Hasta La Gadget!

Dr. Suess it’s not, but Google just had to make a bit of hullabaloo about the launch of its first branded tablet, the Nexus 7. The search giant took the wraps off it a few weeks back, but now pre-orders have finally started shipping to those who plunked down the $199 (or $249) for the Jelly Bean-packing slate. A few of you tipped us that the charge had finally hit your credit card, and now the official Google Nexus Twitter account has confirmed the devices have been packed on to trucks. So, celebrate, unless you’re one of the hesitant ones that didn’t place your order early in the Google Play store.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Google starts shipping Nexus 7 pre-orders, writes a rhyme to celebrate originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And just like that it’s back. Following a yesterday’s temporary stay of the ban on Google’s HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus by Judge Koh, the soon-to-be Jelly Bean-loaded device is again up for sale at the Play store — and a bit earlier than expected. If you’ll recall, Google notes that Android 4.1 apparently mitigates the issues brought up within the dispute by Apple, which has until July 12th to issue a response on the matter. Orders are slated to ship in “two to three weeks,” (see update below) so we’d suggest you grab one quick while it’s fresh and tasty to ensure your taste buds get the latest Android sugar fix.

Update: Well that was quick. Just a few hours after going up for sale, the shipping estimate has been reduced from ”two to three weeks” to ”one to two weeks.” It’s so close you can almost taste it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PSA: Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ up for sale again at Google Play store (update: now shipping in ‘1-2 weeks’) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When setting up a gadget for review, delicately unboxing and smelling the carcinogenic whiff of freshly molded plastics, we typically feel some amount of excitement and anticipation to see how it stacks up against the competition. It’s either that or a resigned sense of duty as we run yet another iterative evolution of this or that laptop through the same benchmarks to see just how this year’s model stacks up to the older model now being sold on discount. With the Nexus Q, though, we felt something different altogether: genuine curiosity.

Why? Well, it’s a high-end device with a $299 MSRP, a price that’s multiple times higher higher than media streamers like the Apple TV, anything from Roku and, indeed, Google’s own Google TV. And yet, the Q has considerably less functionality than any of them. Largely because of this, many who witnessed its unveiling at Google I/O were quick to write it off. Despite having our own doubts we pledged to give it a fair swing, a week of solid use at home and with friends. How did it do? Does this high-concept device with high-end componentry make up for some decidedly low-end capabilities? There’s only one way to find out.

Continue reading Nexus Q review: Google’s mysterious little social streamer

Nexus Q review: Google’s mysterious little social streamer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You could call it technological baptism of sorts… just not the kind Apple would want. A Russian scam app known as Find and Call managed to hit the App Store and create havoc for those who dared a download, making it the first non-experimental malware to hit iOS without first needing a jailbreak. As Kaspersky found out, it wasn’t just scamware, but a trojan: the title would swipe the contacts after asking permission, send them to a remote server behind the scenes and text spam the daylights out of any phone number in that list. Thankfully, Apple has already yanked the app quickly and explained to The Loop that the app was pulled for violating App Store policies. We’d still like to know just why the app got there in the first place, but we’d also caution against delighting in any schadenfreude if you’re of the Android persuasion. The app snuck through to Google Play as well, and Kaspersky is keen to remind us that Android trojans are “nothing new;” the real solution to malware is to watch out for fishy-looking apps, no matter what platform you’re using.

[Image credit: C Jones Photography (wallpaper)]

Spam-happy iOS trojan slips into App Store, gets pulled in rapid fashion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Making a half dozen attempts to guess your login info or typing each digit of a credit card account certainly can get in the way of following through on impulse purchases, which is exactly how you’d categorize FarmVille cash or a featured flick that you know you may not have time to watch within the month. The solution is carrier billing, eliminating those precious seconds between impulse and reconsideration, and Telefonica has just signed on to offer the service to Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM account holders. The partnerships will enable O2 users in Germany or Movistar subscribers in Spain to charge purchases to their mobile phone accounts, for example — in total, 14 Telefonica subsidiaries should be up and running with carrier billing by the end of the year, though some services, such as Google Play and Facebook, have already begun to roll out. Click through to the PR after the break for the full breakdown.

Continue reading Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing

Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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