GADGET UPDATE powered by Stuff: Samsung, Dell, Aston Martin and more

Aston Martin and Mobiado team up to make luxury phones

It seems the world has gone luxury-handset mad. After recent unveilings of the Aesir YvesBehar and Ulysse Nardin Chairman, Aston Martin has announced a partnership with Mobiado to launch a range of super-expensive mobiles.

There are no details about the phones, other than a launch date of May 2011. But the press release shows a pair of Mobiado 105GMT handsets, which feature a pair of automatic mechanical watch movements for displaying two timezones.

Dell Streak 7 hands-on

So far, so tablet. Dell's seven-incher is around the same size as a Samsung Galaxy Tab but feels more pocketable thanks to the tapered edges it's borrowed off it's (now) little brother, the 5in Dell Streak. Read more...

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Update starts rolling

Hear that? That’s the mocking laughter of iPhones and Android devices dying out after hearing that the new Windows Phone 7 handset update is (finally) bringing copy and paste as well as a whole host of other tweaks and speed improvements to devices.

Don’t get too excited though as the updates will be staggered, depending on location, carrier and device and it’s too early to give any solid details yet. Head on over to Microsoft’s official page for full details, including all the shiny new improvements.

Samsung: no decent glasses-free 3DTV for 10 years

If you were planning on enjoying 3D without the pesky glasses anytime soon, then try not to let Samsung’s realism (pessimism?) put you off.

The Korean giant reckons decent glasses-free sets will be unlikely to become a possibility in the next 10 years, even though rival Toshiba is planning to unleash them this year.

The company says five years of research is needed to sort out the viewing angle problems associated with such screens. We'd probably take the compromise in the interim, Sammy. Now get back to work.

Google Chrome OS Cr-48 unboxed

Here it is – the stealthy matt black cloud-surfing laptop you’ve been waiting for. If Gotham chic isn’t your thing, the Big G’s thrown in a few colourful decals to pimp it up a bit. Read more...

Samsung squeezes the skinny Galaxy Tab 8.9 into its tablet line-up

Samsung has unveiled a pair of new tablets in the hope of taking some of the wind out of Apple’s iPad 2 sails (and sales). Oddly, it’s updated the Galaxy Tab 10.1 – launched last month and as yet unreleased – to superfast 21Mbps HSPA + and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, while trimming its girth down to an 8.6mm, 595g slither. The fatter, 10.9mm, Galaxy Tab 10.1 will also be available. Read more...

MacBook Pro 2011 15in and 17in models shunning hard work?

Apple’s new MacBooks – specifically the 15in and 17in models – are freezing up under duress. That’s the message from Apple Support forums. Or rather the growing stack of messages complaining that the machines crumple when faced with big jobs like video encoding. Fingers are being pointed at the new AMD graphics, thanks to a home-grown fix that eliminates the problem by switching to integrated graphics at the cost of performance. We had no such problems when we tested the 2011 13in MacBook Pro recently. Here’s hoping the issue can be fixed permanently with a download rather than a refurb.