Motorola planning 4G devices for Verizon, 7- and 10-inch tablets early next year
December 4, 2010 No Comment
It looks like this CES could be a hot one for Motorola. Can you believe it was only a bit more than a year ago that Motorola introduced the Droid? Now it has a whole lineup of incredibly hot phones, and CES seems like a perfect time for the beating of chests in front of an industry. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha just went on record during a keynote at the Credit Suisse 2010 Technology Conference, saying Motorola will be entering the tablet space ‘in the near future.’ He also said that he sees both 7-inch and 10-inch tablets as viable sizes — something that seems perfectly logical to us, and might jibe with how we initially heard of Motorola’s “Stingray” tablet as a smaller device , but later heard it was a full 10-incher upgradeable to LTE . This all follow’s on Sanjay’s statement in September that Motorola wouldn’t be joining in on the tablet space until next year, a year which is rapidly approaching. Meanwhile, Sanjay also confirmed that Motorola would have 4G devices “early” next year, which also sounds like a CES hint to us, though it might just be 4G modems and hotspots at the outset. Still, bring it on. Motorola planning 4G devices for Verizon, 7- and 10-inch tablets early next year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s just a Chrome OS sorta day, isn’t it? To catch you up here, we told you earlier that Google is planning to announce its own Chrome OS netbook this coming Tuesday, and well, now we’re peering at a supposed picture of that very machine’s keyboard. We don’t know all that much about the rest of the netbook — we’ve heard from multiple sources that it’s powered by an Intel Atom processor — but the image above was taken from an Inventec (as in, the ODM making the netbook) presentation. We’ll call a spade a spade here and say it looks like your average chiclet keyboard, but there are obviously some interesting differences. Over on the left side of the panel you’ll see a “search” key subbing for a Caps Lock key, and up above, the function row has forward / back keys as well as Window, full screen, and “configuration” keys. Wait, but couldn’t this be any old netbook keyboard? Sure it could, we’ve got an exclusive photo of Acer’s Chrome netbook ( that “ZGA” model ) which happens to have the same exact keyboard layout. You can check out the picture of that one after the break, and you’ll see it looks extremely similar to this shot. We should also mention that the tipster that sent this in claims the Google-branded Chrome OS netbook will be announced next Tuesday, but won’t be on sale until December 14. Looks like it’s going to be a very interesting Tuesday morning! Continue reading Is this the Google Chrome OS netbook’s keyboard? Is this the Google Chrome OS netbook’s keyboard? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1′ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it
December 3, 2010 No Comment
Wow guys, we just spotted a new video of the PlayStation Phone , codenamed Zeus Z1, and this time we get a long, loving look at the entire device — a refreshing contrast to last time’s blurry tease . In addition to appreciating just how fat this phone is, and just how real it is, you can clearly see a “PlayStation” icon, which should hopefully put to rest any doubts that this phone will actually play PlayStation games. Check out a close-up of the icon after the break. Oh, and by the way, there’s no audio on the video, your computer is not broken. [Thanks, Sha] Continue reading PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1′ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1′ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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No matter how much you love your iPad , there will always come a time when you feel the need to prop up this hefty tablet while simultaneously giving its audio and battery a little boost. Well, Altec Lansing thinks you do, anyway. Like the $99 SMK-Link PadDock 10 we reviewed not long ago, Altec’s Octiv Stage (or Octiv 450 outside the US) also provides a combo of swivel hinge and speakers for the iPad, but is this $149.95 dock worth the extra money? Read on to find out. Gallery: Altec Lansing Octiv Stage (450) review Continue reading Altec Lansing Octiv Stage (450) review Altec Lansing Octiv Stage (450) review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Viacom files appeal in YouTube copyright case, continues to ‘drag it out’
December 3, 2010 No Comment
Don’t worry — that “drag it out” bit belongs to Google, not us. If you’ll recall, the suits in Mountain View threw an underground party back in June when the federal court ruled that YouTube fell under the “safe harbor” provision of the DMCA which protects service providers from liability for user content. In essence, this ensured that Google couldn’t be sued or held liable for damages caused by some prankster uploading a ripped episode of 30 Rock to the site, being that Google has promised to yank it post-haste if notified by the copyright owner. That essentially puts the burden of policing on the content creator, but (sensibly) frees Google from the impossible feat of looking at every single clip that gets uploaded before making it live to the world. Just to give you a little perspective, 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute , and that’s expected to become even greater as time passes. Despite the logic (and the ruling of the court), Viacom has today filed a 72-page appeal in a likely futile attempt to fight back. All Things D highlights a killer quote from Viacom in the report — apparently it thinks that if the ruling stands, it’ll “radically transform the functioning of the copyright system and severely impair, if not completely destroy, the value of many copyrighted creations.” As for Google’s response? “We regret that Viacom continues to drag out this case. The court here, like every other court to have considered the issue, correctly ruled that the law protects online services like YouTube, which remove content when notified by the copyright holder that it is unauthorized. We will strongly defend the court’s decision on appeal.” We doubt anything will turn out differently the next go ’round, but obviously we’ll be watching with great interest. Now, back to that clip of 30 Rock we were enjoying quite legally on Hulu… Viacom files appeal in YouTube copyright case, continues to ‘drag it out’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Well, it looks like our sources were right : Google just announced an event in San Francisco for December 7th, which promises “exciting news about Chrome.” Naturally, we’re expecting that to be the announcement of a Google-branded netbook that runs the Chrome OS, in addition to the launch of apps for Chrome. Interestingly, it’s pretty short notice for this sort of announcement, and it’s also conflicting with the D conference which is happening a few miles north on the same day. We don’t know if that’s poor planning on Google’s part, a sign of last minute adjustments in the product, both, or neither, but either way it’s going to be a pretty exciting week! Chrome event confirmed by Google for December 7th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Rogers adds ‘data sharing’ plans, will carry both WiFi and cellular versions of BlackBerry PlayBook
December 3, 2010 No Comment
With the precedent the Galaxy Tab has set, it was an open question whether carriers would embrace the WiFi version of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook — after all, it’s a little harder to fully monetize a data plan on a device that lacks its own cellular modem. Thing is, the WiFi version is the first one that’s going to be available; RIM hasn’t given much guidance yet on when the cellular version will follow on — and RIM doesn’t have much of a distribution channel outside its carrier partners. Well, Rogers has thrown its hat in the ring today at its TabLife event in Toronto, where it has been chatting up the success of the tablets it’s sold so far (the Tabs apparently won’t stay on shelves) and noting that it will be carrying both versions of the PlayBook as they become available. How’s that going to work from a data perspective? Well, a concurrent announcement out of Rogers seems to hold the answer. A pair of new so-called “data sharing plans” can be tacked onto your existing smartphone plan, effectively opening up your data bucket to other devices — so it’s basically like the tethering plans we’ve started to see sprout up on American networks under a different name. One oddity, though, is the CAD $20 (roughly $20) data sharing plan that allows unlimited social networking on “popular sites” above and beyond your normal bucket of gigabytes — sounds silly, but when we think about what percentage of our mobile time is spent on Twitter and Facebook, it might just be crazy enough to work. Follow the break for Rogers’ press release and a quick clip of Rogers exec John Boynton with the PlayBook mention. Continue reading Rogers adds ‘data sharing’ plans, will carry both WiFi and cellular versions of BlackBerry PlayBook Rogers adds ‘data sharing’ plans, will carry both WiFi and cellular versions of BlackBerry PlayBook originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Barnes & Noble may still be calling it an e-reader first and foremost, but the Nook Color has now taken one more step into full-fledged tablet territory with the release of an official SDK add-on for the Android SDK. That comes complete with an Android Virtual Device emulator, along with Android Debug Bridge (or ADB) configuration settings, sample code and, of course, plenty of documentation to get you started. Of particular note, that finally includes a complete specifications list, which confirms once more that the device runs on an 800MHz TI OMAP 3621 processor , and is backed up by a POWERVR SGX530 GPU. Hit up the source link below for all the details. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Nook Color gets an SDK, documentation aplenty originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The iPad’s gorgeous 9.7-inch display has been attracting attention for its musical potential, and the Djay app from Algoriddim has definitely contributed to some of the noise. The guys who brought a consumer-friendly DJing app to the Mac have gone ahead and ported it over to Apple’s magical tablet, enabling pretty much anyone to get their shot on the decks. Does Djay for iPad live up to the hype? Read on past the break to find out. Continue reading App Review: Djay for iPad App Review: Djay for iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The headline pretty much reveals the brunt of it, but indeed, it looks like next week Google is going to start talking about how its Chrome operating system is coming along. Multiple sources have told us that Google will be holding some sort of event on Tuesday, December 7th — we’re not sure if it’ll be a live event, a webcast, or something else entirely — and that the shindig will see the launch of that Google-branded Chrome OS netbook we’ve been hearing about. Again, we’ve heard that the Atom-powered laptop isn’t going to be a mass market device — there will only be around 65,000 units available to Google’s closest “friends and family” — and that the Cloud-based OS is still very much in a beta, non-consumer-friendly state. It’s a bit odd that we still haven’t received an invite to this planned event since it’s purportedly days away, not to mention it conflicts with the All Things D: Dive Into Mobile Event , but at the time of publishing this post we had yet to hear back from Google’s PR team with an official comment. Of course, this all lines up with TechCrunch ‘s report that Google will be launching its Chrome Web / App Store very soon, as well as yesterday’s launch of Chrome 8, which supports those aforementioned Chrome apps. (Companies like TweetDeck have already started demoing their browser apps.) Don’t forget that those apps are going to be a large part of the OS , so it would make sense for Google to talk about ‘em in tandem. The pieces sure do seem to be fitting together quite well, and while we still have lots of unanswered questions, we’re feeling confident that we’ll be getting some official answers on all this Chrome-ness very soon. Update : AllThingsD has also heard a similar December 7th launch date of the Chrome Web Store. The evidence seems to be mounting here… Image note: As we said last time, that picture above is just our own mockup of what a Chromebook may look like. We even added a Chrome key! Sources: Google-branded Chrome OS netbook to launch on December 7th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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