Posts Tagged ‘engadget’
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Filed under: Handsets, Apple
Not to knock cellophane tape as a method for in-car iPhone navigation, but if you want to use the new TomTom app in a more proper setting, you’ll want the official TomTom car kit. In addition to enhancing the GPS signal and charging your iPhone, it’s also got hands-free dialing and a speaker that’s (presumably) better than the phone solo for giving directions. At a rumored price of just under $200 with software, it’s not a bad deal if you were planning to shell out $100 for the US maps, anyway. We’re still on the fence, but the hypnotic soundtrack of the promotion video is admittedly alluring. See for yourself after the break.
[Thanks, Arthur]
Continue reading TomTom’s iPhone car kit promo video is enticing, but still no mention of price or release date
TomTom’s iPhone car kit promo video is enticing, but still no mention of price or release date originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: accessories, Apple, carkit, dock, engadget, engadget-mobile, iphoneapp, iphonedock, messaging, mobile, turn-by-turn, turnbyturn
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Filed under: Software, Android
While Apple was busy batting away the FCC with its litany of reasons why its app approval process is totally hunky-dory, Google was apparently having it’s own VoIP-related firefight. It seems that an article in the USA Today which hit newsstands this morning alleges that the internet giant sought to block (dare we say reject) a full Skype application from making its way into the Android Market. The story claims that the application was neutered to become “a watered-down version of the original that routes calls over traditional phone networks” — which would obviously cast a decidedly malevolent slant to the benevolent company’s policies.
The story is surely fine fodder for a FUD enthusiast up to that point, but it appears (gasp) that USA Today may have gotten one minor fact wrong. Namely, that Google had any unsavory aim to clip the wings of the Skype app. According to company man Andy Rubin (on Google’s Public Policy Blog), the “lite” moniker was only attached due to technical limitations of the Android platform. In his words:
Here are the facts, clear and simple: While the first generation of our Android software did not support full-featured VoIP applications due to technology limitations, we have worked through those limitations in subsequent versions of Android, and developers are now able to build and upload VoIP services.
As we told USA Today earlier in the week Google did not reject an application from Skype or from any other company that provides VoIP services. To suggest otherwise is false. At this point no software developer — including Skype — has implemented a complete VoIP application for Android. But we’re excited to see — and use — these applications when they’re submitted, because they often provide more choice and options for users. We also look forward to the day when consumers can access any application, including VoIP apps, from any device, on any network.
Note the jab there at the end? Okay, swell. Of course, even if Google had rejected the app outright, users still could have installed the software through other avenues, as the Android Market is only a suggestion — not a mandate — for how consumers should acquire apps on Google’s platform.
[Via TechCrunch; Image courtesy eBoy]
Read – Google-AT&T-Apple fight over Net calls draws FCC interest
Read – Android and VoIP applications
Google refutes USA Today report on blocked Skype application originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Apple, culture, engadget, messaging, network, Nokia, rumor, voiceoverip, VoIP
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Filed under: Handsets, Software, Apple
We’re always a little hesitant to get too optimistic about changes to the
App Store approval process, but it looks like there’s been a few
hopeful changes to the way things are done in the past few days, which could well lead to some previously rejected apps becoming available. Perhaps the most encouraging sign is that Apple seems to actually be going back through rejected apps and contacting develops to resubmit their app (without any changes, mind you) for an “expedited review.” One such app is the Start Mobile Wallpaper Gallery, which was rejected for using Shepard Fairey’s famous “HOPE” image of Barack Obama on the grounds that it “ridicules public figures.” In other App Store news, the developer of the officially-licensed C64 emulator also says that it was contacted by a senior director at Apple, who reportedly said that there was “BIG news coming,” but didn’t elaborate any further. But, really, is there any news
bigger than a C64 emulator?
Read – TechCrunch, “Apple Continues To Right App Store Wrongs. Obama “Hope” App Is Go.”
Read – MacNN, “Apple reconsidering C64 Emulator for iPhone?”
Apple reconsiders rejected iPhone apps, C64 emulator on the way? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: App Store, c64 emulator, c64emulator, culture, engadget, engadget-mobile, iPhone, podcasts, rejected apps, rejectedapps
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Filed under: Handsets, Others, China Mobile, Android
The O1 isn’t even out yet, but a new filing with China’s regulatory folks suggests that Lenovo’s already hard at work at a lower-cost version that would swap out metal bits for plastic ones and kick the camera down from 5 megapixels to 3. On the plus side, buyers still make out with 8GB of internal storage and quite possibly China Mobile’s homegrown Android skin, so it can’t be all bad, right? Then again, this remix could be for a different carrier altogether, in which case we might be spared Open Mobile System’s uncomfortably iPhone-esque home screen — and really, that’d be just fine with us.
Lenovo’s O1e takes the O1 down a notch or three originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: china, china-mobile, chinamobile, culture, engadget, engadget-mobile, fcc fridays, games, handsets, Lenovo, mobile, o1e, oms, openmobilesystem
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Filed under: Accessories
No, someone didn’t just Photoshop the
Duracell logo on a
WildCharge pad — this actually is the newest product from the ubiquitous battery maker. Available this October, myGrid kits (including charger and one power sleeve) will be available for Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry handsets, as well as the many flavors of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. No price yet, but you’ll know as soon as we do.
[Via PhoneMag]
Duracell announces myGrid wireless charger, WildCharge feels a little KIRFed originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: accessories, Apple, breaking-news, charge, duracell, engadget, images, mobile, review, stumbleupon, television, wildcharge, wireless charging, wirelesscharging
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile
For many (if not most) iPhone developers, the App Store’s overheated competition and bloated inventory have led to scorched-earth pricing that makes it virtually impossible to parlay mobile development into a valid for-profit business model without turning to subscriptions or in-app advertising. RIM’s tried to nip that behavior in the bud by capping the minimum sale price at $2.99, and it sounds like Microsoft feels the same way in light of the flowery, motivational language being thrown the way of developers at learning sessions ahead of the Marketplace’s launch. “I know, 99 cents is interesting — yes, consumers like to pay 99 cents for applications,” admits Microsoft’s Loke Uei, “but 99 cents, come on, I think your app is worth more than that.” You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth, people — your app is worth more than that. Ultimately, Uei says the goal is to set the bench higher by keeping low-quality apps out of the Marketplace, but to start out and beef up, they might consider taking all the crap they can get and worrying about stroking devs’ egos after the fact. If the store’s client app makes it easy enough to browse, search, and get to best-of-breed content, this point should be moot anyhow.
Microsoft tells WinMo devs they’re beautiful, worth more than 99 cents originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: engadget, fcc fridays, messaging, Microsoft, mobile, network, podcasts, softbank-mobile, windows marketplace, Windows Mobile, windowsmarketplace, windowsmobile, WinMo
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Filed under: Peripherals, Samsung
Nothing too exhilarating here, but if you’re looking for something new to sit atop the peak on your ear, Samsung’s got a new trio it’d love for you to consider. The most interesting of the three is undoubtedly the WEP870, which marries a noise-canceling Bluetooth mono headset (with BT music streaming) to a set of earbuds. As with the less thrilling WEP850 and WEP470, this one also features multi-connection technology in order to pair with up to two BT devices at once. The 870 steps things up with an LCD screen to display battery level, call status and BT connection status, while the other two handle calls and little else. All three are available for purchase right now for $89.99 (WEP870), $69.99 (WEP850) and $39.99 (WEP470).
[Via HotHardware]
Samsung’s WEP870 Bluetooth headset comes with earbuds, bundles of joy originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Bluetooth, breaking-news, engadget, Facebook, mobile, music, network, News, peripherals, Samsung
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Filed under: Software, Nokia, Symbian
It’s not going to knock your socks off with a plethora of Earth-shattering new features, a faster processor, and a capacitive display that magically sprouts out of the micro-USB port and replaces the resistive one, but Nokia’s latest N97 firmware still sounds like a worthwhile download. Version 12.0.024 is said to be purely a bug fix and performance improvement release, and early accounts seem to validate that claim — as always, availability will vary around the world based on your carrier and product code, but it’s worth a hookup to NSU to see if it’s available to you.
[Via All About Symbian]
Nokia N97 gets a minor firmware bump originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: accessories, breaking-news, browser, engadget, engadget-mobile, fcc fridays, internet, N97, network, Nokia, S60, upgrade
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Linux
Eldar Murtazin at mobile-review teased us with that shot of Nokia’s RX-51 / N900 Maemo 5 tablet earlier today, and now he’s back in force with a detailed preview. We’re talking tons of hardware pictures and screenshots of what stands to be the standard-bearer for all Nokia devices going forward, and while we’d love to tell you all about how impressed we are with what we’re seeing of Maemo 5 and how disappointed we are in the Rover’s resistive touchscreen, we won’t hold you back — hit the read link and dive right in.
Nokia’s Maemo 5 RX-51 / N900 tablet gets exhaustively previewed originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: breaking-news, breakingnews, engadget, handsets, internet-tablet, internettablet, maemo5, network, rogers-wireless, rx-51
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Filed under: Handsets, Software, RIM
Sounds like RIM’s trying to do more than just bring the woeful BlackBerry browser up to par with the competition — Boy Genius Report says Waterloo’s trying to leap way out in front by building in full Flash and Silverlight support. BGR says it’ll be full Flash, not Flash Lite or the Open Screen Project’s mobile Flash 10 implementation, but don’t get too excited: it’ll be next summer before RIM ships devices fast enough to handle it, and even then things may be delayed since they’ll need HSPA or LTE data speeds to pull it off. Hey, maybe in the meantime all those engineers could maybe work on things like properly rendering a text page? Just an idea.
BlackBerry browser to get full Flash and Silverlight support? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: adobe, browser, engadget, fcc fridays, flash, lte, messaging, RIM
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