Hasta La Gadget!

Not sold on those iPhone Antenna-aid bandages? Fret not, as we’ve got a whole ‘nother round of laughs coming your way. What started as a concept has landed on Etsy as a buyable product: the ‘End Call’ vinyl sticker. As you’d expect, you simply place this guy over the iPhone 4’s “weak spot” and then press it whenever you’d like to conveniently drop whatever call you’re on. The only problem? This $4 add-on actually won’t accomplish what it says in plain English.

iPhone ‘End Call’ sticker is an ironic solution to your reception problem originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s about time. Touted back in March as one of the pillar apps to benefit from the new multitasking API, Skype has finally been updated to iOS 4 compatibility. We’re seeing crisper, more retina display-friendly graphics and, more importantly, background VoIP (not for iPhone 3G, naturally). A notification window will pop up when you’re called or messaged, and you can use other apps while on the line chatting to international friends at reduced rates. Even on the lock screen, if you receive a call, sliding to unlock will take you immediately into the call. Video chat still isn’t here — a darn shame given the lack of other options now — but now you’ve got even more of a reason to rack up those rollover minutes on AT&T’s voice plan. Download away!

Update: Remember when Skype was talking about charging extra for calls over 3G starting this month? Straight from the horse’s mouth: “we no longer have plans to charge a supplement to make calls over 3G.”

[Thanks, Tyler C]

Skype updated for iOS 4, background VoIP is a go (update: no plans to charge for 3G use) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Which is more important, the fact that Microsoft rolled out a brand-new developer preview of their mobile OS or the fact that Nilay can get some free protection from Apple for his sweaty kill-hands? You be the judge.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Christopher Voss – Where is My Mind (Pixies cover)

02:25 – Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview
44:00 – Apple to give away free cases to iPhone 4 users

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Engadget Podcast 205 – 07.20.2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM and Nokia aren’t the only ones saying “WTF Steve!?” after last Friday’s press conference attempted to draw the competition into the Antennagate saga. Samsung has issued its own choice reaction about supposed problems with the Omnia 2, though this one is somewhat less sternly worded than the others:

The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna. We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future.

Why is Samsung being rather more polite? Because it’s full of really nice people? Or, is it because the iPhone 4 is stuffed with Samsung memory chips? We’ll let your level of cynicism be your guide here.

Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple’s Omnia 2 antenna claims originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Friday press conference may have left a bad taste in some rival handset manufacturer’s mouths, but not all of them are taking Cupertino’s derision of their devices seriously — HTC’s Droid Eris was arguably the most affected by the grip of doom, its bars dropping to zilch when held, but the Taiwanese company’s keeping any controversial opinions to itself for now. Instead, it’s sharing a simple percentage to help clear the air. Whereas Apple claimed over 0.55 percent of customers called AppleCare with reception-related complaints, HTC’s Eric Lin told Pocket-lint the Droid Eris technical support rate was 0.016 percent, nearly thirty-four times lower — though even with a seven-month head start, we have to wonder if the Eris sold close to three million by the time Verizon brought the axe down.

HTC fires back at Apple antenna demo with percentage pew-pew originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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