Hasta La Gadget!

LAS VEGAS — Google’s Android development team has previewed the upcoming “Honeycomb” version of its mobile operating system. Honeycomb is the first version of Android to be tailored for larger-screened tablet computers.

We first got a glimpse of Honeycomb when Android boss Andy Rubin showed of off a Motorola tablet prototype in December last year. And Motorola’s new Xoom tablet, a tablet without a price or a release date, will also run the tablet-centric OS.

The video shows that Honeycomb has much more than just a scaled-up smartphone UI, a complaint leveled at most Android tablets so far. It comes on like a desktop/smartphone hybrid, with friendly, finger-sized controls mixed with a desktop metaphor. It looks pretty neat, if sparse, although that’s to be expected with any Google software.

Here we see Gmail (much like the iPad-optimized version) and the new 3D Google Maps, with vector and offline support. Google Voice comes into its own on a tablet, with video-calling supported to pretty much anyone with Gmail and a webcam, and you have access to Google Books.

When Android Honeycomb tablets finally ship, we’ll be excited to get a proper look. And one thing, Google: can you please fix up the font-rendering in Android? This is 2011, and your on-screen type looks like something from Windows 95.

A Sneak Peek of Android 3.0, Honeycomb [Google Mobile Blog]

See Also:

• Motorola Previews New Android Tablet, Droid Smartphone
• Honeycomb
• Video: Motorola Tablet Running Android 3.0 Honeycomb
• Motorola Teases Android Honeycomb Tablet for CES 2011

The company plans computing systems to connect cars to people, society, other cars, and infrastructure. A prototype uses Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip.

Originally posted at CES 2011

A pinch of gaming here at the annual Consumer Electronics Show? Yeah, we’ll take that. Nyko‘s just revealed a wheelbarrow full of new goods to pore over at this year’s edition of the show, and we get the feeling that PlayStation Move owners will be particularly pleased with what’s on offer. For the PS3, the outfit has revealed that its Raven Standard and Raven Alternative controllers are shipping now for $34.99 apiece, as is the 2- / 4-port charging station. Moving onto newer goods, the Power Shot for Move is a newfangled rifle attachment (seen above) for Sony’s play on motion gaming, with an MSRP that’s not quite final and a projected release date of March 2011. Moreover, there’s a pistol-like Perfect Shot for Move (also shipping in March at a price that’s TBD), and if you’re looking for a similar charging solution for your Xbox 360, the Charge Base S will do just that for $24.99.

Comically enough, this year marks the return of the infamous Intercooler, but hopefully the STS version won’t cause your Xbox 360 S to go up in smoke. For those who like to take chances, it’ll hit retail next month for $19.99. Closing things out is the Perfect Shot Pro for Wii, which is a revamped version of the original Perfect Shot that features vibration support; it’ll ship in April for right around $20. Head on past the break for the full release, or spend a few precious minutes digging into the eye candy below. Or both.

Continue reading Nyko’s CES 2011 gaming peripheral lineup: Intercooler STS, Perfect Shot Pro, and more

Nyko’s CES 2011 gaming peripheral lineup: Intercooler STS, Perfect Shot Pro, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Microsoft unveiled its vision of the future, where everything from phones and tablets to big-ass tables runs Windows.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered a somnolescent and nearly news-free keynote presentation on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show here, laying out his company’s strategy for home entertainment, mobile content, PCs and tablets.

“Whatever device you use, now or in the future, Windows will be there,” Ballmer said.

For home entertainment, that means games, video and music delivered via Xbox 360 and its hit wireless, touchless controller, Kinect. Microsoft has sold 8 million Kinect kits since it was first released two months ago.

In one of the keynote’s few bits of original news, Microsoft announced that Xbox 360 users would soon be able to use Kinect to control Netflix via gestures and voice. In addition, Hulu Plus will be coming to Xbox 360 this spring, also with Kinect support.

The Xbox avatar of Steve Ballmer delivers the news about Kinect’s improved facial expression feature, avatarKinect. Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

And Kinect now has enhanced face recognition, so it can identify smiles, eyebrow raises and other facial gestures, mapping those onto your Xbox avatar, which then moves and makes expressions in an odd, artificial mimicry of what your body is doing.

In one of the keynote’s more surreal moments, Ballmer’s avatar delivered the news about the new feature, called avatarKinect.

For smartphones, Microsoft is betting on Windows Phone 7. Ballmer reprised the company’s launch of the platform in late 2010, and announced that it would soon be adding cut-and-paste support to the mobile OS.

Ballmer also showed off a new version of Microsoft Surface, the company’s often-mocked multitouch-capable table. The new version uses infrared sensors instead of cameras, enabling it to be just 4 inches thick (thin enough to mount on a wall for kiosk use). Its “Pixel Sense” technology also detects visual information, not just touch, so it can “see” objects or writing material laid on top of it.

For everything else, however, Microsoft is counting on Windows 7 and its successors.

That means Windows will be the platform of choice for nearly all devices, from tiny slates to full-fledged PCs and even large kiosk devices like the Microsoft Surface.

To make good on that vision, Microsoft is developing versions of Windows that will run on the low-power ARM processors found in many smartphones and some tablets today.

Microsoft demonstrates a version of Windows running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

Microsoft demonstrated Windows running on prototype systems built around chips from ARM manufacturers Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia. (Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip is used in two new dual-core smartphones from Motorola and LG.) The demos included such bread-and-butter Windows features as Internet Explorer, PowerPoint and network printing, all of which seemed impressively fast despite the low-power chips at the systems’ hearts.

The company is also aiming to beef up support for other “system-on-a-chip” devices, by which it means any CPU that incorporates a wider range of functions that are typically found in computer processors. For instance, Intel’s new graphics-enhanced chips and AMD’s Fusion APUs (which combine a CPU and GPU capabilities in one chip) were also featured in the onstage demos.

“Support for system on a chip means Windows will be everywhere, on every kind of device, without compromise. All the power and flexibility of Windows on low-power, long-lasting devices,” Ballmer said.

“You’ll be able to use Windows anywhere you go, from the small screen to the big screen.”

Photos: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

Just yesterday, ASUS finally officially unveiled its brand new, IPS display-sporting EEE Slate EP121. If you can’t remember yesterday, the EP121 boasts an Intel Core i5-470UM processor, up to 4GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD all in a 12.1-inch package running Windows 7. This high end tablet is due later this month, but if you simply must pre-order one today, well, taht’s now possible as it recently appeared at popular online retailer Amazon, for $999. Get over there!

[Thanks, DocWllk]

ASUS EEE Slate EP121 shows up for pre-order on Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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