Hasta La Gadget!

Today, Windows Division prexy Steven Sinofsky treated Build 2011 attendees to a walkthrough of the various tweaks, subtle or otherwise, Microsoft’s made to Windows 8. Staying true to its roots, the new OS implements the familiar keyboard commands users have become accustomed to over the years — you know, like CMD and Ctrl+F. And as for its update to Internet Explorer, MS has imbued its tenth iteration with the ability to switch between the much-hyped Metro-style UI and plain old desktop view — all according to your whimsy. Of course, Redmond’s instituted other sweeping changes across the platform, and you can check some of the highlights after the break.

Continue reading Windows 8 details: new features, UI enhancements and everything in between

Windows 8 details: new features, UI enhancements and everything in between originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know, we know — you’re anxiously awaiting the public launch of iTunes Match, but what if you’re one of those people? You know, the crowd that dips their toes into both Google and Apple offerings. It’s clearly not as blasphemous as you may have been led to believe, as the fine folks in Google’s mobile department have just produced an iOS-specific web app for Google Music Beta. For those who’ve forgotten, Music Beta was launched a few months back at Google I/O, giving audio archivists the chance to upload 20,000 of their favorite jams into the cloud; now, as you might imagine, it ain’t just Android users tapping into those libraries. Predictably, the Music Beta iOS web app enables iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users to login to their accounts and stream at will, and if you’re down to give it a go, the download link is just below — you’ll need to have been accepted previously into the beta, though.

We gave it a quick whirl on the iPad here at Engadget HQ, and it works beautifully. As you’d expect, the actual graphical elements are a bit lacking compared to the Android app, but all of the core functionality is there. Swiping left / right cruises through Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlists and Genres, and the track currently playing remains in a top bar regardless of what main window you’re in. The search function works as advertised, and on a basic cable connection our results populated within two seconds of getting the third letter down. All in all, it’s a fairly nice spread (see for yourself in the gallery below), but not quite as nice as we’re envisioning a dedicated app to be. Still holding out for one? Heh… we never said Google was that generous.

Google Music Beta crosses the aisle, launches for iOS via web app (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you been navigating that cross-country trip via the recently updated TomTom iPhone app while carrying along an iPad on the excursion as well? Soon, you’ll be able to find your way by slate alone, as the company has announced an iPad-optimized version of their GPS app. To make things even better, if you already have the download, you can grab it for your Apple tab for free this Fall. Well played, TomTom… well played.

Continue reading TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions

TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7.5 will be wearing more Mac-friendly pajamas when it comes. Microsoft’s Connector app just got updated to Version 2.0 and it enables both Marketplace support and ringtone transfers for Mango-equipped handsets. It also packs some other improvements which already work with WP 7.0, including drag-and-drop file importing from the Browse Device window, better backup and restore operations, and full sync and import support for Apple Aperture software. Connector 2.0 is ready and waiting at the App Store and Mango should poke its head around the mountain any day.

Windows Phone 7 Mango will play nicer with Macs, update your Connector app now originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows president Steven Sinofsky has confirmed that Windows 8 is getting an app store. He casually dropped the scoop whilst listing the software’s dev teams as if he was listing the week’s groceries. Such a tease, that man.

Windows 8 App Store officially announced, we’re all shocked originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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