CrackBerry looks to have just gotten the inside scoop on everything RIM has planned for the CDMA side of the wireless divide in 2011 — and as usual, it seems they’ll be supporting it just as well as they do the GSM guys. Going chronologically, first up will be a CDMA PlayBook in the second quarter of the year; so far, Sprint’s WiMAX version (sans CDMA support) is the only carrier-partnered version of the tablet announced. Next comes Montana — a CDMA version of the Dakota — which may come to market as the Bold Touch; as the name implies, you can expect the classic portrait QWERTY Bold form factor with the addition of a touchscreen. Look for that one in the third quarter alongside the Monaco (pictured above), which looks like a much sleeker Storm successor featuring a 1.2GHz Qualcomm core, a 3.7-inch WVGA display, and a 5 megapixel camera with HD video capture. Next, we’ll get a CDMA flavor of the Apollo dubbed Sedona, a next-gen Curve with NFC support; that’ll happen sometime around fall. Finally, looking into early 2012 we’ll get a device codenamed Malibu that looks to be a full-screen Curve Touch with slightly lower specs than the Monaco. On the technology side, most of these new devices will be adopting a handful of technologies not seen on BlackBerrys before, including digital compasses, NFC, HD video recording and “management,” and better HTML5 media support; they’ll also be getting OpenGL support, mobile hotspot capability, 24-bit color, a better web browser, and an overhauled virtual keyboard by way of BlackBerry OS 6.1, which should be present in everything that gets launched here. Caught up? Given the lack of dual-core processors here — the kind of CPUs Lazaridis says he needs to drop QNX on phones — we’d say “no,” but they might be getting within earshot. Follow the break for a shot of the full roadmap. Continue reading BlackBerry Monaco Touch, Bold Touch, Sedona, and more leaked for CDMA BlackBerry Monaco Touch, Bold Touch, Sedona, and more leaked for CDMA originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google refocuses under Larry Page; Eric Schmidt says Microsoft is bigger competition than Facebook
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Now that the dust has settled from the Google CEO shuffle that will see Larry Page take the top spot from Eric Schmidt in April, it’s time for the profiles of the company to hit — and Bloomberg BusinessWeek is up first with a piece that examines the company’s past and future challenges, as well the key leaders of what it calls “Google 3.0″: Vic Gundotra, who’s heading up a now-not-so-secret social networking initiative called Google +1, Android chief Andy Rubin, YouTube head Salar Kamangar, advertising lead Susan Wojcicki, Chrome head Sundar Pichai, and search leads Udi Manber and Amit Singhal. It’s all very fascinating, and it includes some great anecdotes, like Vic Gundotra and Phil Schiller getting into an argument about user location-tracking so heated that Eric Schmidt and Steve Jobs had to intervene. Yeah, it’s like that. Speaking of Eric Schmidt, he was in Davos this week, and he had some choice words for reporters on Google’s competition — and it’s not Facebook. “Microsoft has more cash, more engineers, more global reach. We see competition from Microsoft every day,” says Eric, while Facebook “has clearly stated they don’t want to get into the search business. Facebook users tend to use Google search.” As for Apple, he gave the usual line about both partnering with and competing with Cupertino, while taking a moment to laud Steve Jobs as “the most successful CEO in the world anywhere,” who’s built an “elegant, scalable, closed system” while “Google is attempting to do something with a completely different approach.” Spoken like a true frenemy, we suppose. Check out the source links to read both pieces. Google refocuses under Larry Page; Eric Schmidt says Microsoft is bigger competition than Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Olympus E-PL2 camera gets reviewed, deemed worthy to carry on the E-PL1′s torch
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Olympus’s E-PL2 only surfaced on the public radar just last month , and already reviews are rolling in indicating The Schwartz is quite strong with this latest Micro Four Thirds entrant. Interestingly enough, both Photography Blog and Popular Mechanics saw the improved MSC 14 to 42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens as the most important change to the new rig. That’s because it’s been retooled to be lighter, slimmer, and shorter, adding to the overall compact feel of the camera. A new internal focus is also apparently much faster and nearly silent — making it more appealing for video shooting. Outside of the lens changes, both saw the camera’s new 3-inch, 460,000-dot LCD, faster max shutter speeds, and greater ISO sensitivity as welcomed additions to the solid foundations laid by the E-PL1 , resulting in a highly recommended rating from PB . Reviewers at Popular Mechanics also futzed around with the new Bluetooth-enabled photo sharing PENPal accessory and found it great for transferring photos to a phone — but lamented how it blocked the camera’s hot shoe in the process. To dive into all the juicy review details for yourself hit up the source links below. Olympus E-PL2 camera gets reviewed, deemed worthy to carry on the E-PL1′s torch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Rude Gameware’s Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse v2 has a long name and a lengthy spec sheet
January 27, 2011 No Comment
When the crew at Rude Gameware aren’t flipping burgers , they’re building gaming gear — like this Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse V2 — and while we haven’t seen anything particularly groundbreaking, there’s some bang for the buck to be had. This rodent in particular brings the heat with a 5000dpi laser sensor with a 1ms response time and 1000Hz polling rate, on-board memory to save configurations and macros for each of its seven programmable buttons, adjustable weights and on-the-fly DPI, a braided cord and even a moderately comfortable-looking design. Best of all, it’ll manage to deliver all that for a nickel shy of $50 next month. Oh, it’ll have some storied competitors at that price point, to be sure, but now you have more choices. Isn’t capitalism grand? PR after the break. Continue reading Rude Gameware’s Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse v2 has a long name and a lengthy spec sheet Rude Gameware’s Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse v2 has a long name and a lengthy spec sheet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Details of the new BlackBerry Messenger are leaking out all over the internet today, and what we’re seeing is an app that could make your CrackBerry even more impossible to put away. In a move that shows RIM’s eagerness to loosen up a bit, BBM 6 could be adding at least one new feature that isn’t exactly boardroom-appropriate: gaming. Rumor has it that the app’s new iteration, which will run on OS 5.0 and greater, incorporates a function that allows users to use their BBM name as their gamer name, as well as update their status automatically to reflect completed gaming tasks. BBM 6 would also allow for larger chat groups and cross chat. We’ve no real way of predicting the app’s impact, but if the rumors turn out to be true, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a second coming of the BlackBerry massage . BlackBerry Messenger 6 details leaked, we fear for addicts everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The description in Software Update may only say that it brings a “number of important stability and performance improvements,” but Apple’s just-released iTunes 10.1.2 update also adds another fairly important feature: support for the Verizon iPhone 4 . That detail is tucked away in the “before you install” document included when you download iTunes from Apple’s website (rather than Software Update), and actually only refers to the “iPhone 4 (CDMA model),” which you can read into what you will. Apple releases iTunes 10.1.2 with support for ‘CDMA model’ iPhone 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Amazon celebrates its first ‘$10 billion quarter’ in sales, finds Kindle books overtaking paperbacks
January 27, 2011 No Comment
July 19, 2010 marked the day that Amazon’s digital book sales eclipsed the sales of hardcover books, and it barely took half a year for those e-book sales to also overtake the sales of paperbacks. According to the ouftit’s latest earnings release, “Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com.” The company had surmised that this would happen by Q2 of this year, but it clearly went down a lot earlier than even it expected. Bezos and co. also sold through $12.95 billion worth of goods, representing The Jungle’s first “$10 billion quarter.” That came up to $416 million in net income, representing an eight percent uptick year-over-year. Of note, operating income slipped from $476 million in Q4 2009 to $474 million this year, with the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates generating a staggering $18 million hit. When looking at 2010 as a whole, Amazon’s sales were up 40 percent over 2009, with operating income rising some 25 percent to $1.41 billion compared to the whole of 2009. Speaking specifically of the Kindle , the company is now moving 115 Kindle books for every 100 paperbacks sold, but this obviously only takes into account the US book business. We’re still no closer to finding out exactly how many Kindles have been moved, but we’re told that “millions” of the third-gen model were moved in Q4 2010, and the Kindle Storeitself has over 810,000 books on its digital shelves. Head on past the break if you’re thirsty for more, Sir Economist. Continue reading Amazon celebrates its first ‘$10 billion quarter’ in sales, finds Kindle books overtaking paperbacks Amazon celebrates its first ‘$10 billion quarter’ in sales, finds Kindle books overtaking paperbacks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Engadget interview: SCEA’s Jack Tretton talks Sony NGP, announces (and then denounces) PlayStation Suite for PS3
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Ever since his candid and humorous E3 2009 Sony keynote introduction — wherein he thanked the audience for showing up despite the big news ( PSP Go ) having already been leaked — we’ve always had something of a soft spot for Jack Tretton. We managed to have a sit-down with the SCEA President-CEO following the company’s big Tokyo meeting, a non-working NGP unit in tow. For a brief moment, Tretton “confirmed” that PlayStation Suite games (currently slated for Android devices) would work on PlayStation 3. We asked rather directly, to which he responded, “Yes, they will. Yeah.” By the next question, however, he explained that he might’ve misspoken and wanted to clarify that Suite is only NGP right now. It should come as no surprise, then, that there was no talk of Suite for any other devices, be it Bravia sets or Google TV. Tretton said there was at least one compatible Android device currently on the market but wouldn’t elaborate — given the 2.3 requirement, we’re presuming he meant the Nexus S . We weren’t able to get him to budge on the issue of the NGP’s price, but we did ask him to opine on the Nintendo 3DS’s $250 tag. Instead of offering friendly competitive jabs, he said only, “I think if the quality’s there, then the people will find a way to buy it, within reason… I think that if you could create content that consumers sees compelling, they’ll find money that they didn’t think they had.” A bit too reminiscent of former boss Ken Kutaragi’s old adages , but hey, it’s not like we expected a sub-$300 sticker, anyway. Some other highlights: Tretton wouldn’t definitively say whether or not original PSP titles are in Suite’s future — “at this point, it’s PlayStation One games, but I think it can go in a number of directions.” This runs a bit counter to what Kaz Hirai said earlier in the day, but either he might’ve misspoken or the translator erred. The controller overlay we saw used as an example at the event was just that — an example, with no guarantee of future use. That “holiday 2011″ launch applies to at least one territory, but Sony was “ambiguous for a reason” (i.e. simultaneous global rollout is a dream but far from a promise.) We probably won’t have a clearer image until fall rolls around, sometime after E3. No discussion on battery life, but Sony is “certainly look to improve upon [original PSP].” For what it’s worth, that one measured about 4.5 to 7 hours at launch, and Sony eventually sold an extended-life pack. PS Suite will have non-gaming apps. A WiFi-only version? “We haven’t made any determination on models yet,” which is infinitely more vague than the confirmation of non-3G SKUs from SCEE president Andrew House. Will Sony or a Sony partner make a flagship device to show off the Suite? A, dare we say, PlayStation phone ? “Stay tuned” was all Tretton would say, followed by a laugh. Hey, at least we acknowledged the elephant in the room. Full transcription after the break. Gallery: Sony NGP detailed hands-on Continue reading Engadget interview: SCEA’s Jack Tretton talks Sony NGP, announces (and then denounces) PlayStation Suite for PS3 Engadget interview: SCEA’s Jack Tretton talks Sony NGP, announces (and then denounces) PlayStation Suite for PS3 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Microsoft announces Q2 earnings: $6.63b profit, Xbox revenue up 55%, Windows down 29%
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Microsoft just announced it’s had itself a solid second quarter, posting an $6.63 billion profit on record revenues of $19.95 billion. That’s more or less about the same as last year, when it racked up a $6.66 billion profit on $19 billion in revenue — and while the numbers look stable and Redmond managed to slightly beat estimates, things are changing fast underneath the bottom line: strong Kinect and Xbox 360 sales drove Entertainment and Devices Division revenue up 55 percent to $3.6 billion, but Windows and Windows Live revenue fell nearly 30 percent to $5.05 billion. That means the revenue gap between Microsoft’s consumer device business and the Windows business is now just some $1.3 billion, compared to $4.8 billion this time last year — and it undoubtedly explains why Xbox got top billing at Ballmer’s CES keynote this year, after traditionally being ignored, and why Microsoft is moving Windows to ARM as the mobile and tablet spaces heat up. As for Windows Phone 7, there’s nary a peep, even though Microsoft was just crowing about moving 2 million licenses yesterday — we’re taking that to mean the infant OS hasn’t had any meaningful impact on revenue yet. We’re going to jump on the call at 5:30PM ET, we’ll let you know if anything good happens. Update: Corrected the profit numbers: it’s a $6.63b profit and a $8.17b operating income, not a $8.17b profit. Update 2: As noted by our friend Michael Gartenberg, Microsoft’s Q210 Windows division revenue was boosted by the inclusion of $1.71 billion in deferred Windows 7 upgrade sales and OEM pre-sales, so if you take those out, the gap between Windows and Xbox went from 3.1 billion in Q210 to 1.3 billion this quarter, and Windows sales are down 8 percent. It’s not a huge change for the big picture, but it’s worth noting the revenue deferral in context — Microsoft moved cash around so it would have a huge launch quarter for Windows 7, and now things are evening out. Microsoft announces Q2 earnings: $6.63b profit, Xbox revenue up 55%, Windows down 29% originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’ve no real qualms with iMovie for iOS — for a phone-based editor, it’s fairly impressive. But of course, it does cost money to own, and for some, that’s a major issue. Thankfully for those uninterested in ever spending a dime in the App Store, there’s Splice. This one’s been around for a few months, but the latest version (2.1.11) just happened to land a few days ago. The folks over at Lifehacker have taken it for a spin on the iPhone 4, and for a completely gratis video editor, it certainly looks like a worthwhile download. There’s an ad-free version available for $1.99, and even that’s less damaging to your finances than Apple’s first-party solution. Hit play below to see what’s in store. Continue reading Splice iPhone video editor does iMovie tricks for free (video) Splice iPhone video editor does iMovie tricks for free (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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