Hasta La Gadget!

The original plush Chumby will always hold a special place in our hearts, but let’s be real: the average human doesn’t know what to do with a plush, huggable touchscreen that runs Flash Lite. The new Chumby 8 — leaked not long ago — is now official, featuring a revamped user interface that allows you to access music from the home screen, manage apps without using the web-based portal, and use internet radio stations as alarm sounds. Where does the “8” in the name come from, exactly? That’d be the 8-inch 800 x 600 resistive touchscreen, a heck of a lot bigger than the 3.5 inches on that Chumby One you’ve got kicking around.

The core of the Chumby 8, of course, remains the Flash Lite-based apps, and those remain unchanged and totally compatible so that you’ve got access to the existing lineup of 1,500-plus options. You’ve got a pair of USB ports, a stereo headset jack, and both CF and SD slots for powering your little desk-dwelling sidekick with media of your choosing. No word on pricing or availability, but it looks like Chumby will be offering these to third parties looking to customize and deploy or resell them — so our dream of an Engadget-branded photo frame might yet become a reality. Follow the break for our video hands-on!

Continue reading Chumby 8 announced: like a Chumby, but more normal (hands-on with video!)

Chumby 8 announced: like a Chumby, but more normal (hands-on with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The LG Revolution, HTC Thunderbolt and Samsung’s SCH-i520 were the obvious stars of Verizon’s 4G LTE presser today, but a truckload of lesser devices are sure to delight end users when they ship later in the year. 4G mobile hotspots were on hand from both Novatel Wireless and Samsung (with the former working on both 3G and 4G networks), as were a pair of netbooks from HP and the LTE-enabled (and Hummingbird-powered) Galaxy Tab. The MiFi devices were decidedly thicker than our existing MiFi 2200 (shown left, above), but it’s a price we’d be willing to pay for the ability to surf on both of VZW’s networks. Gallery’s below for those seeking a closer look, and you should expect the whole lot to hit your local VZW store between March and July.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Verizon’s 4G LTE line: Samsung and Novatel MiFi, 4G Galaxy Tab, netbooks (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may not have a dual-core processor, but the 4.3-inch HTC Thunderbolt is a beauty to behold — not to mention a speed demon with Verizon LTE on board. We just got our paws on the 1GHz Snapdragon-powered Android 2.2 handset at CES 2011, and immediately fired off packets in an online speedtest. While we’re not entirely certain Verizon’s building-penetrating 700Mhz frequencies would typically work deep in the heart of Las Vegas’ Venetian Hotel, it definitely did here, delivering nearly 18Mbps and loading full websites in a snap. The Desire HD-inspired hardware itself is no slouch either, with a solid if oh-so-slightly hollow build, a responsive glass touchpanel, and positively lovely colors from the 4.3-inch Super LCD screen — a coup for HTC in and of itself — and the strong, EVO 4G-like kickstand that hides the speakerphone is a nice touch. Here’s hoping Verizon doesn’t ask for internal organs or first-born children to turn this beast into an LTE hotspot. Find video after the break, and loads of pics below.

Myriam Joire and Darren Murph contributed heavily to this report.

Continue reading HTC Thunderbolt first hands-on (update: video!)

HTC Thunderbolt first hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — After HTC’s EVO Shift debuted at CES this week, I was able to spend a little time playing around with it. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s a solid contender for those who don’t want to carry around an oversized chunk of hardware.

Unlike its giant predecessor the EVO, the EVO Shift’s capacitive touch screen measures in at 3.6 inches with 480-by-800-pixel resolution. Compare that to the EVO’s 4.3 inch screen size, and the Shift might seem small. But you don’t want to carry a phone that borders on tablet-sized status around in your pants, do you?

I’m personally satisfied with a mid-range screen like that of the EVO Shift, and the image clarity on the menu screens was impressive enough to win over any size queen.

The back facing 5-megapixel camera is straightforward, lit with an LED flash. The photos I took were nothing to write home about, but then again the Shift isn’t packing the 8-megapixel cameras that a number of other recent smartphones have been. And it’s not supposed to, either. A phone like the Shift isn’t aimed at the nerds that need the latest and greatest pocket powerhouse that tops every hardware category across the board.

If you’re used to the keyboard on the Blackberry but want to move to the Android OS (Froyo in particular), the Shift has a slide-out QWERTY to accompany the touch screen. The keys are only slightly raised with flat tops, which might be annoying to those used to boards with a more nub-like keytop. But after a few minutes, texting with the buttons felt intuitive.

Browser speed seemed spotty, though the congested network inside of CES made it difficult to tell just how fast the Shift will perform when it hits Sprint’s 4G network. And that won’t be long from now: The Shift becomes widely available on the last day of CES, January 9th.

All in all, for a lightweight $150 price tag (after mail-in rebate and 2-year contract, mind you), the EVO Shift is a solid contender for its price range.

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

We happen to think the future of the car dashboard is a gradual path to obsolescence, dying and getting replaced by a mobile device. Visteon also think there’s a future for mobile devices in a dash — but not for actually replacing the car stereo. Visteon showed off its Consumer Electronics Device to Vehicle HMI (human/machine interface), which is basically a stupidly long name for a system enabling device integration of the sort we haven’t seen yet. Yes, you can stream tunes through the car’s stereo but, more impressively, actually change the channel that it is tuned to.

That’s just the beginning, with a navigation display and even simplified web browsing, but most impressive is the ability to manage the rest of the car’s interior. You can change seat positions, adjust climate controls, and probably much, much more than the semi-functional demo unit we got our hands on can do. There is a dock connector for the iPad but that’s just for providing power: the connectivity is entirely wireless, meaning people in the back seat can change the channel — or push up the seat of the person in front of them. The box that handles all this is going into production soon and so should start showing up in cars sometime over the next year. Which cars? Your guess is as good as ours, as Visteon works with more car marques than it doesn’t.

Continue reading Visteon puts an iPad in a car dashboard, we go hands-on (video)

Visteon puts an iPad in a car dashboard, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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