Honlai’s QingBar MP101 iPhone projector makes us want more

Looks like Honlai had more than one mini-projector
on display at Computex. The MP101 is capable of throwing a 15- to
27-inch display form your iPhone or iPod touch in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Unfortunately, we’re talking just 10-15 lumens and a 200:1 contrast.
Still, it’ll do for a quick and dirty LCoS jones. See a working
prototype after the break.

[Via AVING and DisplayBlog]

-Engadget

iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th

It’s been a long, leak-filled wait, but Apple finally took the wraps off its 3G iPhone. Thinner edges, full plastic back, flush headphone jack, and the iPhone 2.0
firmware — Apple’s taking a lot of the criticisms to heart from the
first time around. Obviously 3G is at the forefront, but they’re also
making sure it’s available all over internationally, works with
enterprises, runs 3rd party apps… and does it all for cheaper. Apple
claims its 3G speeds trounce the competition, with pageloads 36% faster
than the N95 and Treo 750 — and of course it completely trounces the
old EDGE data speeds.

Battery life isn’t getting put out to
pasture though, with 300 hours of standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5
hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. GPS is also a
go. Apple is using A-GPS, which supplements regular satellite GPS data
with info from cellular towers for faster location. (WiFi data is also
worked into the mix, which should give users a pretty solid lock on
where the heck they are on this planet.) Unfortunately, as expected
there’s no front-facing cam, and while its edges are thinner than
before it’s still about a millimeter thicker at the center (12.3mm over
11.6mm before). Apple hopes to launch in 70 countries this year, with
the black 8GB going for $199 and 16GB for $299 in black or white. (Both
price points require a contract, of course.) Apple will be hitting the 22 biggest markets, including the US, on July 11th. More info after the break.

Update:
Just bought an iPhone? Listen up: “Customers who purchased a 2.5G
iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it out for a new iPhone will
be able to do so without incurring an additional handset charge for the
new device. They will of course need to turn in their 2.5G iPhone.” And
for the rest of you, AT&T says there’s no way to buy it without
agreeing to a contract. So sorry. More details here.

We’ve got our hands-on impressions right here.

Get the full roundup of iPhone 3G coverage here!

Other tidbits:

• It’s a teensy bit thicker. 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.48 inches (115.5 by 62.1 by 12.3 mm), and weighs 4.7 ounces (133 grams).
• Radios galore: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), UMTS / HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz), GSM / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• A SIM ejector comes in the box, at last. That would be a paper clip.
• There’s no dock included, just a USB power adapter and dock connector.
• On AT&T unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, on top of voice plans starting at $39.99 a month. Unlimited 3G data for business users will be $45 a month, on top of voice. There’s a minimum two-year agreement, but we’re not positive what that’ll look like for those currently enslaved to an AT&T contract — you could be looking at a solid four years of time if you just took the plunge.
• Apple’s new MobileMe service will be coming with the iPhone 2.0 software, bringing push email and contacts for all.
• Apple’s official page is here, and you can watch the new ad here.
• Available on July 11th in: Australia, Austria, Belgium (French), Belgium (Dutch), Canada (English), Canada (French), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (French), Switzerland (German), UK, USA
• The rest of these are slated to get the phone this year: Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, C. African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macau, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Qatar, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay.
• On the chatting front, developers will be able to ping a centralized push server with their apps, to keep down battery usage and app overload on phones.
• No mention has been made of MMS, video recording or built-in iChat. What gives, Apple?
• Yes, it’s in the FCC.

-Engadget