Archive for July, 2009
Android’s official code repository has been updated with a fresh load of Donut stuff in the past day or so, and as you might imagine, the dev community is already having a field day with it. Early reports show that all of the features demoed at I/O this year have made it into this cut in one form or another, including universal search, text-to-speech, and gesture support, allowing users to draw symbols on the screen to trigger actions. What’s more, though, the codebase is showing signs of CDMA support — a must for Sprint and Verizon, of course, both of whom will almost certainly have Android sets at one point or another — and a cool 5-in-1 bank of toggle switches in a home screen widget that can be used to control common features like Bluetooth and WiFi.
Perhaps more excitingly, the community is hard at work on a couple major fronts here: first off, the Donut build is actively being ported to current handsets, and an Android Dev Phone 1 / T-Mobile G1 version is already available (though very, very crashy and incomplete right now). Secondly, work is being conducted to extract major elements of Donut (some of the new widgets, for example) and roll them into cooked 1.5 builds, making the best stuff available in a more solid, accessible form without having to wait for 2.0 to become stable. If you’re an adventurous — nay, borderline mental — G1 owner, though, you can start your journey to Donut right now.
[Thanks, Yoav R.]
Read – Donut availability
Read – G1 port
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Early Android 2.0 “Donut” build available, up and running on G1 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
July 25, 2009
We admit it: despite our general disregard for the benefits of higher education, we’ve always harbored deep jealousy for those incredibly intelligent jerks at MIT’s Media Lab, traipsing around Massachusetts in their incredibly great wearable computers. Well, now that a MicroPCTalk forum member has built his very own wearable computer from a few spare parts lying around the house, we can finally put aside those futile dreams and get to work on our very own nerd-badge-of-honor. Mr. Fiveseven808 took a VAIO UX, Myvu Crystal wearable display, a bevy of Bluetooth peripherals and a iDEN i425 handset for connectivity. Sadly, his UX has since died, but there’s more UMPC where that can, and those elitist MIT types can’t us down forever.
[Via SlashGear]
Filed under: Wearables
DIY wearable computer: now you don’t have to go to MIT to look like a total nerd in public originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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July 25, 2009
Redmond was the place to be last night, as Microsoft gave over that long-anticipated Windows 7 RTM code to its favorite OEM partners, including HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, ASUS (pictured), Acer, Dell, Sony and Fujitsu-Siemens. Even if you’re not big into operating system nuts and bolts, it’s hard not to get just a little choked up as one nerd hands a nondescript white box to another nerd. You know there’s magic in the air.
[Thanks, JagsLive]
Filed under: Software
Microsoft invites some of its bestest OEM buddies over for a Windows 7 RTM code handoff party originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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July 25, 2009
Filed under: Storage
OCZ’s Colossus SSD comes out of its shell originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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July 25, 2009
MSI’s seductive X-Slim lineup first dropped jaws back at CeBIT, and it’s been tempting PC addicts ever since hitting the market a few months back. Many have argued that the X-Slim family looks just a bit too much like that other ultraslim lappie over there, but we’d say these are distinct enough to walk their own path. Catering to a wide range of potential customers, MSI has actually issued quite a few of these machines, from the X320 to the X340 to the X600. If you’ve been fortunate enough to pick one of these up for yourself, how has the user experience been? Is it as much a looker in person as you thought it’d be? Are you satisfied with performance? Anything missing for the price? Go on and get heard, won’t you?
Filed under: Laptops
How would you change MSI’s X-Slim ultraportable line? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals
Apogee debuts GiO USB guitar interface and controller for Macs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We can only hope that the travesty that is slotMusic isn’t coming over to the film side, but just days after Disney announced its intentions to offer up major motion pictures on microSD cards, Sonic Solutions has stepped in to bring CinemaNow flicks to USB flash drives. Unlike you’d probably think this would work, Sonic has actually developed these to function in more than one place. Each stick contains a movie along with an integrated media player and the necessary video codecs, but aside from enabling users to play back content locally, there’s also the option of catching it remotely. Once connected to the ‘net, owners can add the title to their Roxio CinemaNow Digital Locker to access it on network-connected Blu-ray players and HDTVs. If all goes well, the first drives will start showing up in Q4 of this year, just in time to puzzle your young ones when they unwrap their favorite film on something other than a round disc.
[Via HotHardware]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video
Sonic brings CinemaNow films to flash drives, connected devices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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July 24, 2009
The Mini 5101, or Mini Executive as HP would have it, is now available to purchase, with prices starting at $399.99. While still a netbook at heart, the 5101 has an impressive array of accoutrements: aluminum and magnesium shell for lightweight (2.64 lbs) sturdiness, flat chiclet keyboard, 10.1-inch LED-backlit display, and at an extra cost, 128GB SSD and 1366 x 768 resolution upgrade options. The build quality and keyboard got high marks from us when we handled the machine back in June, and now a couple of online scribes have put together timely in-depth reviews of the device. They share the impression that HP has a strong business product on its hands, highlighted by a class-leading WiFi signal of 37.7 Mbps at 15 feet, though they were also concerned that neither pricing nor battery life (between 5 and 7 hours) are the best available. Hit up the read links for all the delectable details.
[Thanks, Knifex4]
Read – HP product page
Read – Laptop Mag review
Read – PC Mag review
Filed under: Laptops
HP Mini 5101 netbook approved for use by mini executives originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
One more note about that Android-powered HTC Click that we saw in a gloriously-framed shot yesterday morning: it’s going to be cheap. It had been said all along that the Click would mark HTC’s first Android entry into the low-end fray (joining the Touch Viva on WinMo), meaning the sticker price would be kept to a minimum — but the Vietnamese forum that first brought you this picture is saying that we’re looking at somewhere between 5 and 6 million dong, which works out to $280 to $336 unlocked. That’s cheap enough to ensure that it’s free on contract virtually anywhere in the world where it’s sold, bringing Android to a whole new demographic. Now, just call us when the Hero’s down to $280, eh?
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Android-powered HTC Click rumored to be crazy cheap unlocked originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[Via iTech News Net]
AspireRevo rebranded as the Atom 330-based Gateway QX2800 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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