Hasta La Gadget!

Mango may no longer be a secret in and of itself, but we doubt Microsoft would’ve set up an entire event to preview its big Windows Phone update if there was nothing hidden up that Redmond sleeve. To that end, we’ve just come across an official press release from the company, released on its Romanian website. The machine translation awaits after the break.

Update: We’ve now swapped in the natively English press release. There’s also confirmation that Mango will indeed be known as Windows Phone 7.1.

Update 2: Turns out Microsoft “had to give [the SDK] a name” and dubbed it 7.1, so Mango retains its formal WP7 moniker.

The first thing to note is that the update will be “freely available” to all current Windows Phone handsets, something Microsoft already committed to, and will be ready for download “at the beginning of this summer.” (Update: it looks like our translation machinery betrayed us, tipsters are saying it’s actually the beginning of autumn.) Naturally, the new goodness will also figure in new devices and from new partners, including Acer, Fujitsu, and ZTE. Those fresh faces join Nokia and the incumbent partners of Dell (maybe) HTC, Samsung, and LG to expand the WP ecosystem.

A Beta SDK of the new Windows Phone free tools will be available within 24 hours, we’re promised, for developers to sink their teeth into.

In the communications department, Microsoft is introducing conversation threads, which seamlessly transition between MSN Messenger chats, SMS, and Facebook messaging to keep you talking to the same person irrespective of the method. New contact group tiles are also incoming, with the ability to send quick emails or IMs to entire groups. Twitter and LinkedIn contact integration is mentioned, though we expect this go a lot deeper in Twitter’s case, as Microsoft has already demonstrated. Speaking of more in-depth integration, Microsoft has improved the Live Tiles to allow the display of more dynamic information from apps, which will of course be able to multitask beautifully. Internet Explorer 9 is also joining in on the Mango fun with support for HTML5. Jump past the break for all the details.

Update 3: Would you look at that, Bing search has gotten a thorough sprucing up as well. Video of all the new goodness follows after the break — or you can click here to hit up Microsoft’s own video library, which is loaded to the gills with feature overviews.

Continue reading Microsoft announces Windows Phone ‘Mango’ update, coming in autumn (updated)

Microsoft announces Windows Phone ‘Mango’ update, coming in autumn (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 09:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That machine looming large at the top of this page is Fujitsu’s LifeBook T901 tablet PC and it’s now for sale in the US of A. Powered by an Intel Core i5-2520M processor, the T901 features a 13.3-inch, 1280 x 768 LCD that supports NVIDIA’s Optimus graphics. The display also rocks an active digitizer, though you’ll have to pay an additional $100 for the dual digitizer that enables five-finger capacitive multitouch. For those in need of some extra life, there’s a modular bay that allows you to swap in a second battery or hard drive, along with an integrated fingerprint sensor that’ll keep your kids away from your precious TPS reports. Prices start at $1899, so hit the source link if you’re interested in adding an yet another tactile dimension to your digital existence.

[Thanks, Charles]

Fujitsu’s LifeBook T901 tablet PC now on sale in the US, starting at $1899 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A slide-out tablet running on Windows 7, you say? Not to be confused with the Samsung Sliding PC, what we have here is the Fujitsu LifeBook TH40/D that’s just been announced for the Japanese market. Inside this 2.4-pound convertible laptop you’ll find a 1.5GHz Oak Trail Atom Z670, 1GB of non-expandable DDR2 RAM, a 10.1-inch 1,024 x 600 touchscreen, a 120GB 4200rpm hard drive, and a battery life of around 6 hours. Other tidbits include 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a couple of USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out, an SD card slot, and a teeny optical trackpad placed next to the short space bar. Can’t say we’re digging some of the limitations on this TH40/D, but if you still want one, then be ready to fork out about ¥80,000 ($990) at the end of June.

Fujitsu’s TH40/D convertible tablet slides into Japan, packs Atom Z670 and Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 00:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu’s latest Lifebook packs a pico projector in place of a DVD drive

Making super thin laptops isn’t the only thing you can do when you ditch bulky optical drives. If you keep the computer the same size, there’s suddenly a whole lot of space for cool new accessories. Take the new Fujitsu Lifebooks, for example, which pack tiny pico projectors into the newly freed-up space.

The computer comes in two models, with 12.1 inch and a 13.3 inch screens. Both can be had in a confusion of configurations, including Celeron, Core i3 and i5 processors. But the smart part is the projector.

When I say the pop-out projectors take the place of the optical drive, I mean it literally. They are designed as optional swap-in modules to replace an optical drive. To use it, you partially eject the unit from its bay and adjust it up and down on a hinge. Fujitsu doesn’t disclose the specs of the projector other than a resolution of 800 x 600, but pico projectors are all pretty similar, giving a decent, bright image as long as the room is dark and you’re not to far from the wall or screen.

The projector-packing Lifebooks will go on sale in Japan next month, starting at a rather steep $2,690. Given that pico projectors can be had for under $500, and take up almost no space in a laptop bag anyway, you might prefer to stick with an optical drive for now.

Projecting Lifebook product page [Fujitsu via Crunchgear]

See Also:

• Super-Bright Pico Projector Just a Quarter-Inch Thick
• IOS-Ready Pico-Projector Turns Your Phone into a Theater
• Pico Projector iDevice Dock Beams Movies, Games
• Beambox Pico Projector Boosts Lumen Power, Adds iPod Scroll Wheel …
• New Phone First to Market With Embedded Pico Projector
• A Nerd's Dream: Toshiba's Pocket Projector in a Pocket Protector …

Being that doomsday and the robot apocalypse are nearing quickly, now seems an appropriate time to gaze into the future of laptop design, right? Well, maybe those anomalies aren’t actually around the corner, but you know us — we always fancy a warm cup of concept tea. Designer Park Hyun Jin over at Yanko recently posted some renders of the Fujitsu Lifebook X2, a laptop-like invention of his fervent imagination that allows for two orientations thanks to its four folds. The design features a full QWERTY keyboard that can be used when the notebook is folded out in full, as well as a half-folded option with an onscreen keyboard, pictured above. Naturally, we’d love for this concept design to become a reality, but we can’t wrap our brains around the seam between the two screens. Well actually, we could probably get used to it.

Continue reading Conceptual ‘Fujitsu Lifebook X2’ folds into quarters, makes regular notebooks look lame

Conceptual ‘Fujitsu Lifebook X2’ folds into quarters, makes regular notebooks look lame originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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