Xiaomi Phone 1S ships August 23rd with avalanche of backorders

Xiaomi Phone 1S hands-on

You know you’re doing well when even your warmed-up, older smartphone is triggering queues before it’s on sale. Xiaomi has just promised that the Phone 1S will reach the market on August 23rd, but with 200,000 units to share — a slight shortfall when there are 1.3 million reserved phones. The company hasn’t said how quickly it will catch up to the backlog for its revived Android flagship. We hope it’s soon; it wouldn’t do to have customers still waiting for the 1S by the time the Phone 2 rolls around in October, after all. We’d say it’s a nice problem to have, and it bodes well for sales of the true sequel.

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Xiaomi Phone 1S ships August 23rd with avalanche of backorders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM says BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 users will get legacy device support, IT admins (may) rest easy

BlackBerry 10 hands-on swipe

Corporate server managers everywhere were given a jolt this week when rumors emerged that RIM might implement a hard cutoff for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10: any devices based on BlackBerry 7 and earlier might not connect at all, leaving IT leads with the uncomfortable choice of either running a BlackBerry server platform that’s supposedly without a future (BES 5) or having to upgrade both the servers and phones all at once. RIM is putting minds at ease — more or less. The company’s Kim Geiger has confirmed in a statement to the media that BES 10 will support legacy devices when it ships in the first quarter of 2013, and that existing server customers will get an upgrade for smooth sailing around when BlackBerry 10 arrives. That’s no doubt a comfort, but there are lingering doubts. Rumor source BGR maintains that companies will have to run both the old and new servers side-by-side to address everyone, which could make a truly harmonious environment complex, expensive or both. We’ve reached out to RIM for a more definitive explanation to hopefully settle the matter. In the meantime, we wouldn’t panic; no one is being pushed to adopt BES 10 right away, and those that want to upgrade don’t have to give up their legacy hardware.

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RIM says BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 users will get legacy device support, IT admins (may) rest easy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube heralds arrival of in-stream ads, built-in annoyance for mobile devices

YouTube heralds arrival of instream ads, builtin annoyance for mobile devices

If you’ve made it a habit of viewing YouTube videos on your mobile device in an effort to flout the site’s pre-roll ads, your days of bliss are quickly drawing to a close. Today, the site implemented TrueView in-stream ads for the mobile platform, and like you’ve become accustomed to on the desktop, you’ll begin to notice these commercials on your smartphone and tablet. Now, we get the need for content producers to make some coin, but the move certainly represents the end of an era. Fortunately, just like on the desktop, you’ll have the ability to skip these ads after five seconds. Maybe now, you can take pride in making an independent producer rich beyond imagination — or, at least helping them buy some lunch.

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YouTube heralds arrival of in-stream ads, built-in annoyance for mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sainsbury’s pairs up with Rovi for video service, stays ahead of the techie curve

SSB

Beloved UK supermarket Sainsbury’s is making a big push into digital media, after snapping up e-book retailer Anobii and music company Global Media Vault, it’s now partnering with Rovi for a digital video service. Launching later in the year, it’ll offer video-on-demand and downloadable copies of “major” film and TV titles, available the same time the discs are available in store. It’ll initially be limited to computers, before rolling out to Smart TVs, connected Blu-Ray players, smartphones and consoles. The only question we have is if we’ll be able to collect Nectar Points on our purchases — if so, we’re sold.

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Sainsbury’s pairs up with Rovi for video service, stays ahead of the techie curve originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook Messages gets retooled layout, improved search

Facebook Messages gets retooled layout, improved search

It looks like those who rely more on Facebook Messages than email these days will have a bit of adjusting to do. The company has just announced a new look for that key component of the social network, one that now sports a side-by-side layout and support for multiple inline images — not to mention emoticons. It’s also promising a number of other improvements that are less immediately evident, including the ability to search by a sender’s name or keyword directly from the main messages view, and a number of new keyboard shortcuts.

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Facebook Messages gets retooled layout, improved search originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T suspends 2G in Oakland after cell towers step on police frequencies

DNP AT&T partially shuts 2G in Oakland as cell tower emissions step on police frequencies

An $18 million dollar radio system purchased by the Oakland Police Department has been giving static instead of 10-30s in progress, and the interfering party has now been collared — AT&T. Local officials and the FCC told the mobile network that its towers were blocking police communication, particularly when patrol cars were within a quarter-mile of one. However, some local pundits have said the problem is of the PD’s own making, claiming it invested in an inferior system and didn’t check carefully enough for interference before making the buy. As a result, AT&T has temporarily shut down 2G frequencies around the city — giving the telecom giant an unplanned sneak preview of the upcoming phase-out.

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AT&T suspends 2G in Oakland after cell towers step on police frequencies originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Metrix 4G hits US Cellular this Friday for $180

Samsung Galaxy Metrix 4G hits US Cellular this Friday for $180

There are plenty of (terribly named) stars in Samsung’s Galaxy, but despite the overcrowding, its stateside constellation’s showing no signs of slowing. Joining US Cellular’s lineup as early as this Friday, the Metrix 4G packs a mix of yesteryear’s specs for a budget LTE alternative to the GS III. The 4-inch handset, outfitted with the OEM’s preferred Super AMOLED display tech, runs the incredibly stale Android 2.3 Gingerbread atop a single-core 1GHz processor and packs a dual 1.3-megapixel front facing / 5-megapixel rear camera setup into a slide-out QWERTY form factor. If you happen to live within the operator’s 4G footprint, you’ll be able to snag this handset for $130 with a mail-in rebate, otherwise outliers will have to chalk up an additional $50. Skip on past the break to check out the company’s official PR.

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Samsung Galaxy Metrix 4G hits US Cellular this Friday for $180 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft permanently lowering Kinect price in the US to $110, slightly reducing it in other parts of the world

Microsoft permanently lowering Kinect price in the US to $110, slightly reducing it in other parts of the world

Well, it certainly looks like the news of that Xbox Essentials Pack isn’t the only thing coming out of Redmond today. As the communicative Major Nelson unequivocally notes, Microsoft’s officially dropping down the price of its “You Are the Controller” Xbox 360 add-on in the US to a mere 110 bucks. Additionally, he’s also said there’s a “permanently reduced” pricing scheme coming to other countries in North America, Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions (save for Japan) where the company’s Kinect is available for purchase; meanwhile, folks in the Middle East, Europe and Africa seem to be out of luck for now, since there are no price-slashing plans for the time being.

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Microsoft permanently lowering Kinect price in the US to $110, slightly reducing it in other parts of the world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC One V makes the leap to Cricket’s lineup September 2nd for $270

HTC One V makes the leap to Cricket's lineup September 2nd for $270

The One line hasn’t seen much carrier love lately, but that’s all set to change next month. Beginning September 2nd, the littlest member of that smartphone troupe — the One V — will be hitting Cricket’s lineup at $270, no contract necessary, and notching two milestones in the process. Aside from offering subscribers a belated first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, the Sense-skinned 3.7-incher’s release also counts as HTC’s official hardware debut on the network. In case you’ve forgotten and need a bit of a spec refresher, the odd-lipped Legend throwback bucks the de rigeur multi-core trend for a single 1GHz Snapdragon S3 CPU running Android 4.0, a 5-megapixel rear camera powered by ImageSense tech and, for better or worse, features Beats Audio integration. It’s no heavyweight as current smartphones go, but if you’re keen to push things forward, this lil’ fella packs a considerable punch. Check out the company’s official presser after the break.

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HTC One V makes the leap to Cricket’s lineup September 2nd for $270 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube’s Elections Hub is a one-stop channel for the latest US political happenings

YouTube's Elections Hub is a onestop channel for the latest US political happenings

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s election year in the US of A. And while we already have a slight idea of which political party your beloved neighbors prefer, why not have an all-inclusive video hub to keep you updated with the latest action taking place on the road toward America’s historical White House. Here’s where YouTube comes in. The Google-owned service announced earlier today the creation of its Elections Hub, which it’s dubbing as the “one-stop channel for key political moments” happening now and all the way until the final US election day on the 6th of November. Naturally, the social vid giant’s teamed up with some of the biggest outfits around to bring live and on-demand content to the Elections 2012 channel, including ABC News, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and, for the spanish-speaking crowd, Univision. Regardless of who’s landing your worthy, priceless vote, this should be great corner of the internet to keep you in the loop during this year’s Stateside political battle.

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YouTube’s Elections Hub is a one-stop channel for the latest US political happenings originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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