HTC Ignite and Prime surface on Dutch e-tailer, may indeed be coming soon

Second time’s a charm? Here’s hoping. Just months after seeing the so-called HTC Ignite and Prime surface alongside the Pyramid (which already launched as the Sensation 4G), it seems as if the remaining duo have found a home over at The Phone House. For those unaware, that’s the Dutch version of the UK’s Carphone Warehouse, a top-tier mobile shop that doesn’t steer folks wrong too often. The Ignite looks to be a Windows Phone 7 handset with an 800MHz processor, 3.7-inch display and an otherwise understated motif. The Prime, on the other hand, sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5 megapixel camera and Microsoft’s homespun OS. There’s no mention of a price tag on either (nor any other specifications), but that whole “coming soon” thing most certainly has our interest piqued.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC Ignite and Prime surface on Dutch e-tailer, may indeed be coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WMPowerUser  |  sourceThe Phone House  | Email this | Comments

BBC Launches Subscription-Based International iPlayer for iPad

Iplayer

Yes, you can watch the first three seasons of Blackadder in their entirety

The BBC has launched the international version of its iPlayer app for the iPad. The app, which lets users stream and download the Beeb’s TV shows, is free and available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

The app differs from the local, UK-only version quite significantly. The UK iPlayer service is intended as a way to catch up on shows from the past week, and all content is free for its short life on the service. The international iPlayer works more like Hulu. There is a significant back catalog of around 1,000 hours stretching back 60 years — currently featured are vintage episodes of Doctor Who starring William Hartnell. The iPlayer also contains non-BBC content. The excellent Misfits from Channel 4 is in there, for example.

Also new are streaming over 3G and offline viewing. The latter lets you download and keep episodes to watch later — perfect for vacations or plane rides.

Some content is free, and you can grab the app and try it out right now. For the meat of the service, though, you’ll have to pay. A monthly subscription costs €7 ($10) and a yearly one €50 ($71). This is very cheap compared to the compulsory television License Fee payable by every TV owner in Britain, currently £145.50, or $238, or €166. Subscriptions are paid for in-app, just like any other iTunes purchase.

So how is the app itself? Not bad. The experience is slick, and navigation is fast. You can browse or search for shows. Each episode has a plot summary, where you can hit play, download the show or — inevitably — recommend it via Twitter or Facebook.

Streaming starts pretty much immediately (you get a bandwidth warning first if you aren’t connected to a Wi-Fi network), and the quality isn’t bad. It’s not as good as a torrented file ripped from the hi-def version, but its good enough for the small screen.

Two major faults stand out. The first is a lack of subtitle support, which is absurd in an app showing English language shows to foreign audiences. For example The Lady, who speaks perfect English, is sometimes foxed by the weirder English accents on TV.

The second is a lack of AirPlay support, even for audio. This is thanks to the app’s custom video player. You can always hook up the iPad to a TV or stereo using a cable, though.

The iPlayer app is pretty great, and fills the gap for smug Europeans left by Spotify launching in the U.S. And best of all, unlike the paid version of Hulu, there are no ads (you do get some pre-roll commercials in the free version).

iPlayer iPad app [iTunes via the Guardian]


RIM releases BBM 6, makes your mobile messaging dreams come true

It’s been quite awhile since RIM’s mobile chat service got a facelift, but back in April we got a sneak peek of the next BBM build. Since then, millions upon millions have waited with bated breath for its release, and now they must wait no more: BBM 6 has finally been unleashed upon the world. This new bit of code brings support for BBM-connected applications — so you can chat within apps and both view and download your friends’ favorite apps from lists on their BBM profiles. The new functionality means programs for real-time project collaboration are possible, as are new types of social gameplay. Nifty features, all, but are they enough to reverse RIM’s less-than-rosy recent fortunes?

RIM releases BBM 6, makes your mobile messaging dreams come true originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CrackBerry  |  sourceRIM  | Email this | Comments

Sprint posts Q2 2011 earnings: net subs up, contract subs down, net loss of $847 million

It’s another mixed bag worth of earnings for the folks in Overland Park. Sprint just announced its Q2 2011 earnings prior to the market’s open today, and while it’s obviously doing its darnedest to paint a rosy picture, the raw numbers show a somewhat different backdrop. Despite having its third consecutive quarter of adding more than one million total net new wireless subscribers, the vast majority of those are coming from the (admittedly less lucrative) prepaid side. In fact, the company lost 101,000 postpaid subscribers in the period, and we’re guessing that the one-two punch of WiMAX hitting the expansion skids while VZW built out LTE at a breakneck pace didn’t help matters. 674,000 prepaid subs were added to the mix (through Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, etc. arms), and despite seeing quarterly sequential and year-over-year growth in wireless service revenue, the carrier still reported a net loss of $847 million. In a way, it’s the same story on a different day for The Now Network, and while the just-announced LightSquared partnership may end up bolstering things in time, it’ll take something a bit more jarring to turn things around by Q3. Or Q4… right, Dan?

Sprint posts Q2 2011 earnings: net subs up, contract subs down, net loss of $847 million originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSprint  | Email this | Comments

Nintendo posts loss as revenue slides

Nintendo saw its revenue slip 50.2 percent year over year during the company’s last-reported quarter, due to slumping hardware and software sales.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

Folding Canoe Fits in a Backpack

Copy 0 img 4834w

At just four kilos, the Adhoc canoe is perfect for solo Deliverence-style adventures

Possibly my favorite part of Tsor Design’s folding canoe is its name: Adhoc. It perfectly sums up the usage scenario for a boat that will fold up into a backpack.

The Adhoc Canoe weighs in at just 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) and shrinks down to fit into a bag that measures 13 x 23 x 70 centimeters (5 x 9 x28 inches). The frame is fashioned from carbon fiber and the hull made from aramid, a polyamide used in bike tires and body armor, among other things.

The boat fits together like a tent crossed with a windsurfing sail. The main, double wishbone-like structure is formed by telescopic poles, and the seat hangs from a cross brace. It looks pretty comfy in there.

Unfortunately the boat, designed and built by Ori Levin, appears to be a one-off piece so far. A shame. I have always wanted a boat, but I don’t have anywhere to store one. This would totally solve the problem.

Ori Levin Adhoc Folding Canoe [Design Boom via Oh Gizmo!]

See Also:


Sony, Sharp and Fujitsu earnings all bring bad news, only Toshiba says something nice

Plenty of Japanese earnings news today and, as with Nintendo, most of it’s pretty dire. Sony’s hit from the earthquake and PSN outtage has inevitably contaminated this quarter, but it’s suffered from slow Bravia TV, PC and camcorder sales too. Together, these factors contributed a hefty ¥15.5 billion ($200 million) loss in the three months to the end of June, compared to a ¥25.7 billion profit for the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, Fujitsu also lost ¥20.4 billion, which it largely attributed to a 6.7 percent decline in Japanese sales following the disaster. However, sales in other countries also fell 5.3 percent, reflecting a stronger yen and general lack of consumer demand.

Despite everything, Sharp managed to make an operating profit of ¥3.5 billion — but this was down an eye-watering 84.4 percent on the same period last year. Like Sony, the company is suffering from weak demand for TVs, and says it’s switching one of its main TV panel plants to make smaller panels for mobile devices instead — including the iPhone and iPad.

There was some more upbeat news from Toshiba, however, which has managed to stay in the green. It reported a slight rise in net quarterly profit to ¥470 million due to demand for its power systems and home appliances. At least that’s a note worth ending on.

Sony, Sharp and Fujitsu earnings all bring bad news, only Toshiba says something nice originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSony, Sharp, Fujitsu, Toshiba  | Email this | Comments

Sprint and LightSquared confirm agreement, 15 years worth of LTE network sharing and more

The rumors were true, but given the long, torrid affair between these two it shouldn’t be a surprise. Sprint and LightSquared have confirmed their intentions to the world, stepping into a whopping 15 year agreement that will be worth $9 billion in cash for Sprint and will save LightSquared an estimated $13 billion. LightSquared will have the right to sell access to Sprint’s burgeoning LTE network, while Sprint can also piggy-back on the other’s existing capacity where needed. Additionally, LightSquared will be able to roam on Sprint’s current 3G network, opening new doors for one while helping the other accelerate its apparent transition to LTE. This is of course good news for Sprint and naturally for LightSquared, which is trying desperately to put the whole GPS fiasco behind it. The loser? Clearwire, we’d say — and WiMAX in general.

Continue reading Sprint and LightSquared confirm agreement, 15 years worth of LTE network sharing and more

Sprint and LightSquared confirm agreement, 15 years worth of LTE network sharing and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Nintendo slashes 3DS price to $169.99

Company will cut the price of its 3DS portable in the U.S., starting August 12. Nintendo is lowering the price of its handheld game device in other markets too.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

BlackBerry Torch 9860 lighting up the FCC? (Update: frequencies added)

BlackBerry Torch 9860 lighting up the FCC?

We’re not precisely sure which model this mystery phone is with the neon-green back, but we know it’s from RIM, and it looks an awful lot like some of the early leaked shots we’ve seen of the 9860, aka the Torch. It’s made a visit to the FCC under the moniker RDH71CW / RDP71UW / RDQ71UW, different designations for various frequency flavors we presume, but at this point is only being tested for Bluetooth and WiFi compliance, leaving us guessing as to future carriers. Place your bets in comments below, and feel free to speculate about when this thing might actually ship — and what color it might be when it does.

Update: Digging deeper into the filings, we discovered that RDH71CW supports GSM / EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2000, likely pegging this as a Verizon and / or Sprint global phone; RDP71UW is the WCDMA version that supports quadband GSM / EDGE and WCDMA 850 / 1900 / 2100 that would pin it on AT&T, Rogers, Bell, and / or Telus; and RDQ71UW offers the same GSM / EDGE but substitutes in WCDMA 1700 AWS, as well as 900 / 2100 for global use, which could indicate the BlackBerry 9860 has a future with T-Mobile as well.

BlackBerry Torch 9860 lighting up the FCC? (Update: frequencies added) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments