Of all the Atom-powered, Windows 7 tablets we’ve seen over the last year and a half (and boy have there been a lot!), the 11.6-inch ExoPC has been the one we’ve been waiting on. Sure, its specs are similar to the recently reviewed Tega v2 and CTL 2goPad — it’s also got a capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer, Atom Pinetrail processor and 2GB of RAM — but unlike the others the company has put some serious love into its Windows 7 software layer, which we’ve dubbed the Connect Four UI. ExoPC’s also preloaded the tablet with touch apps, built out its own app store and included a Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator to handle full 1080p video. You can clearly see why we’ve had high hopes for the ExoPC ever since we got to check it out at Computex , but does it live up to the promise and provide the more enhanced and finger-friendly Windows experience we’ve been looking for? And is the software stable and robust enough for the average consumer? We’ve spent the last week with the $599 tablet so read on to find out in our full review. Gallery: ExoPC slate Gallery: ExoPC apps Continue reading ExoPC Slate review ExoPC Slate review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130
October 27, 2010 No Comment
After what feels like an eternity of leaks , RIM has finally (finally!) come forward with the first BlackBerry Bold to ship with BlackBerry 6 . The Bold 9780 looks exactly as we expected it to (meaning not too far from the 9700 design tree ), boasting an optical trackpad, QWERTY keyboard, a WebKit-based browser and a five megapixel camera. You’ll also get inbuilt 3G / WiFi, and at least on the T-Mob version, UMA / WiFi calling. Geotagging your images is a breeze courtesy of the integrated GPS module, and RIM’s also tossing in 512MB of Flash memory as well as a microSD slot. We’re told to expect it from “various carriers around the world beginning in November,” with T-Mobile USA confirming that its version will hit on the 17th of next month for $129.99 on a two-year contract. Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130 BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Did you know that the word “jumbo” originated from the name of an African elephant famed for being the largest of his kind? HTC will be well familiar with that tag having already rattled off the HD2 , EVO 4G , and HD7 in a smartphone-dwarfing 4.3-inch form factor. And while that may not be the largest screen you can have your Android confectionery on today, it’s arguably the upper limit of what we might consider a pocketable device. The HTC Desire HD follows, and seeks to improve upon, its laudable predecessors with an aluminum unibody construction, WVGA (800 x 480) display, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash plus 720p video, and a modern 1GHz CPU. That hardware is put at the service of Android’s latest Froyo offering, complemented with an updated Sense that includes a web interface for controlling and discovering your phone remotely. It’s a rich spec sheet, that much is unquestionable, but you’re not just here for tenuous wildlife-related metaphors, you want to know if the whole is equal to, or perhaps even more than, the sum of its parts. Join us after the break for a deeper look at the Desire HD. Gallery: HTC Desire HD review Continue reading HTC Desire HD review HTC Desire HD review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Powercast and Microchip fire up interest at a distance with wireless power development kit
October 27, 2010 No Comment
We’re sure if you asked Powercast nicely it’d tell you a whale of a tale, about how the “more than 100 companies” who allegedly signed up to develop products that seemingly pull energy from the ether materialized into this light-up Christmas tree . Still, we’d be happy to forgive and forget if meaningful products emerged instead, and that’s why we’re moderately happy the company’s announced a nice big development kit. $1,250 buys your firm or deep-pocketed hobbyist the spread pictured above, with a wireless transmitter to throw three watts and a pair of receiver boards to catch them from over 40 feet away, plus a low-power development board from Microchip equipped with that company’s proprietary short-range wireless protocols and ZigBee functionality. We can’t wait to see what people build, but we won’t be snapping one up ourselves — we’re still holding out for the firm to go open-source and build an Arduino version. PR after the break. Continue reading Powercast and Microchip fire up interest at a distance with wireless power development kit Powercast and Microchip fire up interest at a distance with wireless power development kit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung Galaxy Tab hitting T-Mobile USA on November 10th, price remains elusive
October 27, 2010 No Comment
America’s number four carrier just landed a launch date for Samsung’s Froyo-based Galaxy Tab , and sure enough, it’ll be trotting out into the spotlight a full 24 hours before Verizon Wireless and four whole days prior to Sprint . Trouble is, T-Mob’s not being kind enough to dole out a price tag, so there’s no reasonable way for you to compare its offering against the competition. But hey, being first out of the gate, they can’t hold out on us too much longer, eh? Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab hitting T-Mobile USA on November 10th, price remains elusive Samsung Galaxy Tab hitting T-Mobile USA on November 10th, price remains elusive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Bus that travels over traffic longs for US embrace, designer seeks stateside collaborators
October 27, 2010 No Comment
Can’t imagine this one’s left your collective conscience, but just in case: back in August, Shenzen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment unveiled its design for a commuter monorail that used the space between traffic and bridges . In a sense, the bus would straddle over its four-wheeled brethren at a rate of 25 to 50mph. Construction reportedly starts in Beijing’s Mentougou district by year’s end, but what of the rest of the world? Designer Song Youzhou has founded US Elevated High-Speed Bus (Group) Inc which, as the name would suggest, is on the look-out for manufacturers to build (and outlets to sell) the so-called straddling bus to the proper American locales. Sure, we’re the Land of the Free and Home of the Extra-Tall Trucks (and Low Overhead Bridges), but don’t let that get you discouraged. Bus that travels over traffic longs for US embrace, designer seeks stateside collaborators originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Pity the poor fools who show up to the next LAN party with a mouse that doesn’t have a capacitive top. These days it’s touch-sensitivity or bust, and ASUS is latest in line, launching its WX-DL. This one takes its buttonless inspiration from the Magic Mouse but its design from another Cupertino creation: the puck-shape Apple USB Mouse. That rodent came with the 1998 iMac and was basically hated by everyone who placed a hand on it. It remains to be seen whether the slight tilt of this one (shown after the break) will make it more palatable to the digits of computer users everywhere, but it is at least suitably equipped with a 1200dpi laser sensor, 2.4GHz wireless connection, and a suite of media controls baked with care into the top of this aluminum cookie. Its yours for $80, so who wants to take a bite? Continue reading ASUS gets in on the touch mouse craze with the puck-shaped WX-DL ASUS gets in on the touch mouse craze with the puck-shaped WX-DL originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 08:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Huawei S7 gets Best Buy listing for $299.99, not shipping until November 7th
October 27, 2010 No Comment
Huawei ‘s Ideos S7. We loved it in June (resistive touchscreen notwithstanding), Expansys picked it up a few weeks later, and now Best Buy is also joining in on the phone. The 7-inch Android tablet — with kickstand — is now but a listing on the US retailer’s website, “coming soon” for $299.99. Store pickup is coming soon, but shipping availability is November 7th… no matter how expedited you make the order. If it’s any consolation, that’s still before the Galaxy Tab . Huawei S7 gets Best Buy listing for $299.99, not shipping until November 7th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
It’s still not a substitute for a built-in memory card reader in a laptop, but Elecom’s new MR-C25 Series USB memory card reader might just be the next best thing. In addition to reading both SD and microSD cards, it’s able to rotate a full 180 degrees to give you access to ports on either side of the card reader. From the looks of things, you may still run into some problems with ports that are particularly close together (and with bulky plugs or devices), but it should definitely prevent at least some unwanted USB swapping. Unfortunately, there’s no still word on a price or release over here just yet, but it does apparently come in both black and white to better match your laptop. Elecom’s rotating USB memory card reader tries not to block your ports originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Acer tablet PC line launching on November 23rd, priced from $299 to $699
October 27, 2010 No Comment
Not much more to tell you that you didn’t already pick up from the headline. Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci told Dow Jones Newswire that it will be launching its first line of tablet PCs in New York City on November 23rd, priced from $299 to $699 each. That’s all the man said, leaving us to speculate on the OS (though Android’s been heavily rumored ) and whether we’re looking at the launch of Acer’s 5- , 7-, or 10-inch tablets (or all of the above) priced with or without carrier subsidies. Still, with Android Gingerbread already on the lawn of the house that Google built we can expect to see a whole slew of Google sanctioned tablets launch before CES 2011 gets underway in January. Acer tablet PC line launching on November 23rd, priced from $299 to $699 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …