Call it The Curious Case of the Pre 2: If you check the handset out on HP’s site , it will cost you $100 after rebate (under contract of course). But if you wander over to Verizon’s little piece of the Interwebs, the same phone has just been announced for $150 (new contract price) after rebate. So, let’s suppose for a moment that you had a choice between the two — which would you pick? That’s what we thought. Available on February 17, check out the mind-bending PR after the break for more details. Continue reading Pre 2 available for $150 through Verizon on February 17th Pre 2 available for $150 through Verizon on February 17th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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No big surprise here, but Eric Schmidt just told the crowd at Mobile World Congress that Google “certainly tried” to convince Nokia to pick Android as its future platform over Windows Phone 7 . Schmidt said Google “would’ve loved” having Nokia on board, and that although they’d been rebuffed this time around, the offer to adopt Android later “is still open.” Look like Vic Gundotra might have to get down with a turkey after all. Eric Schmidt: ‘We certainly tried’ to get Nokia to use Android originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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HTC just unveiled its MWC lineup a few hours ago, including the ChaCha and the Salsa , which both possess dedicated Facebook buttons (all the cool kids have Facebooky phones these days). AT&T, however, just issued a statement to let the world know that it’ll have a Facebook -dedicated HTC handset by later this year. Now, there’s no word on which phones are AT&T-bound just yet, but a spokesperson told All Things D ‘s Ina Fried that the carrier will have at least twelve Android phones on offer this year. HTC’s Facebook-worshipping phones headed to AT&T later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Apple isn’t much of one for customer surveys, but this recent missive to select MacBook Air owners has all sorts of goodies inside it. Most notable is the large amount of questions on 3G data connectivity, a feature that Apple has so far avoided adding to any of its laptops, even though it sells a tablet computer with the functionality. Interestingly, Apple has waited so long on this feature that its primary objection — the need to pick a specific carrier over another — has disappeared thanks to Qualcomm’s Gobi chipset . On the other hand, most people get 3G data onto their laptops these days through tethering, whether it be with their phone or a dedicated MiFi-style device, and Apple’s survey seems to be designed to pick up on the prevalence of all these tendencies. Other aspects of the survey deal with data storage and syncing ( MobileMe and Dropbox get shout outs), missing functionality that keeps the Air from being a primary computer, and other miscellany. If you want to get overanalytical with the whole thing, Apple might actually be trying to feel out the dividing line between an iPad and a MacBook Air, instead of the dividing line between a MacBook Pro. Perhaps this year’s expected Sandy Bridge or (we wish) Fusion refresh of the MacBook Air could have something more in store? Check out the source link for the whole thing. Apple MacBook Air survey gets chatty about 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Next version of Android will combine Gingerbread and Honeycomb, arrive on a six-month cycle
February 15, 2011 No Comment
Eric Schmidt didn’t give a ton of details about the future of Android during his MWC 2011 keynote , but he did drop one interesting tidbit: the next version of Android will “start with an I, be named after a dessert” and combine Gingerbread for phones and Honeycomb for tablets into a cohesive whole. We’ll just go out on a limb and say that he’s talking about Ice Cream , and that we’ll see that Fragments UI construct used to bridge the phone / tablet display size gap. Unfortunately, Eric didn’t say anything about timing — just that updates have been happening on a “six month cycle.” Considering that Honeycomb has yet to officially launch on any devices, we’d say that’s not so long to wait — but of course we’re also dying to know more as soon as possible. We’ll let you know if we hear anything good. Next version of Android will combine Gingerbread and Honeycomb, arrive on a six-month cycle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …BlackBerry PlayBook to ship with full versions of Tetris and Need For Speed: Undercover (video)
February 15, 2011 No Comment
EA Sports isn’t one to give things away , but that’s exactly what it’s doing on RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook . We still haven’t heard a concrete ship date for this thing, but EA swears up and down that these two titles will be finalized by the time it goes to market. Both Tetris and Need For Speed: Undercover will come pre-loaded on the device, with both being full, unabridged versions; in fact, NFS will feature a new mode specifically designed for getting into the game quickly on this very tablet. Smartly, there’s even a “slo mo” mode which slows everything down to enable accurate control even during hectic rides on the subway. We’ve lauded the PlayBook before, but we were duly impressed with just how well this thing handled multitasking. Even with NFS running in the background, we were able to play back a video in the foreground with nary a bit of lag during the transition. Tetris was predictably Tetris, and it only works when holding the slate vertically. We’ve got to confess that the inclusion of these two titles is quite the gesture, and considering the first four letters of this product’s name, we’d say it’s more than fitting. Hop on down to see a demonstration video of both, showcased here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Gallery: Tetris and Need For Speed: Undercover on BlackBerry PlayBook at MWC 2011 Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook to ship with full versions of Tetris and Need For Speed: Undercover (video) BlackBerry PlayBook to ship with full versions of Tetris and Need For Speed: Undercover (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Google won’t let anyone take pictures during its MWC 2011 keynote , so you’ll just have to trust us when we say Eric Schmidt just demoed a new video editing application called Movie Studio for Honeycomb tablets. The app was built from the ground up for tablet devices, and it features everything you’d expect: a timeline-style editor, picture effects, soundtrack and audio support, and of course, HD support with uploads to YouTube. Unfortunately we don’t know much else about it, but we’ll be digging for more details, so stay tuned. Update: We snuck a picture! You can see the timeline and the playback controls — it looks really nice, don’t you think? Google demos Android Movie Studio for Honeycomb originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you’re a vinyl aficionado, if you frequent college radio, if you’ve usually lost interest in the Next Big Thing long before they finally get a proper record deal, get ready to meet your dream job. It’s held by a few select people around the world, including Charles Slomovitz. Charles works for Shazam , the music identification service, and his gig is basically to hunt down what’s new and fresh. Hot Rhianna remix hitting the clubs? He’s on it. The Fleet Foxes album that’s on the way? He’ll be there, faster than a speed picker on Red Bull. The service is popular because it can identify what’s new while it’s still new, and it’s largely those like Charles searching the various musical niches scattered around the country that keep it fresh. The New York Times profile of his career on the other end of the source link is worth a read, and might just be something you want to talk to your guidance counselor about. [Image credit: Jim Wilson/The New York Times] The thrilling life of a Shazam music hunter originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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ZTE outed several new sets — and a tablet — at MWC 2011, so we went to grab some specs and pics of the Blade, Skate, and the Amigo (from left to right). The ZTE Skate is the top of the line product in this group with Android 2.3 — though, the placard at the stand has been blanked out — triple-band GSM, HSPA in 1900 / 2100Mhz range, a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive display, 5 megapixel cam, and likely the smallest keyboard we’ve ever seen, seriously, have a peek at the gallery. The Blade, which as our favorite in the group, runs Android 2.2, is downgraded to a 3 megapixel camera, a 3.5-inch display, quad-band GSM and 900 / 2100Mhz HSPA. The Amigo — what may be the lowliest as far as numbers are concerned — still has decent specs such as a 3.2-inch display, triple band GSM, 1900 / 2100 HSPA, and a side-sliding QWERTY keypad. The Blade and Skate both have great build quality, the screens are really bright and easily seen, the Amigo appears a bit more washed out and the housing build quality feels very cheap. The Skate is definitely the winner in the bells and whistles category, but unless you can swap out the onscreen keyboard it would definitely get a pass — and again, check out Joanna’s finger modeling in the gallery for proof. Enjoy the giant glossy gallery. Gallery: ZTE Amigo, Blade, and Skate hands-on ZTE Amigo, Blade, and Skate hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There may not be a native LTE network live in Barcelona yet, but that didn’t stop Big Red from hauling a 700MHz demonstration to Spain for the purposes of gloating at Mobile World Congress. We heard just days ago that the LG Revolution would be one of the first phones to support vioce over LTE ( VoLTE ) on Verizon, and today we were given quite a bit of extra information about the rollout. For starters, Verizon’s hoping that other carriers adopt their VoLTE platform, even going so far as to encourage it. It’s sort of comical to hear the company that once crippled Bluetooth on dumbphones and still makes you buy a month of data just to activate a tablet talk about “openness” when it comes to communications, but we suppose the tables are turned somewhat when it’s VZW that stands to gain. At any rate, VoLTE essentially acts as a VoIP lane, giving a specific amount of bandwidth to the call (which ensures call quality, unlike Skype, which is at the mercy of shared applications that are using the same bandwidth) and also enabling the phone to use data whilst the call it ongoing. The Revolution , which is slated to launch in March, will eventually gain VoLTE support, though VZW’s not expecting the feature to go live in America until next year. Bilal Wahid, Verizon Wireless’ Associate Director of Product Development, told us that at least initially, you may see VoLTE voice and videocalling available on Android smartphones, but there’s no reason that the same apps couldn’t be developed for other platforms. The call quality was on par with some of the high-bandwidth VoIP calls we’ve encountered, and the videocalling was particularly impressive. The resolution was tremendous, and there was essentially no lag whatsoever. Of course, this all happened over a locked, modular LTE network, so results will almost certainly vary out in the real world; regardless, it’s a beautiful start, and it certainly makes the wait to 2012 that much more difficult. Hop on past the break for a demonstration as well as a lengthy explanation of the technology, where it’s going, and when it’ll be implemented. Gallery: Verizon VoLTE voice and video call demo at MWC 2011 (video) Continue reading Verizon VoLTE voice and video call demo at MWC 2011 (video) Verizon VoLTE voice and video call demo at MWC 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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