Hasta La Gadget!

In the States it’s almost voting time and the posturing has certainly come to a fever pitch. If someone hasn’t come a knocking on your door yet, promising to fix whatever ails you, they surely soon will. So, it’s nice to see a representative going door-to-door without an ulterior motive… well, without a political one, anyway. Meet Andy, the full-scale Android mascot who can be found wandering the streets of Sydney in an attempt by Vodafone to get people more familiar with the little OS that could (and is). We’re thinking he’s more likely to scare small children than create converts out of competing smartphone users, but maybe our pollsters are reading this one wrong.

[Thanks, Geoff]

Vodafone Australia creates giant Android mascot, sets it free on the streets of Sydney originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell marketing makeover simplifies brands, kills off Adamo altogether originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gadget-lovers out there will likely already be familiar with the Optio NB1000 from Pentax, a camera partly made from the Lego-style nanoblock toys.

Out and about on a project recently we spotted this great advertisement for the camera, a leaflet that includes a free pair of 3D glasses.

The idea is that you use the glasses to look at the artwork on the flyer and admire the funky pictures of the cameras and nanoblock animals.

Not a bad incentive for a camera that, while it may not be able to shoot in 3D, can still be customized in all three dimensions!

RIM’s BlackBerry Developer Conference is going down this week in San Francisco, and as you might expect from a developer-focused event, there are a handful of newsy items that’ll affect the development community first and consumers down the road. Here’s a roundup of what’s what:

• WebWorks development platform. From what we’ve heard of this so far, it’s basically a quick way for web devs to get into the BlackBerry app game by offering a tightly-integrated platform for HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript code with hooks to native BlackBerry OS functions and a packager for turning them into “real” BlackBerry apps.
• BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform. RIM’s historically held BBM very, very close to the chest, but it’s starting to open up a tad with this particular announce. Don’t look for BBM on other platforms (yes, we know that’s what some of you were hoping to hear), but third-party app developers will now be able to tap into the system for sending and receiving messages, files, user profiles, and invitations. Interestingly, the company is pitching it as a platform for multiplayer gaming, using BBM as a conduit to move information between devices in real time.
• BlackBerry Advertising Service. Google bought AdMob and Apple bought Quattro, but RIM’s taking a more democratic approach to its advertising platform, allowing both “simple” and “rich media” ads to be served from a handful of providers “with only three lines of code.” It’ll be a 60 / 40 revenue split between devs and RIM.
• BlackBerry Payment Service SDK. This one’s launching in beta this week, bringing third-party in-app payments over credit card, PayPal, and carrier billing (available on AT&T right now, more carriers by the end of the year). It’ll be out of beta before 2010’s out.

Nothing on the so-called BlackPad so far, but at any rate, seems like this roundup is great news for anyone looking to slide some content into App World over the next few months.

RIM announces WebWorks development kit, in-app payments, ad platform, and BBM API originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you believe that after months of leaks, this is the first time we’ve allegedly seen the HTC Mondrian? It’s true — though from this angle, it’s a dead ringer for the Mozart, which looks just like the Shubert, too. The above picture comes from what appear to be a pair of mostly complete ads for AT&T’s Windows Phone 7 push, which if real make the Mondrian look like it might be a flagship device. Perhaps those rumors of a 1.3GHz Snapdragon inside weren’t too far off. You won’t find real phones demonstrated in the videos after the break, but don’t let that stop you from clicking through — you do like watching oblivious folks flying through the air, don’t you?

Continue reading HTC Mondrian stars in leaked AT&T ad campaign, jump-kicks lesser smartphones? (video)

HTC Mondrian stars in leaked AT&T ad campaign, jump-kicks lesser smartphones? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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