The source of the confusion stems from how Apple manages the charging process from the point when a battery is very nearly charged until a user unplugs the device.

So here’s how things work: Apple does, in fact, display the iPad (and iPhone and iPod Touch) as 100 percent charged just before a device reaches a completely charged state. At that point, it will continue charging to 100 percent, then discharge a bit and charge back up to 100 percent, repeating that process until the device is unplugged.

Doing so allows devices to maintain an optimum charge, Apple VP Michael Tchao told AllThingsD today.

“That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like,” Tchao said. “It’s a great feature that’s always been in iOS.”

It appears to have gone largely unnoticed until this latest generation iPad, when DisplayMate analyst Ray Soneira noted that his testing showed the iPad not fully charged when it displayed 100 percent.

No matter where in that cycle a battery is, Tchao said, owners of the new iPad can expect the 10 hours of battery life that Apple has promised.

The decision not to keep changing the battery status was designed so as not to distract or confuse users.

Battery life has, of course, become a critical issue for device makers and consumers alike.

Chips, screens and other components continue to increase in sophistication at a rapid rate, while battery life has improved only incrementally.

The new iPad, for example, has a screen that displays far more information and requires additional graphics horsepower, yet offers similar battery life to its predecessor. In order to make this happen, Apple has put a significantly larger battery in the new tablet, likely accounting for the device’s slightly thicker body.

It would make sense then that users would find it takes longer to fully charge the device than its predecessor.

Further confusion often comes in for longtime gadget owners who can remember the days of nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries, which had a so-called “memory effect,” requiring users to fully discharge the battery each time in order to keep getting maximum battery life.

Newer batteries, which use lithium-ion and other compounds, don’t have this issue. However, they do have a limited lifespan and lose capacity over time.

Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe said battery charging has become a complex art and science.

“What’s really subtle is that consumers think they understand that 100% means ‘full’,” Howe said. “That might have been the case with older batteries, but today’s batteries have microprocessors managing their charging. So 100% is whatever that microprocessor says it is — it’s not any absolute measurement of ion concentration or anything.”

Howe says consumers are probably best off just leaving it to the device to handle things.

“We don’t have to understand their engineering to use them,” Howe said. “However, we shouldn’t apply our prejudices formed (both good and bad) from older generations of battery technology to today’s systems either. If it says it’s charged, consumers should assume it is, and not worry about whether the charger is drawing current.”

So there you have it — more than you ever wanted to know about battery life. Now if only someone would just hurry up with batteries that last longer.

While most gadget lovers hunt for empty wall sockets to charge their devices, Kevin Bartholomew just plugs his cellphone into his hip. That is where he keeps a nine-inch device looped around his belt that converts the kinetic energy of his motion into enough power to keep his devices running.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

Because it packs more battery capacity in a smaller space, Leyden said it can create batteries that pack the same amount of charging, plus the circuitry to support Powermat, that standard batteries need just for their juice.

Leyden, as we wrote last year, has raised a bunch of money to produce batteries with a different kind of chemistry that the company says can lead to longer charges, and batteries that last twice as long.

Like everyone else, we’re sold on anything that might make our phones and tablets last longer. The real question, though, is when we will start seeing products using the technology.

In an interview, Leyden marketing VP Noam Kedem promised that we would see actual products this year, and said that a lack of announcements since last year’s funding should not be taken as a sign the company has gotten complacent.

“It’s not because we haven’t been busy,” Kedem said. “Au contraire.”

But since that clearly isn’t happening any time soon, we’re happy to see that this year’s show brings some creative options for recharging on the go.

And, really, what better time to show off your goods than when a bunch of frazzled reporters and producers are scrambling to find power outlets? (We’re writing this from a well-powered press room right now, though just a couple hours ago, we were in separate Vegas casinos, each trying to charge our laptops without attracting hotel security.)

Fortunately, electronics makers are plugged in to our needs. (Get it?!)

While there are lots of options for those willing to tote around an external battery, one of the more intriguing new entries adds charging capability to something we are already carrying — a backpack. Made by RFA, the Powerbag series backpack carries along several hours’ worth of battery life, and the ability to charge up to four devices at once, using micro-USB, mini-USB, full-size USB and Apple’s 30-pin dock connector.

The bags are pretty well padded, too, and have water-resistant bottoms. The Powerbags aren’t cheap — they range from $139.99 to $249.99 — but they do look handy, and several models are already on the market.

Unfortunately, the backpacks don’t charge laptops. But for average consumers, as opposed to reporters filing stories, the included mobile chargers are probably much more useful.

SolarKindle from Solar Focus makes us think of a day at the beach, rather than five days at CES. But it packs two functions that could be useful into one Kindle case. The outside of the case has solar panels that power both an arm light on top of the Kindle screen and an extra battery that lives in the back of the case.

Because it uses comparatively little battery and lasts weeks at a time, the Kindle is a logical device for solar charging. Even hardcore geeks get at least one day of sun, right? However, the same logic suggests that Kindle owners can probably also find time to charge up, every month or so.

To that end, the Solar Focus device doesn’t work with the new Kindle Fire — as the company points out, the tablet has a backlit screen and doesn’t use E-ink, so the arm light isn’t needed — but it does work with a standard Kindle and Kindle Touch.

Still, the Solar Touch could make the Kindle a near-perfect choice for those asked to choose the one gadget they would want on a desert island.

So if you need to fire up your non-Kindle Fire, the SolarKindle launches midmonth, and will cost $79.99.

Lastly, if you really have run out of battery power options, and you’re desperate to write something on your iPad, Targus has partnered with iDevices to create a writing pen that transcribes what you write on plain paper directly to your iPad, using Bluetooth capabilities. Even better is that the pen, called the iNotebook, does have some memory built in and allows you to store your notes if your iPad is dead. Once it’s up and running again, the notes will automatically transfer over. A little bit more than a ballpoint pen, this device is going to cost $149.99.

Of course, plain old pen and paper also work without a battery and cost just a couple bucks. Heck, we each got a free pen and notepad with our Vegas hotel rooms. Although, don’t get us started on what those cost.

Lauren Goode

* * *

Nokia and Samsung are locked in a fierce battle.

No, not the race for the title of world’s largest cellphone maker, though that’s interesting, too. The pair are neck and neck in the battle for worst-kept secret in Vegas.

We’re not sure which unannounced announcement has been more clearly preannounced: Nokia’s LTE Windows Phone for AT&T, or the fact that Samsung’s 5-inch Galaxy Note tabletphone is also coming to AT&T.

Nokia isn’t commenting, but people familiar with the matter have been busy talking up the device, most recently to the New York Times. Coding in AT&T’s Web site also reveals a Nokia device is coming, we’re told.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Note is also officially yet to be announced. But there are signs for it all over Vegas. Plus, accessory maker Anymode, closely tied to Samsung, announced a line of accessories for the device (an announcement that was also retracted, as if such a thing were possible.)

While Samsung is probably the leakiest of the two, Nokia’s product is a whole lot more important to that company than the Galaxy Note is to Samsung’s future.

For Nokia, the new AT&T device will be its flagship and the centerpiece of the company’s effort to get back into the U.S. smartphone game.

In Samsung’s case, the Galaxy Note just ensures that it has every screen size from 3 inches to 10 inches covered with an Android device of some shape. Dell didn’t find much love for its 5-inch Streak, but we’ll see if a stylus and some other features allow it to carve out a niche.

Ina Fried

* * *

We were going to do a whole big feature story on how smartphones were killing the market for GPS devices, MP3 players and point-and-shoot cameras, but NPD’s holiday sales figures say it all.

MP3 players are down 20.5 percent, point-and-shoot cameras down 20.8 percent and GPS units down 32.6 percent.

The only thing missing are some quotes. So here you go:

“Yup,” said the analyst.

“But just wait,” said the point-and-shoot camera maker. “Our new camera adds Wi-Fi.”

“We’re focusing on value added services,” said the GPS maker, while also asking bystanders for loose change.

“I’m sorry, I was listening to music on my phone,” said the MP3 maker.

Ina Fried

* * *

Our team is on the ground in Vegas looking for the really interesting stuff, the big trends and the fun things that make the long lines, long days and long speeches worth it. Check out the links below for all the latest from the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show.

MORE CES NEWS:

• Complete coverage
• HP’s Former CTO: Ultrabooks Are Nothing New, webOS Still Has Life Yet
• Walt Shows Off CES Gadgets for Fox Business News (Video)
• What Kind of Web Video Plans Does Sony Have? (Video)
• Fujitsu Seeking Way Into Crowded U.S. Smartphone Market
• Why Rhapsody Is (Probably) Bigger Than Spotify — In the U.S.
• Microsoft Beefing Up CeBit Presence Even as It Pulls Back on CES
• Inside the CES Lost & Found
• FCC Chairman Has New Tablet, but Same Script: More Spectrum!
• Verizon Wireless: We Want to Connect Five Devices for Every Subscriber
• Ultrabooks From HP and Lenovo That Are (Kinda, Sorta) Different
• Walt and Katie Take a Tour of CES (Video)
• Schmidt-Storm Alert: The Google Chairman Didn’t Like Your Question
• T-Mobile Expands Bobsled Messaging Service
• Intel Shows Just How It Plans to Get Into Phones (Video)
• Motorola CEO: We’re Going to Release Fewer Phones This Year
• Kinect Helps Keep Aging Xbox at the Top of Its Game
• More From T-Mobile CEO: On Pricing, LTE and That Ever-Elusive iPhone
• Exclusive: New Boss Acknowledges Windows Phone Still Has “Awareness Problem”
• And You Thought Jawbone UP Was Going to Miss the CES Party!
• Interview: T-Mobile CEO Says No Second AT&T Deal Out There
• Grover Is at CES and I Am Missing It
• BlueStacks Bringing Android Apps to Windows 8
• Why the Future of TV Won’t Be Here Soon
• Nvidia’s Tegra 3 Tries to Save Battery in All Sorts of Different Ways
• Dynamic Dual Coverage: Ballmer’s Last Act in Vegas and the BCS Championship in 3-D
• Microsoft Phoning In Its Last CES Keynote
• Myspace — Yes, Myspace — Says It’s Going to Sell You Web TV
• Samsung Unveils “Super” 55-Inch OLED TV
• Nokia Unveils That LTE Windows Phone It’s Been Dying to Share
• Steve Ballmer Gives Ralph De La Vega a Very … Vigorous Greeting (Video)
• Interview: AT&T’s De La Vega on LTE, Tablets and Life After T-Mobile
• AT&T’s De La Vega: Shared Data Plans Still in the Works
• LG: 55-Inch Glasses-Free 3-D Screen Is on the Way
• LG Pushes 4G Smartphone Through Verizon: The LG Spectrum
• Live: AT&T’s Vegas Act Stars LTE and, Making Her Return to the Stage, Nokia
• CES Notebook: The Constant Search for Power and Vegas’ Worst-kept Secret
• Belkin Bringing Mobile TV to Lots of Cellphones, Will Anyone Tune In?
• Acer Introduces “World’s Thinnest” Ultrabook and a “Me-Too” Cloud Service
• There Better Be Some Cool Stuff at CES, Because CE Holiday Sales Data Bytes!
• CES 2012: Snooki and Bieber Are In, Gaga Is Out!
• Coming to a Smartphone Near You: Gorilla Glass 2
• RIM Hopes Next PlayBook OS Will Impress at CES
• Ultrabooks, the Ultra-Fancy New Name for Laptops
• At CES, Expect More Gadgets Telling You to Get Off the Couch
• Intel to Detail Its Phone Plans at CES Next Month
• Microsoft Pulling Out of CES After Upcoming Show
• Intel to Detail Its Phone Plans at CES Next Month
• Dell Will Drop the Flashy Vegas Act for CES This Year
• Ultrabook Conga Line Preps for CES 2012

Fremont, Calif.-based Leyden Energy hopes to change that. The start-up is focused on a new battery chemistry it says should allow its batteries to run 25 percent longer on a single charge and last for three years, as opposed to the typical single year of useful battery life.

The chip industry touts the fact that performance tends to double every 18 months or so, a maxim dubbed Moore’s Law in honor of the Intel founder who noted the trend. Battery life, meanwhile, has barely been able to double over the past 20 years, Leyden CEO Aakar Patel said in an interview.

And Patel would know, having spent his career in the battery industry. Before starting Leyden, Patel was chief operating officer of a battery distributor and also spent five years at Duracell.

“We don’t follow any Moore’s law,” Patel told AllThingsD.

Leyden may not be able to change that entirely, but Patel said significant improvements are possible by changing the electrolytes from those used in the current crop of lithium-ion batteries. Patel’s approach has drawn significant interest, including a $20 million Series B investment round being announced on Wednesday. New Enterprise Associates is leading the new funding round, which also includes new money from the company’s existing investors Lightspeed Ventures, Sigma Partners and Walden Capital.

NEA partner Ron Bernal, who is joining Leyden’s board, said he has been tracking the company for about 18 months and is pleased with the progress it has made.

“A year ago when they were out, they hadn’t quite delivered everything,” Bernal said. At this point, however, Bernal said he is convinced that the company is on the right track and will be able to deliver on the big gains it is promising. “With what they’ve shown and delivered, it’s pretty compelling.”

Leyden started back in 2007 and now has 30 employees.

“We went in with one single premise, which is how we could make batteries better,” Patel told AllThingsD. The company is aiming to see its batteries power everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles.

Although the company is in volume production, it has thus far publicly announced only one deal — an agreement with a Canadian after-market firm called Dr. Battery. Patel said it should also have some deals with tablet companies to talk about in the coming months. In addition, the company has nearly $3 million in grants from the California Energy Commission to produce electric vehicle batteries.

“For a relatively small company we have done amazing things,” he said. “We’ve been fast to commercialize our product.”

The challenge, clearly, will be getting to greater scale, something Patel said the new funding should help with.

“We always had commercialization in mind,” he said. “We didn’t just want to innovate for the sake of innovation.”

The company is relying on an unspecified manufacturer in Asia to make its actual products, which are designed using Leyden’s process.

Take for example the attention today on lithium ion batteries used in notebook PCs. Demand right now is not terribly high–it’s a time of the year when consumers are buying fewer PCs–but consider what happens if the crisis persists. As Taiwan’s Digitimes observes, a good bit of the world’s production ecosystem for lithium ion batteries used in notebooks are not only located in Japan, but many are in areas affected by the quake or within the evacuation radius of the troubled nuclear power plant there.

Sony, which makes notebook batteries, and Hitachi, which makes a key battery part called an anode, both operate plants in the disaster area, and both have been shut down for the time being, according to a research report from Pranab Kumar Sarmah at Daiwa Securities in Hong Kong. Numerous other companies that make battery parts also operate in the disaster area, and most of them are affected.

What about the iPad? I just heard from Wayne Lam, an analyst at iSuppli, the research firm that tore down the iPad 2 the other day. He tells me markings on the iPad 2′s three-cell battery pack include a label that reads “assembled in China.” However, he says that applies only to the finished battery pack. A closer look at the markings reveal a reference to “Apple Japan.” He thinks that’s sufficient proof the battery cells came from Japan. “Typically, battery cells are made at the site of assembly but since this Li-Ion Polymer battery is unusually thin, it may be the case that it requires battery cell manufacturing technologies that Japan has.”

Then there’s the LCD display market. LCD manufacturing is an extremely precise process, one that doesn’t take kindly to the power shortages and rolling blackouts caused by the loss of generating capacity at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Typically, Japan derives about a third of its power capacity from nuclear power, and this plant constituted a big portion of that. Again, it’s Sony and Hitachi plants located in areas affected by the disaster. Between them, the two companies produce 90 percent of the world’s supply of Anisotropic Conductive Film, an interconnect material that’s widely used in LCD panels.

Another key part in LCD displays–a color polarizer–is made by Fuji Film. Dale Ford, another iSuppli analyst, said earlier this week there have been indications that supplies of these have been impacted, which will drive prices up, which will in turn be reflected in the final price consumers pay for their TVs and monitors. Something tells me the lingering effects of this disaster are going to trouble the tech economy for some time to come, especially if the state of Japan’s power grid remains uncertain.

Evolta-kun’s epic journey on the Tokaido, one of Japan’s ancient thoroughfares, is part of a marketing campaign by Panasonic Corp. to promote its Evolta rechargeable batteries. At each of the route’s 53 stages where a weary traveler would once stop for food and lodging, Evolta-kun recharges its batteries (literally).

Even the robot mascot has his own crew of costume-wearing female models (the Evolta Sisters), an exclusive theme song (We, Challengers) and, of course, a daily comic strip. The robot travels with an entourage of five staff. One ‘Evolta Sister’ pushes a cart that emits an infra-red signal to control the robot’s direction; two members are in charge of checking for safety and two cameramen chronicle every robotic step of his journey.

There are rules: Evolta-kun stops at red lights. It doesn’t walk at night or in the rain. The robot can’t climb stairs. (With regards to stairs, a staff member will carry it by hand,” according to the rules.)

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Ford (F) recently released SYNC, a voice-activation package on some models that integrates the content and functionality of mobile devices with the car itself. SYNC also adds apps to the car, though it’s not clear what these features will mean for the future of American automakers.

Liveblog

Mullaly appears onstage wearing a very bright red vest. Vibrant!

At Walt’s request, Mulally shows off a piece of paper with handwritten notes that purport to explain Ford’s interest in all things digital. Lots of computers are involved in the creation of your Taurus.

12:30 pm: Kara wants to know why cars have been basically digitally ignorant for a long time. Walt: You open the door to you car and it’s 1957 again. Why is that?

For the record, Mulally doesn’t think you should text and drive.

He also wants you to keep your hands on the wheels and eyes on the road. So there’s lots of digital stuff being built into dashboard and console. Like the SYNC iPod/phone, etc., manager.

Ford is playing around with features like allowing drivers to have their text messages read to them. But safety is paramount. All of our data says your safest operation is when you have your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. But right now, we feel that listening to email and text is a good first step. But we don’t want you sending email and text via voice, at least for now.

12:35 pm: Kara–Why is this taking so long? [i.e., "where is my jetpack?"]

Walt: Yeah! Even fancy German and Japanese cars don’t do it well. It’s pathetic!

Mulally: Don’t blame me! I just got here. Part of the problem is that car development is much slower than consumer electronics R&D cycle. For instance, a lot of competitors have embedded a phone in the car. We’re avoiding that and focusing on interface, so as consumers exchange and swap devices, they can do that.

12:38 pm: A pitch for “My Ford Touch,” which seems to have lots of bells and whistles, but sounds confusing to this frequent walker and subway-taker.

12:39 pm: Walt tries explaining it. “The instrument cluster, which has been on steering wheels forever, is now going to be a on a screen.”

Mulally: Right. We want to make it intuitive. Etc.

12:40 pm: Still trying to explain it. Screen goes on steering wheel and allows customizable controls for operating car, as well as extras.

12:41 pm: Kara–what is that people want to do, anyway?

Mulally: Good question. We watch what people do in cars and try to help them do it, because they’re going to do it anyway. For instance, we’re building in Pandora to our cars. You’ll get the music via the Web, from your cellphone, but you’ll operate it on our panel. Also Stitcher, Open Beak, etc.

A lot of people here are using apps. You’ll get to use them in the car.

12:43 pm: Walt–Will you need a special Ford version of these apps?

Mulally: Yep. You use our API

12:44 pm: Kara wants better navigation services. She doesn’t want to hear a mean German lady giving her directions though.

Walt: Yeah! All of your GPS systems are lousy! The ones on phones are better!

Mulally: We’re with you. That’s why we want to rely on developers to build the good stuff, via our API.

12:47 pm: Let’s talk about the car industry, period. You just got here. You were in aerospace, before. Also, the whole oil spill thing does change the way we look at cars, right?

Mulally: Before I left Boeing (BA), I thought about where the car industry was going. What I decided was that the industry is the soul of Manufacturing–“big M”–all around the world. Lots of stuff goes into this, no matter what country or region. It’s also part of the solution to economic growth, energy independence and environmental sustainability.

On that note: Clearly, the internal combustion engine is going to be around for a while. But we can make them operate more efficiently, etc. Take a v6 and make it run like a v8m, etc. Meanwhile hybrids are tough because you have two different systems: Batteries and internal combustion. Then in the future, we need to move to all-electric. We have a great road map for all of this. First all-electric cars launch this year. Hydrogen is farther out, don’t have the tech for it yet.

12:52 pm: Mulally describes challenges of electric car–need to figure out how and where to get the juice to cars.

12:53 pm: Kara–What about health of business?

Mulally: I like being here much better than testifying in front of Congress.

Kara: How did you get here?

Mulally: I flew! That’s why we have airplanes. For long-distance travel.

12:53 pm: A Zuckerberg hoodie joke.

12:54 pm: Mulally–Time goes fast. Last year, I was testifying on behalf my competitors, who were bankrupt. Now I’m a capitalist. But if GM and Chrysler went away, they’d take the supply base along with them, and they’d probably have put the U.S. into a bona fide depression.

I was asking for temporary help. I didn’t think all of us would end up owning our competitors.

12:57 pm: Mulally–Recovery is coming, by the way. We’ll have 3.5 percent expansion of GDP this year. And Ford is doing well. We’ll have market-share increases.

Kara: What kind of car do you drive?

Mulally: A different one every night.

Q&A

[I hope someone asks about the New York Times series that said that anything you do in your car besides driving is a safety risk. Anyone?]

Q: Please talk about the Mercury situation.

A: We had too many brands. Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. Mercury was supposed to be a gap-bridger between Ford and Lincoln. But the Ford line expanded, so we didn’t need Mercury. “Everybody’s got great options in Ford.” It’s also good news for Lincoln–because we don’t have other premium brands anymore, we’ll refocus on Lincoln for luxury.

Q: Proud Tesla owner Jason Calacanis wants to know why electric isn’t everywhere already.

A: We can make electric cars, but as you know, we can improve them, like battery life.

Calacanis: No. It’s not a problem. Batteries are great at Tesla.

Mulally: Nope. Most of them are too big, too heavy. There’s a lot of room to improve the batteries.

Other point is that the infrastructure has to get there. You need charging stations for people in apartments, in rural areas, etc. When we get there, Ford will be there.

Kara, and Walt want Jason to tell us how much his Tesla cost. Astonishingly, he goes mute.

Q: Did you really say you don’t intend to get a revenue stream from connectivity of cars to data? You don’t want a piece of money made by Yelp, Garmin, etc.?

A: You heard me correctly. We’re laser-focused on safe and efficient transportation. So there’s no conflict of interest.

Q: Walt wants to if these electronics actually sell cars.

A: I demoed this stuff for you, and you’re a tough critic, and you said “whoa!” This technology is absolutely a differentiator.

Q: You’re talking about innovation in cars. Does dealer network have to change too?

A: Absolutely. We’ve been right-sizing the dealer network to match demand for five years. Once you do that, throughput goes up, profitability goes up, interest in improving facilities goes up, etc. Then we can improve consumer experience.

Walt: Because it’s terrible right now.

Mulally agrees without saying so.

Q: China is pushing hard for electric cars. What does that mean for you?

A: I think China is going to continue to take a real leadership position on this. Big population, and they have a chance to really make a difference and maybe leapfrog the past.

Q: There’s that great Ford quote about not listening to his customers, because if he did he’d be in the horse business. So how you do innovate?

A: Stay closet to innovation. And have a point of view about how the industry is going to progress.

Q: Ah! Someone asked about focusing while you drive.

A: Eighty percent of accidents involve taking your eyes off the road. So we’re convinced that the mind has the cognitive ability to do other things while driving as long as you continue to watch the road. So we minimize anything that’s a distraction: Keyboard, certain confusing apps, etc. We are definitely going to be a gatekeeper with regard to apps, because it’s crucial that you not be distracted.

We’re done! Thanks for sticking around. See you in a year!

A note about our coverage: This liveblog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations written and posted to the Web as quickly as possible. It is not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.

Since Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad last month, hardware makers such as Griffin Technology, Gelaskins Inc., Sanho Corp. and SDI Technologies Inc. have hurried to design chargers, sticker covers and other accoutrements.

“There are some things we’ve identified as no-brainers,” said Mark Rowan, president of case maker Griffin in Nashville, Tenn., which began drawing up designs for iPad cases and contacting manufacturers within hours of the iPad announcement. “We know people are going to want to protect the device.”

Read the rest of this post on the original site

The latest, from China Economic News, claims the device is being prepped for a February debut at a price somewhere between $799 and $999. Supply chain sources tell the publication the tablet will be built around a 9.6-inch Wintek capacitive touch panel and a mystery processor engineered by P.A. Semi, the boutique semiconductor design company Apple acquired in 2008. DynaPack International Technology will supply batteries, which are said to be “long lasting.”

Finally, the Apple (AAPL) device is said to support the high-speed downlink packet access 3G protocol. Interesting, since this likely means the tablet is destined for AT&T’s (T) network, not Verizon’s (VZ), as had been previously rumored, and lends credence to predictions that Apple will extend AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity deal rather than allow it to lapse.

The latest, from China Economic News, claims the device is being prepped for a February debut at a price somewhere between $799 and $999. Supply chain sources tell the publication the tablet will be built around a 9.6-inch Wintek capacitive touch panel and a mystery processor engineered by P.A. Semi, the boutique semiconductor design company Apple acquired in 2008. DynaPack International Technology will supply batteries, which are said to be “long lasting.”

Finally, the Apple (AAPL) device is said to support the high-speed downlink packet access 3G protocol. Interesting, since this likely means the tablet is destined for AT&T’s (T) network, not Verizon’s (VZ), as had been previously rumored, and lends credence to predictions that Apple will extend AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity deal rather than allow it to lapse.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. We’re calling it the Tech 10 and it appears below.

1. Music to their ears: SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that has been in a protracted battle with Internet radio companies, has reached a deal with them on royalties. The Associated Press reports that SoundExchange would cap fees at $50,000 a year for Webcasters offering more than 100 channels–down considerably from the much higher per-channel tax it had sought to impose.
2. Playing catch-up with YouTube, Yahoo plans to revamp its video portal. Miguel Helft of the New York Times writes that Yahoo will consolidate the Internet site’s somewhat messy video interface into a more interactive one enabling users to view and share videos and compile playlists. Of the plans, Helft quotes Mike Folgner, general manager of Yahoo Video: “We’re going to make it a more cohesive experience. Video is going to be everywhere on Yahoo.”



3. A teenage hacker from New Jersey has picked the lock that links the iPhone to AT&T. According to the Associated Press, 17-year-old George Hotz, using a complicated procedure involving both software and soldering, unlocked an iPhone from AT&T and was using it on T-Mobile’s network, freeing the handheld for calls overseas using carriers outside the U.S. After announcing the feat on his blog, Hotz put the reconfigured iPhone (pictured, left) up for sale on eBay.
4. Google goes Gotham? Bloomberg is reporting that the Internet search titan is in talks to provide online transit guides in New York City and environs. The guides, which are already available in more than a dozen cities, including Dallas and San Diego, show how to navigate transportation systems and could greatly expand Google’s revenue from ad sales to restaurants, hotels and other businesses that serve the nine million commuters in metropolitan New York.
5. IBM may take elements of its Jazz collaboration software open source. According to IDG News Service, the tech giant is considering open-sourcing some of the lowest layers of the framework, which makes software development easier, so people could “build on the kernel,” said a member of the Jazz management committee.
6. Sweet juice: Sony has developed a battery that uses sugar as an energy source. TMCnet reports that test cells of the battery have 50 milliwatts, so far the world’s highest electrical output for the so-called passive bio batteries. Sony engineers proved they work by putting four together to power a Walkman.
7. And in an industry where power is everything, Via Technologies has produced a processor that consumes a maximum of one watt of electricity. Reporting on the development, PC World notes that the Eden ULV chip will be used in mobile devices and embedded applications.
8. Manhunt 2, the sequel to Rockstar Games’ eponymous video-game gorefest, got a break in the form of a less-severe rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board. According to CNET blog Crave, the board changed the rating from “adults only” (the equivalent of an NC-17 for video games) to an M-for-mature after Rockstar eliminated some ultraviolent content. The new rating means that companies like Sony and Microsoft will allow the game to run on their players, clearing the way for sales pegged to Halloween.
9. Decrying its role in “promoting” child prostitution, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is calling on online classified-ad service Craigslist to police itself better, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In a letter sent this week, Franklin asked the Web site to toughen warnings for personal ads and pages that offer erotic services and to delete postings advertising sexual services for sale. An Atlanta vice officer claims that Craigslist and similar Web sites facilitate 85% of the sexual trysts men in Atlanta make with underage youths.
10. News this week of a study that linked gender with color preference prompted Shiny Shiny (the self-described “girl’s guide to gadgets”) to assemble a selection of pink laptops. We eyed the Hello Kitty model (pictured here) and concurred that this was indeed a laptop that only a girl (of either sex) could love.

–posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan