Domino’s historic pizza delivery man didn’t just drop off pizzas at Microsoft HQ to celebrate the release of Windows 7. Oh no! He also showed up at a whole slew of other ridiculous places, much to my delight.
First Place
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Continue reading Dell’s Latitude XT2 XFR rugged tablet gets official
Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs
Dell’s Latitude XT2 XFR rugged tablet gets official originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Kenley Bradstreet and Mark Licea join the show today because Justin Yu is still battling with SARS. We wish him a speedy recovery, but in the mean time, we welcome the presence of two beautiful people. Plus, it’s just fun to watch Kenley rock out to today’s Audio Draft pick.
On today’s show, we recant what we said about Sony yesterday. The company managed to botch up a feature that would have leveled the playing field with the Xbox 360. For those of you who didn’t listen, Sony and Netflix announced the arrival of streaming on the console. Sounds great? Not so fast. Apparently, you’ll need to plug in a BD-Live disc every time you want to watch Netflix. We know it’s only temporary, but come on! It’s accessible from the dashboard on the Xbox 360, and you don’t need no stinkin’ disc.
It’s Jeff’s pick today for the Audio Draft, and while traditionally we usually pick smaller bands or unknown acts, Jeff has decided to go the other way and picked Rancid. They’ve been around for a while, and released a couple of albums. According to Mr. Bakalar, their latest is turning heads. We play “The Bravest Kids” and “L.A. River” from their latest album. Stay tuned for the last Audio Draft pick of the month on Friday from Wilson! It won’t be country music this time.
To round out the show, we talk talk a little bit about Droid from Verizon, the company’s first Google Android phone. Wilson still thinks the phone is a pretty ugly design, but that it may change the market around considering it’s the first non-BlackBerry-Storm smartphone on the network. Still, Apple seems to be the one still innovating in the smart phone market.
In other news today, Kenley tells us that it’s the 15th anniversary of the birth of Internet advertising. That’s right on October 27th, 1994, Hot Wired ran the world’s first banner ad, and surprisingly, it was pretty effective! Mark gets excited about the Tekken 6, while Wilson can’t really tell the difference between Tekken 5 or Tekken 6. Jeff adds snidely, “Tekken 4.” Think it’s hot that Kenley likes to watch guys play videogames? Well send her a message as usual through voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638).
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Originally posted at The 404
We’ve read about the upcoming Android-based Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 too many times to count. There was a video of its interface, images published by Expansys, even leaked specifications. Well, those speculations may soon come to an end if the latest teaser from the Japanese-Swedish company is anything to …
Google’s gone ahead and uncorked the bubbly to celebrate the launch of Android 2.0 “Eclair” today ahead of Verizon’s big reveal tomorrow, bundling its announcements into two very important sections: SDK support, meaning devs can go ahead and start targeting the new bits, and a comprehensive list of changes in the latest version. Here are the major changes us lay folk are going to care about:
Needless to say, we’re extremely excited about the changes Google’s made here — and on top of the Droid, we can only hope this action is coming to legacy devices on the double. We’ll find out soon enough (hopefully). Check a video of 2.0 in action after the break!
[Via MobileTechWorld]
Read – SDK support announcement
Read – Android 2.0 changes
Continue reading Android 2.0 support officially added to SDK
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Android 2.0 support officially added to SDK originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
GameSpot on Monday published a report from the Japan-based Nikkei news service saying that a new Nintendo DSi with two larger screens is slated to hit the market as early as this year.
Supposedly, the bump would increase the dual screens’ size from 3.25 inches to 4….
Update: Looks like Eminem is doing more than just slapping his name on the Renegade Edition. Check out the video after the break in which he sits down to talk about the game and issues a challenge to none other than DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Continue reading DJ Hero now rolling out around the world, around the world
Filed under: Gaming
DJ Hero now rolling out around the world, around the world originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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“What is it in France they say? ‘America contributed three things to culture: jazz, musical comedy and comic books.'” You can already buy two on iTunes. And if things pan out, you’ll be get the third on the Apple tablet.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been talking to people within the comics industry to try to sniff out Apple’s plans, including Neal Adams, developer of an upcoming motion Astonishing X-Men comic on iTunes, who also told me the French saying. Everyone in Adams’ line of work is buzzing about the tablet and what it can do for their masterpieces.
It’s an easy presumption for comic book fans. The Sun Times’ Andy Inhatko is betting that LongBox, a digital distribution platform for comic books, will make an appearance on Apple’s upcoming tablet. More than just an appearance, really:
I’m pretty sure that Apple is entering into a formal alliance with LongBox. When I asked [LongBox CEO Rantz] Hoseley about what kind of partnerships the company is forming, he spoke vaguely of what was taking up most of his time at the moment: a lengthy and complicated agreement with a seriously large company operating in the media space.
One problem: Several sources I spoke to over the last couple of weeks, including top-level executives at giants like Marvel and DC, have said they’ve not heard a whisper from Apple—despite a nearly desperate hope that Apple would come a-courtin’. One executive said to me, when I mentioned the possibility of putting his comic books on the Apple tablet, “If you’ve heard anything from Apple, please tell them I’m ready to do it.”
That means that LongBox may be the only distribution option for comic books at the tablet’s launch, through some sort of dedicated LongBox app. And if LongBox’s distribution plan for the Apple tablet is just an app, why would they need to do any negotiations with Apple? Launch the LongBox app, sell the content, and go. No Apple nod necessary.
We know that Apple has been reaching out to select publishers. It was Andy Inhatko who passed on the rumor about “trucks loaded with books” earlier this year. It all fits with the moves we already know Apple is making in its outreach to magazine and newspaper publishers. For Apple, the tablet is about cleaning up; with the addition of books, newspaper, magazines and comic books, there isn’t a single vector of mass media that Apple won’t be able to distribute through iTunes. With the success of the App Store—a success I think even Apple wasn’t expecting to such a degree — they’re even a major distributor of software and games.
Oh right, there’s also music and video.
Marvel content, especially, seems like a given. Disney bought Pixar, putting Steve Jobs on the Disney board. Then Disney buys Marvel. Marvel has already dabbled in publishing content through iTunes, with a new “motion comic” version of The Astonishing X-Men hitting iTunes on October 28th.
I spoke to Inhatko on my tiny Apple tablet last week about his story. He’s increasingly persuaded that Apple is content to let print publishers distribute their content through apps, not through the iTunes store itself.
He may very well be right, at least at the tablet’s launch, especially given Apple’s reticence to even acknowledge the tablet’s existence, let alone provide publishers with detailed, unified specifications for an “iRead” format. But it also strikes me as an inelegant solution at best, especially considering iTunes 9’s iTunes LP format is an HTML- and JavaScript-based 720p format that would work just wonderfully for a digital magazine and comics format.
Could just be wishful thinking on my part—I’d rather manage subscriptions through iTunes like podcasts, rather than individual apps—but either way it’s a win for Apple, who will happily get their cut no matter what system of digital print distribution ultimately takes off. If you have any leads on comic book tablet activity, by all means, send us a tip.
There is one shocker I discovered in my discussions with Marvel folk: It’s been confirmed to me that Hulk is stronger than Thor. Chew on that one for a while — at least until you can buy Hulk vs. Thor on iTunes. Excelsior!
Joel Johnson has a blog, but your best bet may be to follow him on Twitter @joeljohnson.
Super-vague report in the Nikkei this morning about NEC working on a seven-to-eight-inch “mobile device as capable as a personal computer” that’s aimed at business customers — no specs are given, but the tiny accompanying pic definitely shows the Android app tab at the bottom of that custom UI. Very mysterious. The report says NEC thinks it’ll move 100,000 to 200,000 of these a year after it launches next fall, and plans to sell a million a year over time, but we’ll wait to see what’s real and what’s not before we tackle that prediction.
[Via Slashgear; warning, read link requires registration]
Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs
NEC working on an Android tablet for suits? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has reportedly met with major U.S. publishers, including The New York Times and Wired.com’s parent company Condé Nast, to discuss the future of digital media — perhaps floated by a touchscreen tablet. Now, even Australian media companies appear to be in talks with Apple, too.
Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday that Australian media companies have received specifications of Apple’s tablet. However, the Herald said none of its sources would go on the record (presumably because they are barred by a non-disclosure agreement.)
Corroborating previous Apple tablet rumors, The Herald claims the device is “tipped to be a larger version of the iPhone,” with a strong focus on e-reader capabilities.
The Herald’s report trails a video making rounds on the web yesterday, in which NYT editor Bill Keller alluded to an “impending Apple slate” during his keynote speech discussing digital strategies. Keller declined to comment when Wired.com requested clarification on the remark; he responded, “I ain’t sayin’” to All Things Digital.
Nevertheless, to date there’s a heap of independent reports citing anonymous sources who claim a media-centric Apple tablet is due out early 2010. To keep up with the news and rumors, read our previous round-up aggregating rumor reports about the Apple tablet.
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Illustration of an imaginary Apple tablet: Factoryjoe / Flickr
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
