According to StatCounter, it’s taken roughly two years for Redmond’s latest to surpass XP and become the world’s most popular operating system. October 2011 marks the first time that Windows 7 has overtaken XP globally, with a 40 percent share of the market versus the latter’s 38. As for Vista, it’s been holding steady at around 11. Not that it’s much of a surprise, as in North America, Windows 7 took the crown back in April of this year . Rounding out the top five, are OS X (though it’s not clear whether that captures all of Cupertino’s beasts) and Linux, which come in at 7 and 0.82 percent respectively. But don’t take our word for it, hop on over to the source links and get your interactive chart on. [Thanks, Pipera] Windows 7 overtakes XP globally, Vista found weeping in a corner originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 10, 2011: US Cellular launched the BlackBerry Curve 9350 this week, and is now available for free (after rebate) with new activations, and $50 with upgrades. [ Unwired View ] That wasn’t the only smartphone added to US Cellular’s lineup this week: the HTC Hero S has also finally made it into loving hands. [ US Cellular ] O2 unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Ace, a Gingerbread device with an 800MHz CPU and 5MP camera, in purple this week. [ EuroDroid ] MetroPCS debuted a couple new basic feature phones, the Kyocera Presto and LG Beacon. The former is a candybar with the standard numberpad, while the latter is a 2.8-inch touch screen device with a full slide-out QWERTY. The two phones retail for $30 and $70, respectively. [ CNet ] Research in Motion may be planning to launch an all-white BlackBerry Bold 9900, according to a few shots taken in Dubai. [ Electronista ] Motorola Mobility is sponsoring the NFL internationally in the UK, and is launching an extensive marketing campaign to highlight it. [ Motorola ] We’ve heard about the LG myTouch and myTouch Q a few times so far, but this is the first time we’ve seen the two devices in the wild. [ TmoNews ] Nokia’s announced the winner and runners-up of its ringtone contest. Sadly, the Great Marvelous didn’t make the cut. [ SlashGear ] Samsung announced a new group messaging service called “ChatON.” Sammy’s definitely not the first to come out with a group messaging service, but it does offer the functionality across the board — iOS, Android and Windows are all present and accounted for. [ TheNextWeb ] Mobile Miscellany: week of October 10, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Girl Scout merit badges get a 21st century facelift, focus on science and technology
October 15, 2011 No Comment
Think only Boy Scouts can earn badges in bad-ass activities like robotics and video games (whatever happened to wood carving and fire building)? Well you are wrong sir (or ma’am). The Girl Scouts of America are giving their merit badges a 21st century makeover, adding high-tech accomplishments like Computer Expert and Digital Movie Maker, as well as more esoteric points of pride like Locavore. Even old standbys are being reinvented for the modern age like the Fashion, Fitness and Makeup badge, which is now known as the Science of Style and focuses on how things like sunscreen work and making your own perfume. The update sounds like the sort of thing that strong, tech-savvy women like Lady Ada might approve of and we’re all for it, why should the Boy Scouts be the only ones to learn about nuclear fusion? Just make sure our Thin Mints still arrive on time… seriously, we’re starting to go through withdrawal over here! Girl Scout merit badges get a 21st century facelift, focus on science and technology originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Motorola Lapdock 100 hits Sprint October 21st, earns employees extra scratch
October 15, 2011 No Comment
Ready to play PC with your smartphone? If you aren’t picking up a Lapdock 100 from AT&T on the 17th, you won’t have to wait very long — Motorola’s faux-laptop phone dock has been outed for a October 21st launch date for Sprint via an employee rewards email. Passing the Lapdock 100 Sprint Rewards Me training quiz nets employees $10 in Sprint scratch and the opportunity to sell you a rig that lets a handful of devices play netbook. The laptop shell gives users a full Firefox browser, Quick Office, Google Docs, Adobe Flash, a PC-like File Manager and a luxurious 10.1-inch screen. Still no word yet on just how much this ultra-portable peripheral will set us back, but we’ll keep hoping that it’s cheaper than the Atrix 4G’s axed lapdock . [Thanks, David] Motorola Lapdock 100 hits Sprint October 21st, earns employees extra scratch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nintendo sells over 50 million DS units, 3DS sales fall flat in comparison
October 15, 2011 No Comment
Nintendo’s twin-screen wonder has seen almost as many reinventions as Lady Gaga, so it may not come as a huge shock to hear that the DS (in all its guises) has now sold over 50 million units in the US. The home entertainment maestros are still chasing similar success for its three-dimensional sibling, the 3DS, however. Nintendo has managed to sell almost half a million three dee units units after its weighty price cut , but there’s now some very potent competitors seeking their own slice of the (portable) gaming pie. Good luck, Nintendo, you’re probably going to need it. Continue reading Nintendo sells over 50 million DS units, 3DS sales fall flat in comparison Nintendo sells over 50 million DS units, 3DS sales fall flat in comparison originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’ve seen our fair share of pico projectors , so takes a bit to actually get us excited about one, but the Seeser from ESPlus is showing a lot of potential. Inside the tiny black box is a laser-based projection system which, unlike traditional lamps, doesn’t need to be focused and can output a 25-lumen, 800 x 600 image up to 100-inches in size. There’s an SD card slot around the side, which appears to be of the micro variety and it has an integrated 1seg tuner for pulling in broadcasts. All of this is powered by a 1GHz processor running Froyo — so there’s no actual need to hook up an external content source. Sadly it doesn’t appear that it boasts access to the Android Market though, without a touchscreen, you wouldn’t be able to make good use of the apps anyway. The Seeser should be available in Korea soon, but there’s no word yet on how much it’ll cost. Seeser laser pico projector is always in focus, powered by Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Before there was Google+ there was Google Buzz , the company’s big effort to stake a claim in the social networking space. That, of course, didn’t exactly work out for the search giant, and it even managed to spark some lawsuits and attract the eye of the FTC. Now Google has finally swept it under the rug in a bit of fall cleaning, stating in a blog post today that Google Buzz and the Buzz API will be shut down “in a few weeks,” and that it will now focus solely on Google+ instead. Also getting the axe is Jaiku, a social networking service that Google acquired in 2007, as well some of the social features on iGoogle, and the company’s Code Search service, which will officially be shut down along with its API on January 15th of next year. And, if that wasn’t enough, Google also confirmed that today’s the day that the Google Labs site will be shut down (its demise was announced this summer). Google finally pulls the plug on Buzz amid ‘fall sweep’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Apple’s iPhone 4 may not have the fancy dual core CPU of its successor , but thanks to the efforts of developer Steven Troughton-Smith and the folks at 9to5 Mac , it may soon have Siri. The port of the sultry voice assistant was accomplished by using the 4S Siri and Springboard files, and some serious elbow grease, no doubt. As you can see in the video below, it’s far from perfect, but it can recognize spoken commands without issue. Currently, the hack is missing an iPhone 4 GPU driver that keeps things running buttery smooth on the elder phone, and Cupertino won’t authenticate Siri’s commands coming from it either. So, it isn’t quite ready for primetime, but it should only be a matter of time before all you iPhone 4 owners can tell Siri what to do, too. Continue reading Siri ported to an iPhone 4, old phone learns a new trick Siri ported to an iPhone 4, old phone learns a new trick originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Apple’s iPhone 4 may not have the fancy dual core CPU of its successor , but thanks to the efforts of developer Steven Troughton-Smith and the folks at 9to5 Mac , it may soon have Siri. The port of the sultry voice assistant was accomplished by using the 4S Siri and Springboard files, and some serious elbow grease, no doubt. As you can see in the video below, it’s far from perfect, but it can recognize spoken commands without issue. Currently, the hack is missing an iPhone 4 GPU driver that keeps things running buttery smooth on the elder phone, and Cupertino won’t authenticate Siri’s commands coming from it either. So, it isn’t quite ready for primetime, but it should only be a matter of time before all you iPhone 4 owners can tell Siri what to do, too. Continue reading Siri ported to an iPhone 4, old phone learns a new trick Siri ported to an iPhone 4, old phone learns a new trick originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Motorola teaser counts down to ICS event date, ends a few hours early (video)
October 14, 2011 No Comment
Motorola just unleashed a countdown clock for its Daft Punk-esque tease : Faster. Thinner. Smarter. Stronger. We already knew the Spyder was on its way, but we noticed that the clock stops dangerously close to the Google / Samsung Ice Cream Sandwich event set for this Tuesday, missing the mark by only seven hours. We can’t say for sure that Motorola is trying get in on the Google magic, but if it wants to push its news during the same business day, it makes sense for them to reveal their goods ahead of the event’s 10pm showtime. The teaser’s epileptic flash of buzzword images doesn’t tell us much, but it ends with a speedy bullet smartly slicing through the event date. Hit the break to see for yourself, we’ll let you make your own connections between that date-slice happy bullet and the Droid HD’s alternate names . [Thanks, Robert] Continue reading Motorola teaser counts down to ICS event date, ends a few hours early (video) Motorola teaser counts down to ICS event date, ends a few hours early (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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