Hasta La Gadget!

Our first indication of a delivery date for the Gingerbread iteration of Android came way back in May when we were perusing the FAQ to Google’s then newly announced WebM video format. There should be no expressions of shock, therefore, to hear that WebM support has indeed been added into Google’s mobile OS, with the lowest compatible version being today’s freshly introduced Android 2.3.3. Google has already demonstrated its intention to brute-force this format into our lives, which we’ll be quite happy to accept just as soon as Gingerbread starts appearing on more devices than its own Nexi.

Android 2.3.3 gives you another reason to want it: WebM support originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not much detail here kids, but the Korean Yonhap News Agency is reporting that Samsung has an 8.9-inch Android tablet due in the first half of the year. This, according to a Samsung company spokesman speaking to the reputable news site over the phone. Yonhap also notes local media reports claiming that the tablet could be for sale as early as next month. We first heard about Samsung’s plans for 7-, 8-, and 10-inch tablets way back in June — long before the 7-inch Galaxy Tab was announced. Now, with the 10.1-incher official, there’s no reason to doubt an 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab by summer.

Samsung Galaxy Tab series expanding with 8.9-inch model by summer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know that Android 2.3.3 update that’s trickling out to Nexus S smartphones right now? Google’s decided to take this opportunity to push its data portability agenda with regards to Android. Simply put, the feature of the Facebook for Android app to provide the social network’s stored contact information to your Nexus S has been revoked from here on out, and as soon as you get the update all that contact information will disappear from your contacts app on your phone.

We’ve spent a while chatting with a Google rep, and they explained that the company is actually just reinstating the official rules — typically, apps have to use Android’s contacts API, but Facebook was granted an exception which allowed its contacts to remain in the cloud. In effect, what Google’s claims it’s doing here is the same thing that would happen if you uninstalled the app, or deleted your Facebook account — your contacts created and stored in the network would no longer be visible in your contacts app. In other words, Google’s attempting to push Facebook into making that data available to itself, which would be handy (think of the other apps that could use your Facebook data on the go) but potentially worrisome in terms of privacy as well. Either way, the argument is not likely to directly affect many individuals in the short term — Google tells us that Facebook’s sync privileges will only be revoked in the Nexus S (not the Nexus One) and other “lead devices” yet to come. Read the company’s full statement after the break, and decide for yourself if this is worth arguing about.

Continue reading Google disables contact sync in Facebook for Android, but only Nexus S for now

Google disables contact sync in Facebook for Android, but only Nexus S for now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your Nexus One is a second-class citizen no more: Today, Google’s rolling out Android 2.3.3 to both its premier smartphones. The latest build, still referred to as Gingerbread, brings even more NFC goodies than fortold, as the Nexus S will soon be able to write (not just read) rewritable NFC tags as well as act as a glorified NFC tag itself. (You can see both possibilities in the three screenshots above.) What’s more, Google tells us Android 2.3.3 will fix the random reboots that have plagued the Nexus S as of late, and offers other random bugfixes as well. You’ll find the whole kit and kaboodle streaming to your phones over the air during the next few weeks to come.

Update: We’re also hearing that integrated Facebook contacts will be treated differently in Android 2.3.3 — we’ve reached out to Google for more information.

Update 2: Here’s the deal with regards to Facebook.

Nexus S and Nexus One get Android Gingerbread 2.3.3, which fixes random reboots and writes NFC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pretty much everything coming out of Moto these days is saddled with a tightly-locked bootloader paired with one tamper-resistant scheme or another, making custom kernels — the lifeblood of the phone hacking community — tricky at best, nigh impossible at worst. Of course, there was a glimmer of hope last month when the company said that it was working on a solution that’d cater to the developer community, and it looks like the Xoom might be bearing some of that fruit: the bootloader can be unlocked and relocked at will. Now, we’re thinking that Moto might’ve loosened the reigns a bit here simply because the Xoom is running a completely bone-stock build of Android and, as Honeycomb’s launch device, Google might be showing some influence behind the scenes (the Nexus One and Nexus S both have unlockable bootloaders, for instance)… but it’s a good sign.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola bucks its own trend, leaves Xoom bootloader unlockable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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