Cyanogen 5.0.7 experimentally brings Eclair to G1, myTouch 3G -- caveats apply

Engadget Cyanogen 5.0.7 experimentally br1ngs Eclair to G1, myTouch 3G -- caveats apply April 30, 2010 at 12:12 AM After a brief delay, looks lik3 CyanogenMod 5 is now out for the HTC Dream, Magic and Sapphire, also known as the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G. The release is labeled fgffdfg as experimental, so take care not to flash it onto your work phone, and G1 owners should back up up their data as they'll need to install a little something called the DangerSPL and perform a full wipe. If you're the kind of individual who doesn't shy away from software explicitly labeled "danger," get cracking on that rooted Eclair at the source link. Update: Can't get through? That's because the sheer willpower of Android early adopters is crushing websites hosting the CM5 ROM like so many stale pretzels. Cyanogen is retweeting alternative options if you simply can't wait for things to quiet down. Cyanogen 5.0.7 experimentally brings Eclair to G1, myTouch 3G -- caveats apply originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | XDA-developers, @cyanogen (Twitter) | Email this | Comments Keepin' it real fak3: MacBook Pro knockoff rocks Ion 2, thinks itself fly April 29, 2010 at 11:24 PM We've stumbled across number of MacBook Air KIRFs, < > but it's not often we see a worthy representation of Cupertino's heftier model. Never underestimate Shenzhen. This "Dragonfly QT Pro" not only features a familiar aluminum alloy shell, the 14-inch, 1366 x 768 netbook's also got Ion 2 switchable graphics ahead of its Acer and ASUS cousins. A 1.66GHz Atom D410 and 1GB of memory help pump out 1080p video while keeping case temperatures at a lap-happy 36 degrees Celsius, while a 160GB hard drive, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and HDMI (take that, Mini DisplayPort) round out a 4.2 pound, roughly $30! 00 RMB (about $440) package. Shame it only gets 2 hours of battery life, eh? Keepin' it real fake: MacBook Pro knockoff rocks Ion 2, thinks itself fly originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink M.I.C. Gadget | Shanzaiben | Email this | Comments Crapgadget: countdown to extinction, home edition April 29, 2010 at 10:04 PM Feast your eyes upon the bloated list of horrific wares we've dug up from the dregs of the 'net for you this fine, delicious afternoon. Most of these "gadgets" are of the home-making variety, so will you waste your money on the R2-D2 vacuum, telling yourself that it'll motivate you to do that spring cleaning before fall arrives? Or will you lay down a bit of cash for the "toilet sound blocker" which spares you the intense, buzz-killing embarrassment of allowing other people in the vicinity to hear you flushing the toilet? Will you instead reach into your wallet to make the USB seat cooler your own (you know, since seats are so very hot)? No? Well, there's some other, even less interesting crap available too. Enjoy. Oh, and be sure to check out the Chicken Burger USB hub. It's the breast. Read - R2-D2 vacuum Read - Toilet Sound Blocker Read - USB seat cooler Read - Soccer ball headphones Read - Windshield mount Read - Chicken Burger USB hub Crapgadget: countdown to extinction, home edition originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Steam for Mac opens a portal to May 12, steps through April 29, 2010 at 9:20 PM Valve promised that Steam on Mac would arrive in April. As you're no doubt aware, April is nearly over. Does that make Steam... vaporware? Not quite. Put away the Caruso sunglasses for two more weeks, because our friends at Joystiq just received a one-line email reading: "Valve today announced the public release of Steam for the Mac is May 12. Please stay tuned for more information." Oh well -- at least you're not waiting for Steam on Linux, and you can always stock up on Razer peripherals while you endure the delay. Steam for Mac opens a portal to May 12, ste! ps through originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Joystiq | Email this | Comments Volkswagen rolls out foldable 'Bik.e' electric bicycle concept April 29, 2010 at 8:51 PM Well, it looks like it's the season for automakers to show off electric bicycle concepts, with Volkswagen now following Lexus' lead with its own "Bik.e" concept. Unlike Lexus' hybrid concept, this one is a full-fledged electric bicycle (sans pedals), and it boasts a few innovations of its own, not the least of which is that it's able to fold up and fit where you'd normally store a spare tire. It's also apparently able to be charged using your car's DC current in a pinch in addition to a standard AC outlet at home, and it promises to deliver a range of 20 kilometers on a full charge, along with a top speed of 20 kilometers per hour. What's more, it seems like Volkswagen is actually looking at commercial possibilities for the Bik.e, although it's not making any firm commitments just yet. Head on past the break for a quick look at the bike in action, and some dancing. Continue reading Volkswagen rolls out foldable 'Bik.e' electric bicycle concept Volkswagen rolls out foldable 'Bik.e' electric bicycle concept originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Autoblog Green | Email this | Comments Audiophilleo 1 USB audio to S/PDIF converter is really high-end, really expensive April 29, 2010 at 7:45 PM We don't see too many USB-to-S/PDIF converters 'round these parts. Really, who but the most insane audiophile (the type who thinks they can discern frequencies well outside the human range) actually needs one -- especially when they can cost as much as a new laptop? But then again, insane audiophiles (as well as, quite frankly, the plain ol' insane) do read this space, so we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that an outfit called Audiophilleo has put together something called, oddly enough, the Audiophilleo 1 Advanced USB to S/PDIF Transport. Even gadget blog editors who still listen to their old Big Audio Dynamite cassettes can appreciate something as feature-packed as this: not only does it handle up to 192KHz / 24bit audio (with drivers for Windows, OS X, and Linux), but the manufacturer developed its own USB firmware and output stage hardware (in this instance, it! looks like "off the shelf" just didn't cut it). This thing even has a JitterSimulator, so you can, you know, make sure Jitter is being eliminated. Or simulated. Or something. Sounds awesome, right? Is it $900 of awesome? We'll let you decide that for yourself. Audiophilleo 1 USB audio to S/PDIF converter is really high-end, really expensive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Audiop hilleo | Email this | Comments ASUS Eee PC 1218 trades veil of secrecy for popular design award April 29, 2010 at 6:58 PM Well, will you look at that. In its haste to proclaim itself winner of a 2010 Red Dot design award, ASUS has inadvertently or perhaps intentionally announced the brand-new netbook that received it -- the Eee PC 1218. She's a beaut, too, with a slim, one-piece aluminum shell that evokes the MacBook Air but still packs a substantial number of expansion ports. There aren't any hard specs quite yet, but the above shot shows it'll come with a webcam and chiclet keyboard, and in a second pic after the break we can make out three USB sockets, Ethernet, VGA, a pair of 3.5mm audio jacks and an HDMI port -- the last of which possibly suggests a dedicated GPU (here's hoping an Ion 2) for HD video playback. Oh, and lest we forget, ASUS says it's also got a soft-touch plastic underside, for all you coffee-swilling, netbook-sling! ing butterfingers out there. No word on pricing or availability. Continue reading ASUS Eee PC 1218 trades veil of secrecy for popular design award ASUS Eee PC 1218 trades veil of secrecy for popular design award originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Ubergizmo | ASUS Design, ASUSTeK | Email this | Comments The Engadget Podcast, live at 5:45PM EST! April 29, 2010 at 6:24 PM It's been an incredible week in news, and we're getting ready to break it all down, podcast-style. Won't you join us? We'll be live at 5:45PM EST, but the chat below is open, so settle in and get comfy! P.S.- And hey, don't forget that Ustream has Android and iPhone apps if you're out and about and can't join in on the Flash-based fun below. Is that deeply ironic today? Yes, it is. Continue reading The Engadget Podcast, live at 5:45PM EST! The Engadget Podcast, live at 5:45PM EST! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalin! k | | Email this | Comments Canon AE-1 Program SLR gets a digital retrofit April 29, 2010 at 6:16 PM A classic SLR film camera gutted and given a digital upgrade -- blasphemy? Maybe, but there's no denying that this mod by Diego Monge is plenty impressive. He started out with a Canon AE-1 Program SLR, and apparently simply stuffed the guts of a compact digital camera of some sort inside, resulting in what he calls the AE-1 Program Digital -- a 9-megapixel camera complete with image stabilization, a functional flash, and 4GB of memory (non-removable, it seems). Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any details on the build process, let alone a how-to, but you can at least get a glimpse of it in action in the video after the break. Continue reading Canon AE-1 Program SLR gets a digital retrofit Canon AE-1 Program SLR gets a digital retrofit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Unplggd! | Email this | Comments Microsoft confirms, kills Courier in one fell swoop April 29, 2010 at 5:44 PM Well this is depressing. Word has just gone fluttering out of Redmond that work on the Courier project -- a heretofore rumored dual-screen tablet which rightfully set the tech world ablaze -- has been spun down by the company. Here's the official line from Frank Shaw, Microsoft's VP of corporate communications: At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, and incubated. It's in Microsoft's DNA to continually develop and incubate new technologies to foster productivity and creativity. The "Courier" project is an example of this type of effort and its technologies will be evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time. All very sad, of course. So how did we get here? And was this thing ever really real to begin with? After all, it's hard to kill something that never lived. Well here's the deal, according to a source familiar with the situation: the Courier did indeed start life as a potential new product category for the company, one which was being incubated internally with very real plans for a marketable device. It seems, however, that things just didn't manage to take shape, and word was handed down very recently that the incubation period had reached its conclusion -- sans product -- and resources would be directed elsewhere. Now, that doesn't mean that we won't see some of this technology turn up in other products which Microsoft has in the pipeline (the company does keep quite a few balls in the air), but it does mean that those rendered videos of the Courier in action will remain, unfortunately, renders. As far as the Engadget team is concerned, there isn't a dry eye i! n the house right now -- but the Courier will always remain in our hearts as one of the finest unicorns that ever unicorned across our screens. Microsoft confirms, kills Courier in one fell swoop originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Google, Sony, Intel & Logitech's TV project to be unveiled next month as Dragonpoint? April 29, 2010 at 5:32 PM The conclusion to the sudden flurry of rumors around Sony HDTVs featuring Android, Intel Atom processors and Logitech-designed QWERTY remotes may be near, as Bloomberg Businessweek reports the project will be revealed during Google I/O next month. The latest wrinkle for the supposed product is a name, "Dragonpoint," for the new flavor of Android destined to operate on displays, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. It's obvious that Google wants search in the living room, Sony needs something to overcome the app (Samsung is back on the list of possible partners) and widget powered competition, and Intel needs a home for its CE4100 chips to show off their power outside of a demonstration for once, but we'll have to wait and see what they've cooked up to know if we need any of that in our next HDTV. Google, Sony, Intel & Logitech's TV project to be unveiled next month as Dragonpoint? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Gizmodo | Businessweek | Email this | Comments Adobe's CEO: Jobs' Flash letter is a 'smokescreen' for 'cumbersome' restrictions April 29, 2010 at 5:11 PM There's no official transcript yet, but the Wall Street Journal just live-blogged an interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, in which he responded to the Steve Jobs "Thoughts on Flash" letter posted this morning. Substantively, Narayen didn't offer much we haven't heard Adobe say before, but his frustration with Apple is palpable even in summary form: he called Jobs' points a "smokescreen," said Flash is an "open specification," and further said Apple's restrictions are "cumbersome" to developers and have "nothing to do with technology." What's more, he also said Jobs' claims about Flash affecting battery life are "patently false," and suggested that any Flash-related crashes on OS X have more to do with Apple's operating system than Adobe's software. Perhaps most importantly, Narayen reiterated that Adobe is fundamentally about making it easier for devs to write multiplatform tools -- a stance Jobs specifically took issue with in his letter, saying multiplatform tools led to bad user experiences. Apple and Adobe and the rest of us can argue about battery life and performance all night, but that's clearly the central philosophical difference between these two companies, and we doubt it's ever going to change. That is, unless Adobe absolutely kills it with Flash 10.1 on Android 2.2 -- and given our experiences with Flash on smartphones and netbooks thus far, we'll be honest when we say that's going to be a major challenge. We'll link over to the full transcript when it goes up, but for now, hit the source link for the liveblog. Adobe's CEO: Jobs' Flash letter is a 'smokescreen' for 'cumbersome' restrictions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments Engadget app update: iPhone app passes the 1m download mark, Android and webOS get an update! April 29, 2010 at 5:00 PM Hey cats and kittens, here's an exciting little piece of news we wanted to share with you. Thanks to the love and support of our readers, our iPhone app has just crossed the million downloads mark in the App Store! That is, of course, just iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users -- we're growing our numbers steadily across BlackBerry, webOS, and Android formats as well. And Speaking of Android, we've got a little update that's available right now in the Market which should fix those nasty force close issues some users were seeing. If you're still having issues, make sure you reach out to us -- we really love the feedback! We've also just issued a webOS update, so look for that on your Pre or Pixi. We have even more stuff in the pipeline as far as apps are concerned, including a major forthcoming iPhone update, as well as updates and tweaks for the other existing apps... and we're at work on a dedicated iPad application as we speak! Yes, exciting times are ahead people, but for now, you can grab our current offerings right here: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad Android webOS BlackBerry Engadget app update: iPhone app passes the 1m download mark, Android and webOS get an update! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Sony taken to court over PS3 'Other OS' removal April 29, 2010 at 4:47 PM Sony forced PS3 owners into a tough decision with the mandatory 3.21 firmware update: either lose online play, or forgo Linux support. On Tuesday, Anthony Ventura chose door number three -- and filed a lawsuit in California, asking the judge for class-action status. The complaint quotes Sony executives on numerous occasions saying how vital and important the "Install Other OS" feature was to the game console (it's a computer, remember?) and claims breach of contract, false advertising, and several other causes of action against the entertainment giant. Sure, a lawsuit was bound to happen, given the number of angry PS3 owners out there, but here's the thing: there's no telling whether the court will grant a class-action certification here, and ! even if the case gets that far it's pretty unlikely to force Sony to turn the feature back on -- instead, customers will probably receive a token amount in damages while the lawyers get their full fees. For example, a rare, successful class-action suit against Palm -- filed in 2004 -- got Treo 600 owners only $27.50 in store credit, five years later. Meanwhile, we hear European PS3 owners just have to ask for their money back -- which, we promise you, is the fastest way to put an end to your Linux-based PS3 nightmares. Either that, or just wait for Geohot to make it all better. Sony taken to court over PS3 'Other OS' r! emoval</ a> originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Kotaku Australia | Case Docket (Internet Archive) | Email this | Comments Poseidon floating power plant features wind turbines, location for Waterworld II April 29, 2010 at 4:25 PM We've seen plenty of attempts to harnass the movement of the sea for power, including underwater turbines and Searaser pumps, but those technologies are sadly unreliable. Denmark's Floating Power Plant has thought of that, however -- ingeniously outfitting its 350-ton Poseidon platform with wind turbines as well as the underwater variety, so it can harvest energy even when the sea is calm. As stability is a major concern, the company took design cues from oil rigs, so this bad boy should hopefully stay right-side-up even in the most perfect of storms. According to Inhabitat, the company is pegging energy costs between 10 and 15 Euro cents per kilowatt hour -- competitive for the continent. This thing is currently stationed off the coast of Lolland i! n Denmark, although with any luck they'll be all over the world soon enough, at which point we will use them as bases from which to launch our futuristic, dystopian undersea armies. Poseidon floating power plant features wind turbines, location for Waterworld II originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Inhabitat | Floating Power Plant | Email this | Comments iPhone covered front to back with camera-related rumors April 29, 2010 at 4:02 PM Well, here's a nice bit of symmetry to emerge from the Apple rumor mill in recent days -- some new purported details on both the rear and front-facing camera on the next-generation iPhone. The first, and more straightforward of the two, comes courtesy of The Chosum Ilbo, which is reporting that the next iPhone will pack a 5-megapixel camera supplied by LG Innotek. Details on it are otherwise pretty light, but the site says that LG has already started producing the "sophisticated cameras" at its plant in Gumi this month, with mass production supposedly set to begin in the second half of this year. The second rumor concerns the iPhone's front-facing camera, and comes after a bit of digging in the latest iPhone 4 SDK beta. According to MacRumors, the SDK not only includes an unfortunate bit of code that suggests video calls will be WiFi-only, but evidence that v! ideo chat will be integrated into Apple's Game Center as well -- exactly how remains unclear, although there's certainly no shortage of possibilities. Dive into the links below for the complete details. iPhone covered front to back with camera-related rumors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink TiPb | The Chosum Ilbo, Mac Rumors | Email this | Comments Ubuntu 10.04 ' Lucid Lynx' arrives on the scene April 29, 2010 at 3:41 PM It's been less than a year since Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" was released, but the next big version of the Linux OS has now already arrived to take its place: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx." In addition to the usual tweaks and fixes, this one promises a boot speed that is "noticeably quicker" on almost any machine (and especially on those with SSDs), along with a range of new features including a social networking-oriented "Me Menu," Ubuntu Software Centre 2.0 for easier access to new software, and a slew of new cloud-based services courtesy of Ubuntu One -- not to mention the Ubuntu One music store. The release also marks the first time that GIMP doesn't come pre-installed (you get F-Spot instead), and it is naturally complemented by Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition, which promises even faster boot speeds and other optimizations. Ready to make the jump? Then you can ! grab the Release Candidate right now at the link below, or you can wait a bit for the final Long-Term Support (LTS) version, which is said to be "just around the corner." Ubuntu 10.04 ' Lucid Lynx' arrives on the scene originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Slashdot | Ubuntu | Email this | Comments HP and Palm: what happens next April 29, 2010 at 3:05 PM HP announcing that it's going to buy Palm in a $1.2b all-cash transaction certainly took everyone by surprise, but in many ways the deal makes perfect sense. HP is a gigantic player in the tech industry but has no appreciable presence in rapidly-growing mobile space, and Palm -- well, you should know how we feel about Palm by now. Even still, we can't say we were expecting this one, and it looks like most of you weren't either -- HP only got two percent of the vote in our "who should buy Palm" poll, while Engadget (that's us!) got... fourteen percent. Oops. But now that we've had a day to wrap our heads around the news and think about what Palm and HP said to us last night and to analysts on the conference call announcing the deal, we think we've got a pretty good set of educated guesses on how things might shake out over the next few months. Read on! Continue reading HP and Palm: what happens next HP and Palm: what happens next originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Pioneer announces CD ripping, Internet radio playing, DLNA sporting iPod docks April 29, 2010 at 2:49 PM Up until this point, when Pioneer and iPhone were uttered in the same sentence (or the same Engadget post) it's been in the guise of some sort of integration with an existing product (such as a car stereo or home theater hardware). This time around, however, the consumer electronics company is debuting a line of a/v docks that, truth be told, don't look nearly as boring as most do to these jaded blogsters. All of the kit included herein feature 2.1 speakers, HDMI, component video, and composite video out, and Bluetooth audio streaming. Of all of these, the HTD Series (XW-NAV1K-K) is the "jack of all trades," featuring a DVD/CD player, FM tuner, USB connectivity for external storage, CD-to-MP3 ripping, and "scaling of DVD video to 1080p near HD resolution" via HDMI. Available in June with an MSRP of $299. For someone with simpler needs (and greater means) the Audition Series (XW-NAS3/-K) "unparalleled reproduction ! of compressed audio files" come April, for an MSRP of $449. Last but not least, the Duo Series systems sport dual docking ports for two different iPods or iPhones and a Double Shuffle feature for continuous playback of music between the two docked players. The XW-NAC1-K ($349) is a more modest device, while the XW-NAC3-K ($449) adds a number of features to the basic dock, including DLNA 1.5 home network support, vTuner Internet Radio, external storage support via USB, and more. Both these bad boys will be available in May. PR after the break. Continue reading Pioneer announces CD ripping, Internet radio playing, DLNA sporting iPod docks Pioneer announces CD ripping, Inter! net radio playing, DLNA sporting iPod docks originally app! eared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview! April 29, 2010 at 2:27 PM We just spent a few minutes playing with the beta version of Skyfire 2.0 for Android that was released today, and we'll just cut to the chase: this is easily the best browser we've used on the platform. Clearly we'll need to spend more time with it to make sure it can handle all the typical sites you'd want to visit while you're on the road -- but loading the desktop version of Engadget is always a great barometer for this sort of thing, and this browser rocked it. Rendering is about as reasonably fast as you can expect it to be, and everything we saw displayed spot-on perfect (save for embedded Flash, of course), but if you're in a situation where you don't need to see the full page or it looks screwy, you can toggle it to send an Android user agent right from the app's toolbar below the URL field. The browser touts compatibility with Flash videos, too, so we headed over to YouTube to try our hand at it; it immediately detected the presence of a video and popped up the so-called "SkyBar" at the bottom of the screen, where you can press the Video button to load the video on a new screen. It doesn't work embedded in the page, but considering how small your phone's screen is, that's really for the best -- you get the full-screen experience, and in our testing, it looked fantastic. One downside is that you don't seem to be able to scrub videos while they're playing, but maybe this is something these guys can get patched up for the final release. Follow the break for our full video! Continue reading Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview! Skyfire 2.0 beta for ! Android video preview! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments At least one lucky fellow's 3G iPad arrives a day early April 29, 2010 at 2:06 PM That's right -- you're probably already aware that tomorrow, April 30th at 5PM marks the beginning of retail availability of the 3G version of Apple's iPad, and a lot of those who pre-ordered can expect to receive theirs in the mail tomorrow too. It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, but at least one guy's happy today -- his iPad 3G arrived already! We're sure we'll be seeing way more of these crop up as the day progresses, but for now, here's to the first! [Thanks, Mike] At least one lucky fellow's 3G iPad arrives a day early originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Motorola posts another tiny quarterly profit, phone division not yet pulling its weight April 29, 2010 at 1:46 PM Moto's earnings for the first quarter came out today, and they pretty much echo what the company managed to do in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- pull a small profit thanks to performance from the Home, Enterprise Mobility, and Network groups in the face of an operating loss from the Mobile Devices (read: phones) division. Unfortunately, all of the numbers are just a little bit worse across the board; Motorola didn't have any Droid-style blockbuster launches or major gift-giving holidays to help it along this quarter, and ended up dropping $192 million in the hole compared to $132 million in the quarter prior. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha still seems upbeat, t! hough -- and he'd better, considering that he'll lead the spun-off phone division after the breakup -- pointing out that shipments actually increased in the quarter with the release of six new handsets. When you throw all the numbers together, the combined company posted $69 million in earnings, down from $142 million in the fourth quarter; hey, that's still better than a loss, especially considering that it's estimating considerably higher earnings in the current quarter. Follow the break for Motorola's release. Continue reading Motorola posts another tiny quarterly profit, phone division not yet pulling its weight ! Motorola posts another tiny quarterly profit, phone division n! ot yet p ulling its weight originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Plantronics Explorer 395 Bluetooth headset review April 29, 2010 at 1:23 PM At Engadget, we're used to playing with premium Bluetooth headsets like the Jabra Stone and Jawbone Icon, so it's only natural this $49.95 Plantronics headset would lower our expectations, but turns out it's not bad for the money. For starters, the actual earpiece looks much better than the renders we saw, with a retro look that we quite liked. We're also promised easy operation with few buttons -- the silver paddle-like button (with LEDs underneath) for phone calls and Bluetooth pairing; the black volume button on one side with five incremental volume steps; and the ridged power slide switch on the other side. You'll find a micro-USB port at the end of the silver button, followed by the ear plug underneath and the mic on the other end. Enough with the list of features -- read on to find o! ut how well this headset performs. Gallery: Plantronics Explorer 395 Bluetooth headset review Continue reading Plantronics Explorer 395 Bluetooth headset review Plantronics Explorer 395 Bluetooth headset review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Skyfire 2.0 now ready to set Android ablaze April 29, 2010 at 1:00 PM We've been seeing mobile browsers steadily raising their game lately, so it was inevitable that Skyfire would look to shock and awe us with its first release for the Android platform. Version 2.0 introduces a brand new SkyBar -- which ironically sits at the bottom of the screen -- providing users with a trifecta of new features. Firstly, the Video link serves as a workaround for those pesky "your phone ain't got no Flash" missives by doing server-side conversions of Flash video into universally comprehensible formats like HTML5. If implemented well, this should be a major coup for the company, particularly in light of a potential i! Phone release as well. There's also a streamlined sharing feature for social networks, and an Explore function that suggests internet content on the basis of what's currently on display. We'll be testing out the usefulness of these shortly -- for now, hit the source link to get your own Skyfire going. Gallery: Skyfire 2.0 now ready to set Android ablaze Continue reading Skyfire 2.0 now ready to set Android ablaze Skyfire 2.0 now ready to set Android ablaze originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Skyfire | Email this | ! Comments SmartQ R7 e-reader boasts 3G, touchscreen LCD, magazine service and IPTV (video) April 29, 2010 at 12:34 PM Late to the touchscreen MID party, Chinese manufacturer SmartQ was determined not to miss another opportunity. That's why it spent the month of April touting its new R7 e-reader as -- you guessed it -- the iPad killer. With the same ol' 600MHz ARM11 and 256MB of RAM inside as its ho-hum MIDs, that claim's quite a stretch, but our cohorts at Engadget Chinese actually found the Ubuntu-powered 7-inch SVGA touchscreen device moderately capable in a recent hands-on. Like fellow PMP / e-Reader the Onda VX560, the device supports 1080p in most every video format under the sun, reads e-books (PDF, EPUB and CHM), and has a built-in 3G modem for on-the-go capability. Ubuntu standbys Midori and Pidgin handle web browsi! ng and IM, respectively, and it can even stream live video and purchase Chinese magazines through SmartQ's services. Sluggish as it might be, for $1,680 RMB (about $250) we'd say that's a pretty respectable featureset. Video after the break, specs and hands-on pics at our source links. Continue reading SmartQ R7 e-reader boasts 3G, touchscreen LCD, magazine service and IPTV (video) SmartQ R7 e-reader boasts 3G, touchscreen LCD, magazine service and IPTV (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink PMP Today | Engadget Chinese (1), Engadget Chinese (2), Ownta | Email this | Comments Shuttle unveils Core i7-powered J3 desktop, changes how you look at little PCs April 29, 2010 at 12:05 PM Earlier in the month Shuttle unveiled a pair of serious little desktops, the J1 and G2, and teased about a third model that would knock all of our proverbial socks off in one fell swoop. That desktop is here and, well, our feet are bare. The J3 packs an Intel Core i7-980X Gulftown processor, about the fastest available for consumers today, and pairs it with NVIDIA's monster GeForce GTX 480. Shuttle isn't telling other details of the machine at this point (all will be unveiled at Computex in early June), but in a video after the break you can gaze upon its healthy stack of USB ports and stare longingly at its shapely cooling system as it spins about and slowly sheddin! g its clothing -- and its dignity. Continue reading Shuttle unveils Core i7-powered J3 desktop, changes how you look at little PCs Shuttle unveils Core i7-powered J3 desktop, changes how you look at little PCs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Engadget Spanish | | Email this | Comments HTC Droid Incredible arrives as promised April 29, 2010 at 11:46 AM Don't say we didn't warn you. HTC's impressive Droid Incredible has arrived, so if you pre-ordered one you can expect it today (if you haven't already gotten it) -- and if you didn't, well you can pick one up at a nearby Verizon store. If you haven't already, be sure to check out our full review of the Incredible. Continue reading HTC Droid Incredible arrives as promised HTC Droid Incredible arrives as promised originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms! for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments MSI Android, Windows 7 tablets launching in June, dualscreen delayed until Q4 April 29, 2010 at 11:34 AM It looks like ASUS won't be the only Taiwanese manufacturer whipping out new tablets at Computex in early June, and MSI will be joining the party with its Android and Windows 7 touchscreen devices. According to the company, the tablets will come in 8.9- and 10-inch varieties, and will ship sometime in the third quarter. We can't promise you big M's Tegra 2 and Atom-powered slates will be all that different from what we've been seeing from the others out there, but we are told the pricing will be "extremely aggressive." That's intriguing, but unfortunately, that awesome dualscreen tablet we saw at CES is farther behind. According to MSI's Andy Tung, the hardware implementation is the reason for the delay as the Atom-based tablet is! not providing adequate endurance. "The two screens are a major drain on the battery, and even with a higher density battery and the Menlow CPU we are only getting three hours," he said. It looks like we will be waiting until the fourth quarter to get some two screen action, though we guess we could always pick up an Android and Win 7 slate and tape 'em together. MSI Android, Windows 7 tablets launching in June, dualscreen delayed until Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Samsung's technicolor N150 netbook gets Verizon-powered 3G April 29, 2010 at 10:47 AM Recently, about the only thing worth getting excited about regarding the Samsung N150 was the plethora of colors that its casing could be ordered in. Now, though, the little thing has been finally been updated to include the 3G modem it's always promised, and is ready to connect up to Verizon Wireless. Sure, it isn't the LTE model that was spied at MWC -- that is still a few months off, at least -- but it does mean there's yet another option out there for road warriors who like little lappys. Some bad news, though: this model appears to be only available in black, but we do dig red highlights. Samsung's technicolor N150 netbook gets Verizon-powered 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink netbooked | Samsung | Email this | Comments Steve Jobs publishes some 'thoughts on Flash'... many, many thoughts on Flash April 29, 2010 at 10:34 AM Steve Jobs just posted an open letter of sorts explaining Apple's position on Flash, going back to his company's long history with Adobe and expounding upon six main points of why he thinks Flash is wrong for mobile devices. HTML5 naturally comes up, along with a few reasons you might not expect. He concludes in saying that "Flash was created during the PC era - for PCs and mice." Basically, it's for the olds. And you don't want to be old, do you? Follow after the break for the whole thing as we try to parse this through. Developing... Continue reading Steve Jobs publishes some 'thoughts on Flash'... many, many thoughts on Flash Steve Jobs publishes some 'thoughts on Flash'... many, many thoughts on Flash o! riginally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments Sony's Dash goes on sale, officially this time April 29, 2010 at 10:25 AM Yeah, we spotted the Dash at Best Buy a few days ago, accidentally eating up shelf space, but we've finally hit that April 29th launch date and Sony has unleashed the non-tablet touchscreen device into the wild. The $199 unit, which is somewhat of a branded Chumby, sports a 7-inch screen, best-alarm-clock-you-ever-owned good looks, and access to streaming media from CBS, Netflix, Pandora, and more. If you can bottle your enthusiasm for just a bit longer we'll have our own impressions of the device posted soon enough, but nobody's stopping you from snapping this up from Sony's website, your local Sony Style store, or whatever other retailer you might have in mind. PR is after the break. Continue reading Sony's Dash goes on sale, officially this time Sony's Dash goes on sale, officially this time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments! Puppet Pouch puts fur on your DS / DSi, smiles on people's faces April 29, 2010 at 10:03 AM As jaded as we are, we just can't bring ourselves to criticize this. Produced by CTA Digital, authors of other questionable gaming accessories, the Puppet Pouch acts as a superfurry (and annoyingly cute) case for your Nintendo portable console. Coming with a felt interior and elastic straps to keep your Ninty nice and minty, it also offers a zipped compartment for storing games and accessories, as well as "puppet functionality." That last bit means you can shove your hand inside it and use the little fella as part of your awesome ventriloquist act. Priced at $19.99, it's available now, but we've just got one oustanding question -- what animal is this supposed to be? Continue reading Puppet Pouch puts fur on your DS / DSi, smiles on people's faces Puppet Pouch puts fur on your DS / DSi, smiles on people's faces originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | CTA Digital, Amazon | Email this | Comments TomTom reveals plans for App Store in battle against smartphone navigation April 29, 2010 at 9:29 AM You know how TomTom is moving to a WebKit-based UI with its new flagship Go Live 1000 satnav? Well, there's good reason for it. While TomTom called it a "platform for innovation" at Tuesday's press event in Amsterdam, going so far as to show a few in-house developed prototype apps for Facebook, Wikipedia, and street cams, it stopped short of revealing its true plan: an app store it can cuddle and call its own. Pocket-lint had a sit down with TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn who revealed TomTom's plans to launch the app store by the end of the year. Apps that will easily migrate to its in-car platform, and to and from other WebKit based devices. In essence, it's TomTom's consumer-focused survival plan against free turn-by-turn offerings from Google and Nokia. While there's no doubt th! at dedicated satnav devices offer great functionality and better performance compared to their part-time smartphone navigating competitors, selling the average consumer (not hardened road warriors) on the need for two devices won't be easy. Besides, are Facebook updates really that critical when driving? Pics of the Wikipedia and street cam sample apps after the break. Continue reading TomTom reveals plans for App Store in battle against smartphone navigation TomTom reveals plans for App Store in battle against smartphone navigation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feed! s. Permalink | Pocket-lint | Email this | Comments Polaroid returns to instant photography with the 300, thinks you'll pay a premium for it April 29, 2010 at 9:09 AM When Polaroid left the instant film market back in 2008, it left a gaping hole that Impossible Project has attempted to fill with its overpriced reproduction paper. We're guessing someone at Polaroid saw that and thought: "Hey, why don't we charge too much for instant film, and make an overpriced camera to use it in?" And thus the $90 Polaroid 300 was born. Yes, $90 for the sort of instant point-and-shoot that, a few decades ago, you could pick up for under $20. And the film? Ten shots for $10. Nostalgia don't come cheap, people. The camera and the film release in May, and if this is how the reborn Polaroid is hoping to stay afloat we're thinking the death of instant film is at hand -- again. Continue reading Polaroid returns to instant photography with the 300, thinks you'll pay a premium for it Polaroid returns to instant photography with the 300, thinks you'll pay a premium for it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Engadget Spanish | | Email this | Comments Acer set to fill our lives with MID goodness in May April 29, 2010 at 8:42 AM For Acer, the future is the MID, and for you, that future starts next month. In May the company will launch what is said to be a "full line" of mobile internet devices, following up on that patent application filed way back in January of 2009 (which came complete with the incredibly high-detail picture above). What the company is not saying is exactly what the nature of these MIDs will be, except than they will be rocking version 4.0 of the company's Shell UI. It's a new version of the layer that was applied over Windows Mobile on smartphones like the M900, going all Bob on us by trying to recreate a virtual office. At this point we don't know whether version 4.0 will still be! built atop WinMo, but at least we won't have to wait long to find out. Acer set to fill our lives with MID goodness in May originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Yahoo! News | Email this | Comments MSI's GE600: Nine Benjamins, now shipping from Newegg April 29, 2010 at 8:08 AM Though we question the MSI GE600's status as "gaming notebook" given it doesn't hold a candle to the company's signature red-and-black machines, those looking for a well-rounded, noble laptop -- not to mention a sub-$1000 price -- will now find just that on Newegg. For nine hundred clamshells, you'll get 16 inches of low-res 1366 x 768 real estate, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive and Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics, all fed their requisite bits and bytes by a 2.26GHz Core i5-430M CPU -- plus all the usual ports, Bluetooth and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi. Care to dine in the lap of semi-luxury? Now shipping. MSI's GE600: Nine Benjamins, now shipping from Neweg! g originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Newegg, MSI Mobile | Email this | Comments Bookeen's upgraded, colorful Cybook Opus to debut on May 7 April 29, 2010 at 7:29 AM We were promised a color-loving version of the diminutive Cybook Opus and here's the delivery of said pledge. Coming in seven new shades to match its May 7 release date, the newly revised Cybook Opus boasts instant-on functionality, a new Boo Reader software that helps to optimize battery life, and a category-best 12 font sizes. It's still a monochrome E Ink display -- 800 x 600 pixels -- and memory hasn't budged up from the 1GB on its predecessor, but at least the opening price has dipped down to a £149 ($226) RRP. When you consider 150 books come preloaded on the device, it's almost like Bookeen is giving the hardware away for free. It's not, but that's as good a r! ationalization as any other. Full PR after the break. Gallery: Bookeen's upgraded, colorful Cybook Opus to debut on May 7 Continue reading Bookeen's upgraded, colorful Cybook Opus to debut on May 7 Bookeen's upgraded, colorful Cybook Opus to debut on May 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink E-Reader-info | | Email this | Comments Japan sending humanoid robot to the moon by 2015 April 29, 2010 at 6:46 AM As the US prepares to send NASA's humanoid Robonaut2 up to the International Space Station in September, Japan's private SOHLA (Space Oriented Higashiosaka Leading Association) is gearing up to send its own two-legged robot to the moon by 2015. The $10.5 million robot named "Maido-kun" is being developed in coordination with the Space Exploration Agency of Japan (JAXA), an organization that has been trying to send robots to the moon since at least 2006. Oh sure, there's little reason to send a wobbling two-legged robotic rover to the crater-pocked face of the moon when four-on-the-floor would be much more practical -- other than it's awesome. Japan sending humanoid robot to the moon by ! 2015 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Akihabara News | Pink Tenticle | Email this | Comments Kindle version 2.5 update gets Facebooked and Twitterized April 29, 2010 at 6:04 AM Amazon just announced a 2.5 software update for its Kindle and Kindle DX readers. At the moment, it's rolling out the update to a "limited group" of Kindle users with a general release coming at the end of May. Enhancements include the ability to organize books and documents into "collections," pan and zoom within PDFs, Kindle password protection, two additional fonts, and just what you've always wanted: the ability to "share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter." Somebody pinch us. Kindle version 2.5 update gets Faceb! ooked and Twitterized originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink SlashGear | Amazon | Email this | Comments HTC expects 36 percent increase in Q2 sales thanks to Android April 29, 2010 at 5:40 AM If Apple created the first round of disruption to the business-as-usual lethargy infecting the cellphone industry then Google appears poised to bring round two. When looking around at choices, it's the Android OS backed by Google's cloud-based services and the 50k app-strong Android Market we usually find underpinning the sexiest and most powerful hardware on the market. And guess who's making the hardware? Right, HTC. Now HTC -- thanks to its recently introduced Desire, Legend, HD Mini, Smart, EVO 4G and Droid Incredible -- says it expects record revenues of $1.6 billion in ! Q2 on sales of 4.5 million handsets, up from 3.3 million handsets sold in Q1 and ahead of analyst expectations. Cheng Hui-ming, HTC chief financial officer, credits the bump to the "growing popularity of the Android platform in Europe and the US". One can only imagine what HTC sales will do when its long-standing Microsoft partner releases Windows Phone 7 OS later this year. HTC expects 36 percent increase in Q2 sales thanks to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | FT | Email this | Comments Maingear, iBuyPower and CyberPower reveal Phenom II X6 1090T-based bargain desktops April 29, 2010 at 4:47 AM It's akin to clockwork, as they say -- Maingear, iBuyPower and CyberPower have all decided to pump out new and / or revised gaming desktops based on AMD's latest and greatest (and cheapest, some would argue) six-core processor, barely waiting 24 hours to do the honors. The Phenom II X6 1090T certainly has the whole low-price thing going for it, enabling this trio of PC builders to offer up complete systems starting at ! under $1,000. Maingear's new Limited Edition Vybe packs a $999 price tag, USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps support, ATI's Radeon 5000 series graphics, a DVD burner, 640GB WD Caviar Black SATA 6G hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Over in CyperPower land, users can select a variety of 1090T-based rigs starting at just $699, while iBuyPower is revamping the Chimera 2-Q, Gamer Fire and Gamer HAF systems to include the new silicon and an all-too-tempting sub-$1k starting point. The whole lot is available to be customized right this moment, but we're in no position to help you choose between options A, B, C, D, E or F. And G is looking mighty promising, too. Maingear, iBuyPower and CyberPower reveal Phenom II X6 1090T-based bargain desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. < a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/maingear-ibuypower-and-cyberpower-reveal-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-bas/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink | iBuyPower, Maingear, CyberPower | Email this | Comments WebOS 1.4.1.1 now available for Verizon subscribers April 29, 2010 at 3:58 AM Hardly the most exciting Palm news you're gonna hear this week, but the company that still owns itself for the time being has just updated its WebOS software on Verizon to the extremely granular version 1.4.1.1. The helpful changelog informs us there are no new apps, but pinch-zoom now works correctly in Doc and PDF views, a lag in the camera shutter sound has been rectified, and forwarding videos uploaded to YouTube on to your friends via email also works correctly now. The most important fix of all, though, is to a keyboard input issue whereby a single key press would generate a letter twice -- both Pre Central and one of our readers report that this problem appears to have been consigned to the past. Good stuff, now let's see it go global, shall we? [Thanks, subzero and Sam F.] WebOS 1.4.1.1 now available for Verizon subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Pre Central | @palm (Twitter) ! | Email this | Comments Viliv's S10 Blade starts shipping out, gets its first customer unboxing April 29, 2010 at 3:14 AM Aw, Suki Suki now! Nearly a fortnight after heard that Viliv's S10 Blade had been delayed by the factory, in flies this. Tipster Anthony seems to be on Lady Luck's good side, as his unit not only shipped, but fell into his lap today. He ordered up the 1.6GHz version with a 64GB SSD and integrated 3G, and just to prove that he wasn't yanking our chain, he offered up a gallery's worth of unboxing shots. We can't say for sure that the backlog has cleared, but it's pretty evident that the earliest of pre-orderers are seeing their units trickle out. With that said, we'd encourage you to refresh that inbox once more and make sure a package isn't headed your way -- and when it does, let us know how you like it in comments below. [Thanks, Anthony] Gallery: Viliv S10 Blade unboxing Viliv's S10 Blade starts shipping out, gets its first customer unboxing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments