Hasta La Gadget!

Man, Acer’s on the warpath. The world’s second-largest PC manufacturer seems hell-bent on radically changing the status quo, telling Bloomberg today that it’s “aggressively pursuing” Chrome OS “so there’s a change to the Microsoft-Intel environment,” with plans to be among the first to ship in Q3. That’s somewhat ahead of Google’s own schedule for reaching v1.0, so yeah, it’s definitely aggressive — and it also sounds like a strong hint towards an ARM-based Chrome OS machine in our future, but Acer wouldn’t confirm anything. Still, those are basically fightin’ words, especially since Acer’s framing the future as a choice between “either” Windows or “Google’s defined OS space.” Acer also promised to fully detail a 6-inch monochrome e-reader by June with an initial focus on European markets, and we’re also informed of a forthcoming free / cheap application store that will be compatible with Android, Windows Mobile, and, obviously, Chrome OS. And lest you thought Acer was ignoring the Apple tablet madness that permeates our world, we’re told that an Acer tablet is in the works, accompanied by the candid admission that the Taiwanese giant is waiting to see what Apple has in store before finalizing its own plans. Yep — things are getting a little nuts.

Acer to launch e-reader, app store, and Chrome OS netbook this year; wants to ‘change the Microsoft-Intel environment’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You have to love a good clash of legitimate titans, and they don’t get much bigger than Google and China. After deciding to stop censoring its Google.cn results, the Mountain View company of evil-non-doers has stepped up its offensive with the announcement that two Android phones — one from Samsung and one from Motorola — which were slated to make their arrival on China Unicom on Wednesday have now been postponed. We’ll read between the lines and guess that the phones will be “postponed” if China plays nice, or “never gonna happen” if it doesn’t. Google seems intent on demonstrating the full impact of its potential withdrawal from China, and this show of its sway with mobile manufacturers will hardly go unnoticed.

[Thanks, David Casteneta]

Google’s spat with Chinese government causes ‘postponement’ of Android phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You have to have a pretty special product to get two Engadget posts discussing your wares during the maelstrom of CES, but this Adam thing just won’t leave us alone with its Pixel Qi display, Tegra 2 innards and bona fide potential to blow the bloody doors off the homogeneous tablet market. We’ve gone back and grabbed video of the device in direct sunlight and it just kept on impressing us. The screen resolutely refused to be overpowered by the light, whether its backlight was on or off, but that was merely the tip of the iceberg as far as the happy impressions. Come past the break to find out more about buttery smooth 1080p playback (with a handy HDMI out), Notion Ink’s plans for modifying the Android OS, and more on the likely pricing of the device which is set to land in quarter two of 2010. Oh, and yea — we totally ripped it open and photographed the insides. Check that out below.

Continue reading Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on

Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re keeping tabs on Mio Technology’s GPS happenings, you’ll be interested to dip into some facts that PC World has uncovered about the company’s upcoming offerings. According to the mag, the next version of the electronics-maker’s MiBuddy satnav unit will dash the underlying Windows CE architecture for Google’s newer and far more suave Android platform. The new device will be pushing into MID territory, boasting a 4.7-inch touchscreen along with a hardware slider keyboard, the ability to browse the internet, and WiFi and Bluetooth onboard. Call us crazy, but it seems possible that devices like dedicated PNDs running Android could easily adapt Google’s new turn-by-turn system as their primary mode of operation. Alternately, you could switch between Mio’s proprietary version and Google’s variation… or they could axe the big G’s altogether, though that awkward situation makes far less sense to us. No word on timing or price just yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

[Via NaviGadget]

Update: Seems this is all just a great big mixup, and the whole Android thing is just untrue. Bummer.

Filed under: GPS

Mio MiBuddy GPS units to trade Windows CE for Android originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s hard to look at the DROID without looking at the company which brought the device to life. Motorola: for years the name has been synonymous with… well, disappointment. While the industry-stalwart made cellphones sexy with the RAZR, the days which followed have not been especially fruitful or compelling. Over the past year or so, we’ve seen Motorola beating its way back into the mainstream through a series of smart plays: first embracing Android as a platform, then shucking off the weight of Windows Mobile and finally bringing some desirable (and high profile) devices to market.

With the DROID, the company has perhaps created its most attractive and intriguing piece of technology yet. Forging an alliance with both Verizon and Google, Motorola has come up with a second compelling reason to count the phonemaker down, but certainly not out, while the other two giants have finally found a seemingly worthy device to position against the iPhone. So we must pose these questions: is this the phone which will catapult Android into the mainstream? Is it the device that will pull Motorola back from the brink? And — most importantly — is it the lynchpin Google and Verizon have needed to challenge the leader in mindshare in the smartphone market? After putting the device through its paces, we think we can give you the answers you seek — so read on to find out!

Continue reading Motorola DROID review

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola DROID review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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