Feb 26

Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video)

Posted in: Android, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, video
We know, Archos already makes fairly cheap tablets, but believe it or not, the company’s going after an even cheaper segment with its new Arnova 8 and 10. The two have been popping up all around the web — they stopped by the FCC earlier this week and there was an early spec leak from a Russian site — but now we’re finally getting some real details and hands-on impressions courtesy of Charbax, who is quite possibly the biggest Archos fan in the world. The $199 10.1-inch Arnova 10, which we have to say looks a lot like the Archos 101, packs a 600MHz Rockchip RK2818 processor, resistive touchscreen, 8GB of storage, and Android 2.1 — but before you gag, know that there should also be a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Rockchip RK 2918 / capacitive touchscreen version coming in April. Meanwhile, the 8-inch Arnova 8 rings up at $150 with the same processor and resistive touchscreen, but only 4GB of storage. If the cut corners don’t faze you and you’re in the mood for a closer look, we suggest you hit the break for some Charbax video originals.

Continue reading Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video)

Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 13

Webby is the Android-powered Chumby thing that hasn’t won any awards — yet

Posted in: Android, arm, Today's Chili

Webby is the Android-powered Chumby thing that hasn't won any awards yetWhat is a Webby? It is, according to its manufacturer Avantis, “a revolutionary new gadget which is like nothing your customers have seen before.” That, of course, assumes they’ve never seen a Chumby, because that’s basically what this is — running Android, though. It features a suite of widgets and little apps that will let you stream internet radio, check your e-mails, cruise RSS feeds, and even wake up to an alarm. Yeah, familiar stuff, but the apparent lack of social networkability is a bit of a bummer. (There doesn’t even seem to be a Twitter client!) It’s powered by a 600MHz ARM CPU with 256MB of RAM, 2GB of internal flash paired with SD and USB expansion. The 3.5-inch touchscreen has a resolution of 320 x 240 and it’ll connect over 802.11b/g/n WiFi. It even has a DMB tuner if you happen to be living in a land that’s similarly equipped. All that controlled by the wonder that is Android 2.1, but for an undisclosed price.

[Thanks, TIll]

Webby is the Android-powered Chumby thing that hasn’t won any awards — yet originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 03:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 09

Rovi Connected Platform brings another flavor of Android-to-anything streaming

Posted in: Android, froyo, Google, GoogleAndroid, smartphone, stream, streaming, Today's Chili

And then, there were two. Just days after Qualcomm pushed out its DLNA Certified Skifta Android app for streaming content from your smartphone / tablet to just about anything else, along comes Rovi with an awfully similar alternative. The company — which swallowed up Sonic Solutions just months ago — obviously has a thing for slinging contained media all over the place, and its new Connected Platform will soon be available pre-ported to Android 2.1 or higher. In short, that’ll enable Android devices to beam multimedia stored on their microSD cards to an array of PCs, set-top boxes or NAS devices, which in turn would be connected to a monitor or HDTV of some sort. The dirty details on what kinds of devices it’ll support remain murky, but we’re hoping to hear more once the app makes its debut in the Android Marketplace sometime this quarter. Something tells us you’ll need a phone with a bit more oomph than the Acclaim to actually have decent streaming performance, though.

Continue reading Rovi Connected Platform brings another flavor of Android-to-anything streaming

Rovi Connected Platform brings another flavor of Android-to-anything streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 03

CLIQ XT won’t get Android 2.1 upgrade, Motorola’s word as good as dirt

Posted in: cellphone, motorola, Today's Chili, update, upgrade
Motorola’s dangled an Android 2.1 upgrade in front of CLIQ XT users for what seems like forever — now it’s putting away the bait indefinitely. In a statement released this morning, the company said that despite months of rigorous testing, the phone will remain on Android 1.5. We first heard promises of an update in June last year, but Motorola quickly reneged. In November, its predecessor got an upgrade, but the CLIQ XT was left hanging. Then in December, the company announced a delay, citing “additional testing,” and when those tests failed to bear fruit, it just plain gave up. Now CLIQ XT users are stuck with a phone indefinitely sporting an OS that’s three steps behind the most up-to-date competition, and unfortunately, that’s all she wrote — Motorola shows no signs of pursuing another upgrade anytime soon. And that, friends, is your cue to pick up a handset made by HTC and situated on Verizon Wireless.

[Thanks, Josh]

CLIQ XT won’t get Android 2.1 upgrade, Motorola’s word as good as dirt originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 01

Cowon D3 Plenue priced at $370, or $100 per inch of AMOLED

Posted in: 1080p, amazon, Android, OLED, PMP, price, pricing, Today's Chili

Want yourself a “Prestige” portable media player to make even legit smartphones blush in envy? Then the D3 Plenue from Cowon might just be for you, what with its 1080p video playback, 32GB of storage, Android 2.1 OS, and 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED display. It’s just that today we’re finding the Prestige label also extends to its price, which Amazon has set at a mighty $370. That’s not terrible when contrasted against unsubsidized pricing for comparable smartphones, but then this isn’t a smartphone. Availability of the D3 Plenue is limited to an undated pre-order for the moment, giving you at least a little more time to deliberate on the value this souped-up PMP represents.

Cowon D3 Plenue priced at $370, or $100 per inch of AMOLED originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 11

Aigo A8 / Leo 14 megapixel cameraphone hands-on (video)

Posted in: Google, hands-on, Today's Chili, video

We were wandering the floor at CES just before the end of the show when we stumbled upon this oddly familiar device. It’s the Aigo A8 — née Altek Leo — an Android cameraphone (more like a phonecamera, really) destined for China Unicom that sports a 14 megapixel autofocus camera with a CCD sensor, xenon flash, 3x optical zoom, and support for 720p HD video recording. Of course, we wasted no time taking this rare beast for a spin, even going so far as to sample the camera. Take a look at the pictures below, followed by more information — and videos — after the break.

Gallery: Aigo A8 / Leo 14 megapixel cameraphone hands-on (video)

Gallery: Aigo A8 / Leo 14 megapixel cameraphone sample pictures

Continue reading Aigo A8 / Leo 14 megapixel cameraphone hands-on (video)

Aigo A8 / Leo 14 megapixel cameraphone hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 10

Enspert Identity Tab E301 and E201 hands-on preview

Posted in: froyo, hands-on, impressions, preview, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, tablets, Today's Chili, wifi

Android tablets aren’t exactly in short supply at CES 2011, but the Enspert Identity Tab stands out — despite hailing from a manufacturer we’d never heard of before the show. Enspert’s got two slick 7-inch slates on the floor, and while the E201 mostly cribs from Samsung’s WiFi-only Galaxy Tab — right down to a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird chip — the flagship Enspert E301 pumps up the pixel density with a 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, adds an all-metal case, a mobile DTV antenna, and 3G connectivity. We poked and prodded these tablets all over and got a peek at the full spec sheets, so after you peruse our gallery below, hit the break for details!

Gallery: Enspert Identity Tab E301 first hands-on!

Gallery: Enspert Identity Tab E201 first hands-on!

Continue reading Enspert Identity Tab E301 and E201 hands-on preview

Enspert Identity Tab E301 and E201 hands-on preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 10

Espert Identity Tab E301 and E201 hands-on preview

Posted in: froyo, hands-on, impressions, preview, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, tablets, Today's Chili, wifi

Android tablets aren’t exactly in short supply at CES 2011, but the Espert Identity Tab stands out — despite hailing from a manufacturer we’d never heard of before the show. Espert’s got two slick 7-inch slates on the floor, and while the E201 mostly cribs from Samsung’s WiFi-only Galaxy Tab — right down to 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird chip — the flagship Espert E301 pumps up the pixel density with a 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, adds an all-metal case, a mobile DTV antenna, and 3G connectivity. We poked and prodded these tablets all over and got a peek at the full spec sheets, so after you peruse our gallery below, hit the break for details!

Gallery: Espert Identity Tab E301 first hands-on!

Gallery: Espert Identity Tab E201 first hands-on!

Continue reading Espert Identity Tab E301 and E201 hands-on preview

Espert Identity Tab E301 and E201 hands-on preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 08

Nox Audio Admiral Touch preview: the wireless noise-canceling surround headset with Android 2.1

Posted in: Android, bluetooth, hands-on, headphones, headset, impressions, preview, Today's Chili, Wireless

Nox Audio’s brought a couple clever concepts to market before, but the Admiral Touch headset is something else — a set of stainless steel and cans with most every high-end feature we can think of, and one in particular that’s never been done before. Yes, that’s a 2.4-inch touchscreen color LCD embedded in the right earcup, running Android 2.1 on an ARM11 chip with 1GB flash storage and 256MB of RAM — on top of a set of noise-canceling, 7.1 virtual surround sound wireless headphones that connect via both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth simultaneously. There’s not much to do with the tiny Android at present, as its only launcher screen holds just four icons that change the headset’s mode, but we’re told it might be hackable later on (there is a microSD slot and a USB cord), and in the meantime it supports touchscreen gesture controls for volume and swapping tracks. Believe it or not, we’ve just started to describe the features, so hit the break for more.

Gallery: Nox Audio Admiral Touch hands-on

Continue reading Nox Audio Admiral Touch preview: the wireless noise-canceling surround headset with Android 2.1

Nox Audio Admiral Touch preview: the wireless noise-canceling surround headset with Android 2.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 06

Pandigital 7- and 9-inch Android tablets hands-on

Posted in: Android, hands-on, Today's Chili

Pandigital isn’t beating around the bush with the two tablets it’s showing here at CES — they run Android 2.1, they’re not getting Froyo, and they’re most certainly not getting Honeycomb. These slates come in 7 and 9-inch varieties, and the 9-inch Novel comes in both AT&T 3G and WiFi-only models. To rub salt in the wound, these guys don’t have any Android Market support, and they won’t be getting it any time soon (or ever, for that matter). On the bright side though, you get B&N’s Nook app pre-installed on the Novel (get it?). Unfortunately, we’re most upset that Pandigital hasn’t seemed to change any of the things we disliked so much with the first version — the screens aren’t glamorous and the performance is still painfully sluggish. If you’re looking for a cheap Android tablet, we’d probably suggest waiting for something with a little bit lot more flare.

Gallery: Pandigital 7- and 9-inch Android tablets hands-on

Pandigital 7- and 9-inch Android tablets hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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