We’ve been hearing rumors of a Motorola Droid X 2 for a few days now from The Mobi Zone , complete with specs and pictures (above). Supposedly, it’s the successor to the Droid X , with a similar appearance, Android 2.2 with MOTOBLUR , and the same 8 megapixel camera. Some of the leaked specs — 4.3-inch qHD (960 x 540) display, 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM — didn’t sit well with us, since these closely match the upcoming LTE -equipped Droid Bionic . We did some digging around and one of our trusted sources confirmed that the Droid X 2 aka Droid X “squared” is indeed coming to Verizon in Q2 2011 without LTE. However, it appears to be a refreshed Droid X, with the same 4.3-inch WVGA (854 x 480) display, a 1.2GHz single-core CPU, and 768MB of RAM. It’s not quite the powerhouse it was originally made out to be, but it now seems to be a better fit in the Droid family. Motorola Droid X 2 leaks, more details emerge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Nokia shareholders are not very happy right now with NOK taking a 25 percent hit since the announcement of the Microsoft marriage. Stephen Elop, Nokia’s first foreign-born CEO, is taking heat on multiple fronts even as he prostrates himself to the media in hopes of getting his message out. Already, we’ve heard numerous conspiracies calling Elop a ” trojan horse ,” sent by Steve Ballmer to sabotage Nokia from within. Conspiraloons are quick to point to records showing Elop holding a significant number of Microsoft shares — a situation that Elop says is temporary (and outdated) having having sold a majority of his Microsoft position with plans to sell off his remaining shares in favor of Nokia stock just as soon as he’s free to do so under regulatory moratoriums meant to prevent insider trading. Nevertheless, Nokia will be facing at least two very real showdowns on its near-term horizon. First, will be a battle with the Finnish trade union Pro which is demanding €100,000 (in addition to severance payments) for every Nokia employee that loses their job under Elop’s new strategy — money the unions says will be used for reeducation. The union estimates that Nokia could cut as many as 25% (5,000 people) of Nokia’s 20,000 workers located in Finland. The second major hurdle facing Elop, and the board of directors that appointed him, will come on May 3rd at Nokia’s Annual General Meeting for shareholders. Already, a cabal of nine frustrated shareholders have been grabbing attention with its “Nokia Plan B” proposal to oust Stephen Elop and return Nokia to a MeeGo focus giving Symbian a five-year minimum reprieve. The group has since disbanded after its plan was rejected by institutional investors. Nevertheless, we don’t expect Symbian fans and developers to give up without a fight, and we expect Helsinki Fair Centre, Amfi Hall to be center-ring when the event kicks off on May 3rd in Helsinki. Nokia shareholders and unions fight back against Microkia originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Round Rock police responded to multiple 911 calls of a suspicious man carrying two metallic objects inside a building at Dell’s HQ campus. The “biker,” dressed in all black and wearing a skull mask, was yelling at people to “go to the lobby,” according to police reports. The ensuing panic resulted in the arrest of two Dell employees charged with interfering with public duties and deadly misconduct. Now get this: the incident was the result of a marketing stunt gone horribly wrong with the purpose of internally promoting a new product for the Dell Streak tablet “which can interface with Harley-Davidson motorcycles.” Because really, leather-clad motorcyclists are constantly complaining about the lack of peripherals for their choppers. Dell employees arrested for poor decision making skills originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 03:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Vodafone announces Webbox, gives internet access to the developing world
February 16, 2011 No Comment
While many of us are focused on the latest and greatest consumer tech, there are many parts of the globe still waiting for utilities we take for granted — like electricity , running water, and access to the internet. Developing nations do have access to cellphones , however. Vodafone is keenly aware of this fact, and its latest product, the Webbox, will bring the internet to anyone with a TV and access to 2.5G or EDGE networks. The Webbox is essentially a QWERTY keyboard — with the data hardware from a phone stuffed inside — that connects to a TV through basic RCA cables and allows for a relatively speedy internet experience by compressing data by around 90 percent. It’s dead simple to set up, as you simply plug in the RCA’s and switch on the device — an Opera Mini browser pops up on screen and allows users to start surfing the world wide web immediately. An app store, some games, and a text editor are baked into the portal, and the ability to send email and SMS messages is included is well. Vodafone is selling the device — which comes with a 2GB SD card and 100MB of data — in South Africa for 749 Rand ($102), with other markets and a two year contract plan to be added later this year. Check out the Webbox, and all its elegant simplicity, in the video after the break. Continue reading Vodafone announces Webbox, gives internet access to the developing world Vodafone announces Webbox, gives internet access to the developing world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Kinect hack turns controlling the TV into light aerobic exercise (video)
February 16, 2011 No Comment
Why idly click away at the remote control when you can stop what you’re doing, stand up in front of the television, and gesticulate wildly for the same effect? Because it’s cool, that’s why! Our man Harishankar recently uploaded a YouTube video of himself doing just that, and it’s a pretty sweet deal: his Kinect is connected to a Mac mini , which uses OpenNI to detect his skeleton, read certain gestures (punch up to increase volume, punch right or left to change channels, etc.) and send the info to a USB-UIRT box. The latter device, which many of you might have used in your own HTPC projects, connects to your computer’s USB port and lets it receive and transmit IR signals. In this case, the computer is sending the gesture controls to the TV. Practical? Maybe not for most of us, but lots of fun nonetheless. Hit the source link to try it for yourself, but not before you peep the video of the thing in action after the break. Continue reading Kinect hack turns controlling the TV into light aerobic exercise (video) Kinect hack turns controlling the TV into light aerobic exercise (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Pathpartner demos 720p HD Skype videocalling using Android and OMAP 4 (video)
February 16, 2011 No Comment
Putting Pathpartner and Ittiam right beside one another may not have been the best idea if these two were hot-headed, but shockingly, they were treating each other with a great deal of respect within Texas Instruments’ MWC booth. All jesting aside, the former’s 720p HD videocalling solution is aimed at an entirely different market than that of the latter. Rather than arranging for a four-way video conference, Pathpartner has concocted an Android app that enables 720p video calling over Skype — you know, that VoIP application that you’re already obsessed with. Currently, the company’s working with Skype in hopes of getting it ‘Skype-certified,’ and like Ittiam, it’s also chatting with a number of handset makers in hopes of getting it embedded on the phone’s software stack from the get-go. Alexy Mathew Joseph, the company’s senior technical lead, was on hand to showcase a demo running on a pair of OMAP 4 -based development boxes, and the low-bitrate technology that he has helped create enabled smooth, high-def streaming of the call. We should mention that this particular demo was done over an Ethernet network, but he affirmed that it would operate on 3G and 4G networks as well. Also of note, the new software is capable on running on more than just TI equipment, though he wouldn’t elaborate other than saying that NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 was a platform he hasn’t tested on just yet. Just think — 720p Skype videocalls could be hitting your phone prior to the dawn of 2012, and the carrier’s have to be weeping at the mere mention. Vid’s past the break, per usual. Continue reading Pathpartner demos 720p HD Skype videocalling using Android and OMAP 4 (video) Pathpartner demos 720p HD Skype videocalling using Android and OMAP 4 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Well, there’s one more round of Jeopardy to go, but the round that began yesterday and ended today was a major win for the silicon contingent . After starting the day tied with Brad, Watson barely let his opponents get in a word edgewise during Double Jeopardy, and broke the $36k mark before Final Jeopardy. Both Brad and Ken were able to double up on the Final Jeopardy question, at which Watson failed miserably, but he appended his answer (Toronto) with plenty of question marks, and bet less than a grand. The final result was Watson at $35,754, Brad at $10,000, and Ken Jennings with $4,800. This round’s scores will be added to the scores of tomorrow’s round to determine the overall winner, who will walk (or teraflop) away with $1 million in cash. Watson soundly beats the humans in first round of Jeopardy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HP revamping webOS App Catalog for tablet use, adding carrier billing and magazine-like view
February 16, 2011 No Comment
If HP wants webOS to be a competitive mobile ecosystem, the platform’s app store has an awful lot of catching up to do — but in terms of raw features, it sounds like the company plans to get with the program soon. PreCentral attended a developer presentation at MWC 2011 where HP showed off a brand new version of the App Catalog specifically designed for the tablet-friendly webOS 3.0, and found it will come with a handful of features that should make it eminently more useful. As you can see in the image above, there are presently four tabs, but two of them are worth calling out: the “Browser” is said to be a magazine-like interface for browsing through apps, while the “Saved” tab lets you bookmark apps you’re interested in to consider for purchase or download later on. Perhaps more importantly, the process of actually paying for programs should be streamlined quite soon: HP told attendees that carrier billing and promo codes would find their way into the webOS App Catalog by summer at the very latest, in time for a webOS 3.0 launch, which suggests that it could possibly hit smartphones even a mite sooner. HP revamping webOS App Catalog for tablet use, adding carrier billing and magazine-like view originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Ittiam shows off four-way 720p HD video conferencing using Android, OMAP 4 (video)
February 16, 2011 No Comment
Being Mobile World Congress, quite a few software vendors found themselves tucked into corners of bigger booths, eager and willing to showcase their latest work. Ittiam is one of those companies, relying on Texas Instruments’ OMAP 4 platform to power its new HD video conferencing system. The demo shown here at MWC involved a foursome of TI development boxes, but the underlying platform was most certainly Android 2.2. Anil Kumar, the manager of Ittiam’s video communications division, noted that the system would work just fine on Gingerbread and Honeycomb, enabling up to four devices (smartphones, tablets, whatever) to link up and enjoy a multi-faced call over a standard 3G network. Of course, the demonstration that we were shown used an Ethernet network for maximum stability, but the low-bitrate technology would allow bearable results on 3G networks (and better-than-average results on a 4G network). We were told that the company is in talks with “numerous” phone makers, in hopes of getting their VCS software integrated onto Android devices by the year’s end — think Qik , but for video conferencing — but he couldn’t hand out any specifics. Head on past the jump if you’d like to see a demo (and hear an awful lot more). Gallery: Ittiam shows four-way 720p HD video conferencing using Android, OMAP 4 Continue reading Ittiam shows off four-way 720p HD video conferencing using Android, OMAP 4 (video) Ittiam shows off four-way 720p HD video conferencing using Android, OMAP 4 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford (video)
February 15, 2011 No Comment
If a company makes as bold a statement as “we reinvented the wheel” when introducing a gadget you know we’ve gotta check ‘em out and see what the hubbub’s about. Well, at the International Toy Fair in New York, Inventist has introduced its “Solowheel” product, which is essentially a self-balancing unicycle for personal mobility. We’ve seen similar products before , but the convenient carrying handle and lack of seat make it decidedly more portable than the competition. This $1,500 Segway -esque transporter uses gyroscopes to stay balanced, but places your legs on either side of a single central wheel. It’s said to have a max speed of 12 miles per hour and a battery that should last for about 12 miles. We tried out the interesting device and found it entertaining, albeit quite a bit difficult. Getting started is the hardest part — especially if you don’t have anything to lean against — but maintaining balance and still trying to lean your body to turn takes quite a bit of practice as well. That’s right, there are no physical steering controls whatsoever and instead you use your body weight to control direction and speed. We could barely get going in our brief attempts on the device, but the rep on the floor was more skilled and made us realize we really need to build up our street cred. The whole concept is really a bit wild, and the company envisions people using these to do things like get to the train instead of on a bicycle or in a cab. We’re not quite sure your average person is ready to slim down to one wheel in life just yet, but maybe in the future they will be. Still, as a toy it’s most definitely intriguing, and you can see our horrid attempts at riding it in the video posted after the break or hit the more coverage link for another video of more skilled riders in action. Gallery: Solowheel self-balancing unicycle Continue reading Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford (video) Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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