Hasta La Gadget!

Motorola is set to rival HTC in the ability to crank out Android phones at a breath-taking pace. Motorola has introduced a new phone called Flipout that features a pivoting pop-out keyboard and a compact touchscreen display.

The Flipout will have a 2.8 inch screen, 3 megapixel camera, video recording capability, Wi-Fi and GPS. It will run the Android 2.1 version of the operating system.

The phone will also have the Motoblur Android skin that we have already seen on other Motorola devices such as the Cliq and Backflip. Motoblur aggregates e-mails, messages and status updates from different social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to present it as a stream of data on a single screen.

With its square form and social networking features, the Flipout seems like a good alternative to Microsoft’s recently launched Kin Two phone. But it is not clear if the device will make it to the U.S. Motorola already has Backflip, a device with a nifty mode that allows its to be placed on the desk like an alarm clock and the Cliq, the first of its phones featuring the Motoblur skin.

Sure, its about giving consumers choice but with the Cliq, Backflip, Devour and Droid already out, is there such a thing as too many phones from a company? Especially when the features start to blur and minor tweaks in hardware design are all that sets one device apart from the other.

The Flipout will launch in the next few weeks in “certain regions around the world,” says Motorola. The company won’t disclose pricing either but that’s likely to depend on the deals it can ink with the wireless service providers.

See Also:

• Motorola Introduces New Android Phone, the Backflip
• Android 2.1 Update for Motorola Droid. At Last
• Wired Review: Motorola Droid
• Wired Review: Motorola Cliq

Photo: Flipout/Motorola

Target said Wednesday that Amazon’s Kindle will be available at all of its stores starting June 6.

Target started selling the e-reader at its flagship downtown Minneapolis store and in 102 south Florida locations on April 25, and is now expanding nationwide.

“Our guests’ response to Kindle has been overwhelmingly positive,” Mark Schindele, senior vice president at Target, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring guests nationwide this incredibly light, portable, easy-to-read product that allows them to get all the news and books they want.”

The Kindle sells for $259. Target is the first brick-and-mortar store to sell the device; it is also available via Amazon.com.

Best Buy started selling the Barnes & Noble Nook on April 18, and is featuring Barnes & Noble’s e-reader software on select laptops and desktops, netbooks, tablets, and smartphones.

Fragmentation’s a red herring, eh, Google? We’d suggest you look at your own stats, where — as of yesterday, anyway — fragmentation was alive and well, no matter how you define it. In the two-week period of Google’s data collection ending June 1, some 54.5 percent of devices in the field were still using pre-Eclair versions of Android, a pretty sorry stat considering that it was released back in late 2009 and xda-developers members have proven countless times that every Android phone ever made can run 2.0 and above with aplomb. To be fair, 2.1 picked up significant steam since the last roundup and the trailing devices aren’t entirely Google’s fault — manufacturers and carriers need to take most of the blame for the delays in getting upgrades pushed out — but it’s Google’s wild development pace that has left this trail of premature obsolescence in its wake. Upgrades are good, but necessitating that your development community has its eyeballs on at least four versions of your platform (1.5, 1.6, 2.1, and 2.2) is generally bad.

Latest Android stats show pre-2.1 versions still reign supreme originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s naturally been a ton of feedback in the past few hours on AT&T’s new data pricing strategy, and the company has been responding to comments all morning over on its Facebook page; one of the key tidbits that’s come out of the discussion so far is that folks on the current $30 smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan when upgrading hardware. Translation: yes, you’ll be able to get a new iPhone without switching to the $25 / 2GB DataPro plan if you so choose. What you won’t be able to do, though, is keep the $30 plan and add on the $20 tethering option — tethering specifically requires DataPro, so your hopes and dreams of a soft 5GB cap are quashed (unless you want to pay $30 for 3GB of overage, of course).

On a related note, we’ve been tipped that some folks’ iPad orders from Apple have been pushed back to June 7 — an interesting coincidence, considering that’s when DataPlus and DataPro go live. If true, it’s likely so that Apple can pre-install new orders with updated software for managing the new plans, but it’s also a preemptive strike against a horde of people trying to grandfather into the $30 plan over the next few days.

[Thanks, John and Aaron]

AT&T users can keep $30 unlimited data when upgrading phones… unless they want tethering originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still waiting to see a Kindle in the wild before you pull the trigger? Hate shopping online? Need to pick up some toilet paper and a huge barrel of pretzels? You’re in luck, because Amazon’s finally going to be spreading Kindles out in retail nationwide through Target stores. After a trial run in April that got the e-reader into Target’s flagship store and 102 brightly lit retail paradises in south Florida, the $259 e-ink device will be available all over as of June 6th. The press release points out that the Kindle is still Amazon’s bestselling product, and we can’t see a retail push like this hurting its prospects — though with rumors flying about an imminent Kindle update, it might not be the absolute best time to buy. PR is after the break.

Continue reading Kindle going nationwide in Target stores on June 6

Kindle going nationwide in Target stores on June 6 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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