If you’ve got enough time to breathe, you’re not doing it right. Our crazy tour through Windows Phone 7 land is continuing at full pelt with the LG Optimus 7 . We must admit we were very pleasantly surprised by this handset. The 3.8-inch display is a mere LCD and the construction seems to be wholly plastic, but both seem to be punching well above the weight of their constituent elements. It’s a well chiselled, handsome, and light phone, with a trio of physical buttons at the bottom. Whether you like those will really depend on personal preference, we tend to like the clicky tactile feedback of real buttons more than the stillness of touch-sensitive capacitive keys. LG has outfitted the handset with the bone stock WP7 interface, but has augmented the offering with its own apps, namely Play-To for getting friendly with your TV over DLNA and Voice-to-Text for easing your textual inputs. We’re definitely fancying the general build quality and design, tell us what you think after checking out the pics below! Update: Video now embedded after the break. Gallery: LG Optimus 7 first hands-on! Continue reading LG Optimus 7 first hands-on (update: video!) LG Optimus 7 first hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 11:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Corporations have the same free speech rights you and I are supposed to have, but Obama and key Democrats are trying to stifle their political expression by targeting them for IRS investigations : If at first you don’t succeed, get some friends in high places to shut your opponents up. That’s the latest Washington power play, as Democrats and liberals attack the Chamber of Commerce and independent spending groups in an attempt to stop businesses from participating in politics. Since the Supreme Court’s January decision in Citizens United v. FEC, Democrats in Congress have been trying to pass legislation to repeal the First Amendment for business, though not for unions. Having failed on that score, they’re now turning to legal and political threats. Funny how all of this outrage never surfaced when the likes of Peter Lewis of Progressive insurance and George Soros helped to make Democrats financially dominant in 2006 and 2008. Chairman Max Baucus of the powerful Senate Finance Committee got the threats going last month when he asked Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman to investigate if certain tax exempt 501(c) groups had violated the law by engaging in too much political campaign activity. Lest there be any confusion about his targets, the Montana Democrat flagged articles focused on GOP-leaning groups, including Americans for Job Security and American Crossroads. Mr. Baucus was seconded last week by the ostensibly nonpartisan campaign reform groups Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center, which asked the IRS to investigate whether Crossroads is spending too much money on campaigns. Those two outfits swallowed their referee whistle in the last two campaign cycles, but they’re all worked up now that Republicans might win more seats. Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) affiliate of American Crossroads supported by Karl Rove, is a target because it has spent millions already in this election cycle. Funny, when George Soros and his puppet organizations were raising all kinds of money from funny sources and pouring it into Democrat campaigns there wasn’t much interest from Baucus or other Democrats to investigate it. Read the rest of the piece here .
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And it’s Samsung’s Windows Phone 7 turn! We just got to check out the Samsung Focus (formerly known as the i917 Cetus ), and if you’re looking for the WP7 version of the Galaxy S, this is your guy. The curvy, glossy slate has a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, and feels a lot like the Samsung Vibrant. AT&T’s touting that the 9.9-millimeter / .3-inch device is the slimmest Windows Phone handset yet, and we do have to say it’s pretty darn slim. We’ll be going back for more soon, but feast your eyes on the gallery and video below… Gallery: Samsung Focus first hands-on! Continue reading Samsung Focus first hands-on! Samsung Focus first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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LG’s representing the QWERTY slider sector for AT&T during this Windows Phone 7 launch with its new Quantum handset (formerly known as the C900), which goes by the Optimus 7Q moniker outside the US. It’s a little frumpy at first glance, but it’s just as impressive under the hood as the rest of this lineup, so we’ll give it some more time before we form our full impressions. Super early first impression? We love this keyboard. For now check out the gallery below. Update: There’s video after the break! Here are some thoughts: We’re very torn on the LG Quantum. From the outside you’ve got a design that can only be named as “frumpy,” with wasteful curves and rubberized edges, along with the smallest screen of the AT&T bunch. Still, slide this puppy open (if you can manage, it has a really stiff mechanism), and you’re treated with one of the best QWERTY keyboards in the business. Not only is each key nicely articulated and easily but responsively clicked, but you can really feel each key with your thumbs. It’s the touch typist’s dream, at least for the landscape orientation. Gallery: LG Quantum first hands-on! Continue reading LG Quantum first hands-on! (update: video) LG Quantum first hands-on! (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The first word that came to our mind when handling the HTC 7 Mozart was “classy.” The aluminum unibody construction conveys a rare sense of rigidity and durability to this phone, while its overall curvature, 3.7-inch LCD screen, and ergonomics invoke memories of the company’s Desire and Nexus One Android products. Which is no bad thing, particularly if you thought the Desire was a fine phone that could do with a more upmarket enclosure. We feel like this melting of the Legend ‘s aluminum shell and the Desire’s proportions is a match made in heaven, and Windows Phone 7′s responsive ways have done little to dissuade us. The whole 7 Mozart package feels like a perfectly pitched (we had to!) ploy for the mainstream market, with its good looks, slick profile, and sharp-looking OS. The somewhat generic hardware on offer is a spectral presence hanging over all of HTC’s phones at this launch, but we’re too in love with the 7 Mozart’s build quality to care right now. Enjoy the pictures below, video coming soon! Update: The video’s done! Check it out after the break. Gallery: HTC 7 Mozart first hands-on! Continue reading HTC 7 Mozart first hands-on (update: video!) HTC 7 Mozart first hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Alright, so by now we all know that HTC’s HD7 is mostly a HD2 in imperial new clothes, but let’s give the new phone a chance, shall we? We’ve just gotten to grips with the latest member of HTC’s 4.3-inch brigade and predictably enough it feels just as snappy as the rest of the Windows Phone 7 devices introduced today. Navigation is blazingly quick, interrupted only by Microsoft’s excessive fascination with animated screen transitions. Clearly, designing the new WP7 OS around hard-set minimum specs has paid off for Microsoft, whose end product exhibits a great deal of polish. T-Mobile, the HD7′s exclusive carrier in the US, is keen to point out that it’s the largest Windows Phone 7 launch device, so if size is atop your list of priorities, this will be the phone you’ll want to start your journey with. We’ve got some in-depth impressions of the hardware after the break and a video is coming right up as well. Enjoy! Update: As promised, a lengthy video exhibition of the HD7 awaits your eyeballs just past the break. Gallery: HTC HD7 first hands-on! Continue reading HTC HD7 preview (update: video!) HTC HD7 preview (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …iPhone App Field Guide for National Parks, Just In Time for Scenic Fall Hiking
October 11, 2010 No Comment
Image via iTunes October is typically an incredible time for hiking. The weather has cooled off but there are still a few warm days, the leaves have changed to bold colors, and there’s an energy in the air as animals ready themselves for winter. It’s ideal conditions to go explore national parks, and a new app from the National Parks Conservation Association will help you identify flora and fauna, learn about wildlife calls, and become educated about historical sites within the park. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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First Lady Michelle Obama hits the campaign trail this week in an effort to help struggling Democratic candidates. But will it work? The AP’s Kelly Daschle takes a look. (Oct. 11)
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We just got a quick look at the HTC 7 Surround for AT&T, running that brand-spanking-new Windows Phone 7 OS you’ve been hearing so much about. The phone has a kickstand to help it show off its standout feature: a slide-out “Dolby Surround Sound” speaker. Stand by for more impressions and video, but for now check out the gallery below. Update: Video is live! Here are some thoughts: We were impeded by the security device holding the phone down, but from what we could tell the Surround is a quality device — we’d expect no less from HTC. It is built of plastic, but it pulls off that certain premium look and feel. Like we noted in the family post, however, the slide-out speaker seems like an expensive addition when you consider the thickness it’s adding. Once we get a chance to play back some media and be “blown away” by the Dolby Surround we’ll be able to tell if you if it’s truly worth the tradeoff. Somehow we’re in doubt. Overall the phone comes off as a slightly inspired design in a sea of fairly uninspired designs (at least in the US). HTC HD7 this is not. Gallery: HTC 7 Surround first hands-on! Continue reading HTC 7 Surround first hands-on! (update: video) HTC 7 Surround first hands-on! (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …And, of course, he’s being pilloried in the liberal media : The conservative Republican candidate to be governor of New York told Orthodox Jewish leaders on Sunday he doesn’t want children “brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality” is acceptable. Carl Paladino, who has received strong support from conservative-libertarian “tea party” activists, made the comments at a synagogue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section while trying to strike a contrast between himself and his Democratic rival, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Paladino said he chose not to march in this summer’s gay pride parade but his opponent did. “That’s not how God created us,” Paladino said of being gay, “and that’s not the example that we should be showing our children.” He added that children who later in life choose to marry people of the opposite sex and raise families would be “much better off and much more successful.” “I don’t want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option,” he said. He skipped one line from his prepared text in his speech at the synagogue: “There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual.” In a statement issued after midnight, Paladino said he did not agree with the passage. He said the remarks were suggested by his “hosts at the synagogue.” His campaign manager, Michael Caputo, told The New York Post that the congregation distributed the draft in Paladino’s name without clearing it with the campaign. A message was left at the synagogue early Monday. So, he’s being attacked not only for what he said, but what he didn’t say but was included in the text of his speech. This should be a warning to any candidate not to release his speech text in advance. In liberal NY this won’t play well at all, and the voters will probably decided to elect Andrew Cuomo, who as head of HUD played a huge role in creating the lending dynamics that causes the housing collapse. But to liberals, that’s okay. At least he approves of homosexuality.
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