Sony Ericsson Vivaz shows up in multicolored Dutch hands-on (Update: video!)

The former Kurara caterpillar has now sprouted into a Vivaz butterfly, and what do you know, all its lustrous color options have already been handled and explored by Dutch site All About Phones. We’re told that early leaks and spy shots did a disservice to the handsome styling of the handset, which borrows some design cues from the Xperia X10. It’s smaller than you might think, apparently, and a delight to handle, though the back has an unfortunate taste for fingerprints. The Symbian S60 5th onboard is said to be “remarkably fast,” and an improvement over the implementation on the Satio. We couldn’t resist snatching one more photo with all four hues on display, which can be found after the break, but you’ll have to read that source link for the full dish and photoshoot.

Update: Hey, SE has been kind enough to supply us with a developer preview video, which you’ll find right after the break, thanks XRX.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Vivaz shows up in multicolored Dutch hands-on (Update: video!)

Sony Ericsson Vivaz shows up in multicolored Dutch hands-on (Update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia offering free turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones globally (updated)

Man, you thought Garmin and TomTom were in trouble when Google announced its free Navigation service… wait until investors hear Nokia’s news. Reuters is reporting that Nokia will offer free navigation on its smartphones. However, instead of just the US (the current Google limitation sans hacking), Nokia will be demonstrating its reach by offering free turn-by-turn directions in 74 countries and 46 languages — a move that should cover 20 million smartphones globally with Ovi Maps available in over 180 countries. Damn.

Update: The original San Francisco Chronicle report has been pulled but Google cache caught a bit more saying that Nokia’s navigation service is “capable of operating completely offline” unlike Google Navigation which requires data connectivity.

Update 2: Nokia just made the download link live. Hey, where’s the N97 and N900 love?

Update 3: And it’s official. Starting today, Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation is free across the globe. Drivers receive turn-by-turn voice guidance including lane assistance, traffic information (in 10 countries including the US), and safety camera and speed warnings while pedestrians will be guided on shortcuts through parks and pedestrian-only zones in over 100 cities across the globe. It all works offline too, which should extend battery life and keep that navigation humming even while puttering about in data dead zones without racking up international roaming charges (take that, Google). From March 2010, all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will come installed with the new Ovi Maps application and pre-loaded with local country map data and walk and drive navigation with access to location-aware Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides at no extra cost. Additional premium guides like a weather service and events / movies are also included. Just 10 devices from Nokia’s massive catalog are available today — a list that includes the N97 Mini, 5800 XpressMusic, 5800 navigation edition, E52, E55, E72, 5230, 6710 navigator, 6730 classic and X6.

So what’s missing? The N97 and N900 of course. Find out why after the break.

[Thanks, Jussi]

Continue reading Nokia offering free turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones globally (updated)

Nokia offering free turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones globally (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony DSC-TX5 waterproof camera sprung from a leak

Think Sony would be happy with just making its latest shooter waterproof and calling it a day? Not a chance. Early information on this as yet unannounced compact indicates a 10fps burst mode, 4x optical zoom with optical image stabilization, an intriguing image stacking mode for reduced noise in high ISO shots, and full 1080p MPEG-4 movie recording. 1080i / 60fps AVCHD video is also possible, apparently, and if recent trends are continued the DSC-TX5 will also be able to store media on SD cards. Hallelujah. You’ll find a couple more water-soaked images after the break, and the official launch is expected to take place at PMA 2010.

Continue reading Sony DSC-TX5 waterproof camera sprung from a leak

Sony DSC-TX5 waterproof camera sprung from a leak originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube introduces movie rentals, only independent titles for now

In an atypically low key beginning, YouTube is starting to roll out a new movie rental service. Currently stocked with only five titles from independent film producers, it won’t be posing any threats to the Netflix empire any time soon, but plans are naturally afoot to expand what’s on offer. Available between this Friday and the end of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the movies can be rented for $3.99 a piece through the Google Checkout payment system. Prepare your muscles to do some cringing though, as YouTube is said to be working on adding health, fitness and educational videos as well. Still, the focus seems to be on getting indie filmmakers more exposure — and cash, “the majority” of rental revenue will go to the film producers — and we can’t really argue with that.

YouTube introduces movie rentals, only independent titles for now originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS’ Ion 2-based Eee PC to launch in April

Rather than mongering yet another rumor, DigiTimes is apparently reporting as fact that an Ion 2-powered Eee PC will launch in April. It’s also expected to host a 12-inch display if we’re reading this report correctly. That NVIDIA boost is welcome news since the Pine Trail-only bump given to its Eee PC 1005PE didn’t offer much in the way of performance improvements and still can’t handle YouTube video in HD. While no direct prices were given, Atom N450-based Eees are expected to drop in price to NT$14,000 (about $439) in Q2 after ASUS depletes its stock of legacy N270- and N280-based Atom netbooks. DigiTimes also notes that its 10-inch Eee PC T101 convertible touchscreen tablet (the T101MT presumably) will launch in late February along with a 12-inch Eee PC built around AMD’s Congo.

ASUS’ Ion 2-based Eee PC to launch in April originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NTT DoCoMo launching its own version of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10

WinMo and Android handsets from HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and others that are designed for global reach typically don’t find their way into Japan for a number of reasons: localization, carriers’ draconian control over handset specs, unique market needs, the list goes on. Every once in a while, though, one’ll break through — take the Xperia X10, for example, which has now been announced for release on NTT DoCoMo simply as the “Smartphone Xperia,” making it the first major carrier anywhere to announce a branded deal on the set. It looks to be a pretty faithful carry-over of the same custom Android skin Sony Ericsson is launching elsewhere and features 7.2Mbps down / 2.0Mbps up, WiFi, an 8.1 megapixel cam, and availability in “Sensuous Black” and “Luster White.” It’ll be hitting in April — right about the same time we suspect it’ll be launching elsewhere.

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NTT DoCoMo launching its own version of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clubs for Tweeters

eeterclub.jpgTechCrunch: While Twitter is an incredible platform for tapping into the conversations that are taking place on the web, the real-time stream can be crowded. It’s hard to keep track of back-and-forth communication between users or to keep track of subject-related Tweets based on hashtags. Recently launched TweeterClubs aims to create a real-time conversation around the Tweets that are broadcast to the web.

Once you log into the site with your Twitter account, you can enter the tweet on the TweetUp tab. Your tweet will appear in both the club and on Twitter automatically. TweeterClubs will only show the tweets that come from the club members and when you log in, you are automatically a member. At the moment, the site only shows one club, the “Tweetheart Club,” which includes the Tweets of the six women profiled in the controversial Vanity Fair article. But TweeterClubs’ founder Jeff Whitehead says the site is planning to open up so allow anyone to create their own clubs.

TweeterClubs Lets You Track And Share Twitter Conversations [TechCrunch]

Garmin-Asus taking wraps off first Android gear, M10 WinMo phone at MWC

It might be happening a little later than they’d originally hoped, but Garmin — through its partnership in Garmin-Asus — should finally be unveiling some Android-based phones pretty shortly in an effort to kickstart the firm’s weak showing thus far in the dog-eat-dog handset world. The VP of the mobile device business over at ASUS is talking up the joint venture’s 2010 plans this week, saying that it’ll show its first Android product at MWC next month with the hope of striking a pretty even balance between Android and WinMo shipments in the long term (no mention of the G60’s proprietary platform, interestingly). What’s more, they want to push a solid million units this year, and they’ll be looking to reach that goal by building somewhere between 4 and 5 models — at least one of which is likely destined for T-Mobile USA, as far as we can tell. Android isn’t the only thing on the docket for these guys at MWC, though: they’ll also be showing the M10, allegedly running Windows Mobile 6.5.3 with a 3.5-inch resistive display and a 5 megapixel camera with a retail price a little over $400. Finally, there are plans in the works for a TD-SCDMA phone for China Mobile that’d be available toward the tail end of the year — so all things considered, these guys might finally have a shot of making a dent in the market for once.

Garmin-Asus taking wraps off first Android gear, M10 WinMo phone at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kindle dev kit announced, ‘active content’ coming to Kindle Store later this year

Amazon’s just announced the Kindle Development Kit, or KDK for short, which will be rolled out starting next month in limited beta and then to wait-listed folks “as space becomes available.” The apps, here called “active content,” will eventually be available for download via the Kindle Store later this year. EA Mobile is already signed up to participant, and Handmark has committed to creating “an active Zagat guide” We’ll be interested to see what comes out of this, and it probably goes without saying, but something tells us Amazon isn’t gonna let web browsers or music streamers through the front gates and over its free 3G service.

Kindle dev kit announced, ‘active content’ coming to Kindle Store later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Opens Kindle Up for Development: App Store Ahoy

Amazon just announced that the Kindle will have its own app store, with partners ranging from publishers like Zagat to, believe it or not, game makers like EA. E-ink gaming? What?

Says Amazon’s vice president for Kindle:

We knew from the earliest days of the Kindle that invention was not all going to take place within the walls of Amazon. We wanted to open this up to a wide range of creative people, from developers to publishers to authors, to build whatever they like.

In that spirit, they’ve opened up development to selected partners (not everyone, yet—a wider release will come later this month) to create apps for the Kindle platform. There’ll be three kinds of apps: Free, one-time payment, and monthly payment. Interestingly, because the Kindle is sold without a monthly fee for the wireless connection, these developers will have to pay 15 cents per megabyte for content delivery. They’ll keep 70% of the revenue after those expenses are recouped by Amazon—more info on that stuff here.

There are also some basic limits on both bandwidth and app size. Free apps must be smaller than 1MB and use less than 100KB of data per user per month. One-time purchase apps and monthly apps both have the same data usage limit as free apps, but have a size limit of 100MB (although any app larger than 10MB can’t be downloaded wirelessly—gotta do it via USB).

Amazon expects to start adding apps “sometime later this year,” which is a nice vague thing to say in January. They’ll also retain control over the types of apps added, restricting offensive apps, VoIP apps, viruses, that kind of thing. Now: What kind of things are we likely to see in a Kindle app store?

The Kindle is extremely limited by its hardware, most importantly its e-ink screen. The kind of glacial refreshes that are acceptable while reading a book make it totally useless for pretty much any game. The only ones that can deal with the limited screen are essentially pen-and-paper games, like Sudoku, word games (crossword puzzles, Scrabble) and, um, hangman. Scrabble is a fair bet to make an early appearance, since it’s owned by EA, one of the two partners specifically named in the NYTimes announcement.

Other apps mentioned include searchable travel books, like a Zagat app that could find, say, local restaurants with specific criteria. But apps like that are really better suited for smartphones, which is an argument you could make about the entire idea of a Kindle app store. We’ll have to wait until the plan actually launches before we see if it was a good decision—and who knows, by then the Apple Tablet will probably have revolutionized the publishing industry, solved the economic recession and rescued the world’s kittens from the world’s trees. [Amazon and NYTimes 1 and 2]

Amazon Announces Kindle Development Kit—Software Developers Can Now Build Active Content for Kindle
Travel books that suggest activities based on real-time weather and current events, cookbooks that recommend menus based on size of party and allergies, and word games and puzzles—just some of the possibilities with the new Kindle Development Kit

SEATTLE, Jan 21, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — (NASDAQ: AMZN)—For the past two years, Amazon has welcomed authors and publishers to directly upload and sell content in the Kindle Store through the self-service Kindle publishing platform. Today, Amazon announced that it is inviting software developers to build and upload active content that will be available in the Kindle Store later this year. The new Kindle Development Kit gives developers access to programming interfaces, tools and documentation to build active content for Kindle—the #1 bestselling, most wished for, and most gifted product across all categories on Amazon. Developers can learn more about the Kindle Development Kit today at http://www.amazon.com/kdk/ and sign up to be notified when the limited beta starts next month.

“We’ve heard from lots of developers over the past two years who are excited to build on top of Kindle,” said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “The Kindle Development Kit opens many possibilities—we look forward to being surprised by what developers invent.”

The Kindle Development Kit enables developers to build active content that leverages Kindle’s unique combination of seamless and invisible 3G wireless delivery over Amazon Whispernet, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, and long battery life of seven days with wireless activated. For example, Handmark is building an active Zagat guide featuring their trusted ratings, reviews and more for restaurants in cities around the world, and Sonic Boom is building word games and puzzles.

“As the leading worldwide publisher of mobile games, EA Mobile has had the privilege of collaborating with many dynamic and innovative companies in bringing exciting gaming experiences to new platforms,” says Adam Sussman, Vice President of Worldwide Publishing, EA Mobile. “Working with Amazon, we look forward to bringing some of the world’s most popular and fun games to Kindle and their users.”

Starting next month, participants in the limited beta will be able to download the Kindle Development Kit, access developer support, test content on Kindle, and submit finished content. Those wait-listed will be invited to participate as space becomes available. The Kindle Development Kit includes sample code, documentation, and the Kindle Simulator, which helps developers build and test their content by simulating the 6-inch Kindle and 9.7-inch Kindle DX on Mac, PC, and Linux desktops.