Mobile, Internet, etc

Filed under: Software, Sony Ericsson, Android

Calling this Rachael UI an Android “skin” is like calling Windows 95 a “DOS skin,” but that’s not to say there’s nothing to love about it. In fact, we’re rather relieved that Sony Ericsson seems to be addressing Android’s incredibly lackluster media playback interface, the SE “mediascape” version of which dominates this particular video — a sequel to the first Rachael UI tease we got back in July. You know what else is great? The video title name drops the same luscious screen resolution as the DROID, 480 x 854, which spells all sorts of good things for SE’s first Android entry. Video is after the break, and if that doesn’t do the trick for you, the Rachael hardware is being teased over on this end of the internet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading New Sony Ericsson Rachael UI video hits, still looks nothing like Android

New Sony Ericsson Rachael UI video hits, still looks nothing like Android originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Peripherals, Apple

Why confine your nerdy sloth to your living room, where large robots mime fake guitar and serve you sloppy mixed drinks? Take that zest for the sedentary life with you on the road by having one of your robot ninjas steal this iPhone Rock Band robot from its ingenious creator, Joe Bowers. The Arduino-based device uses ambient light sensors to detect the falling notes and then taps out the music with some conductive foam attached to some squeaky fake fingers. Joe did a fairly detailed write-up, and even uploaded his code, so there’s presumably nothing stopping you from actually doing something with your life and building one of these with all that free time you’ve saved up by hacking your way through all the console-based guitar games. Video is after the break.

[Via Daily Mobile]

Continue reading Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone

Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Apple

The iPhone is one of the most wildly popular phones the world has ever seen, while Windows 7 is well on its way to becoming the globe’s most ubiquitous OS. So compatibility between the two would be kinda sorta important, right? Tell that to Intel’s quality control team who seem to have somehow missed an issue between Apple’s app carrier deluxe and the P55 Express chipset’s USB controller. Consistent (and persistent) syncing issues have been reported on Apple’s support forums, wherein iTunes on Windows 7 machines recognizes the iPhone, but spits out an “error 0xE8000065″ message whenever the user attempts to sync. While some have found limited success with using PCI-based USB cards (and bypassing the chipset), this is clearly a major issue and something Apple would expect to be fixed before shipping its Core i5 / i7 iMacs, which are likely to sport the chipset. Hit the read link for the original thread of sorrow and regret, and do chime in with your own experience in the comments.

[Via The Register]

iPhone and Windows 7 don’t play nice, Intel P55 chipset to blame originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Palm, webOS

Whoa, is that webOS 2.0 we see on the horizon? No, sorry, it definitely isn’t — but we can say with relative confidence that the upcoming Pixi will be shipping with a newer, slightly more feature-rich version of webOS than its Pre brethren around the world; if nothing else, Synergy supports Yahoo on the new model, as PreCentral observes. What remains to be seen is the exact version number that’ll be shipping out of the gate — recent DSLReports user agent logs suggest that 1.2.9 might be the gold build (for the record, the Sprint Pre currently rocks 1.2.1), but apparently there’s some chatter going on about a 1.3 as well. Doesn’t seem like much of a difference, but a 0.1 increment usually means more features, fixes, and changes than a 0.01 increment does, so naturally, we’re pulling for a bigger number. There isn’t any intel on what this mythical 1.3 might contain just yet or whether it’d be heading to Bell, Sprint, and O2 Pres, but we’ll keep an eye out.

Palm Pixi definitely shipping with a new webOS version, but which? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Like it or not, we’ve got it on pretty reasonable authority that HTC’s first “DROID” phone is nothing more than a rebadged, shape-shifted Hero (something we’ve been hearing for a while now), and that it’ll be launching on Verizon on November 6th, the same day as Motorola’s DROID. That means Android 1.5 “Cupcake,” Sense UI, 3.2-inch screen, 528MHz processor and so forth. The Eris will retail for $199 but with a $100 mail-in rebate. It’ll pack in an 8GB microSD card and the hopes and dreams of a generation of cheapskates that will be hopin’ and prayin’ that HTC manages to push Android 2.0 onto this thing so they don’t look too bad in front of their DROID-toting buddies on Verizon.

[Thanks, anonymous]

Leaked docs show HTC’s DROID Eris launching on November 6th for $99, running Android 1.5 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Features

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol’ Federal Communications Commission’s site. Since we couldn’t possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we’ve gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don’t need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - LG GB280
Read - LG LN510
Read - LG MT310
Read - LG GW825
Read - Samsung B5310
Read - Samsung i6330C
Read - Samsung S3600i
Read - Samsung SCH-W259
Read - Samsung SPH-M8400
Read - Samsung SPH-W9700
Read - Sanyo SCP-6760
Read - Huawei U8220-6
Read - Panasonic 840P

Peripherals
Read - Huawei ePico3801
Read - ZTE AC2766
Read - Parrot Grande Specchio

FCC Fridays originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Android

Somewhat unusually, Verizon and Motorola actually gave us four DROID review units to play with — and while Paul, Nilay, and Chris all contributed to Josh’s official Engadget review, there were definitely some different perspectives (and dissenting opinions) amongst the team. Rather than try to squeeze everything together into one jumbled whole, we thought we’d let everyone add their own take on what’s clearly a watershed device for Motorola, Google, and Verizon. Read on for more!

Continue reading More on the DROID: thoughts from the rest of Engadget

More on the DROID: thoughts from the rest of Engadget originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets

Don’t panic, we haven’t gone back in time. What we’re looking at here is the world’s first but still-yet-to-be-released phone that runs on Windows XP, and its Chinese maker has just released some juicy specs and interface images to tease us all. The ITG xpPhone will be blessed with the chutzpah-filled AMD “Super Mobile” CPU, coupled with either 512MB or 1GB RAM. Storage options range from 8GB SSD to 120GB HDD (probably 1.8-inch) and everything in between. While the sheet confirms both GSM and CDMA support, ITG’s pre-order page — which looks more like a newsletter sign-up page at the moment — is still vague on the phone’s availability and price. For now we’ll just continue to gaze at the interface pictures until something happens.

[Via Gizmodo]

xpPhone teased with specs and pictures, makes Windows XP young again originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Sony Ericsson

Continue reading Xperia Pureness unboxed, performs for the camera (video)

Xperia Pureness unboxed, performs for the camera (video) originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Android

November 6: stores open at 6AM for DROID, Droid Eris? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, Android

By all accounts, the GW620 seems to be a pretty timid first entry into the Android fray for LG — it’s a pretty plain-vanilla set with nary a software customization to be found — but there’s definitely a market for that sort of thing, so it’s good to see that they’re making nice progress toward retail availability with an FCC filing here. Of course, as with far too many phones, FCC approval has precisely zero bearing on whether it’ll actually be offered in the New World; these guys are just dotting their I’s and crossing their T’s as they prepare for a proper launch in key markets around the globe where travel to the US seems like a possibility. The particular version we’ve got here is the GW620F variant, rocking quadband GSM / EDGE plus WCDMA Band V which offers up 850MHz 3G. If we had to guess, there’s also 2100 in there, which would make it likely bound for Australia. With DROID Fever still in full effect, of course, it could launch in Antarctica and we’re not sure the Android community would be paying too much mind.

LG’s Android-equipped GW620 hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Games, Software

Nokia announces the end of its N-Gage gaming platform originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Sony Ericsson, Android

The Motorola DROID might be at the forefront of the Android scene right now, but it looks like it’s going to have some high-end competition soon — Sony Ericsson’s been hyping the Rachael / XPERIA X3 launch on November 3, and today it’s put out this little teaser video. Nothing much here other than some fleeting glimpses of the handset in Luster White, but it’s looking quite sharp, and if the final specs are close to the DROID’s we could have a real battle on our hands — especially since SE’s crazy Android UI skin looks pretty sweet. Check the video after the break.

[Thanks, Lars]

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Rachael teaser video plays with our hearts

Sony Ericsson Rachael teaser video plays with our hearts originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Android

It’s finally here: the Motorola DROID, perhaps the most hotly-anticipated Android smartphone yet. We’ve been poring over every nook and cranny of this svelte QWERTY slider, and our full review is up on Engadget Classic — so what are you waiting for? Hit the read link and dive right in!

Motorola DROID review on Engadget! originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Apple, iPhone OS

Jibbigo is a recently released iPhone app which promises to help you out the next time you’re desperately trying to make yourself understood by your Spanish-speaking compadres. The app is capable of recording a sentence and translating it — essentially in real time — back to you. As you can see in the screencap above, you can speak either Spanish or English, and the translator will do its work, displaying both your original and a translation into the other language. The dictionary contains about 40,000 words, and the app is aimed at travelers. Jibbigo also requires the iPhone 3GS to make use of the bi-directional translation tools, and the app also reportedly functions a heck of a lot slower on anything other than the 3G. The app is available now for $24.99.

[Via, iPodnn]

Jibbigo iPhone app translates from English to Spanish and back again originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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