Apple purchases Intrinsity, just 498 more ARM licensees to go

With P.A. Semi under its belt, and now “people familiar with the deal” reporting to The New York Times that a purchase of Intrinsity is a go, Apple’s march to ARM preeminence is becoming much more clear. A rumor about an Intrinsity purchase surfaced a few weeks ago when the processor design firm’s website went down and a few of its employees switched their LinkedIn employee status over to Apple, but now we’ve got some solid confirmation — though Apple and Intrinsity are still staying tight-lipped about the deal. Intrinsity’s rumored contribution to the iPad’s A4 chip is a modified A8 core it designed dubbed the Hummingbird, which squeezes 1GHz of performance out of a chip regularly limited to a mere 650MHz. It’s unlikely that this acquisition will shed much more light on the internals of the iPad or future Apple devices — in fact, it might help obfuscate them — but it’s clear that Apple is dead set on owning as much IP and “smart people” in relation to ARM as it can muster. Of course, the next big rumor on this front is a purchase of ARM itself, but that’s an entirely different can of worms.

Apple purchases Intrinsity, just 498 more ARM licensees to go originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye-Fi announces Apple-exclusive Geo X2 card, more WiFi hotspot support

In the event that none of Eye-Fi’s existing 802.11n-capable offerings meet your wireless photo upload needs, take heart, because there’s a new model getting shoehorned between the $49.99 Connect X2 and the $99.99 Explore X2 that might just satisfy your discerning tastes. Like the entry-level Connect X2, the Geo X2 brings 4GB of Class 6 (read: high-speed) photo and video storage plus an “Endless Memory Mode” that can automatically delete shots once they’ve been safely uploaded to their destination — but like the name implies, the new model adds the automatic geotagging support offered by its pricier siblings. It’ll be an Apple Store exclusive starting next month for $69.99.

Along with the Geo X2, Eye-Fi is announcing a partnership with Devicescape that’s yielding significantly expanded support for open WiFi hotspots with splash screen logins such as those offered by schools, cafes, and WiFi providers like Boingo, arguably addressing one of the card’s biggest weaknesses. The new capability will be available to users by the end of May — so start finding more awesome stuff to photograph, alright?

Eye-Fi announces Apple-exclusive Geo X2 card, more WiFi hotspot support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM shows off BlackBerry 6 on video

While RIM’s WES 2010 keynote is still ongoing, the company’s YouTube channel has kindly released the first teaser video for the incoming BlackBerry 6 operating system. There’s a lot of movement on screen — so much, in fact, that it’s almost like RIM really doesn’t want you to see the OS at all. We did catch sight of a Cover Flow-aping music organizer, an onscreen keyboard engaging in some threaded messaging, Facebook and Twitter clients, and even the briefest of glimpses at that famed WebKit-based browser. Interaction in the video is done via touch, but you’ll naturally be able to utilize the new interface on more conventional, touch-less devices as well. Skip past the break for the moving pictures.

Continue reading RIM shows off BlackBerry 6 on video

RIM shows off BlackBerry 6 on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3

And just like that, it’s official. We heard back at CTIA that Nokia’s N8 would see an official reveal during April, and just a few short days after surfacing in Russia, that very smartphone has indeed been announced over in Espoo. There’s not much here we didn’t know about — it’ll be rocking a 12 megapixel camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash), 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, HDMI output, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, HD video recording, access to Ovi Store apps, free Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation, and of course, the company’s new Symbian^3 operating system. The N8 touts multiple, personalizable homescreens “which can be loaded with apps and widgets,” native multitasking, support for multitouch gestures and integration with the Qt software development environment. It’ll also ship in a variety of lovely hues (read: five), with availability pegged for “select markets” in Q3 for €370 ($494) without any subsidies involved. Not like it’ll have any other competition up in its grille by that point or anything…

Update: Here’s a look at a few sample images from that 12 megapixel camera. Thanks, Matija!

Continue reading Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3

Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom Go Live 1000 to offer capacitive touchscreen, WebKit-based UI

TomTom has just outed its new flagship PND, the Go Live 1000, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s the first of the company’s stable to offer a capacitive touchscreen. This comes mere days after Garmin updated its lineup with capacitive options. The 1000 is a little slimmer than its predecessors, but its major feature is “instant” route planning and re-planning once it has a satellite lock — the industry’s fastest. Achieved using a custom-built Broadcom GPS module, that capability is backed up by a 500MHz ARM11 CPU (yawn), 4GB of storage, 128MB of RAM, a new WebKit-based UI, and 12 months of free TomTom Live services. Beginning in June, this suite of services will be rolled out to 33 countries across Europe, featuring local information about petrol prices, services and weather, while its headline HD Traffic — which tracks congestion on secondary roads as well as motorways — and safety camera alert features will come to only 16 nations. It’s a decent year-long freebie to have and TomTom promises it’ll cost less than €50 ($67) per annum thereafter. That’s more reasonable than the previous $9.95 monthly cost, but still not price-competitive with Google and Nokia’s offerings. There’s also a SIM card slot, but don’t expect to be developing new modes of sidetalking, it’s most likely there purely to facilitate all those data transactions. Check out the new UI in the gallery below and expect the TomTom Go 1000 Live to show up in Europe some time this summer.

Continue reading TomTom Go Live 1000 to offer capacitive touchscreen, WebKit-based UI

TomTom Go Live 1000 to offer capacitive touchscreen, WebKit-based UI originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Police investigating lost iPhone prototype raid Gizmodo editor’s home

The backstory of the lost fourth-gen iPhone prototype acquired by Gizmodo last week is certainly already the stuff of some legend, but hold on tight, because it just got even wilder: Giz editor Jason Chen’s house was apparently raided by California’s REACT computer crimes task force under the authority of a search warrant on Friday night and his computers and several other items were seized. That means a criminal investigation led by the San Mateo police and district attorney is almost certainly in full swing, which is, well, crazy. As you know, we published images of the iPhone prototype last Saturday, so we’re tracking this story as closely as we know all of you are. For now hang tight and we’ll share more info as we get it.

Update: TechCrunch reports that the investigation is on hold for now following claims by Gawker that Chen should be protected under California’s Shield Laws, meant to help protect journalists from revealing sources. The District Attorney will reportedly reevaluate whether those laws do apply, and as such will not go through the seized possessions until a decision’s been reached in the coming days.

Police investigating lost iPhone prototype raid Gizmodo editor’s home originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry 6 coming in third quarter of this year

RIM’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis just announced in an analyst call today that the company’s next platform — coined BlackBerry 6 — will be available “in the next calendar quarter,” which we take to mean the third quarter of 2010. We weren’t able to see a video preview of the platform that was shown to analysts attending the event, but the demo apparently showed a touchscreen interface; a follow-up question from the audience confirmed that it’ll be available for both touch and non-touch devices, though. Interestingly, Lazaridis said that the company’s all-new WebKit-based browser is part and parcel with 6, pointing out that the rendering engine will have implications throughout the platform and the apps that run on it, not just on the browser alone; in other words, we wouldn’t expect a release of a WebKit browser from these guys for OS 5.0-based devices. Speaking of OS 5.0, the intention is that every device in RIM’s portfolio will eventually run 6, but not everything in the market today will necessarily be upgradeable — Lazaridis says that they’ll “do [their] best,” but he’s not making any guarantees. More on this as we get it.

BlackBerry 6 coming in third quarter of this year originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Bold 9650 announced, targets Tour owners’ big complaints

RIM has a longstanding track record of refining its hardware with near-surgical precision — from one generation of BlackBerry to the next, you almost always see a very careful, deliberate evolution, from the Storm2’s revamped SurePress tech to the Bold 9700’s optical pad and countless examples in between. “Evolution” is exactly how we’d describe the CDMA- and GSM-equipped Bold 9650, the Tour’s spiritual successor that ditches the old name to join forces with the remainder of the Bold line. Dimensionally, the Bold 9650 is a dead ringer for the Tour — it’s still 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.56 inches — but it packs on two-tenths of an ounce worth of weight in exchange for oft-requested WiFi support and an extra 256MB of internal storage (it’s now up to 512MB total). The other big difference, of course, is the replacement of the dodgy trackball with an optical pad, continuing a trend that has now permeated throughout virtually all of RIM’s lineup. Look for the Bold 9650 to hit American carriers — presumably both Verizon and Sprint — in May. Follow the break for a second shot and RIM’s full press release!

Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9650 announced, targets Tour owners’ big complaints

BlackBerry Bold 9650 announced, targets Tour owners’ big complaints originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Pearl 3G revealed: two keypad styles and 802.11n WiFi

As smartphones go, the original BlackBerry Pearl 8100 series’ longevity is nothing short of astounding — with some minor tweaks, the phone has lasted essentially unchanged for well over three years. Needless to say, it’s time for the granddaddy of consumer-grade BlackBerrys to start collecting pension, so it’s an awfully good thing that RIM has chosen its WES conference this week to announce the all-new Pearl 3G. Rumored as the Pearl 9100, the phone becomes RIM’s very first with 802.11n WiFi support (in addition to 802.11b and g, naturally) and features a 3.2 megapixel camera, 256MB of internal storage with microSD expansion up to 32GB, GPS, triband HSDPA with quadband GSM / EDGE, and a 360 x 400 display. RIM is making the Pearl 3G available in “several lustrous colors” and two different keypad configurations — numeric 14-key and the more traditional SurePress 20-key — though there’s no indication that the rumored QWERTY version will make it to retail (at least, not yet) or that the company intends for users to be able to swap modules themselves. Expect the phone to launch with “various carriers” in May — and considering that they’ve got both AWS and 850 / 1900MHz 3G versions in the mix, we’d expect to see it launch on AT&T and T-Mobile alike. Follow the break for RIM’s full press release.

Update: RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis just showed off a white version of the Pearl 3G during his WES talk. We haven’t seen one floating around, but it looks pretty hot — and considering the number of colors the original Pearl came in during its lifetime, we’d expect it to be just the start. Pic after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Pearl 3G revealed: two keypad styles and 802.11n WiFi

BlackBerry Pearl 3G revealed: two keypad styles and 802.11n WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nexus One launches on Vodafone UK this Friday, April 30

The first European carrier for the Nexus One is all set to start offering Google’s superphone for free on two-year contracts costing £35 ($54) or more per month. Pre-orders are being taken today and full retail availability is slated for April 30. It’s kind of an anticlimax now that the Incredible has started stalking the American prairies, but we’re sure there’ll be plenty of Brits who’ve been waiting with bated breath for this. There’ll be 18- and 24-month contract options, with prices starting at £25 per month, and a 1GB 3G data allowance is included together with a 1GB WiFi allowance via BT Openzone hotspots. Not exactly the most generous price plans we’ve ever heard of, but then the handset’s looking eminently affordable with its zero cash up front requirement. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Nexus One launches on Vodafone UK this Friday, April 30

Nexus One launches on Vodafone UK this Friday, April 30 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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