Hasta La Gadget!

Remember the days before Facebook’s iOS app ditched HTML 5 and sped things up with some native code? It turns out that there’s some regret in Menlo Park about relying on the web markup language. Betting on HTML 5 for the app is “one of the biggest mistakes if not the biggest strategic mistakes we’ve ever made,” Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt today. The firm’s CEO also mentioned that new features will be making their way to the app and a snappier Android version is coming down the pike “when it’s done.”

Filed under: Internet

Zuckerberg: betting on HTML 5 for Facebook mobile app was a ‘mistake,’ native Android version on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Cal and Stanford fans away from home no longer have to huddle around their laptops if they want to learn who’s one-upping who. The Pac-12 Conference has just launched an iPad app for its authenticated Pac-12 Now service: as long as you’re with a TV provider that carries the college sports division’s games (sorry for now, DirecTV customers), you can tune into 850 live matches spread across a myriad of sports. As you’d hope, going the digital route allows for some on-demand viewing, a dedicated program guide and the social sharing you’ll want to rope friends into watching. Only Bright House, Cox and Time Warner Cable subscribers can use the iPad viewer at first, although support should come to BendBroadband, Comcast, Frontier and Suddenlink this fall, right alongside Android- and iPhone-sized apps. Hopefully, they arrive in time for a little ego padding around the Big Game in October.

Continue reading Pac-12 Conference streams come to iPad, fuel that Big Game rivalry on the road

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

Pac-12 Conference streams come to iPad, fuel that Big Game rivalry on the road originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GigaOM  |  App Store  | Email this | Comments

We haven’t seen weather stations garner the same level of clever mobile integration as other pieces of household gear — like, say, thermostats. Netatmo wants its newly available Urban Weather Station to inject a similar dose of life into a category that some of us still associate with the thermometer by the window. The aluminum tube design certainly gives a fresh look to the WiFi-linked indoor and outdoor sensors, but the real trick is the matching iOS (and eventually Android) app. It’s for more than just gauging the wisdom of biking to work: the free app tracks historical trends and shares them with fellow users in a network that Netatmo hopes will provide a better understanding of wider-scale and longer-term trends. The sensors go beyond just obvious air quality, humidity, pressure and temperature conditions as well, flagging noise levels and warning if the CO2 levels are high enough to warrant airing out the house. The $179 price for the Urban Weather Station isn’t trivial, but neither is knowing just how well you can cope with your environment.

Continue reading Netatmo Urban Weather Station tells iOS users when it’s safe to brave the great outdoors (video)

Filed under: Household, Mobile

Netatmo Urban Weather Station tells iOS users when it’s safe to brave the great outdoors (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Netatmo, App Store  | Email this | Comments

BMW kicked off its DriveNow car sharing service in its home country last year to see if urban EV rentals would catch on. Something must have clicked in Germany, as the automaker is exporting the concept to the San Francisco Bay Area as of September. DriveNow’s initial fleet of 70 ActiveE vehicles will rely on a different business model after getting its American visa: the service drops the strictly by-the-minute model of the German operation in favor of a $12 base fee for a half-hour’s trip, with a 32 cents per minute rate kicking in only during longer drives. Travelers will have to drop off the cars at specified stations, too. There’s a consolation for the trouble through a ParkNow reservation service, which locks in a parking space at a guaranteed rate and navigates there through an iPhone app or the web. Just be aware that those spaces will be limited — only eight DriveNow stations and 14 ParkNow lots are active, which doesn’t afford a lot of free roaming even after discounting the lack of immediate plans for other US cities. We’re nonetheless glad that Bay Area locals without their own ride will have an easier time staying green for their cross-city jaunts.

Continue reading BMW DriveNow EV car sharing comes to San Francisco Bay Area, ParkNow follows suit

Filed under: Transportation

BMW DriveNow EV car sharing comes to San Francisco Bay Area, ParkNow follows suit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Autoblog  |  DriveNow  | Email this | Comments

Rapid turnaround just may be the name of Facebook’s game. Just a few weeks after its SDK 3.0 for iOS reached beta, the new developer tool has surfaced in a polished version. As it’s shipping, the SDK continues to emphasize a more iOS-native experience, better API support and slicker session management. Any iOS 6 integration will still have to wait until Apple finishes its software update; Facebook is keeping a separate beta track active to serve forward-thinking developers. The social network’s regular members aren’t quite getting the same reward, however. The expanded app support is being followed just as quickly by a mobile ad beta. While Facebook is still sparing us from a full-bore marketing assault, it’s letting developers pitch their Android and iOS apps from Facebook’s mobile portals, with a quick hop to the relevant app store if the title isn’t already loaded. While there’s no estimated completion date, we have a feeling that this is one Facebook beta where most customers won’t mind a delay or two… or ten.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software

Facebook SDK 3.0 for iOS arrives in finished form, mobile ads tag along in beta originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Facebook (SDK), (Mobile Ads)  | Email this | Comments