Aug 01
We’ve found the perfect vacation rental for a company retreat following Airbnb’s negative publicity debacle…on Airbnb.
Aug 01
PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video)
Posted in: Android, app, apps, BlackBerry, developer, developers, Google, ios, iPhone, mango, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, RIM, smartphone, Smartphones, symbian, Today's Chili, video, webos, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7
Until now, mobile app developers have followed a pretty predictable MO: develop for iOS first, Android second, and everyone else after that. Since last year, many of you code monkeys out there have been tapping into Nitobi’s PhoneGap, a project that makes it easier to churn out apps for almost every OS, all at once. It’s been picking up steam, with about 40,000 downloads per month, 600,000 in total, and a steady stream of donations. That all culminated this weekend with the release of PhoneGap 1.0, which lets devs use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to write and deploy apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, webOS, Bada, and Symbian. That’s a long list indeed, but we see one glaring omission: Windows Phone 7. Hit the source link to download it for free and check out the promo video below for an oh-so quick overview.
Update: Oops! Looks like WP7 is included! Our apologies, and feel free to celebrate accordingly.
Continue reading PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video)
PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Aug 01
Nokia goes with a numbers-only naming scheme, thinks the alphabet is hard
Posted in: nokia, Today's Chili
There had been rumblings that Nokia was going to switch up its naming scheme and ditch the letter prefixes. Today, with the launch of the Nokia 500 (previously known as the Fate) that shift in convention has finally taken effect. The all-number nomenclature is brilliantly simple — the higher the number, the higher-end the handset, and the higher the price. So, if and when Nokia unveils the 790 (which the Finnish company denies exists with a wink), you’ll immediately know it will be costlier and more powerful than the 500 or the 670. Now we can all stop wondering what the “C” and “X” in C7 and X7 are supposed to tell us about our choice in Symbian handset and, by extension, ourselves.
Nokia goes with a numbers-only naming scheme, thinks the alphabet is hard originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 01
Sony Ericsson’s tiny Xperia Mini and Mini Pro on sale now in Taiwan and Hong Kong
Posted in: Android, available, gingerbread, Google, Mini, on sale, OnSale, sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, xperia
They’ve been announced, manhandled (by us and the FCC), and now they’re finally on sale… in Taiwan and Hong Kong. That’s right, some of the first folks to put Sony Ericsson’s latest Android phones in their pockets will be the citizens around HTC’s very own turf. According to VR-Zone and our brethren over at Engadget Chinese, both the Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro are on shelves now for NT$7990 / HK$2,098 (about US$270) and NT$8990 (US$310) / HK$2,198 (US$280) respectively. It probably won’t be much longer now till these pair of itty-bitty, 3-inch Gingerbread phones hit the states but, if you’re impatient, those two cities are only about a 13-hour flight away.
Sony Ericsson’s tiny Xperia Mini and Mini Pro on sale now in Taiwan and Hong Kong originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 01
Apple Halts Samsung Galaxy Tab Launch in Australia
Posted in: Apple, ipad, samsung, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili
Only their mother can tell them apart. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
As part of the ongoing lawsuit between Samsung and Apple, the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been delayed in Australia. A court injunction has been won by Apple which will prevent Samsung from selling the tablet “until [Samsung] wins court approval or the lawsuit is resolved,” according to a report by Bloomberg.
The lawsuit started in the US in April, and has Apple accusing Samsung of ripping of the iPhone and the iPad in look and feel. The evidence is hard to contradict. Show one of Samsung’s recent touch-screen handsets to a layperson and they’ll probably mistake it for an iPhone.
Not only has Apple successfully halted the launch of the Tab 10.1, but Samsung has agreed to supply Apple with three examples of the tablet at least a week before any future launch date. This is necessary as the Australian Tab 10.1 will differ from the U.S model. Unless it looks like an Etch-a-Sketch, though, it’s pretty hard to imagine that Apple will give it the go-ahead.
By the time this spat finally works its way through the courts, it’s likely we will have forgotten about it. But what seems clear right now is that Apple is currently winning, likely thanks to the obviousness of Samsung’s rip-offs. If the Korean tech giant is to move forward with its Android phones and tablets, it’s going to have to invent some of its own.
Apple Suit Puts Samsung Tablet Sales in Australia on Hold [Bloomberg]
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Aug 01
Logitech announces that its chopping the price of its Google TV box, the Revue, to $99 from $249.
Originally posted at News – Digital Media
Aug 01
Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite HDD invites Android users to its media streaming party
Posted in: Android, Google, satellite, Today's Chili, Wireless
When we took a look at Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite back in May, we recommended that non-iOS buyers hold off until the company rolled out an app for different operating systems. Android users take note, the storage company today took the wraps off of an app that lets users wirelessly stream content like HD videos from the external hard drive to devices running their favorite dessert-themed mobile OS. No internet connection is required to stream, you just need to be in range of the drive. The 500GB GoFlex Satellite has a built-in battery that can stream video for up to five hours. The drive will run you $200, but the Android app is decidedly more free. Check the relevant press info below.
Continue reading Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite HDD invites Android users to its media streaming party
Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite HDD invites Android users to its media streaming party originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 01
The Citrocasa Fantastic can juice up to 30 oranges per minute
If you are the head of a family of very thirsty Oompa-Loompas, a race of people who — unknown to many — require several gallons of fresh orange juice a day, along with pounds of carrots and even the odd pumpkin, to keep their orange color*, then you might want to take a look at the Citrocasa Fantastic. It’s a trimmed-down version of the orange-squeezer familiar from a million airports, malls and cafes.
It works like this: A reservoir of fresh fruit runs through a tubular cage and into the maw of the machine. There each orange is split with a blade and fed into a series of rollers which force the sharp, acidic juice from its fleshy home. As each orange is fed to its fate, a digital counter marks its passing. Tick, tick, tick.
While the Citrocasa Fantastic could certainly be used in the home, the real destination of this cut-down version is the smaller bar or coffee shop, where its 55-kilo (121-pound) bulk will be seen as blessedly slim, not unfathomably large. Even so, it is easy to use. To get a glass of juice, just press the tap and the everything purrs into action. Even cleaning is simple. The quick-release squeezing assembly pulls out and drops straight into the dishwasher.
The price is the exact same price as any piece of catering equipment — whatever your local vendor thinks he can get away with. To this end, you might want to consider an old-fashioned reamer to do the job instead.
Citrocasa Fantastic product page [Citrocasa via Oh Gizmo!]
* Of course, the Oompa-Loompas don’t really need juice to stay orange. It’s a little-known fact that the actors were hired from Florida, and their skin was colored orange by the dangerous and curiously fade-resistant fake tan popular there in the 1930s. Despite an estimated budget of almost $3 million, producing studio MGM decided against using more makeup to reverse the effects.
See Also:
- Oranges Make Tires Green(er)
- Review: Sharp LCD TV Produces More Oranges Than Florida
- Fruit Ninja: how big is that fruit?
- Funky Worms Cause Ants to Mimic Fruit
Aug 01
Vinci tablet for babies goes up for pre-order, prepares to be hurled across the playroom
Posted in: Android, froyo, Google, Today's Chili
When some of us were tots, there was one family computer, and we were lucky if we got our sticky little fingers on it while we were still in diapers. Times have changed, though, and for some parents, sharing the ‘ol iPad or 10.1 with curious babies just won’t do. Enter Rullingnet’s Vinci tablet, that ruggedized tablet for toddlers we played with back in January. It’s up for pre-order now, and though it’s not exactly the modded Galaxy Tab we saw demoed, it’s a very similar piece of hardware with a 7-inch (800 x 480) display, rugged casing, a 3 megapixel camera and Froyo on board. If you’ll recall, it’s missing any wireless radios (you know, to keep littles ones from being exposed to radiation), but parents can update apps via microUSB. Aside from the kid-proof caging, though, the hook here is that the tab comes pre-loaded with educational content such as 3D games, music videos, and animated storybooks — a package overseen by the company’s founder, herself a mother to young kids. With a starting price of $389, it’s slightly less expensive than other Android tablets, though there’s also a version with a more grown-up $479 price tag that doubles the battery life to six hours and comes loaded with more educational goodies. Hit the source links to pre-order, and remember that the tab’s intended for kids ages three and under, so if yours is already forming sentences, well, your investment should be good for at least a year.
Vinci tablet for babies goes up for pre-order, prepares to be hurled across the playroom originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 01
Is This a UFO On the Bottom of the Ocean?
Posted in: Today's Chili, top, video
Swedish sea treasure hunters have found something extraordinary: A 60-foot disc sunk in the bottom of the ocean, with what appears to be 985-foot-long impact tracks leading to it. The team leader never found anything like it: More »
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