Hasta La Gadget!

Finding apps can be tough, especially when your Store or Marketplace is overwhelmed with a daily flood of debutantes. That’s not exactly a problem for HP, whose App Catalog for the webOS 3.0 TouchPad officially launches on July 1st and will be, the company admits, a little spartan at first. But HP has a plan for a future flood of apps: Pivot. It’s basically a curated digital magazine that will present a selection of apps someone at HP found interesting for whatever reason — a way for users to discover new downloads and, more importantly, for niche developers to not get lost in the shuffle. HP hopes this will attract developers, taking a different approach from the competition, which often resorts to outright promises of cash to pique their interest — but a few free TouchPads never hurts .

Continue reading HP announces Pivot for TouchPad, the curated, magazine-like way to find some apps

HP announces Pivot for TouchPad, the curated, magazine-like way to find some apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not so long ago, we were ready to believe that this plastic EV might stand a fighting chance thanks to its local charm and initial $28,000 price tag. But then the price soared, sales failed to pick up, and now it appears the Norwegian maker of the Think City couldn’t cling on any longer. Think Global has filed for bankruptcy and will be liquidated in an attempt to pay off its creditors, including US battery producer and investor Ener1, which is making a $33 million charge on the company’s assets. It’s sad to see any such enterprise fail, but Think Global might one day be seen as a victim of the success of the EV industry, which is beginning to see better competition and lower prices.

EV maker Think Global files for bankruptcy after poor US sales originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s Voice Search for desktop is nifty and all, but what it’s really been lacking is a worthy way to trigger it into action. The Verbalizer is an open-source dev board made specifically to be used with the search giant’s new tools from up to ten meters away. This microphone-shaped piece of circuitry was made with Arduino compatibility in mind, which means that voice search is just the beginning. The company (who happens to be the same folks behind the brilliant Instaprint) will be distributing schematics and source code through its website, and promises to give away a “limited run” of kits for free in a drawing starting today. Head on over to the source link if you feel like testing your luck, but not before checking after the break for one more shot of these mini masterpieces on display as well as the nitty gritty PR.

Continue reading Verbalizer: the open-source wireless microphone of your Arduino-loving dreams

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Verbalizer: the open-source wireless microphone of your Arduino-loving dreams originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coming from Hungarian blog Technet via BlurryCam™ are these leaked shots of Nokia’s first Windows Phone 7 phone. If it looks like the just-announced MeeGo-based N9, that’s because it pretty much is. It has the same slim, iPod Nano like body, the same Gorilla Glass screen and the same 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens. Don’t believe that’s these are the real deal? Take a look at this video:

That’s Nokia CEO Stephen Elop asking press attendees to shut off their cameras, before naively pulling out the new handset, codenamed Sea Ray. Obviously not everyone complied, and we have the images to prove it. (It could also be that Elop played the audience to get the images leaked deliberately).

There are a few hardware differences — the flash and the button arrangements are slightly changed — and this is a prototype likely subject to change, but if this runs Windows Phone 7 as well as other handsets, and looks as good as the N9, then Nokia might just have a hit on its hands. In fact, the only thing hampering its success is that fact that the OS is called Windows, which can really only confuse people.

Nokia: the leader introduced the first machine WinPho [TechNet via Engadget

See Also:

• Nokia's Hot-Looking N9 Shows Hope for Windows Phone
• 6 Survival Tips for Nokia and Microsoft

Recharging tired EVs and plug-in hybrids in Japan just got a little more exciting thanks to Toyota‘s upcoming G-Station charger, which relies on contact-less smart-cards to identify vehicles and owners. Toyota’s Windows Azure-powered Smart Center drives the machines, which allows users to connect to the internet and use smartphone apps to find chargers, receive notifications, and check usage history. The G-Station will be coming this July in two flavors, creatively named Type A for the standard and Type B for the more advanced model. Pricing for the aforementioned units will be 280,000 yen ($3,469 USD) and 448,000 yen ($5,549 USD) respectively. Toyota is expecting to sell around 3,000 units by the end of 2012, making these stations available to its retail car dealers, shopping malls and restaurants. Soon the outside of pachinko parlors will be just as electric as the inside.

Toyota premiers smart charging G-Stations in Japan, world instantly jealous originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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