Hasta La Gadget!

If touch keyboards aren’t your thing, new pics leaked today that supposedly show the Motorola Droid 5 sporting a QWERTY slider keyboard ought to pique your interest. The photos show the slider lacking the capacitive buttons the previous gen phone had with the addition of wireless charging and a shockproof water resistant design. Other features […]

Motorola’s new Skip NFC smartphone key is quite possibly the simplest gadget we’ve covered at Engadget. But simple as it may be, Skip is a time saver for Moto X users. The tiny device, comprised of an NFC tag, a small piece of fabric and a pair of magnets for securing to an article of clothing, such as a pants pocket or shirt sleeve, ships for free with all Moto Maker orders, and is available as a $20 add-on if you’ve purchased your Moto X directly from a carrier. It’s also bundled with three NFC-enabled stickers that you can affix to your car, a piece of furniture or a personal accessory, like a purse or wallet.

Setting up Skip takes only a few seconds. Assuming you have NFC enabled, tap the Moto X to the Skip or one of the bundled Skip Dots, and a configuration screen will pop up prompting you to pair your device with the tag. You’ll enter your password to complete the process, then any time you need to unlock your phone in the future, all you need to do is tap the two together. Skip might not be the best fit if you keep confidential corporate data on your handset, but assuming your password serves mostly to keep prying eyes away from personal email or text messages, it should do the trick. Catch Skip in action in our hands-on video after the break.%Gallery-slideshow73405%

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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No matter what you’re doing at a computer, two displays are always better than one, and that could soon be true for your mobile devices as well. Prototypes of dual-display smartphones have already been demonstrated, but researchers have now revealed a wireless second display for your mobile devices that magically sucks the minimal power it requires from a wireless NFC connection.

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NFC or near field communication technology has been widely implemented in various premium smartphones on different platforms such as BlackBerry, Windows Phone and Android. Apple has kept itself and iOS out of the fray for quite some time now, none of the company’s mobile devices feature this technology. It seems that Samsung’s homegrown Tizen OS will come with support for NFC from the get go. The NFC features of Tizen have been shown off on video, which hints at the possibility that the first Tizen device will come with NFC.

The video shows off a NFC tag writing app. NFC tags are basically small stickers that can be configured to invoke a number of actions on a mobile device when it is tapped against that sticker, such as calling a number, launching the browser to access a specific URL or even switching Wi-Fi on and off. The possibilities are endless. Looking at this video, one can speculate that perhaps this app will come pre-installed on Samsung’s first Tizen device. This may definitely be a unique plus point for Samsung’s nascent platform. The company has already labelled Tizen as a simple alternative to Android. It is speculated that in a bid to end its reliance upon Android, Samsung is working hard to develop its own platform. Though the company probably won’t switch all of its devices from Android to Tizen abruptly. First Tizen device is expected to come out this October.

Tizen NFC Features Shown Off On Video original content from Ubergizmo.

Skip for Moto X surfaced on Motorola’s site briefly yesterday, giving us some insight into the company’s new PIN-free unlocking tool before the $20 product was pulled. Today, though, Google’s smartphone arm has returned to detail the new gadget, which is set to ship for free when you order a device through Moto Maker. According to this morning’s blog post, the typical phone user unlocks their handset 39 times each day — in theory, a device like Skip, which clips to your belt, shirt sleeve or anywhere else you want, will help you reclaim several minutes daily. After pairing the compact NFC accessory with your phone, simply tap your device to unlock it. Each kit also includes three Skip dots, which you can stick onto any surface and use in the same way. Initially, Skip will ship in gray with a black accent, but Motorola plans to make colored versions available as well, beginning this fall.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wearables, Mobile, Google

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Source: Motorola