Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve heard about Palm’s big plans for webOS 2.0 — heck, we’ve even seen a handful of pictures here or there. And now we’ve been graced with lots, lots more. We’re still not sure the exact origins, as they both came to us unsourced at around the same time. But, be it PreCentral forums or Chinese site Crooked neck (a.k.a. Wibozi), we’re still graced with two dozen new screenshots that showcase features beyond Stacks and Just Type. Plenty of extra services are on display, including favorites like Dropbox and head-scratchers like MobileMe (we know Palm has something of an Apple complex, but the benefits of MobileMe are pretty minimal beyond iPhone integration). There’s also default app selection for filetypes, which is a welcome addition we’ve enjoyed on our Android sets. Just in case all the screenshots go poof, we’ve got them in a gallery below. Let your imagination run wild, or at least in a bigger fence.

[Thanks, kkhanmd]

WebOS 2.0 beta screenshot extravaganza originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone gets all the hype, but the iPod Touch is Apple’s second weapon of mass consumption constituting nearly 40 percent of the company’s mobile device sales,  according to a report.

Apple has sold 45 million units of the iPod Touch over its lifetime out of the 120 million iOS devices shipped overall, according to estimates by market research firm Asymco. That’s a hefty number relative to the 60 million iPhones Apple sold through June and the 3.2 million iPads sold to date.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod Touch, he called it “training wheels for the iPhone.” The phoneless, contract-free device has easily found an audience: younger people who likely can’t afford expensive smartphone plans but still crave the iOS experience.

A study in 2009 found that 69 percent of iPod Touch users are between 13 to 24 years old, whereas 74 percent of iPhone owners are older than 25. The study also found that iPhone owners were generally wealthier than iPod Touch customers.

In a separate post, research firm Asymco questioned why other manufacturers haven’t produced “clones” of the iPod Touch to compete with Apple like they have with the iPhone and the iPad.

“If cloners are rushing to copy the iPad, why not its smaller incarnation?” the company asked.

It’s a worthwhile question. In terms of features and price, the closest competitor to the Touch so far has been the Zune HD, which some observers criticized for having a poorly executed launch. When Microsoft released the Zune HD in September 2009, the device included a few applications handpicked by Microsoft staff, but the platform was not open to third-party developers to offer additional software.  In other words, there was no app store to compete with Apple’s gigantic iOS ecosystem. Other than music and video playback capabilities, it was unclear on day one what else the Zune HD could do.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that the Zune HD will be overhauled with Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, which will launch with an app store. Perhaps then the Zune HD might rise as a serious contender to the Touch.

See Also:

• Study: iPhone Owners Are Older, Wealthier Than iPod Touch Users …
• Apple Launches iOS 4 for iPhone, iPod Touch
• iPod Touch Camera Is Less Than One Megapixel

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

RIM has yet to officially announce the upcoming Style 9670 flip, but the leakfest continues today with a handful of new videos — professionally-produced ones this time — that show off key features of the UI and how to use them. Unlike the Torch, the Style lacks a touchscreen — it just wouldn’t be prudent in a clamshell form factor — which means we’re seeing just what it’s like to navigate the finer points of BlackBerry 6’s user interface with an optical pad (and secondary display) alone on a larger, portrait-oriented display. We’re hopeful that RIM’s new platform has a certain… well, a certain “something” on non-touchscreen devices that the Torch lacks, but time will tell, we suppose. Follow the break for the full video series.

Continue reading BlackBerry Style 9670’s UI demoed in leaked official videos

BlackBerry Style 9670’s UI demoed in leaked official videos originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We realize keeping up with HP’s model numbers can be as hard as keeping tabs on say, Lindsay Lohan’s run-ins with the law, but the 5103 is notable in one major way — it’s one of the first netbooks to ship with Intel’s dual-core Atom N550 processor. Like the 5102, the 5103 is still primarily aimed at business professionals. In fact, HP hardly messed with the look and feel of the aluminum dressed laptop — the chassis and features are pretty much the exact same, although HP did ditch the black lid for an “Espresso” color and preload some new “Day Starter” instant-on OS. Obviously, the big deal here is the new processor and seeing as how we’ve been waiting on Intel to release a dual-core Atom CPU for netbooks since well, the first netbook we were eager to see how much power that extra core adds and if it impacts battery life. Hit the break to see some of the results.

Continue reading HP Mini 5103 with dual-core Atom N550 performance review

HP Mini 5103 with dual-core Atom N550 performance review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, we can’t all afford the $500 Fujifilm is charging for the Finepix Real 3D W3, but that’s no reason to make a “toy” version of the thing and charge $70. Regardless, that’s what Takaira Tomy has done, creating a tiny pink (or white) version that does the same basic thing but in a very basic way. Instead of dual 10 megapixel CCDs capable of shooting 720p video you get dual 0.3 megapixel sensors that can’t shoot video with any p’s at all. Pictures are recorded to SD and must be printed out before being spied through a fold-up viewer. Sure, playing with this could be fun for a little while, but for that price we’d rather just stick with two dimensions and get a basic but full-function compact instead.

Takara Tomy’s toy camera shoots in 3D, costs as much as a grownup 2D camera originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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