Hasta La Gadget!

In other obvious news, Android and iOS continue to sit pretty atop the US smartphone market, according to a recent NPD study. The current titans of the mobile industry both saw their pieces of the OS pie increase in Q2 of 2011, putting Andy Rubin’s green robot in the lead with 52 percent and Apple at 29 percent. Newly adopted webOS, and Microsoft’s WP7 and Windows Mobile all managed to cling to their respective 5 percent shares with no yearly change, leaving only BlackBerry OS to experience an 11 percent decline. But the real meat and potatoes of the report focuses on Google’s soon-to-be in-house partner: Motorola. Despite the rosy picture painted by recent acquisition talks, the company appears to be facing tough competition from Android OEM rivals, and the wireless market as a whole. In regard to overall mobile phone share (read: dumbphones, et al.) and smartphone-only, Moto saw a 3 percent year-to-year decline, with its biggest loss coming from Android unit sales — a 50 percent drop to 22 percent of the market. Will the rosy glow of Mountain View “help inspire new paths to differentiation” for Moto, or are we just looking at a repeat of the “RAZR era?” While you ponder these pressing questions, head past the break to read the full report.

Continue reading Android still king of the US smartphone hill, Motorola facing a market nosedive

Android still king of the US smartphone hill, Motorola facing a market nosedive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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United Airlines and Apple announced today that the airline will deploy 11,000 iPads for its United and Continental pilots. This is the first major airline to replace paper flight manuals with electronic flight bags, or EFBs.

“The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying,” said Captain Fred Abbott, United’s senior vice president of flight operations, in a press release. “The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight.”

Alaska Airlines ditched paper charts for iPads in June, following Executive Jet Management’s lead. The FAA allowed the company’s pilots to use iPads as their primary source of information starting in February. Delta has also been testing out tablets with their pilots. They are first testing the iPad, and then will test the Motorola XOOM.

Just like on land, Apple’s iPad is dominating the scene.

“What makes the iPad more attractive, in comparison to its competitors, is that it is extremely stable and is less likely to experience a system crash. Even if that did occur, the reboot time is one of the fastest in the tablet market,” said Resolve Market Research analyst Kari Cafouros. “These advantages are more appealing to companies when choosing to give out tablets to their employees, compounded by the fact that they know their employees already want the device for personal usage.”

The switch to tablets on board aircraft isn’t just good for Apple. United’s plan will save 16 million sheets of paper and 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year, because each 1.5-pound iPad will take the place of about 38-pounds of operating manuals, flight charts and checklists, logbooks, and informational papers pilots normally reference. Paper-based flight bags normally house over 12,000 sheets of paper… per pilot.

The iPads will run software called Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck, which includes interactive route navigation information and geo-referenced terminal charts.

Image courtesy United Continental Holdings

Sol Republic is a new headphone company whose roots lie in a product you’re all well familiar with: Beats by Dre. But unlike those $400, bass-happy cans, the Tracks headphones only cost $100. More »

With this clever app, you can turn e-mails, Web pages, and other documents into PDFs for viewing and sharing.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Whether you’re a longtime Engadget HD reader braving the high seas of wonky podcast RSS feeds or an Engadget Classic reader stunned by this alternate universe invasion of Blu-ray, HDTV and home theater news, it’s about time we thanked you for putting up with our dust as we make some changes around here. To that end, our friends at Universal have hooked us up with a few copies of Scarface and The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray to get your fall started, whether you’re heading back to school yourself or just know someone who is. Check out the rules after the break, leave a comment and then clear out some space on your disc shelf — or, put one together if you’re a soon-to-be Netflix refugee.

Continue reading Engadget’s HD Back to School Giveaway: Win Scarface and The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray!

Engadget’s HD Back to School Giveaway: Win Scarface and The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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