Hasta La Gadget!

Carol Bartz and Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEOs of Yahoo! and Nokia, respectively, are on stage right now announcing a “strategic relationship” between the two companies on some of their core services. Nokia will be using Yahoo to power its Ovi email and IM services, while Yahoo will be using Nokia / NAVTEQ’s competencies for its mapping and navigation services. Both companies see it as a way to grow their respective userbases, with Yahoo hoping to grab onto the 9 million Ovi users out there, while Nokia hopes that Yahoo could provide it a bit of a USA mojo. Interestingly, Olli-Pekka confronted the US problem head on: “We are an unusual global company in the sense that we are clearly a global leader in our industry, and yet we do not lead in the US.” Carol was similarly forthcoming, saying that Yahoo had “lost its focus on maps a couple years ago,” then correcting herself, saying that they “chose to focus on other areas.” The first merged services should launch in the second half of this year.

During Q&A the big answer to everything seemed to be “scale,” but we also heard Carol toss in “downstream” at an opportune moment. When asked how this relates to Android, iPhone and so forth, Carol clarified that this doesn’t change anything they’re doing on those fronts. “It’s not exclusive from that point.” Each service will be branded as “powered by Yahoo” or “powered by Ovi.” Yahoo will be announcing some “social-like” services for its mail and IM soon, but it’s unclear if that’s specifically related to this announcement. Neither company is talking financial specifics, but Olli-Pekka did make it very clear that a Yahoo-branded device wasn’t forthcoming.

Nokia and Yahoo announce ‘worldwide strategic alliance’ on email, IM, maps, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just in case you were wondering if Steve Jobs would manage to show up to WWDC 2010 and totally party on the Apple faithful… yes. As you would expect, Steve will be rocking the keynote address on Monday, June 7th at 10AM Pacific. Afterwards you’ll be wondering where you’re going to find the money for that new iPhone. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Steve Jobs will be front and center at WWDC 2010 for keynote duties

Steve Jobs will be front and center at WWDC 2010 for keynote duties originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s the good kind of follow-the-leader, and then there’s this. While the world cheered as all four major US wireless carriers implemented prorated early termination fees, we can all hang our heads accordingly for this one: AT&T has just followed Verizon Wireless’ march into the dark, evil corners of contractland by adjusting ETFs higher for netbooks and smartphones. In an email sent out to select customers, the carrier notes that beginning on June 1st (that’s less than a fortnight away), customers who select “advanced, higher-end device[s], including netbooks and smartphones, will have an ETF of $325, reduced by $10 for each month during the balance of the service agreement.” That’s up significantly over the $175 ETF that affects all of AT&T’s handsets today, though still $25 less than VZW’s plan. The silver lining — if you could call it that — comes with this point: customers “who are buying basic and quick messaging phones will have a lower ETF of $150, reduced by $4 for each month during the balance of the service agreement.” Naturally, existing contract customers won’t see any immediate change, but you can bet you’ll be nailed with the new terms once you head in this summer to pre-order that iPhone 4G. The full memo is posted after the break — so much for “rethinking possible,” huh?

Update: AT&T has published an “open letter” explaining the changes. Thanks, Daniel!

[Thanks, L.]

Continue reading AT&T follows Verizon, jacks up ETF on netbooks and smartphones

AT&T follows Verizon, jacks up ETF on netbooks and smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony will be first out of the gate with a Google TV powered device, with its “Sony Internet TV” devices — in the form of either an HDTV or a set-top box with Blu-ray player — arriving on shelves this fall. The rest of the partners were just as the rumors indicated, with Logitech adding a QWERTY Harmony remote, “companion box” to bridge the gap to existing home theater equipment and eventually video chat capabilities, Intel providing the CE4100 Atom processor at the heart of the devices and an Android 2.1 OS with Chrome browser brings it all together. DISH Network and Google have admitted to their ongoing trials but there’s no word on any release date,(Update: We didn’t catch it onstage, but DISH just announced it will enable “advanced integration” via HDMI on all of its HD DVR receivers this fall, details after the break) while Best Buy is already on board to sell all of this and inevitably offer to hook up those IR blasters for a fee, while Adobe is just happy to see another device that runs Flash 10.1. The rest of the details are in press release and video form after the break, but you can sign up for updates at Google.com/tv (developers check in here) or check out our ongoing liveblog right from Google I/O.

Update: Vic Gundotra just confirmed in a post-keynote press conference that TV will go international next year.

Continue reading Sony Internet TV, DISH first with Google TV this fall; Adobe, Logitech and others along for the ride

Sony Internet TV, DISH first with Google TV this fall; Adobe, Logitech and others along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure sure, Froyo is great and all, but Google just blew our minds with two previews of upcoming Android features at I/O: OTA application installation and remote music streaming. OTA installation is just as simple as you’d expect — after browsing to an app on your desktop, you can push it to your phone and install it with just a single click, all done over the air. Interestingly, Google also showed music being purchased and transferred from Android Marketplace in the same way, which could indicate a deeper push towards music integration, or just be a nice demo. Either way, it’s pretty slick stuff — the fewer wires we have to carry, the better.

The remote music streaming is a little crazier: Google bought a company called Simplify Media, which makes a bit of desktop software that can stream all your music directly from iTunes to your phone. The demo was quite slick — you just open the app and push “all,” and all your music is instantly available. Whether or not this’ll work over 3G or be limited to the local network is still up in the air, but we’re dying to try it out.

Google adding over-the-air app installation and iTunes streaming to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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