Hasta La Gadget!

Yes, we hate to start off a fresh week with more talk of the Apple tablet, but this isn’t just another rumor. Stéphane Richard, second in command at Orange, was asked on a Europe 1 radio program about the Apple Tablet. When he was asked whether such a tablet will be announced before the end of the month, he responded “Yes,” and when asked whether Orange users would get it, he responded “Sure!” This is of course not a formal confirmation by any means, but he doesn’t sound like he’s talking in theoreticals, either. You can listen to it yourself at the read link below and let us know what you think below.

Update: We now have the video below courtesy of SlashGear, who aren’t quite so convinced that he’s referring to the tablet itself, possibly just confirming that others are reporting the tablet will be released next week. Any native speakers care to help us wade through the intricacies of this, the language of love?

Update 2: We’ve got a full translation after the break of the entire relevant bits, courtesy of bilingual reader Sean Mangar.

Update fin: Orange has issued a statement predictably saying these comments are being taken out of context, that Richard was “merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch.” So, the fun is over folks — or is it?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Orange exec confirms existence of Apple Tablet?

Orange exec confirms existence of Apple Tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:41:00 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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We’d heard some rumblings, but apparently Robbie Bach let the cat out of the bag at an analyst briefing this week, stating that we should expect a showing of Windows Mobile 7 at the Mobile World Congress show in Spain, which begins on February 15th. He also added that the OS (which he’s played with, surprisingly) will “set the bar forward not in (just) an evolutionary way,” and that Microsoft is going to be “more engaged” with OEMs in its “go to market approach.” We love a good buzzword or three, but the hope here is that Microsoft has learned its lesson from iPhone and Android and is ready to compete in the next-gen smartphone game in a big way — a WinMo 7 showing just four months after the release of Windows Mobile 6.5 certainly smacks of that.

[Thanks, Matthias]

Windows Mobile 7 coming to MWC in February, not just ‘evolutionary’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s CES keynote has been marked by disaster: first the power went out, knocking the PCs on stage into recovery mode, and now the PR for Ballmer’s speech has posted early. The big news is no news — that HP slate device is a Windows 7 PC, not the rumored Courier tablet. We’re sure HP and Microsoft will have some interesting things to say about it, but a lot of hearts are breaking out there. Other big items: Project Natal will launch around the holidays in 2010, the HTC HD2 will hit T-Mobile as expected, and the Mediaroom 2.0 IPTVs service will bring on-demand programming to PCs and phones. The full PR is after the break, but we’ll post highlights here if we see anything else as we comb through.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Continue reading Microsoft CES keynote PR leaks early: HP slate device is just a PC, Natal in holiday 2010

Microsoft CES keynote PR leaks early: HP slate device is just a PC, Natal in holiday 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T’s quick tease this morning has finally materialized: introducing the Motorola Backflip, a QWERTY device with WiFi, five megapixel camera, and Android 2.1. It’s not a slider; instead, it’s got the keyboard on the outside and flips outward. Motoblur‘s the skin of choice here, and before you say anything, Sanjay Jha himself says “we’re still working on battery life.” He wouldn’t confirm a carrier, but “unique form factor” and previous leaks all but guarantee this is its inaugural Ma Bell Android phone. And don’t fret Cliq / Droid users, Jha wants you to know that Android 2.1 is coming to all its Motorola devices, including Cliq, and Droid’s getting Flash 10.1. So hey, there’s something you can really look forward to.

Continue reading Motorola Backflip now official, Cliq promised Android 2.1 and Droid Flash 10.1

Motorola Backflip now official, Cliq promised Android 2.1 and Droid Flash 10.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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