Oct 26

Sense UI update for HTC Magic makes the scene in Taiwan

Posted in: Android, cellphones, firmware, HTC, sense, Software, Today's Chili, update, upgrade
If our ability to guesstimate Chinese website contents based on sketchy machine translation software is correct, it looks like HTC Magic owners in Taiwan are finally getting that Sense UI update they’ve been teased with since mid-August. Further blurring the lines between the aforementioned handset and the Hero, it is unknown whether or not the update will ever come to carriers besides Chunghwa Telecom, or how long that could even take. One thing we are fairly certain of, however, is that phones “with Google” will probably remain without this update, into perpetuity. Sorry, myTouch! If you’re one of the lucky few, hit that read link to get started.

[Via Unwired View]

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Sense UI update for HTC Magic makes the scene in Taiwan originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets reviewed early

Posted in: BlackBerry, cdma, reviewed, RIM, smartphone, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

The phone you’re peering at above has more names than we’d care to count, but the so-called Aries (or the Gemini‘s CDMA’d sibling, if you please) may end up on Verizon as one of two things: the BlackBerry Curve 8530 or the BlackBerry Curve 2. The folks over at CrackBerry managed to get their hands on a unit far before this thing has even been officially released, and of course they’ve given us the rundown just as the Storm2 is stealing all of the attention over at Big Red. The WiFi-equipped handset (yeah, you read that right) was said to be “identical to the Curve 8520” with the exception of the back cover design, meaning that while solid, the device definitely felt “entry-level.” The interface was said to be satisfactorily snappy, the optical trackpad was dubbed “really great” and the web browser was still thoroughly worthless. If you really need to hear more, give that read link a look.

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Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets reviewed early originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Make a run for the Borderlands

Posted in: Today's Chili

With the near ubiquitous nature of broadband-enabled video game consoles, we’ve seen an increase in games that are intended primarily for online cooperative play. Games such as Left 4 Dead and the …

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Oct 26

Verizon Keeps iPhone Hopes Alive

Posted in: Android, iPhone, palm pre, Today's Chili, Verizon Wireless
I’ll leave the financials to Reuters, but Verizon Communications executives had some interesting things to say about the carrier’s future service plan and phone lineup in today’s earnings conference call.
Most notably, they left the door open for an Apple iPhone deal. According to a transcript from SeekingAlpha.com, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said “that this is a decision that’s exclusively in Apple’s court. We obviously would be interested at any point in the future they thought it would make sense for them to have us as a partner.”
In other words, according to Seidenberg, Apple just doesn’t want to work with Verizon. Ouch.
Read on for why I don’t think there will be a Verizon iPhone until 2011 or 2012.
Meanwhile, Verizon obviously still has phones. The upcoming Motorola Droid “uses the Android open platform but the design of the set by Motorola, the browsing capability, the speed, we believe will really set those apart,” Verizon CFO John Killian said in the transcript.
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Oct 26

Keep an Ear on Crime With Scanner 911 for iPhone

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, Law, Software, Today's Chili

4047235767_6fd02f1cb0You know there’s an iPhone app for just about everything when you stumble upon a piece of software you don’t completely understand. An app that got me scratching my head was Scanner 911, a live police radio scanner.

Yes, an app that listens to police officers responding to crime calls (including the really boring, trivial calls, too), and dispatchers phoning in fender benders, shootings, bar fights and so on.

Scanner 911 features an aggregated list of police radio stations, organized by state and city. For when the crime gets really juicy, there’s an option to record the audio, which you can then play back within the app. Also, a “Near Me” button displays local stations so you can stay plugged in to what’s going on in your hood. Scanner 911’s slick, clean interface makes the police-scanning experience quite fun.

Call me naive, but having never tried radio scanning in the past, I was confused about who exactly would be into this app. After polling some friends, I learned many people would find police scanners useful, such as journalists chasing hot crime scoops, parents keeping an ear on safety in their neighborhoods, or rubberneckers who are curious about why there are a whole bunch of cops parked outside a house. (Of course, we’re sure criminals would enjoy this app, too.)

Clearly, the audience for police scanners is pretty broad: Scanner 911 is currently no. 19 in the App Store, and a similar app, Police Radio, is no. 7 (though we prefer Scanner 911 for its immaculate design.) Both apps are $1 in the App Store.

Download Link [iTunes]

Product Page [Scanner 911]

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Oct 26

Top 5 Worst downloads

Posted in: Today's Chili

Every three months we corral Seth Rosenblatt to forage through the latest downloadable software and come up with a list of the worst. Why? Because Seth loves a challenge. And you people love “…

Originally posted at CNET TV

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Oct 26

Intel’s SSD Toolbox, firmware update promise boost in performance

Posted in: benchmark, firmware, intel, performance, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili, update, Windows, Windows XP

We won’t say that we love products leaving the oven before they’re completely done, but we do adore gratis firmware updates that better a product even after you’ve purchased it. That being said, we’re actually stoked that Intel has decided to out its second major firmware update for the second-gen 34nm X25-M SSD, and unlike the first, this one has the potential to put smiles on lots and lots (as opposed to a few) faces. The newfangled SSD Toolbox includes an SSD Optimizer for the aforementioned device, which promises to help users “more effectively monitor and manage the SSD’s health.” It also offers a performance boost to sequential write speeds by delivering up to 100MB/sec on the 160GB model, which represents a rather substantial 40 percent uptick over the existing firmware. The best news of all? Intel’s doing more than just blowing hot air, as the benchmarking gurus over at Hot Hardware found out. Hit the read link for their eye-opening analysis.

Update: Down for more benchmarks, including ones focused on TRIM testing? Good!

Intel’s SSD Toolbox, firmware update promise boost in performance originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Jumbo 4-Inch Nintendo DSi Coming This Year

Posted in: gaming, nintendo, rumor, Today's Chili, top

A new DSi? Oh, of course—it’s only been a year since the original launched, and we’re talking about Nintendo. Nikkei says a fresh DSi is coming with a 4-inch screen, for the same price as the current one.

So far, the slightly embiggened (plus 0.75 inches) DSi is only destined for Japan later this year, says Nikkei, and it’s sorta kinda targeted at geezers who want a slightly bigger screen. Since it’s gonna be the same price, we’re guessing all of the other specs—like display resolution, even—will be the same. While unconfirmed, since we’re talking about Nintendo here, it doesn’t slay us with surprise. [Nikkei, Livedoor via Kotaku]

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Oct 26

HTC Hero having intermittent text messaging problems?

Posted in: hero, HTC, Sprint, Today's Chili

There’s not exactly much in the way of official statements on the matter just yet, but it looks like support forums have been piling up with reports of text messaging problems on the HTC Hero over the past few weeks, and with no signs of a fix in sight. Apparently, the phone can send texts just fine, but runs into a little trouble when it comes to receiving ’em, with most folks reporting only intermittent problems, and at least some not receiving any at all. Interestingly, the problem seems to be occurring in both the US and the UK, so it would seem to be a problem on the phone’s end and not the carrier’s, and a few people seem to have had some (brief) success after resetting the device. Of course, there are also plenty of folks having no problems at all, but there doesn’t seem to be any question that the issue is out there. So, have you been missing some texts on your Hero? Let us know in comments.

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HTC Hero having intermittent text messaging problems? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Kids Guard USB stick is guaranteed to frustrate, encourage circumvention

Posted in: security, Today's Chili, usb, usb drive, UsbDrive

The concept here is far from new, but that doesn’t mean that the latest iteration isn’t way more frustrating. For kids just looking to “discover themselves” somewhere on the world wide web, the Kids Online Guard USB Stick is a nightmare of the worst kind. Designed to keep your offspring away from files, websites and folders that you deem inappropriate, it seems to work by triggering limits when plugged in, and when unplugged, the whole PC likely locks everyone out. Of course, we’re guessing that this is just the thing to train your kid to become the planet’s next great circumventer / hacker, so if viewing this as a “training tool” makes you sleep easier, you can get one headed your way for $21.69.

[Thanks, Frank]

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Kids Guard USB stick is guaranteed to frustrate, encourage circumvention originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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