weighs in at 119g, making it a lot more pocket friendly while packing a bit more of a punch under the hood.

Although it runs the same Qualcomm MSM7200A 528MHz processor and gives users access to the same 192MB of system memory, the capacity of the ROM has been increased from 256MB to 512MB and storage is expandable to 8GB through a microSD card slot located under the battery cover.

Like the rest of the interface, the virtual keyboard uses the built-in accelerometer to automatically adjust between portrait and landscape mode depending on how the phone is oriented. The keys in portrait mode are quite small, but are usually fine for short entries. In landscape mode the layout is excellent, but fast typists may struggle as the phone sometimes battles to keep up, occasionally missing letters if the typing is too quick. There is also an auto-complete and correct option to provide suggestions while entering text.

Running Android means that the Magic has very tight integration with Google's range of services. The potential downside to this is that you have to have a Google Mail account to use the phone, but if you are a prolific user of Google then over-the-air synchronisation with email, calendar, contacts and instant messaging is all completely automatic.learn more>>

AMD celebrates its 40th birthday

AMD is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and is asking customers to send in congratulatory photos and videos.

"In the past 40 years, AMD has transformed from a second-source supplier that worked within the confines of other companies' designs, to an innovator that has helped drive the market forward and kept competition alive and thriving in one of the most important technology sectors," the firm said in a statement.

"AMD takes great pride in our role of igniting next-generation technology solutions, as well as our ability to see where customer and end-user needs are headed next and then collaborate with the industry accordingly.

"AMD's 40th anniversary is a testimonial to our longevity, our employees, our customers and our unique business approach."

In order to 'give back' to its many customers, the firm has announced a large number of contests that will take place over the first half of its anniversary year.learn more>>

T-Mobile unveils Cupcake update to G1 phone

T-Mobile has made available an update to its Android-based G1 phone, adding new features such as a touch-screen keyboard and the ability to film video and upload it straight to YouTube.

T-Mobile said that the so-called Cupcake update has now gone live, and that G1 owners will receive the code as an automatic download delivered to their phone sometime during May. The company announced at the same time that sales of the G1 handset are now approaching 100,000 units since it went on sale in November 2008.

The update to the G1's Android platform includes an on-screen touch keyboard, giving users a choice of input methods. The touch-screen keyboard might be used for short bursts of text such as Twitter updates, while the device's slide-out Qwerty keyboard is better for heavy duty use such as emails, the firm said.

Also included in the update is the ability to use the 3.2-megapixel camera to shoot video clips and upload them straight to YouTube. Photos can similarly be uploaded straight to a user's personal Picasa web album.

Other improvements include a speedier acquisition of GPS location with the phone, and user interface refinements to applications such as the email client, web browser, calendar and contacts. Users will also now be able to see the Google Talk status of their contacts in various messaging applications.

Windows 7 to get XP Mode for compatibility

Microsoft is planning a new virtualisation tool to provide better application compatibility for businesses migrating from Windows XP to the forthcoming Windows 7 operating system.

The feature will be called Windows XP Mode and will allow users to install and run applications in a Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC.

It is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7, according to information recently posted to Microsoft's Windows blog.

In the blog entry, Microsoft said a beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC is coming in the near future, but will run only on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions.

Microsoft had not responded to requests for further information at the time of writing, so it is not clear whether customers would require an additional licence to cover the XP environment or whether this would be included.learn more>>

Yahoo closing Geocities web hosting service

Yahoo will close Geocities, the free web hosting service it paid $4bn for 10 years ago.

“Sorry, new Geocities accounts are no longer available,” read a message on the homepage on Friday.

In 1999, when Yahoo purchased Geocities, it was the third most visited site on the web behind AOL and Yahoo, with 19 million unique visitors in December 1998, according to a Comscore Media Metrix report. Now Geocities is slightly outdated in the current Web 2.0 era, giving users no way to integrate their sites with third-party applications.

The closure is also evidence that the revenue model for hosting free web sites is difficult to sustain, especially in the current economic climate.

Yahoo has encouraged Geocities members to start upgrading to the company’s subscription-based Web Hosting service, although it assured them in a statement that they will still be able to access their sites and Geocities services until “later this year”.

Subscription to the Web Hosting service - which offers a personalised domain name, email, site building tools and premium customer support – costs around $114 (£78) a year for a 12-month contract.

The announcement follows a similar decision by Google to shut down Page Creator in June 2009 and migrate users to Google Sites.learn more>>

Apple tops one billion App Store sales

Apple's App Store has served its one billionth download, less than a year after it was formally launched.

The company said on Friday that it had reached the milestone when a 13-year old from Connecticut made a download.

The App Store was first developed to allow Apple to control the sale of third-party software for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as give developers a single marketplace to distribute their software.

Apple said that the store is now available in 77 countries, and offers more than 35,000 applications. The store reached the download milestone much faster than the iTunes music store, which took nearly three years to serve up its billionth download.

"The revolutionary App Store has been a phenomenal hit with iPhone and iPod touch users around the world, and we'd like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve the astonishing milestone of one billion apps downloaded," said Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, in a statement.

The user who downloaded the billionth piece of software, Connor Mulcahey, will be given a $10,000 gift card for the store along with a new MacBook Pro, a Time Capsule backup drive and an iPod touch.

EBay to spin off Skype next year

Auction site eBay has announced plans to spin off Skype, floating the VoIP service as a standalone business from early next year.

The announcement follows news that Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who sold the system to eBay for $2.6bn (£1.74bn) in 2005, are trying to raise capital to buy it back.

"Skype is a great standalone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum," said John Donahoe, president and chief executive of eBay.

Donahoe added that Skype has very little in common with eBay's core businesses, and would be better off on its own two feet.

"This will give Skype the focus and resources to continue its growth and effectively compete in online voice and video communications," he said. "In addition, separating Skype will allow eBay to focus entirely on our two core growth engines - e-commerce and online payments - and deliver long-term value to our stockholders."

Specific timing of the initial public offering (IPO) will be based on market conditions, but the move could make it easier for Zennström and Friis to regain a controlling interest in the company or buy it out altogether.

When Donahoe took the top spot at eBay in April 2008 he outlined plans to spend a year evaluating Skype's suitability within the rest of the company's portfolio, at the same time appointing a new management team led by Josh Silverman.