New Desire X joins HTC’s gang of budget Android phones

HTC has announced the Desire X, a new budget Android phone with a 4-inch screen, a dual-core processor and Android 4.0.

HTC hasn’t really entered into the spirit of IFA 2012 so far, with no flashy press conference scheduled and except the rumored announcement of the Flyer 2 tablet, a distinct lack of chatter surrounding potential new devices.

It hasn’t turned up entirely empty handed though, and it has today announced the HTC Desire X, a new entry into its budget Android smartphone line-up.

Despite it hanging around the lower end of HTC’s range, the Desire X has a solid specification, beginning with a 4-inch Super LCD touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution.

Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is the operating system, and as usual, HTC has covered it up with version 4.0 of its Sense user interface. The phone is powered by a dual-core, 1Ghz Snapdragon processor with 768MB of RAM at its disposal, plus the Adreno 203 graphics chip too.

The Snapdragon processor is Qualcomm’s MSM8225, also known as the S4 Play, which differs from the exciting new S4 Pro chips by featuring a pair of ARM Cortex A5 cores instead of Krait cores, and being built using a 45nm process rather than the 28nm process for the S4 Pro.

It’s a little less impressive on the imaging front, as it has a 5-megapixel camera that shoots 480p video, while other features include Beats Audio, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, 4GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot and a 1650mAh battery.

Initially leaked as the HTC Proto, the Desire X sits somewhere between HTC’s entry-level Android smartphone, the Desire C, and the entry-level One series phone, the One V. It also shares a similar specification to the dual-SIM Desire V model announced recently for selected markets.

With the announcement of another budget Desire phone, HTC confirms that the Wildfire name has been retired, although according to TechRadar.com, it could return in the future.

At the moment, the HTC Desire X is headed for European and Asian markets later this month, with no word on pricing or a US release just yet.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Etsy updates its prohibited items list: No more black market organs here

After extensive research of "offbeat and fascinating topics," Etsy has updated its policy to prohibit a slew of products "not in the Etsy spirit."

We weren’t quite aware that Etsy had become the black market of the Internet… so much so that the online shopping site had to update its policy guidelines to prohibit a slew of items formerly available on its marketplace. Last week, Etsy made an announcement via its blog that it will be limiting the types of “offbeat and fascinating” items users can attempt to sell, including human body parts and drug paraphernalia.

The crackdown come after the Etsy team’s extensive research and conclusion that organs, drugs, tobacco, explosives, and motor vehicles just aren’t exactly in the spirit of Etsy. “We want to maintain Etsy as a marketplace that is safe for both shoppers and sellers. In many cases, items on the prohibited list may be subject to complex legal regulations or restrictions that vary greatly by location,” the blog post reads. “While we understand that it is possible for certain items to be carefully and legally bought and sold, Etsy is just not the right venue for them.”

In effect as of August 8th, users will no longer be able to buy or sell hazardous objects, from smokeable products like tobacco alternatives to flammable items such as sparklers and matches. Tobacco-related accessories such as water pipes, bubblers, oil domes, hash skillets, vaporizers, and ash catchers have all also been added to the prohibited items list. Incenses are still fine by Etsy.

What’s even odder in this “Don’t” list is the limit of selling human organs and remains, including “skulls, bones, articulated skeletons, bodily fluids, preserved tissues or organs, and other similar products.” Teeth and hair, however, are perfectly okay even though those are still pretty weird things to buy online. Still, we have to wonder: Who exactly was looking to Etsy for second-hand kidneys? We can sort of understand buying crochet spleens or maybe even a colon plush for the sake of teaching your kids anatomy, but the real deal is just much too creepy.

Shop owners who have been affected by this update will be notified by Etsy directly. The site will ask that the sellers either take down the now-prohibited item or update the listing to make the product compliant with new rules, such as selling tobacco pipes without carburetors. Shoppers who come across stores selling questionable items are also asked to report the listing to Etsy to help the site extensively review its marketplace products.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com