Hasta La Gadget!

Is there anything you don’t know about Google’s blowout I/O 2011 developer conference? If you’ve read our recap of happenings over in San Francisco this week, you should be well on your way to becoming the most knowledgeable Google geek in your local data cluster, but if you’re looking for all the key info in a more digestible format like, say, video, Google’s taking care of you as well. Both of the company’s I/O keynotes have been posted to YouTube, where they can be consumed in up to 720p resolution, and we’ve done our bit too by embedding them for you after the break. So what are you waiting for, your Googlification awaits!

Continue reading Google I/O 2011 keynotes available on YouTube (video)

Google I/O 2011 keynotes available on YouTube (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 20:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re just getting into the swing of spring, flowers blooming and skeeters biting, but already it’s been a great year for Samsung — if we ignore the whole lawsuit thing. Just a few weeks ago the company delivered to us our highest scoring Android phone yet, the Galaxy S II and, while that handset has not appeared on American shores, we were graced with the Droid Charge, which offers LTE speed, strong battery life, and an on-contract price that slightly exceeds its design.

Not so with the company’s latest assault on American carriers. It’s the Infuse 4G, it’s $199 on-contract, and it has a decidedly high-end feel. It even looks a little like the S II — if you squint. This is its own phone, though, a giant 4.5-inch screen setting it apart from its predecessors, and a giant battery inside giving it plenty of life. But is it really as good as it looks?

Continue reading Samsung Infuse 4G review

Samsung Infuse 4G review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know what’s cool? Handing out 5,000 Android tablets to your most loyal developers at Google I/O. You know what’s not cool? Handing out 5,000 Android tablets that can’t have files loaded onto them. Believe or not, that’s exactly what happened at this week’s I/O conference, where hordes of developers were handed a Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition that cannot currently interface with OS X, and has a whale of a time doing so with Windows 7. During our initial preview of Music Beta, we noticed that our MacBook Pro (OS X 10.6) wouldn’t actually recognize the tablet, even after installing Android File Transfer. Given that we didn’t actually need that functionality for the purpose of said article, we threw it on the backburner.

For those unaware, Android File Transfer is a small app that’s required to transfer content between OS X and Android 3.0. Avid users of Froyo and Gingerbread may be appalled that any Honeycomb device they buy will require a piece of software to interface with it, but hey — there it is. At any rate, it seems to us that the latest build of Android File Transfer doesn’t include the device ID for Samsung’s heretofore unreleased Tab 10.1; if you’ll recall, the standard edition of this thing isn’t slated to hit consumer hands until June 8th. Regardless of what tricks we tried (installing a Mac version of Kies Mini, for example), we couldn’t get a single Apple in our stable to recognize the thing. In one instance, a Mac viewed the device as a “Samsung Modem” within the Networking pane — that’s as close as we could come to getting the two to mingle. AllThingsD‘s Ina Fried said her Tab 10.1 LE was merely recognized as a camera-like device within Aperture.

Over on the Windows side, things are only marginally less awful. We’ve had a couple of Wintel boxes outright refuse to play nice with this “mysterious USB device,” while others required multiple reboots and driver searchers to finally mount it as an external storage device — and only with USB Debugging disabled. The upside is that those with patience (and a Windows 7 rig) can look forward to a single method of transfer, but it’s certainly less than ideal.

We’re surmising that Google’s cooking up a new version of Android File Transfer as we speak that’ll take care of the compatibility issues, hopefully long before consumers start seeing these in early June. But for developers in the here and now? Stop wasting your afternoon trying to figure out why your Mac just won’t cooperate, and give that Win7 system a little love.

Update: After a bit of additional digging, we noticed that it’s possible to access the Tab’s file system from a Mac or Windows PC by using the Android SDK, putting the tablet in USB debugging mode, and running ddms. It’s not the most convenient solution if you want to quickly and conveniently transfer some content to / from the device, but it should work until AFT sees an update. Alternatively, we’re hearing that XNJB — an older open source project originally built for Creative Nomads — enables files to be transferred whenever it’s in a good mood.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition not seen in Android File Transfer, Windows usability is spotty originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix for Android is here… finally. It’s been a long time coming and we’re thrilled to be able to bring our instant queue with us wherever we go. Though technically only approved for a handful of HTC phones and the Samsung Nexus S, we were able to successfully get it up and running on at least one unsanctioned device — the Droid X (sporting a leaked copy of Gingerbread). So what’s Netflix like on Google’s mobile OS? Well, it’s a heck of a lot like the iPhone app. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart if it weren’t for the tabs being moved from the bottom of the screen to the top. Still, we figured it was worth giving a solid once over and, as usual, you can find our impressions after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with Netflix for Android (video)

Hands-on with Netflix for Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The skeptics in us are not ready to call this one confirmed yet, but we are beginning to see information trickle in about a possible launch date for the Droid X2. Droid-Life uncovered possible promo materials discussing the entrance strategy for the X2, in conjunction with several of the phone’s specs. These docs strongly indicate May 26 is the magic day for a full-scale assault, with early orders allowed as soon as May 19. We don’t see any major surprises in specs — there’s a dual-core Tegra 2 1GHz processor, 4.3-inch qHD screen, 8MP rear camera, and 1080p HDMI-out video, to list off the highlights — although we are excited to see Gingerbread may be in the mix here, indicated by the ever-so-subtle blue bar seen on the phone’s screen. We hope you can understand our hesitation, though, since an unproven spec sheet from Pocketnow suggests we should only expect Froyo. No way of knowing who will win this little argument, but you know which one we’re rooting for. Check out another leaked image after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Droid X2 ready for May 26 launch?

Motorola Droid X2 ready for May 26 launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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