AT&T never explicitly stated that it had the app changed but had implied that some level of change had been necessary. Many observers suspect, however, that the cell service provider had simply been waiting to complete 3G upgrades and has only approved SlingPlayer and other 3G video streaming apps now that it believes its cell sites can handle the load.

Official answers as to the delay have been contradictory. At first, AT&T created a strangely-worded exception to prevent the iPhone from getting the same SlingPlayer support as BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile smartphones, only to admit through documents that it was worried about network congestion as the combination of the iPhone’s popularity and video streaming could bog down 3G quality even further than was already the case.

Sling added that it has already submitted a version of SlingPlayer with 3G restored but that it’s still undergoing the regular App Store submission process.

Apple’s concept would place new buttons in the iPhone dialing screen, giving the option of sending or receiving location info. To protect privacy, both parties in a transfer would have to authorize the process; for convenience’s sake people could be added to a list of “trusted users” who do not need a second approval. Mutually authorized exchanges would trigger a message with the GPS data, sent out over a regular cellular network.

Data could also be sent during SMS conversations, and/or trigger a map with position markers. The latter presumably refers to content in Maps, as it also mentions scaling a map to show the location of both callers, with options to see distance and directions.

Apple originally filed for the patent in August 2008, but the application has only just been published

Design

Even from afar, you can see that the Z600 is a stylish machine. The purple-maroon cover has a soft touch finish, and is set off by angular chrome accents that bracket the battery. While it’s just 0.6 inches thin, it also has a very large footprint at 15.6 x 11.6 inches, similar to the Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T. In some respects, the rear design makes the Z600 reminiscent of a very expensive portfolio; even the power brick has a glossy black finish.

At 5.0 pounds with the extended battery and 4.6 pounds with the regular battery, the Z600 isn’t as light as an ultraportable, but neither is it uncomfortable to carry around. However, its large footprint makes it difficult to fit in smaller messenger bags.

Too bad there’s no latch securing the lid to the deck; holding the notebook upright by the hinge causes the lid to open slightly. The extended battery also wobbled when we held the notebook toward the hinge. We expect a more thoughtful design from something this expensive.

This same soft touch finish covers the keyboard deck, and is bordered by brushed metal. Above the black island-style keyboard are haptic volume controls that light up and buzz gently when pressed. To the right of the keyboard is a fingerprint reader, and to the right of the touchpad is a Smart Card reader.

Touching the right edge of the bezel activates one of the unique features of the Z600, Dell EdgeTouch. A small rectangle brings up five icons along the right edge: audio controls, business card capture software, Dell ControlPoint, Dell FaceAware utility, and Internet Explorer. Pressing the bezel adjacent to an icon launches it. You can also modify what app icons appear. It’s a clever way to quickly access often-used apps and utilities without the need for a touchscreen (though for this price we might expect one).

Heat

Being as thin as it is, there’s not much room on the inside of the Z600 to dissipate heat. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 96 degrees, and the middle of the bottom was a scorching 116 degrees. We consider anything above 100 degrees to be unacceptable.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Typing on the Z600 was a pleasure; the black glossy keys were well spaced and had excellent response. It was also easy to type in the dark, as the letters and numbers on the keys lit up when we pressed them. Using the Dell ControlPoint utility, you can also control when the backlight comes on, how bright it gets, and for how long. Our only nitpick is that the keys picked up fingerprint smudges.

The touchpad on the Z600 is quite large at 3.6 x 2.0 inches, and its matte surface had very low friction. Just be careful when you’re typing; more than once our thumb brushed up against it and moved the cursor to a different place in the document. The mouse buttons below are also brushed metal, and blend nicely with the border. They, too, were snappy without being stiff.

Detailed specs are unclear, although the phone is claimed to offer a 480×272 pixel display and HDMI output. If true, the display resolution would match Microsoft’s Zune HD media player which is also based on Tegra components. Weight is listed as 70g, which is 4g lighter than the Zune HD and almost half the weight of an iPhone.

A recent analyst report suggested a “Zune-like phone” is on its way, with a launch set for MWC or the CTIA spring event in March. Microsoft’s direct involvement in launching a device, however, would appear to run counter to the company’s previous strategy of unbiased marketing with its various hardware partners.

The patent was filed in the summer of 2009, but only just published today by the US Patent Office. It’s maybe not the most surprising news in the world, given that the iPhone 3GS is already equipped with the technology. There really hasn’t been a good reason for the Touch not to have a camera, other than Steve Jobs dithering about how people just don’t want one. That’s always seemed like poppycock, and I’m glad it looks like Apple’s started to agree.

Separately, Apple also filed a patent for LED backlighting, which makes sense given that the iPad will come with exactly that. Whether we’ll also be seeing it implemented on the next generation of iPhones and iPod Touches is anyone’s guess.

Apple as part of its iPad introduction revealed its first self-produced processor, the A4. The ARM-based chip is made by the company’s PA Semi team and incorporates a graphics core into the main processor. Most details are still unclear, but it runs at 1GHz and is particularly power-efficient: Apple estimates 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing or video and a full month of standby.

3G battery life is unknown but should be shorter. It’s similarly unclear how the processor compares to its rivals, like the Qualcomm Snapdragon. Although Qualcomm’s chip is clocked at a similar speed, it’s based on an earlier architecture. Hands-on tests so far suggest it feels noticeably faster than the iPhone 3GS.

The company hasn’t said who assembles the A4, though Samsung has usually manufactured the processor. Apple is likely to use the A4 or a variant of it in future handhelds, including the iPhone and iPod.

When we reviewed the Dell Studio 17 with Intel’s Core i7 processor (aka Dell Studio 1747) in November, we gave the notebook a 4-star rating due to its blazing performance and relatively affordable price. However, we noted two major problems we experienced with our review unit. First, the initial system we received stopped booting (and made several beeping noises) just after testing had been completed and, second, we noticed that the exterior of the chassis got hot, with the underside of the system registering a troubling 112-degrees Fahrenheit after just 15 minutes of playing a Hulu video.

We returned the first unit to Dell, which repaired it and sent it back to us a couple of days later, saying that the first issue we encountered was an isolated incident. The repaired unit worked, but we did experience experience a couple of mysterious blue screen crashes the first time we tried to play Hulu videos on it, though these seemed to disappear on subsequent tests. After we informed Dell about the uncomfortably hot temperatures, they sent us a second review unit to test. This second unit  did not break or crash, but was just as hot as the original.

Readers Respond

Without having tested an entire assembly line of Dell Studio 17s with Core i7, it was impossible for us to tell if the one defective review unit we received was a fluke or a harbinger of trouble. However, after the product began shipping, we began receiving negative reports from many users, claiming that their Dell Studio 1747s (with Core i7) had died after a few days or hours of use.

A number of users also posted on forums that their Dell Studio 1747s slowed down after intense use. For example, a French-speaking user posted this experiment, which claims that after running two CPU-intensive programs, Prime 95 and Furmark, the CPU speed dropped from 1.6 to 1.06-GHz. Notebookcheck.com, a professional review site, did not see a clock speed drop but did see their test notebook’s 3DMark06 scores drop significantly after 12 hours of intense use. We did not test our review unit for performance throttling before we had to return it to Dell.

Dell’s BIOS Update

Recently, Dell  issued a BIOS update that fixes what they call the “7 beeps problem,” the same issue that bricked our first review unit. Dell advises that, if you own a Dell Studio 1747 that is working properly, you should install the BIOS update to insure you never get the 7 beeps problem. If your Dell Studio 1747 has already stopped booting, you can call Dell support or try re-seating the CMOS battery to bring the system back to life.

Whether the new BIOS update (termed the A04 BIOS) makes the system cooler or resolves its alleged performance issues remains to be seen. If you have a Dell Studio 1747, please let us know if the BIOS update has improved your system by posting in the comments below.

Own another Dell notebook or netbook? Sound off here on what you think of the brand.

The player is still fully capable of all modern Blu-ray features and carries both an Ethernet jack and 1GB of internal memory to support BD-Live. It can still play Blu-ray movies at 24p without pull-down conversion and carries an HDMI 1.3 output with support for 36-bit color on matching TV sets and receivers. Non-disc formats are still an option and range from simple audio and photos to video formats like AVCHD (H.264), whether it’s stored on a disc or on an attached USB drive.

Oppo is already taking orders for the BDP-80 and puts it at a comparatively low $289 versus a much higher $499 for the older BDP-83.