Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve just barely begun to get ready with Steve Ballmer’s keynote at MWC 2011, yet the company’s Twitter and press feeds just scooped its main man. It’s confirmed that Windows Phone 7 is getting multitasking for third-party apps and a suite of other updates, including Twitter integration and IE9 Mobile. We’re still waiting on details on the multitasking, but the company has confirmed a “new wave of multitasking applications” in this next release, though hopefully that means open to all.

Twitter will be integrated into the People Hub, so you can get your real-time “what’s for dinner” updates right there. And, of course, Microsoft confirmed IE9 is coming. It’ll deliver a “dramatically enhanced web browser experience” thanks to graphics and hardware acceleration that’ll make the most of what your handset has to offer. Sounds tasty to us. We’re told to expect the update in “early March,” which isn’t that far away at all.

Continue reading Microsoft shows off WP7’s future with multitasking, Twitter integration, and IE9, all coming this year

Microsoft shows off WP7’s future with multitasking, Twitter integration, and IE9, all coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Play available in March, on Verizon in ‘early spring’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When last we saw a Tachyon XC helmet cam it was clinging futilely onto the side of another, stuck together so that the footage coming from the two could be combined to create 3D — something GoPro is now trying to do much more expensively. We weren’t particularly convinced at the time, largely in part because the resolution of each of those XC cameras was only VGA. Now there’s an HD model we’ve been given to try, and while we’ve happily ditched the Siamese action to go solo this time, some issues remain here that keep us from giving the new, $179.99 Tachyon XC HD our universal recommendation.

Continue reading Tachyon XC HD helmet camera review

Tachyon XC HD helmet camera review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve seen our Hong Kong feature from awhile back, then you would’ve already heard about my favorite gadget hangout Sham Shui Po. By chance, my post-flight stroll in said district yesterday coincided with Apliu Street’s Chinese New Year flea market, which featured many vintage items like jade figurines, paintings, jewelry, video tapes, vinyl records, etc. Naturally, what really caught my attention were the old gadgets that were literally piled up along the street, and from just HK$30 (US$3.85), you could easily pick up an old classic such as a Sony Clié, an HP iPaq, a WonderSwan Color, an original GameBoy, a MiniDisc player, or even a proper old school laptop or camera. Hell, some guy even had a couple of Nintendo Micro VS Systems (Donkey Kong Hockey and Boxing)!

The catch? Well, there was obviously no warranty for these old timers, plus the broken screens or the lack of compatible batteries for some meant that most were more suitable as collectibles. Regardless, we took a $6 gamble with a Sony Clié PEG-NR70 Palm PDA with docking station and boom! It works! Well, except for the battery that only lasts for an hour, but I’ll figure something out.

Hong Kong gadget flea market: a blast from the past originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new player has entered the electric motorcycle game, joining the likes of Brammo’s Empulse but doing it with rather more… unconventional styling. It’s the Agility Global Saietta, an all-electric sports bike that will come in two flavors: the 50 mile range Saietta S and the 100 mile Saietta R. The former of the two will be quicker than the first, getting to 60 in under four seconds, whereas R riders will have to wait another tick of the stopwatch due to extra battery weight. Naturally that extra range and speed will cost you: £9,975 for the S and £13,975 for the R, figures that equate to roughly $16,200 and $22,650. Hefty sums, both, but nobody said being on the cutting edge of the humpbacked sport bike trend was going to be cheap. We weren’t given any specific horsepower or weight figures, but we’re told the power to weight ratio is 675hp per ton. You can make your own guesses about weight to try and get a firm power figure, but it certainly should be peppy enough.

At this point we don’t know much about the bikes themselves beyond what you can see in the photos, which show a trellis frame cradling a sizeable battery pack. The swingarm is a combination of machined parts and pipes, rear suspension elevated to make room for the electric motor sitting just above the pivot point. Front suspension also shows an unconventional design, offset steering linkage and a single damper eschewing the traditional fork design found on your average (non-BMW) motorcycle. These images are, of course, just renders, but the bike has just made its word debut at the MCN London Motorcycle Show and we’ll be bringing you some actual pictures as soon as we get them. As to when those who order the bikes will get theirs, we’re told shipments begin in April.

Update: We have some pictures from the Saietta launch at MCN. Real, honest to gosh photos, these.

Update 2: We’re told it’s actually the lighter S that’s quicker to 60, not the R, despite what the PR says below.

Continue reading Agility Saietta unveiled, the decidedly unconventional electric sports bike

Agility Saietta unveiled, the decidedly unconventional electric sports bike originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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