Apple announced a new iPod Touch today and has bolstered the gaming credentials of the device.  The new iPod Touch features a more powerful processor, improved display, front-facing camera and microphone – features also found in the new iPhone 4.

Apple has also added a Game Centre that lets iPod Touch users showcase their scores and achievements and discover the games their friends are playing.  

The iPod Touch has become a significant challenger to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP in the handheld games market because of the thousands of low-cost games available on Apple’s bulging App Store. There are now over 65,000 entertainment titles on the App Store.

Apple now boldly describes the iPod Touch as “the world’s most popular portable game player”.

The new Retina display has 960 x 640 pixels—four times as many pixels than before. Apple says the resulting 326 pixels per inch makes text, images and video look sharper, smoother and more realistic.

It will be available next week.

More news from the American tech giant, Apple, as it will be coming up with the new upgrades for the iPod Touch 4. The new gadget is scheduled to be launched at the Yerba Buena Center of Arts, and the launch is eagerly awaited. The new iPod Touch will be having features from Apple’s iPhone 4, like high resolution display.

But is Apple expecting a bit too much from a pocket sized gadget that was once only a music goodie. It has been seen that people have lost some of their taste in having small size gadgets like the iPod, when all the pods features are available on the iPhone.

Some reports have suggested that Apple is nowadays having a strong interest in getting into people’s homes, through the TV. Apple is coming up with an upgraded version of the Apple TV, which has features like, one can rent TV episodes for 99cents. So is it credible for Apple to be working on gadgets like the iPod, one can seriously come up with this question, especially with many phones nowadays are having loads of more features than a iPod.

Google and Apple are vying for the rights to stream Hollywood blockbusters and this season’s hottest TV series as they rush to bring pay-per-view services to computer screens and connected TVs across the globe.

According to an August 29 article in the Financial Times, Google is trying to secure deals with Hollywood’s top movie studios for a new YouTube on-demand service that could be launched as early as the end of 2010.

“Negotiations have been ongoing for several months, but have taken on greater urgency in recent weeks, amid intensifying competition between media and technology companies over the digital delivery of film and TV programming,” wrote the Financial Times‘ Matthew Garrahn and Richard Waters.

Insiders also believe Apple is set to launch a new and improved Apple TV device – a device they believe will connect to existing TVs to provide access to the internet; movies and videos downloaded through iTunes; and may eventually provide a gateway to specially designed applications for your TV through Apple’s App store – later this week.

An August 2010 report on the adoption of Web-to-TV in the US by market researcher In-Stat predicted there will be more than 200 million web-enabled consumer electronic devices in US households by 2015 while an April 2010 report by The Convergence Consulting Group showed that more than 800,000 people in the US have unplugged their cable TV subscriptions in favor of web-based TV programming over the last two years.

Google is set to unveil a new feature to its Gmail service that aims to separate a user’s important emails from the ones that do not get read often.  The new feature called “Priority Inbox” will help users focus on messages that matter without having to set up complex rules, Google said in its official blog.

The Priority Inbox application splits the inbox into three sections: ‘Important and unread’, ‘Starred’ and ‘Everything Else’.

“As messages come in, Gmail automatically flags some of them as important. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most and which messages you open and reply to,” the company said.

Google said Priority Inbox will roll out to all Gmail users, including those who use Google Apps, over the next week.

Apple iPad 2.0 is in the Works and it Might Have a New Screen.   Word on the geek street is that the Apple iPad 2.0 is already in the works. What’s the rush, Apple? Most people haven’t even had a chance to dirty the first iPad with their finger prints—Brits, for example, as Tech Digest is quick to point out.

According to Tech Digest, the Apple iPad 2.0 is being developed right now and it will most likely “get an OLED overhaul.” This means, the 2.0 version of the Apple iPad will have a brighter screen than the current iPad, which uses LCD panels for its screen.

Google announced Wednesday that it will allow users to make phone calls over the Internet through its Gmail service, encroaching on territory that has thus far been dominated by Skype.

The service will appear in Gmail users’ chat windows with a “Call phone” button. When clicked, a telephone dialer will pop up on the screen, and users can place calls using an internal microphone or connected headset.

Google said calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of 2010. The company said it will roll out the service to its U.S. users over the next several days.

Calls to other countries from the U.S. will be billed at Skype-like rates: Calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan, for instance, will be offered for 2 cents per minute.

Google also said it plans on making the service available for international users to initiate calls, but it didn’t offer a timeline for when the service would be introduced abroad.

The company said the feature will be useful to make quick calls when a user is on a computer, or for placing calls in areas with poor reception.

“Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?’” Robin Schriebman, Google software engineer wrote in a company blog post.

Customers who use Google Voice, Google’s free telephone service, will be able to make calls in Gmail using their Google Voice numbers. They will also be able to receive calls made to their Google voice numbers inside Gmail if they choose.

The move positions the company in a battle with Skype. It won’t be easy to overtake Skype, however: In its recent government filing for an initial public offering, Skype said it has 560 million registered users. That compares to nearly 200 million Gmail users, according to Google.

Still, Gmail is becoming a communications hub for its users. Prior to the phone service, Gmail already allowed users to e-mail, instant message and video chat on PCs. Users can also use Gmail to post to social networks through the service’s Google Buzz feature.

Some analysts say the convenience factor could drive some would-be Skype users to Gmail’s new phone service.

“Google Voice in Gmail will gain some traction, simply because it’s there — some people live in Gmail,” said Vanessa Alvarez, analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “It will steal some share from Skype, but Skype has been in this space for a while, so it will be a long time before Google’s share becomes significant.”

As always, the question with any new Google product is how the company will make money on it. Like Skype, Google has an opportunity to sell its service to corporations. Google said a paid version for business customers will be coming out soon.

But Google hasn’t had much success with business customers so far. Its Apps services are slow to be adopted by corporate customers, and the company recently killed its Wave collaborative tool for businesses.

With Voice in Gmail, some experts believe business adoption and revenue from the service will be equally poor.

“Google is taking the easy road of arming their army of fans and users with something just good enough to use — but not necessarily good enough to meet enterprise requirements — and standing back and watching to see how they can shape the market,” said Tom Austin, Google applications analyst at Gartner.

As a result, Austin said he believes Google’s paid revenue stream for the service will be quite small: just $20.3 million per quarter, or 0.3% of Google’s second quarter revenue.

“How important can it be if it’s so insignificant?” Austin asked

HTC will release Google Chrome OS tablet on the 26th of November through Verizon network, states Downloadsquad blog. Assumptions have been made about Verizon’s supporting and promoting the tablet heavily, to pitch it against the Apple iPad.

But no information, regarding the new tablet, has been given by either HTC or Verizon . Otherwise, it is likely to have regular features, like an embodied WiFi, multitouch screen, a bluetooth and a webcam, states the blog.

Google has earlier, used the Android 2.2 (Froyo) for the smartphone. Android 2.2 is also expected to be used in the upcoming slates by Samsung and Motorola. But the most attractive feature of HTC’s tablet will be the Google Chrome operating system.

The Chrome OS will be used for the first time for a slate. Until now it had only been used in netbooks, though analysts had affirmed its utility in both power netbooks and tablets.

Earlier in the year, Eric Lin, spokesperson from HTC, had not denied the possibility of HTC’s entering the tablet market, stating that HTC will eventually launch a tablet which will be substantially unique and not merely an old machine with a new name.

Though speculations have been made about the tablet’s capability of succeeding as a low cost Internet connection device, there are doubts about it being sufficiently capable of giving competition to Apple iPad’s OS. To make it a success in the tablet market, it will have to priced at a considerably low rate, states Jack Gold, of the Technology Analyst Firm, J.Gold Associates.

Is this compatible to Android?  Anyone knows?  Please let me know.

HTC on Monday announced it would use Super LCD (SLCD) display technology from Sony on its latest batch of mobile phones, replacing AMOLED screens supplied by Samsung. The move comes as shortages of HTC devices like the Droid Incredible on Verizon and the HTC Desire forced the company to find an alternative to replenish its stocks. HTC announced the decision in a press release published by the Website SlashGear.

The Taiwan-based manufacturer, which produces most phones running the Google Android OS, said it is experiencing high demand for many of its phones, specifically for handsets with 3.7-inch displays. The HTC Droid Incredible, the HTC Desire (mainly found in Europe), and the Google Nexus One are affected by the shortages.

HTC says the SLCD displays will offer a “comparable visual experience” to its current 3.7-inch displays, and increase battery life because they are five times less power-hungry than Samsung’s AMOLED displays. Samsung is using its latest generation of displays in several variations of the Galaxy S series smartphones.

“HTC believes that both technologies offer exceptional user experiences, and we will employ both types of displays concurrently within our current product lineup,” the company said in its statement. The first HTC phones with SLCD displays are due later this summer.

HTC did not say which phones will use SLCD screens. The company said it would introduce SLCDs “into a variety of HTC phones including the HTC Desire and global Nexus One.” While Google killed off the Nexus One adventure, there are still widespread shortages of the HTC Incredible, which uses the 3.7-inch AMOLED screens.

Despite a much-publicized media leak of its next-generation iPhone, Apple CEO Steve Jobs still managed to rev up fans and developers Monday as he unveiled iPhone 4, a powerful successor in its smart phone line.

“Stop me if you’ve already seen this,” Jobs quipped as he introduced the iPhone 4 to a packed audience at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

From his customary spot on the stage, Jobs previewed the new, slimmer hardware, which comes equipped with a much improved screen, two cameras including one facing the user for video conferencing, a faster processor, a gyroscope and a mobile version of Apple’s video editing program, iMovie.

“That is the iPhone 4,” Jobs said. “We think it’s the biggest leap we’ve taken since the original iPhone.”

The phone, which will go on sale June 24 for $199 (16 gigabytes) and $299 (32 gigabytes), will also ship with the latest version of the iPhone operating system, now dubbed iOS 4. The new operating system includes multi-tasking, application folders, the iBooks e-reader app and a new mobile advertising platform.

IPhone 4 should provide a boost for Apple as it seeks to fend off rising competition from smart phone competitors, most notably Google, whose Android operating system is powering a slew of iPhone rivals. There are three times as many iPhones in the market compared to Android devices, but recent quarterly Android sales are now similar to the iPhone.

Many of the iPhone 4′s larger hardware developments were predicted after gadget blog Gizmodo purchased a lost iPhone prototype in April for $5,000 and ran an exclusive story on the components of the new device. The story shed light on many of the new features, including the two cameras and a bigger battery, as well as the boxier look of the device.

But Jobs summoned his ring-leading skills to highlight the specific advancements of the iPhone 4, saving until the end a new video chat feature called FaceTime, which will enable iPhone 4 users to easily conduct video calls at the push of a button. The service will only work over Wi-Fi between iPhone 4 devices in 2010.

“I grew up dreaming of video calling and now it’s real,” Jobs said.

Jobs also spent a considerable amount of time showing off the iPhone 4′s new display, which doubles the pixel density of the iPhone screen and eliminates the perception of pixels. At one point, however, Jobs ran into trouble during the demo when his device couldn’t access Apple’s private Wi-Fi network because of all the mobile Wi-Fi routers in use at the keynote. He actually paused and asked the bloggers in the audience to turn off their Wi-Fi to allow him to proceed with the demonstration.

The new device will feature the same 1 GHz A4 processor powering the iPad as well as a new gyroscope that, when combined with the iPhone’s accelerometer, allows the iPhone to work as a six-axis motion sensor. Developers believe the added sensor can bring about new applications in gaming.

The iPhone 4′s camera has been upgraded to 5 megapixels and includes digital zoom, an LED flash and advanced light-sensing technology that mimics the performance of dedicated cameras. The video camera can also shoot in 720p high-definition.

Users will be to stitch their pictures and videos into polished movies using a new $4.99 iMovie app for the iPhone.

Much to the chagrin of some consumers, Jobs made no mention of a second iPhone running on Verizon Wireless, a popular rumor among Verizon users. The iPhone 4 will stay an exclusive of AT&T, which also replaced its unlimited smart phone data plans Monday with cheaper but limited data tiers of $15 (200 megabytes) and $25 (2 gigabytes) a month.

Avi Greengart, an analyst with Current Analysis, said the Gizmodo leak may have taken some of the surprise out of Jobs’ keynote. But he said the details and execution in the iPhone 4 ensure the device is still the smart phone to beat.

“Just because a publication got some of the features doesn’t mean it’s not impressive,” said Greengart. “I am very impressed. Apple was ahead to begin with and this just puts them further ahead.”

Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, said the new iPhone may sell more to existing iPhone users, rather than expand Apple’s reach. But he said he was most impressed by the display and the FaceTime video technology, which Jobs said Apple was releasing as an open standard.

“If they can drive the adoption of video calling, we might finally see the realization of video telephony,” he said.

For developers such as Ge Wang, founder of musical app maker Smule, the inclusion of the gyroscope meant yet another tool for application programmers.

“This is definitely a step forward for Apple,” he said of the iPhone 4. “It’s not only the technology but Apple’s vision for the future. Clearly, Apple isn’t standing still.