Hasta La Gadget!

We knew Windows Phone 7 was scheduled to land first internationally, but it’s always a treat to hear the particulars. Orange UK has just (re)revealed that it’ll be the exclusive carrier of HTC’s 7 Mozart across the pond, and it’ll be joined by Samsung’s Omnia 7 as both go on sale tomorrow morning in Orange’s Oxford Street shop — fittingly, at 7am local time. Naturally, the carrier is going to blow out the launch, with each customer buying a WP7 handset to receive a complimentary Bluetooth headset… while supplies last, anyway. You’ll also get a stockpile of Orange applications and services (like it or not), and we’re told that each phone will be offered for zilch with a fresh contract starting at £35 per month (7 Mozart) / £40 per month (Omnia 7). Jealous, North America?

Continue reading HTC 7 Mozart and Samsung Omnia 7 on sale tomorrow at 7am on Orange UK

HTC 7 Mozart and Samsung Omnia 7 on sale tomorrow at 7am on Orange UK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been anticipating FaceTime for the Mac ever since we spied the feature on the iPhone, and now Apple is making our dreams a reality with a handy new beta Mac OS X application dubbed “FaceTime.” It’s not an iChat replacement; far from it, in fact. Instead, the standalone, lightweight app dedicates itself to FaceTime calls only, with no sign of your handy AIM or Gtalk buddy list to help you along. It pulls its list of contacts strictly from the Mac Address Book, with no editing available in app, and you’d better hope you have a good handle on that list of contacts (our Gmail-tainted version could certainly use some work). You have to click on a person’s name and then guess which email or phone number they have associated with a FaceTime account — none of the helpful icons from the iPhone have made it over to guide you. It took quite a bit of extra-FaceTime communication to sort out what was what, but once you guess at the right bit of info to place the call with, it’s typical Apple simplicity.

From the phone side it’s intuitive enough: call the email address associated with an Apple ID and you get the computer, call the phone number and you get the iPhone. Conveniently, your computer will “ring” even if the app is closed, though you can turn this feature off in System Preferences if it unsettles you. Hopefully Apple takes this “beta” moniker seriously and has some extra features to add before it releases the final version of the app. We also wouldn’t mind seeing this folded into iChat proper — why have two first party video chat methods? Either way, computer-to-phone conversations are here to stay. The payoff? The psychedelic experience of viewing four Paul Millers simultaneously.

Update: Want a special little bonus? You can apparently video chat with iChat and FaceTime simultaneously, though we tried to add Skype as a third conspirator into the mix and failed (there’s a pic of our experiment after the break). Oh, you should also know that there’s apparently no way to shut off the video in FaceTime outside of quitting the app or physically covering up the camera. EXCLUSIVE: Is Steve Jobs Watching You Sleep? More at 11.

Continue reading FaceTime for Mac hands-on: it works, it’s rough

FaceTime for Mac hands-on: it works, it’s rough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As expected, Apple today offered up a preview of the latest version of OS X during its Back to the Mac event in Cupertino, CA. In keeping with the big cat theme that has been present in previous versions of the operating system (including, most recently, Snow Leopard), Apple has christened 10.7 Lion.

According to Jobs, the creation of other Apple products played a large role in the development of this latest version. “We’re inspired by innovations in the iPhone and iPad,” Apple’s CEO told the crowd, “and are bringing them back to the Mac.” Included on the list of features is more support for multi-touch gestures and the introduction of Apps for the Mac.

“Multitouch on a laptop doesn’t work,” Jobs told the crowd. “Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical, like on a desktop monitor. After a while, your hands get fatigued.” The answer, Jobs insisted, is the multitouch that the company has brought to its trackpads and mice.

Jobs called the new Mac App Store, “the best place to discover apps,” adding that while, “it won’t be the only place, it’s the best place.” Like its predecessors for the iPhone and iPad, the store will feature both free and paid apps, with 70 percent of the revenue going to app developers. Like the iPad, the Mac will offer a Launchpad for storing apps.

While Lion is due out in summer of next year, Apple isn’t waiting for the update to roll out the Mac App Store. Users with Snow Leopard will be able to install and access the store in 90 days. The company will begin accepting app submissions next month.

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CUPERTINO, California — Apple on Wednesday showed a series of mobile-inspired upgrades to its software lineup.

Coupled with the company’s netbook-inspired and Flash memory-based ultralight MacBook Airs, the newly unveiled plans suggest the company is readying a new approach to PC sales that’s modeled on its successful reinventions of the tablet and smartphone markets.

“Apple is taking some of the things that have worked well for it in the mobile space and applying it back to the Mac,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst with research firm Current Analysis. “Where that is most obvious is the software — with the app store and gestures.”

Apple previewed Mac OS X Lion, which blends elements of Apple’s mobile operating system iOS into the Mac. Lion is scheduled for release in early 2011.

Like the iOS-powered iPhone and iPad, Macs running Lion will gain access to an app store for third-party Mac software and new multitouch gestures.

That marks a significant shift in the way PC software is sold, said Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

“Software doesn’t come in boxes anymore,” Rotman Epps said.

Citing the company’s years of multitouch research, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the desktop multitouch gestures will center on the trackpad, not the display screen.

“Touch surfaces want to be horizontal, hence pads,” said Jobs.

The Mac App Store, which will incorporate automatic installs and updates like those in iOS, will be getting a head start: The store will open on the current Mac OS (Snow Leopard) in 90 days.

Citing the company’s success in selling mobile apps (over 7 billion downloads to date, including both free and paid apps), Jobs said the same basic guidelines would apply to its Mac App Store. Customers will be able to buy and download apps with a single click, installation will happen automatically, and upgrades will be made available regularly just as they are in the iTunes App Store.

The company will also split revenues with developers the same way it currently does, taking a 30 percent commission and paying the remaining 70 percent to the apps’ publishers.

“It’s going to be the best place to discover apps,” Jobs said.

Greengart suspects the move could lead to downward price pressures for new software — a good thing for consumers, but maybe not so much for developers.

“Consumers who buy packaged goods expect to pay a certain price for it,” he said. “With virtual goods sold through an app store that price may be a lot lower.”

The new App Store, which is being separated from iTunes for the first time, won’t exclude the possibility of installing other software, either from shrinkwrapped DVDs or through traditional downloads. But it will give developers an attractive new channel for distributing their work — one that potentially has far fewer headaches.

Lion will also include a feature Apple is calling Launchpad, which is essentially a homescreen for your apps, much like what currently appears on the iPad.

Apple also introduced a Mac version of FaceTime, a videoconferencing app that debuted on the fourth-generation iPhone. That means iPhone 4 owners and Mac users will be able to video chat with each other, whereas before the feature was limited to only iPhone 4 users. A beta release of FaceTime for Mac will be available today.

Apple also released an upgrade for its Mac software suite, iLife 2011, which includes new versions of iPhoto, Garage Band, iMovie and other apps. The iPhoto app now includes features such as Facebook integration and new slideshow modes; iMovie gains new audio-editing features and themes to automatically create movie trailers, among other tools; and Garage Band includes a new feature called Groove Matching that automatically adjusts different instrument tracks to be in perfect rhythm.

Additional reporting by Priya Ganapati.

See Also:

• What to Expect From Apple's Mac Event
• App Store Review Guidelines – App Store Resource Center
• Apple's App Store Director Sells His Own Fart Apps
• Apple App Store Bans Pulitzer-Winning Satirist for Satire
• A Call for Transparency in Apple's App Store

Photo credit: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com