Acer, Asus and Lenovo will reportedly begin selling ultrabooks equipped with Intel’s fast and versatile Thunderbolt I/O port, which combines DisplayPort and PCI Express, during the second quarter of 2012. DigiTimes said mostly high-end computers will adopt Thunderbolt this year since it now costs more than $20 to add Thunderbolt connectivity to a computer. Apple was one of the first companies to adopt Thunderbolt and it currently equips a number of its computers and displays with the technology. A recent patent filing also suggested Apple may begin using Thunderbolt in iOS devices, too.

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Amazon’s Silk Web browser has received mixed reviews from the media and from consumers. In our review of the Amazon Kindle Fire, we noted that loading Web pages in the cloud-assisted browser on the tablet seemed to stall at first but once content finally began downloading, it indeed seemed to move very quickly. Other reviews found Silk to be much slower than other comparable browsers, however. Curious Android device owners who aren’t among the millions who purchased the Kindle Fire ahead of the holidays can now install Amazon’s Silk browser on a variety of rooted handsets and tablets thanks to the work of an xda-developers forum member. Results are mixed so far, and the port will not work on the Galaxy Nexus, among other handsets. Many users have successfully installed the browser on a variety of devices including the Motorola ATRIX and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, however.

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A group of iOS hackers have managed to successfully port Apple’s virtual assistant software Siri to the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch, and the software needed to perform the port is now available to the public. Tech blog InTech-BB posted the necessary links on Sunday along with a how-to guide, and a number of users have reported successfully installing Siri on their devices using the tools and steps provided within the guide. Several users note problems with their cameras after installing the ported Siri software, but a fix is apparently now available. IPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch owners who understand the risks involved with jailbreaking and installing unauthorized software can follow the read link below for a step-by-step tutorial along with a video of Siri in action on an iPhone 4.

[Via The Tech Erra]

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Sprint will end its current port credit promotion more than a month and a half ahead of schedule. This past May, Sprint kicked off a promotion that offered up to $125 per line for new subscribers who ported their service in from another carrier. Customers purchasing a feature phone and porting in a number receive $50 per line as part of the promotion, and new customers purchasing a smartphone, netbook, notebook, tablet or mobile broadbrand device and porting in a number receive a $125 service credit per line. This enticing promotion was scheduled to run from May 4th through October 1st of this year, however BGR has learned from a reliable source that Sprint is ending the promotion early. Tomorrow, in fact. Interestingly, Sprint retail locations will no longer offer or advertise the promotion, but they will continue to honor it through the original end date. In the event that a new customer already knows about the promo — and only in that event, we’re told — Sprint will honor the deal and dole out the associated credits. With that in mind, those looking to move over to Sprint for one of its great new phones like the Motorola PHOTON 4G should be sure to mention the promotion when making a purchase at a Sprint retail location, as the promo will no longer be offered up willingly starting tomorrow.

Apple has reportedly scheduled overnights for Tuesday night in preparation for the OS X Lion launch. According to 9to5 Mac, Apple Store outlets are already equipped with hard drives to quickly install Lion on the show floor computers, and the stores have been sent new posters to outfit the walls with advertisements for the new operating system. Apple is also expected to refresh the MacBook Air in the imminent future. We’re expecting the new notebooks to pack the Thunderbolt I/O port in place of DisplayPort, Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors, and a backlit keyboard.

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Programmer Andrew Russell is working on a project that will undoubtedly pique the interest of game developers around the world. Dubbed ExEn, Russell’s open source software allows devs to port XNA games to iOS, Silverlight and in the near future, Android and OS X as well. In practical terms, this software gives developers a much easier way to take games they have built for Xbox 360, Windows or Windows Phone 7 using Microsoft’s XNA framework and port them to the iPhone or iPad, the Web (Silverlight), and soon to Android devices and Mac OS Xl. Russell’s project is community funded and a public preview for developers who made donations was just released on Wednesday.

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Looking to scoop up one of Apple’s ultra-light notebook offerings? You may want to hold on to your wallet for a few more weeks. According to the latest report, Apple is preparing to update the notebook line in the not-too-distant future. “The Taiwan-based supply chain for Apple products will begin shipments of new 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models featuring Sandy Bridge platform and Thunderbolt interface in late May for launch in June or July,” reads a report filed by DigiTimes. The article goes on to note that the updated Air will be assembled by Quanta Computer, with Catcher Technology, Auras Technology, Shin Zu Shing, Simplo Technology, and Dynapack all supplying components. The report echos earlier prognostications made by Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The current iterations of the MacBook Air were first revealed in October of 2010, just 7-months ago.

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Intel gathered by blog Android Central indicates that Sprint and Google will make their Google Voice partnership ready for prime time on April 26th. The venture, which was announced last month, will allow Sprint customers to seamlessly integrate their current wireless number with Google’s Voice service. Calls and texts sent from your mobile device will be logged by Google Voice’s online system, and calls can be made from the browser using the service’s VoIP feature. International calls made from linked mobile devices will automatically route through Google Voice — which offers deep discounting on international voice traffic. The feature has been available in beta for the last few weeks, but it looks like the two companies are finally ready to let everyone in on the fun.

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The news we reported exclusively many months ago has just been officially confirmed by RIM — the company will indeed support Google Android apps on its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and on new QNX-based BlackBerry smartphones moving forward. RIM is also offering a suite of tools for Android developers that will allow them to easily port their existing apps to the PlayBook for distribution through BlackBerry App World. RIM’s full press release is after the jump.

RIM Expands Application Ecosystem for BlackBerry PlayBook

·         BlackBerry PlayBook to support BlackBerry Java and Android apps

·         Native C/C++ development support added, in addition to HTML5, Flash and AIR support

·         Support from leading game engines: Ideaworks Labs (AirPlay) and Unity Technologies (Unity 3)

·         BlackBerry PlayBook becomes a new market opportunity for all the developers who have already created over 25,000 BlackBerry Java apps and more than 200,000 Android apps

Waterloo, ON – Developers wanting to bring their new and existing apps to the highly anticipated BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet will soon have additional tools and options to enhance and expand their commercial opportunities. Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to greatly expand the application ecosystem for the BlackBerry PlayBook. The BlackBerry PlayBook is scheduled to launch in the U.S. and Canada on April 19.

RIM will launch two optional “app players” that provide an application run-time environment for BlackBerry Java® apps and Android v2.3 apps. These new app players will allow users to download BlackBerry Java apps and Android apps from BlackBerry App World and run them on their BlackBerry PlayBook.

In addition, RIM will shortly release the native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook enabling C/C++ application development on the BlackBerry® Tablet OS. For game-specific developers, RIM is also announcing that it has gained support from two leading game development tooling companies, allowing developers to use the cross-platform game engines from Ideaworks Labs and Unity Technologies to bring their games to the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Support for BlackBerry Java and Android Apps

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The upcoming addition of BlackBerry Java and Android apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook on BlackBerry App World will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform.”

Developers currently building for the BlackBerry or Android platforms will be able to quickly and easily port their apps to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS thanks to a high degree of API compatibility.  The new optional app players will be available for download from BlackBerry App World and will be placed in a secure “sandbox” on the BlackBerry PlayBook where the BlackBerry Java or Android apps can be run.

Developers will simply repackage, code sign and submit their BlackBerry Java and Android apps to BlackBerry App World. Once approved, the apps will be distributed through BlackBerry App World, providing a new opportunity for many developers to reach BlackBerry PlayBook users.  Users will be able to download both the app players and the BlackBerry Java and Android apps from BlackBerry App World.

The BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Tablet OS are built on the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture with a 1GHz dual core processor and a leading OpenGL solution, which allows RIM to make this incredibly broad platform support possible.

BlackBerry PlayBook users and developers who are interested in seeing the new app players for BlackBerry Java and Android apps can see demos at BlackBerry World in Orlando, Florida (May 3 to 5, 2011) (www.blackberryworld.com).

BlackBerry Tablet OS Development Tools

The BlackBerry Tablet OS already supports an incredibly robust platform with support for Web development standard HTML5, through the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK for Tablet OS, and Adobe® AIR®, through the BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK for Adobe AIR. The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built from the ground up to run WebKit and Adobe® Flash® as well, giving developers a fast and true Web experience to leverage.

RIM is also announcing today that the BlackBerry Tablet OS Native Development Kit (NDK), which is currently in limited alpha release, will go into open Beta by this summer and be demonstrated at BlackBerry World. The BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK will allow developers to build high-performance, multi-threaded, native C/C++ applications with industry standard GNU toolchains. Developers can create advanced 2D and 3D applications and special effects by leveraging programmable shaders available in hardware-accelerated OpenGL ES 2.0.

Other features of the BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK will allow developers to:

• Take advantage of the QNX POSIX library support and C/C++ compliance for quick and easy application porting and for creating native extensions for both BlackBerry and Android applications
• Easily integrate device events like gesture swipes and touch screen inputs
• Integrate the BlackBerry Tablet OS environment into existing code management and build systems using industry standard Eclipse CDT (C/C++ Development Tools)
• Leverage work done in standard C/C++ to make it easier to bring applications to the BlackBerry Tablet OS
• Find and fix bugs quickly with provided debug and analysis tools

“The response to the BlackBerry PlayBook from the developer community has been exceptional. Our commitment to supporting HTML5 and Adobe AIR development has resonated and spurred developers to create fun and innovative applications for BlackBerry PlayBook users,” said David Yach, Chief Technology Officer, Software at Research In Motion. “The upcoming BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK beta will add C/C++ tools to our repertoire and gives developers one of the broadest and deepest platforms to develop on.”

Gaming Engines

Building on the power of the BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK, RIM is working with leading gaming and application development technology providers such as Ideaworks Labs and Unity Technologies to implement their native engines and application development platforms. Developers will be able to take advantage of these engines when building games and other applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The Ideaworks Labs Airplay SDK is expected to include support for the BlackBerry Tablet OS soon, making it easy for publishers and developers to use their existing code to bring their games and apps to the BlackBerry PlayBook.

“Supporting a new OS can be a challenge for developers,” says Alex Caccia, President of Ideaworks Labs, “however, integration of the BlackBerry Tablet OS with the Airplay SDK makes this a non-issue. We think this is a far-sighted move by RIM: the BlackBerry PlayBook is a great device for games and applications, and combining this with content distribution via BlackBerry App World brings an exciting new ecosystem for developers.”

RIM has also been working closely with Unity Technologies, providers of the highly popular, multi-platform Unity development platform and Union, the firm’s games distribution service.  Through Union, dozens of high-quality Unity-authored games are slated to make their way to BlackBerry App World for the BlackBerry Playbook.

“With a sharp focus on the multimedia experience, very powerful hardware, and fantastic games in the pipeline, the BlackBerry Playbook has all the right ingredients to be a mainstream hit,” said Brett Seyler, GM of Union at Unity Technologies. “Through Union, Unity developers have an opportunity to reach a new audience and grow with another great new platform.”

Availability

The new app players for the BlackBerry PlayBook are expected to be available from BlackBerry App World this summer. More information and demonstrations of the new app players will be shared at BlackBerry World. The BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK will be available in beta later this year and will also be showcased at BlackBerry World.

U.S. wireless carrier Sprint has launched a new promotion that aims to ease the financial pain of cellular defectors. Through April 16th, the company will offer a $125 service credit to users that port their number to Sprint from another carrier and sign a two-year smartphone contract. If a smartphone is not in your future, Sprint will offer a $50 service credit to those users porting to a non-smartphone plan. After moving your number over, apply for the credit, and 60 days later an service credit will appear on your wireless statement. The offer is available to those that migrate a line of service from another carrier via Sprint’s online store, phone sales team, or retail locations.

[Via Engadget]

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Now that Google has finally brought incoming number portability to its Google Voice service, we wanted to ask: how many of you have taken advantage of the new feature? It’s a difficult call to make and many people have reached out to us to ask us what our thoughts on it. Since you’re porting your existing number, you’ll need a new number for your actual cell phone and that’s where things can get tricky for some people. Also, many people have early termination fees to consider, so that adds another roadblock. So, what’s the verdict? How many of you taken the plunge, and if so, are you happy that your number is now able to be used on a variety of phones on practically any carrier and that you can control who calls you and where?

Last week we reported that Google had finally begun rolling out support for incoming number ports to its Google Voice service. Lack of the feature, as any Google Voice user will likely attest to, has been a sore spot for Google’s telephony product since the company first acquired GrandCentral in 2007. Today, Google has announced that the new feature is now available to all current Google Voice users. Number portability allows users to transfer their cell phone or landline telephone numbers between service providers. Google Voice has always supported outbound number porting, which allowed users to transfer their Google Voice number to another carrier, but incoming ports had been off limits until recently. Google charges a one-time $20 fee to port a number into Google Voice, and the process takes approximately 24 hours. Hit the break for a video explaining the process.

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If you’re a Google Voice user and you’re not TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington (who was able to port his number into the service a long time ago), odds are pretty good you’ve prayed for incoming number portability at some point. And for years, your prayers have gone unanswered. Well, no more — Google has officially implemented incoming number portability as of Wednesday evening, and it is in the process of being rolled out to all users. Rejoice! To port your number into your Google Voice account, simply click on Settings in the top right corner, and then Voice settings. Now, on the phone tab next to your Google Voice number, click on Change / Port. Now click on “I want to use my existing mobile number instead” and follow the on-screen instructions to port your number. There you go — you now have 867-5309 as your phone number and $20 less in your pocket.

If we had to choose one phone to represent Windows Mobile 6.5, it would have to be the HTC HD2. On release, the handset stood a country mile ahead of any other smartphone available on the platform. Unfortunately, soon after its release, Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7 and confirmed there would be no OS upgrade path for Windows 6.5 hardware. This hasn’t stopped eager developers from trying to port the latest OS onto their more than capable hardware, though. Previous attempts have been half-baked, often missing some major functionality. The folks over at XDA China have released pictures and a 2 minute video showing off the latest port. The video shows the phone powering on and booting to the home screen with no hiccups. The UI looks snappy, and we really can’t see much wrong with the port, however the video stops short of showing any functional apps or even making a phone call. HD2 owners will want to keep an eye out for any further developements, in order to get their ticket to the Windows Phone 7 party.

Update: Another video has materialized, showing the HD2 and HD7 running side-by-side and also making functional phone calls–looking good!

Thanks, Angelo

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We can’t even count the number of times we’ve heard someone say, “webOS is great but I wish it was available on some decent hardware.” The PEBL-esque Palm Pre certainly sports a sleek design, but the build leaves much to be desired. When HP acquired the struggling smartphone maker earlier this year, a new hope for solid hardware was born. While Palm’s first post-HP offering won’t be the hardware revamp we’re all waiting for, HP is bound to step up its hardware game next year. WebOS fans might not have to wait that long, however, as several xda-developers forum members have dedicated themselves to a feat that would be nothing short of pure awesomeness — they intend to port webOS to the HTC Hero. The Hero is hardly HTC’s latest and greatest, of course, but in terms of build it’s leaps and bounds beyond the plasticky Palm Pre. We’ll be following the creative xda crew’s progress closely in the coming weeks and months, and we’ve already dusted off our old HTC Hero in anticipation of success.

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