Hasta La Gadget!

Last week’s blurry little roadmap from Motorola gave us our first glimpse of the codename Zeppelin, and now just a few days later the back half of the thing has floated its way into the hands of someone at DIGI.QQ.com. The Android-powered handset is said to sport a five megapixel camera with flash, WiFi, a 3.1-inch 480 x 320 screen, HDMI output, and, in a first for Android, dual SIM slots marked GSM and CDMA — technically an R-UIM slot for CDMA, actually, which pretty much limits this thing to China. And indeed, rumor has it release will come behind the Great Wall sometime in the first quarter of next year, with worldwide shipments (of some other variant, we’d imagine) sometime later. Sure, that’s a long time to wait if your contract expiration is nigh, but we hear that Droid thing is pretty neat.

[Via AndroidOS.in]

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola’s Zeppelin spotted, found to contain Android rather than hydrogen originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a long, long time since Emblaze Mobile and ACCESS engaged in holy cellphone matrimony, and the fruit of that relationship is finally coming to bear. It’s called ELSE INTUTION, a Linux-based mobile platform that comes with such a hyperbolic press release that we can’t help but think every other mobile manufacturer should just pack up and go home. It’s said to match the functionality of “top ranked MP3 players, best-in-class GPS devices, and more, while maintaining an exceptional ease and simplicity of use.” Golly. At this point we only have a few images to go by, and though they do look plenty nice, we wouldn’t consider our minds blown just yet — particularly those of us with a left-handed bias. Remember, ACCESS is the company that turned Palm OS into Garnet OS and then failed to win anyone over with its Access Linux Platform, so what could go wrong here? What’s it going to be, readers: WebOS or ELSE?

Update: Another right-handed pic (ironically taken on an iPhone) added after the break.

[Via AV Watch]

Continue reading ACCESS and Emblaze Mobile unveil ELSE INTUITION, the Linux-based mobile OS of your dreams

ACCESS and Emblaze Mobile unveil ELSE INTUITION, the Linux-based mobile OS of your dreams originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps to avoid consumer confusion, or to grab back a few headlines from Barnes and Noble’s sweet looking Nook e-reader, Amazon has dropped the Sprint-powered U.S. Kindle and now sells just the international version along with the super-sized DX. And the price has also been dropped to $260, the same as the old Kindle 2 and the same as the Nook. It looks like this fight is on.

Those of you who already bought the International Kindle for $280 upon launch, you’ll get a $20 refund from Amazon. Here’s the e-mail I got:

Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6” Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don’t need to do anything to get the lower price—we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.

Good news indeed. Now, Amazon, perhaps you could start selling all titles in the U.S. store to overseas customers, and maybe switch on my damn web browser. Just saying, is all.

Product page [Amazon]

See Also:

• Barnes & Noble Unveils Kindle-Killing, Dual-Screen 'Nook' E-Reader …
• Hands-On With the International Kindle and Its Surprise Web Access …
• Kindle Goes International — With a Little Help From AT&T
• 5 Things That Make Us Want Barnes & Noble's Nook E-Reader
• Barnes & Noble's Shiny, Sharing-Friendly 'Nook' eBook Reader …

Photo credit: Charlie Sorrel

The E-HUB claims to speed up your cycling using springs. Brilliance or bunk? You decide.

You’re familiar with the problem: As the pedals reach the vertical, you lose power as the legs are not really pushing or pulling anything. This is most obvious on hills and the folks at E-HUB call this +/-15-degree section the “dead-spot”. A coiled spring inside the E-HUB coils up during the most powerful part of your stroke and then releases the stored energy in the dead-spot.

It sounds good, but the mountain of graphs and tables on the website make me skeptical. You’d think, too, that something that allows a spring to be twisted would also feel mushy in use, but none of the testimonials from riders mentions this. The manufacturer claims a 7-10% power gain over a regular hub.

So what do you think? The E-HUB is clearly not adding anything, but simply redistributing the power for a more efficient pedal stroke. Would this work? My feeling is that this is expensive snake-oil, but as I can’t find a price, or even a retailer, we can’t be sure of that, either.

And one more thing. Say goodbye to DIY:

Servicing and maintaining E-HUB may only be undertaken by trained and authorized bicycle technicians. A special toolset is required to open the casing and preform maintenance operations.

Product page [E-HUB via Bicycle Design]

Why not celebrate the launch of Windows 7 with the Windows Blue Screen of Death belt to remind you of the bad old days? The belt is fashioned from 44-inches of cotton and acrylic and can be cut to length, whilst the buckle is a tiny Windows tablet computer in its natural state.

Kidding! It’s a chrome buckle with the graphic protected under a glossy coating, and the perfect gift for the geek in your life (unless you happen to be Melinda Gates). $22.

Product page [Geek Gone Chic via Geekologie]

See Also:

• 7 Reasons to Avoid Windows 7
• 7 Things You Should Know About Upgrading to Windows 7
• Review: Windows 7 Is Microsoft's Best Yet
• BSOD Through the Ages
• Leopard BSOD Icon Continues To Amuse