Hasta La Gadget!

Recently, Engadget editors Thomas Ricker and Chris Ziegler received Nokia N97s just days apart from one another. Already established pen pals, the two immediately began to correspond across the Atlantic via carrier pigeon, discussing their very different experiences using Nokia’s most powerful smartphone to date. This is a recounting of those letters.

Thomas,

I hope this letter finds you well. I understand that you’ve received an N97 from Nokia Nederlands recently and was wondering what you thought of it? As luck would have it, I’ve happened across a unit myself — the US was the first country to get them, interestingly, which is really big deal for a company accustomed to delivering its best hardware early and often to Europe. I’ve been flogging it for a few days now, just enough time to form some opinions.

Continue reading Nokia N97 review: a tale of two bloggers

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia N97 review: a tale of two bloggers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a long, messy road, but now that TiVo’s beaten a victory out of EchoStar in that seemingly-endless DVR patent lawsuit it sounds like the company is trying to exert some muscle — it’s already in talks to bring its service to Time Warner Cable, and sources have told Bloomberg the ultimate plan is to eventually collect royalties from every pay-TV provider in the US. That might sound bullying and even a little trollish, but keep in mind these patents have withstood pretty much every legal challenge EchoStar could throw at them, so TiVo’s operating from a position of some certainty here — especially since it’s got license agreements with huge players like Comcast and DirecTV to use as leverage in negotiations as well. Of course, none of this solves any of TiVo’s actual problems with its products, and the company’s topsy-turvy balance sheet has some analysts thinking its ripe for a buyout by one of the bigs, so things could change dramatically at any minute, but for right now it sounds like your chances of getting the TiVo interface on your cable or satellite company DVR just went up, and that’s almost certainly a good thing.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

TiVo coming to Time Warner Cable, potentially lots of other providers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a bid to inject some spark into stodgy home printers, HP has introduced a new all-in-one touchscreen printer that can directly connect to the web and print coupons, maps, movie tickets, news and weather information without the need for a PC.

HP has also taken the idea of apps, popularized by smartphones such as iPhone and T-Mobile G1, and extended it to its product. That means the company’s latest printer will come preloaded with HP applications that can be accessed via the touchscreen panel. HP will also allow users to create and download apps from their site later this year.

“By giving people access to the content they want at the touch of a finger, the ability to customize their printing experience and create their own apps, we are driving a significant shift in how people will be printing in the future,” says Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, imaging and printing group, HP.

That means picture yourself just turning on this printer going to Fandango and printing movie tickets or accessing Coupons.com for the latest grocery deals, or printing directions right off the device.

The new printer comes with a rather clunky name–the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, and a hefty price tag.  It will be available starting fall for $400.

The printer will have a 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen and can print, fax, copy and scan. It can also print directly from Wi-Fi-enabled PCs, Bluetooth-enabled devices,  iPhone and the iPod touch.

The device’s user interface seems fairly easy to use and it will have the ability to browse the web, though it is not likely to be a complete browser. Among the early HP app partners will be USA Today, Google including mpas and calendar, Fandango, Coupons.com and Web Sudoku. The printer will also connect directly to a user’s Snapfish account to view, print and upload photos.

Bringing maps, news and coupons functionality to a printer makes it more likely that the average user will get more value from their printer. But unless HP can bring that $400 price tag down significantly, this could end up as a niche product.

Photo: HP Photosmart Premium/HP

Dong and Eric in a former life?

It’s a clips episode without the clips! Dong and I go deeply behind the scenes and completely demystify the veritable art of making an Inside CNET Labs podcast.

In this episode you’ll also find out about my brief history as a …

Originally posted at Inside CNET Labs Podcast

The 1GHz smartphone has arrived. A Japanese telecommunications carrier is the first to launch a device based on Qualcomm’s much-anticipated Snapdragon processor.

The Toshiba-Docomo T-01A uses Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon chip.

(Credit: Docomo)

Docomo is now offering the T-01A in Japan, while Microsoft is pitching the phone on its Japanese Web site. …

Originally posted at Nanotech – The Circuits Blog