Good news Android fans: our T-Mobile myTouch 3G arrived today. And before we get knee-deep in reviewing T-Mobile’s second Google Android phone, we wanted to show you its nifty packaging. We’re not taking about a standard paper box with a plastic tray here. Rather, it comes in a …
Originally posted at Android Atlas
Will Apple drop the iPod Classic from production when the company introduces its next generation of MP3 players in the fall? That is the chief concern of the MP3 Insiders on this week’s podcast. Also, Donald and Jasmine ramble on about the best non-iPod MP3 players for Macs and the best MP3 players for podcasts, and they weigh in on a fitness-friendly MP3 player from Haier and some stupendous portable headphones from Ultrasone. Finally, SweetFM and Spotify have got Donald all hot and bothered. Find out why.
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Originally posted at MP3 Insider
It’s pretty early hardware and earlier software, but the guys at CrackBerry somehow got themselves a Storm 2 to play with. First question: Yes, it still has a clickable screen, but it’s allegedly much better than its predecessor.
There aren’t any big changes on the software side (it’s still running BlackBerry OS 5.1), although remember, this is a very early pre-release model. The OS looks pretty much exactly the same as the original Storm, at least at this point. That means it’s still laggy (especially the accelerometer), a dealbreaker of a problem on the first Storm that hopefully will get ironed out before the Storm 2’s release. Verizon has promised WiFi in its future smartphones, so with any luck that’ll include the Storm 2.
In terms of hardware, the four classic BlackBerry buttons (call, end, back, and menu) are no longer separate buttons but part of the clickable screen’s display. The screen itself has a lot less give to it than the original Storm, which the guy demonstrating it seems to appreciate, saying it’s a much better typing experience (though probably not as good as a physical keyboard). The handset is slightly thinner and features darker metal, seeming classier overall.
What are we really hoping for in the new Storm? No more lagginess, a real browser based on WebKit, and a better app store would be a huge help in making the Storm 2 a step up. That stuff is all software stuff, so we’ll hold off making any base judgments about the Storm 2 just yet. But we’re keeping our fingers crossed that RIM has been listening to its customers. [CrackBerry]
The Ultrasone Zino headphones have an unfortunate name, but a gorgeous sound.
(Credit: Ultrasone)
Everyone from Dr. Dre to surfwear maker Roxy seems to be taking a turn at producing earbuds these days, but fewer and fewer companies seem to be making full-size portable headphones–or at least, nothing worth mentioning. …
Love ’em or hate ’em, Apple knows how to sell, and sell big. As we tune into the company’s fiscal 2009 third quarter conference call this afternoon, we’re told that it has just recorded its “best non-holiday quarter [in terms of] revenue and earnings” in company history. This, mind you, was recorded during what most say is the worst recession since the Great Depression. All told, Apple netted a quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, and international sales accounted for a staggering 44 percent of the quarter’s revenue. The outfit continued to steamroll the competition in MP3 sales, moving 10.2 million iPod units in the quarter; of note, that was a seven percent decrease from last year, but given that fact that we’re getting ever-closer to a saturation point with these things, we aren’t too shocked to hear it.
The company also confessed that the iPhone and iPod touch was cannibalizing traditional iPod sales (defined by Apple as the “shuffle, nano and classic”), but so long as those purchases stay within the realm of Apple, we’re sure it doesn’t much mind. The firm was also quick to boast of a 626 percent increase in iPhone sales from this quarter a year ago, but considering that its handsets were only available in a handful of nations then compared to scores of countries now, we still maintain that next quarter’s iPhone sales will be the real measuring stick. Still, Peter Oppenheimer — Apple’s senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer — did admit that the company was currently unable to meet iPhone 3GS demand in virtually every country where Apple is shipping it to. Which is funny, since we haven’t heard of too many Americans that are still having trouble locating one. When talking about iTunes, we were reminded of the 1.5 billion total applications downloaded from the App Store, while some eight billion jams had been purchased (both since launch). In fact, Apple claimed that it was “years ahead” of rivals when comparing the App Store all those other application markets. Finally, Mac sales scooted up some four percent with a grand total of 2.6 million unit sold, which went down as the company’s best-ever June quarter in terms of personal computer sales.
When asked (again) about the possibility of Apple introducing a netbook, we were reminded that Apple “isn’t out to make the most computers, just to make the best computers.” Furthermore the suits at the company have yet to figure out how to build “the best” at the “$299, $399 or $499” level, once again extinguishing any hope of a low-cost Mac laptop anytime soon. He went on to say that “some customers buying these [netbooks] become disappointed / disenchanted,” asserting that Apple is simply striving to make the “best, most innovative” machines and “give customers the most value.” To quote Mr. Oppenheimer when responding to a question over an iPod-like device with a larger screen:
“I never want to discount anything in the future and never want to talk about new products. People want a full-featured notebook, some of the netbooks being delivered are very slow, have software technology that is old, don’t have a robust computing experience, small display, cramped keyboard, I could go on but I won’t. We’ll only play in things where we can be very innovative and be proud of.”
Okay Apple, we get it — you’re not interested in the netbook space. Gosh.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops
Apple bucks recession, records best non-holiday quarter in company history originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Palm’s webOS certainly faces strong competition as it vies for attention from manufacturers, carriers, developers and consumers. But Palm was able to knock out at least one ailing offering by making webOS the replacement for the old Palm OS. For others it may not be so easy. In fact, with the barriers to entry now so high and the commitment to existing operating systems so great, webOS may be the last major smartphone operating system launched for the foreseeable future.
With webOS taking the baton from Palm OS, the number of major smartphone operating systems has stayed fixed at six. Three of them — Symbian S60, Windows Mobile and Android — are intended to be used by handset makers from multiple manufacturers, whereas iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS and webOS are used only on the handsets offered by their developer. Of course, even these “purebred” operating systems owe much to older platform technologies, with Android and webOS being built atop a Linux kernel, iPhone OS having its distant roots in FreeBSD, and BlackBerry and Android building on Java. The race to attract software to these platforms has ignited an arms race of development funds to both prime the supply pump and the promotion of app stores to lead the horses to he touch-sensitive virtual koi ponds..
Developing and maintaining a smartphone operating system is a serious and expensive undertaking that can consume a company. Producing the original iPhone caused Apple to miss the self-imposed ship date of Leopard, and third-party app support did not come until much later. Whatever Microsoft is planning in a major overhaul for Windows Mobile 7 has taken long enough to warrant the release of the interim 6.5 release that still leaves the company far behind the state of the art. WebOS development clearly took up a significant portion of the $425 million investment from Elevation Partners in Palm. And finishing a 1.0 release is just the beginning.
Continue reading Switched On: The last smartphone OS
Filed under: Cellphones
Switched On: The last smartphone OS originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
(Credit: Sony)Now that Blu-ray players are officially a $100 commodity, it’s no surprise manufacturers are trying to cram the technology into home theater systems at the lowest price possible. Sony’s BDV-E500W ($800) takes a decidedly more high-end approach, offering Blu-ray playback in a 5.1 home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) …
Man, tremendous particle accelerators just can’t catch a break these days. Right as engineers finished repairing the helium leak that benched the Large Hadron Collider from doing much last year (aside from a successful early test), the team discovered two more vacuum leaks in another part of the machine.
In order for the leaks to be repaired, first engineers have to warm up the area, which is normally maintained at “ultracold temperatures,” according to Wired. The new delay will likely push the LHC’s projected restart sometime into November, after already being delayed twice recently.
Currently, the LHC is running about two and a half years behind schedule, according to the report.
Sony sat down with Eurogamer at the Develop conference last week, and had some interesting things to say about its new motion controller technology — including a bit of polite smack to talk about the Wiimote. Unfortunately, we’re not sure that Paul Holman, SCEE VP of R&D, was referencing MotionPlus when he said that Sony’s tech is “another generation forward, or even a couple of generations” ahead of the Wiimote. Holman, along with Kish Hirani, head of developer services, sidestepped questions about MotionPlus specifically, but were more than happy to talk down Project Natal — with a couple generations of EyeToy already under their belt. What’s more interesting is what they revealed about their own product, including built-in microphone that can detect the direction of audio, and the availability of the glowing ball to developers to add immersion — it can be lit with any color in the spectrum. They wouldn’t confirm much about what buttons the controller would have, other than that it would have buttons, but it seems Sony’s main objective is providing developers with a broad buffet of control options to pick and choose and implement. They’re also sticking by that Spring 2010 date, though the launch could be somewhat contingent upon what games are ready by then.
[Via Joystiq]
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
Sony thinks it’s a generation or two ahead of the Wiimote with upcoming motion controls originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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With today’s tracking-enabled telescopes, digital cameras, and computer software, amateur astronomers are doing more useful work than ever before. Such was the case with Jupiter: it appears that a large object has just struck the surface of the planet. That’s similar to what happened in 1994 with comet Shoemaker-Levy–on the exact date of the 15th anniversary of that impact, in fact, not to mention the 40th anniversary of the Apollo landing.
Space.com reports that while NASA tracked the impact, the initial call came from Anthony Wesley of Murrumbateman, Australia, who told NASA he noticed a new dark “scar” suddenly appear on Jupiter early Friday between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. EDT.
“I’d noticed a dark spot rotating into view in Jupiter’s south polar region and was starting to get curious,” Wesley wrote on his observation blog. “When first seen close to the limb (and in poor conditions) it was only a vaguely dark spot, I thought likely to be just a normal dark polar storm. However as it rotated further into view, and the conditions also improved, I suddenly realized that it wasn’t just dark, it was black in all channels, meaning it was truly a black spot.”
Wesley used a 14.5-inch reflector on an equatorial mount for his observations, as a separate New York Times article reports. NASA scientists are still studying the images to figure out what it was that hit Jupiter. (Image credit: Anthony Wesley)
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