Hamster-powered miniature Strandbeest proves that sometimes, cute is a gadget
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Sometimes, after a hard day of gadget blogging, you just want to sit down at your terminal and watch a funny, heart-warming video of a hamster running furiously (as they will) in a plastic ball attached to a Strandbeest traveling across a table to the delight of watching children. Right? Video is after the break. Continue reading Hamster-powered miniature Strandbeest proves that sometimes, cute is a gadget Hamster-powered miniature Strandbeest proves that sometimes, cute is a gadget originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …webOS Enyo framework free to developers today, brings pixel density agnostic apps to phones, tablets and PC (video)
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Development frameworks don’t make for exciting gadget news, but HP’s Enyo is kind of a big deal. It’s the little dealie that allows new webOS apps to stretch between vastly disparate screen resolutions — say, tablet and phone — and still work just fine, and since it’s based completely on web technologies, they can also run in a PC browser with no formal emulator or OS install required. While dev team lead Matthew McNulty pitched the browser functionality as a debugging boon, we’re starting to wonder if that’s how HP could bring webOS to PCs to start — rather than a dual-boot or a UI layer, it could simply make your favorite apps available in a web store. Sound like fun? HP says you can download the basic package right now for free if you’re a member of the webOS developer early access program, and start cracking on some apps of your very own. We’ll have video of an Enyo-powered app on PC in just a tad, so keep your eyes glued to this post. Update: Video after the break! Gallery: webOS framework “Enyo” eyes-on Continue reading webOS Enyo framework free to developers today, brings pixel density agnostic apps to phones, tablets and PC (video) webOS Enyo framework free to developers today, brings pixel density agnostic apps to phones, tablets and PC (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Former Lucasfilm CTO Richard Kerris takes over as head of webOS developer relations
February 10, 2011 No Comment
HP’s having a blowout webOS developer event here in San Francisco to bookend its big product announcements from this morning, and it kicked things off with a personnel announcement — Richard Kerris is taking over as head of webOS developer relations. Don’t recognize the name? Richard was formerly the chief technology officer at Lucasfilm, where he was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 innovators to Watch,” and before that he was a senior director of developer relations for a little company called Apple. That’s quite a pedigree — and Richard told the crowd here that he views developers as his primary customers, so it’s clear he’ll be working hard to win their favor. That said, we think he’s got quite a challenge evangelizing developers to support a platform that won’t have compelling new products out for months — let’s all wish him luck. Former Lucasfilm CTO Richard Kerris takes over as head of webOS developer relations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Bloomberg: Nokia definitely in talks with Microsoft, partnership likely
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Nokia will jump from the burning platform this Friday, but whither will it dive? Towards Microsoft and Windows Phone 7, as continually rumored , or towards Google and Android? Two turkeys told us the latter isn’t likely, and Bloomberg ‘s anonymous sources seem to agree, saying that Nokia is indeed in the final stages of talks with Microsoft, and is “close to announcing a software partnership.” These spooks also say that Google was also in the running, but is no longer favored for the job, and as such we’re very likely to see Windows Phone 7 running on Nokia devices soon. We’re sure you’ll have some very strong opinions about that — we had a few ourselves — but please keep it clean in comments below! Bloomberg: Nokia definitely in talks with Microsoft, partnership likely originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Activision kills Guitar Hero division to the consternation of fake musicians everywhere
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Guitar Hero had its time in the sun as one of the most successful franchises in musical gaming. Still, it’s been no secret that the once-respected brand, owned by Activision, has experienced pretty steep declines in the past few years, especially on the lackluster Guitar Hero 5 . So, surprising or not, the announcement today that Activision would disband the Guitar Hero team and kill off development of the next title in the series is a sad bit of news to hear (though in fact, not as sad as hearing, say, Chinese Democracy ). This announcement comes on the heels of larger-scaled layoffs at Activision, and more cuts are rumored in the DJ Hero division, as well. At least we still have Rock Band , right? Activision kills Guitar Hero division to the consternation of fake musicians everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Original Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi and Pixi Plus won’t get updated to webOS 2.0
February 10, 2011 No Comment
We had a chance to sit down with Jon Rubinstein after HP’s webOS event today, and he confirmed some unfortunate news for us: older Palm devices like the original Pre, the Pre Plus, the Pixi, and the Pixi Plus won’t receive that previously promised update to webOS 2.0 . Jon was pretty candid with us, saying that Palm had “missed a product cycle” in the midst of its financial troubles and subsequent acquisition by HP last year, and that the older products simply don’t have the horsepower to properly run webOS 2.0 and beyond. That said, it’s clear that he wants to do right by customers — he told us that HP would do “something special” for owners of older hardware when the Pre 3, the Veer, and the TouchPad hit the market. We’ll see what that entails — and whether or not anyone actually sticks it out on webOS 1.4.5 until the new gear ships sometime this summer. P.S.- We have lots more from our talk with Jon coming up — including some actually good news — so keep an eye on this space. Original Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi and Pixi Plus won’t get updated to webOS 2.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Broadcom is giving Google a lot of love of late, with the announcement of its second Android-ready processor in as many months hitting us today. The new BCM28150 is a big step up from its predecessor (released in December), and sports a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 at 1.1GHz; an HSPA+ modem doing 21Mbps; and Broadcom’s VideoCore IV VPU (vector processing unit). What’s more, it touts 12-megapixel camera imaging, 3D video and gaming at 1080p, HDMI out, and the obligatory Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS amenities. If the BCM28150 is your bag, Broadcom plans to demo the thing in Barcelona next week, but if a trip to Spain is too rich for your blood, you can always check out the PR after the jump (and keep it locked right here for our own MWC coverage, of course). Continue reading Broadcom announces yet another Android-friendly dual-core processor Broadcom announces yet another Android-friendly dual-core processor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Now this is what we’re talking about! Sure, we’ve been well aware of RIM’s plans to take the PlayBook to Sprint (and maybe even Verizon ), but if this Office Depot listing is to be believed, a 16GB, WiFi version of the 7-inch tablet will also be heading to some retailers for the very competitive price of $499.99. It’s really the first solid PlayBook pricing we’ve seen, and we’ve got to admit, we’re happy to see that RIM followed through on its word to offer the touchscreen slab for under $500 . (And hey, it sure beats the leaked Xoom pricing we saw earlier this week.) Unfortunately, the screenshot above doesn’t reveal much more, although it lists the QNX-powered slate as hitting Office Depot stores on “Week 17,” which we are assuming is sometime in the March or April timeframe. That certainly lines up with what we’ve heard before — now we’re just stuck waiting for spring to start and hoping Office Depot’s cut out its shady practices and is willing to sell us one of these without an extended warranty . [Thanks, Braden] WiFi BlackBerry PlayBook priced at $500 in Office Depot’s systems originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It may not have provided a live stream, but HP has at least quickly turned around a complete video of today’s nearly two hour-long ” Think Beyond ” event in San Francisco. Head on past the break to see the announcements of the TouchPad , Pre 3 and Veer as they happened, along with few other surprises . Unfortunately for those watching at home, it seems HP wasn’t able to think beyond 360p. Continue reading HP posts complete ‘Think Beyond’ event video HP posts complete ‘Think Beyond’ event video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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HP confirmed that slick webOS keyboard we saw leaked a while back during its event today , and we got a quick chance to check it out. It’s really, really thin — and the battery compartment is tucked under the curve, so from most angles it looks like it’s not even there. Apart from that, it’s just a really nice keyboard, albeit one with a webOS function key next to the space bar. No price or availability yet, unfortunately, but we’ll keep digging. Gallery: HP webOS keyboard hands-on HP’s webOS keyboard hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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