Jan 07

Recon next-gen GPS goggles eyes-on

Posted in: Android, hands-on, Today's Chili

We brought you the official details earlier in the week and now we have images of the Recon next-gen GPS goggles in its broken-down self. Users will be able to choose from an assortment of Recon frames and lenses, in collaboration with the integrated LCD, allowing for customized appeal. Recon is bringing in a revised platform based on Android, which allows users to shred some powder while using apps, music and track their GPS locations as well as locations of others that share the must-have for apps-in-your-goggles fetish. The Android platform allows for full integration with your Bluetooth-enabled phone with real-time alerts and notifications straight onto the built-in LCD. With the Recon next-gen GPS goggles, you can look like a tech-savvy hipster while flying down your favorite trails.

Gallery: Eyes-on with Recon next-gen GPS goggles

Recon next-gen GPS goggles eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

ViewSonic ViewPad 4 hands-on (video)

Posted in: 1080p, Android, froyo, hands-on, qualcomm, Today's Chili, video, viewsonic

ViewSonic’s taking tablets to great new lows here at CES, calling its new 4.1-inch ViewPad 4 a “tablet device with smartphone functionality.” Whatever the description, though, this is a pretty handsome, angular Froyo handset with an 800 x 480 resolution, 5 megapixel camera that can record 1080p 720p video, a front-facing imager, 2GB of ROM, and either 512MB or 1GB of RAM. The spec sheet we found online says the former, but the chap at ViewSonic’s stand today told us the latter. Either way, we’re really liking the smoothness of the Android UI on this tabletphone, it was very pleasantly responsive. The most shocking thing about the ViewPad 4, however, might be its launch date, which we were told will be somewhere around mid-June. Froyo in mid-June … really? Get your video hands-on fix after the break.

Update: A second pass through the ViewSonic stand informed us that actually the ViewPad 4 is only capable of 720p video recording. Bogus, man.

Gallery: ViewSonic ViewPad 4 hands-on

Continue reading ViewSonic ViewPad 4 hands-on (video)

ViewSonic ViewPad 4 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

LG G-Slate makes its FCC debut?

Posted in: Android, Google, LG, t-mobile, tablet, Today's Chili

Considering the size of the label here relative to the size of the device itself, this certainly seems like a tablet (rather than a phone) that hit the FCC’s filing system this week from LG — and when you add in the fact that it’s got certification on T-Mobile’s AWS 3G band, that pretty much seals the deal. Not a lot to see here yet, but the fact that the G-Slate’s got its certification squared away might indicate that it won’t be far behind the Dell Streak 7 that’s launching in the next few weeks. Frankly, we’re a little jealous that the FCC test lab people got to spend time with Honeycomb — any chance Engadget can be an FCC-approved test lab? What’s the process there?

[Thanks, Evan]

LG G-Slate makes its FCC debut? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

Exclusive interview: Google’s Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android

Posted in: Android, exclusive, Google, honeycomb, interview, Today's Chili, ui, video

We’re not going to lie — we’re pretty excited to bring this to you guys. Here at CES 2011 we had a chance to sit down with Matias Duarte, the man behind webOS (as well as the Sidekick and Helio UIs), who’s now heading up Google’s user experience for Android. Matias is currently driving the interface and design for Android 3.0 (AKA Honeycomb), and it’s clear that he’s bringing his big, bold ideas to the Android platform. This is the first video interview Matias has done since leaving Palm, and we pressed the man on his involvement in Gingerbread and Honeycomb, what had to be torn down in Android, how desktop OSs can inform mobile devices, and much, much more. Don’t just take our word for it — follow along after the break and watch the full interview!

Continue reading Exclusive interview: Google’s Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android

Exclusive interview: Google’s Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills on video (hands-on)

Posted in: Android, hands-on, LG, Today's Chili, video

WiFi Direct, for those not paying attention in class, is a communications protocol for allowing devices with wireless radios to talk to one another and share files without the need for an intermediary WiFi access point between them. Basically, it’s like blasting out an ad hoc wireless network, one that permits simultaneous file transfers to up to eight other WiFi Direct-capable machines. LG kindly gave us a peek at its implementation in the Optimus Black, and while things are still pretty rough and (not) ready, we got a decent idea of how they’ll operate. Jump past the break to see for yourself.

Gallery: LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills

Continue reading LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills on video (hands-on)

LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills on video (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

ComScore: Android jumps ahead of iOS in total US smartphone subscribers

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, Apple, Google, ios, iPhone, mobile os, MobileOs, operating system, OperatingSystem, Smartphones, Software, statistics, stats, Today's Chili, us, usa

We’ve seen plenty of data to show that Android is the hottest-selling smartphone OS among US buyers today, but now we have a stat point to show that it’s doing pretty well in cumulative terms as well. According to ComScore’s latest estimates, Android had 26 percent of all US smartphone subscribers in the quarter ending November 2010, bettering Apple’s iPhone for the first time. The major victim of Android’s ascendancy has actually been RIM’s BlackBerry, whose lead at the top contracted by 4.1 percentage points (nearly 11 percent less than the share it had in the previous quarter). Guess those Verizon iPhones and dual-core BBs had better start arriving pretty soon.

ComScore: Android jumps ahead of iOS in total US smartphone subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

Sprint ID for Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on

Posted in: Android, GalaxyTab, Google, hands-on, samsung, Sprint, Today's Chili

Launched back in October, Sprint ID is the carrier’s service for deeply skinning your Android device with a curated selection of wallpapers, ringtones, and apps — think of it as phone customization for people who don’t have the time (or patience) to find and install stuff they like. Currently available on three models — the LG Optimus S, Sanyo Zio, and Samsung Transform — we’d heard that the service would eventually be spreading to other phones and also to the Galaxy Tab, leading to the obvious question: how do the ID packs scale to the larger form factor and higher screen resolution?

Well, the short answer is that they don’t — at least, not yet. At a Sprint event last evening we had a chance to play with a Tab that had received the Sprint ID firmware update early, and existing packs designed for phones that we tried produced a variety of results ranging from force close messages to weird-looking home screens. That’s not to say that the packs can’t be designed to support the Tab, of course — the one for Sprint employees that was pre-installed and designed specifically to take advantage of the extra screen real estate looks great — but the packs out there now don’t seem to play nice. This might explain why the update hasn’t been released yet, because Sprint either needs to make sure every pack works with every ID-enabled product or set up the pack store to block Tab owners from downloading incompatible packs. Check out the gallery!

Gallery: Sprint ID for Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on

Sprint ID for Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 07

Splashtop Remote Desktop adds Android compatibility, opens another avenue for Windows remote access

Posted in: Android, Google, GoogleAndroid, smartphone, Today's Chili, Windows

We aren’t quite sure we’re on the same page as Splashtop‘s CEO, who is seemingly on a mission to “build the Bridge to Anywhere,” but we’re all for a remote access client for Google’s mobile OS. Shortly after bringing your Windows PC to the iPhone, iPod and iPad, the aforementioned company has now issued an Android client. As you’d probably guess, it allows anyone with an Android-based smartphone or tablet to tap into their networked Windows PC, with content and applications both accessible. According to the company, it’ll allow Android users to “listen to music, access all of their files and applications, and play PC and Flash games remotely.” We’re a little hesitent to believe all that will be doable on some of the lower-end handsets, but at least it’s out there to try (if you’re willing to part ways with $4.99).

Continue reading Splashtop Remote Desktop adds Android compatibility, opens another avenue for Windows remote access

Splashtop Remote Desktop adds Android compatibility, opens another avenue for Windows remote access originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 07:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 06

Dish Network remote access app extends its long arm to Android tablets

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidApps, AndroidTablet, app, apps, dvr, network, remote control, RemoteControl, Today's Chili, TV

Dish Network is still on a mission to make sure that you get your TV Everywhere, and as of today, that means your Android tablet. We reported in November that the provider was bringing its Dish remote access app to Android, opening up the world of paid-for TV to even more smartphones. As with the smartphone app, Android tablet users will have to have a Sling-enabled device, like a Sling Adapter, to access their hard earned programming, and as with the smartphone, the tablet app is free. The Dish Network app’s got all the same functionality as its predecessor: browse and search options, DVR scheduling/management, and a remote control function. So it’s basically the same beast, but we’re definitely still impressed.

Dish Network remote access app extends its long arm to Android tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 06

Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow

Posted in: Android, breaking news, BreakingNews, gaming, gingerbread, leak, leaks, playstation, preview, psp, sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, video, xperia

Well, that was quick. It was just two days ago when the elusive PlayStation Phone popped up on a Hong Kong forum, and now it’s back again in full exposure thanks to Chinese website IT168. It’s now confirmed that said Xperia-branded device is powered by a Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, along with what’s likely to be a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8255 as featured on the HTC Desire HD. Interestingly, Neocore is reporting an impressive 59.1fps benchmark, which is a huge improvement from our exclusive look back in early December. Quadrant also reports a high score of 1,733, but hey, there’s no saying that this is the final build, so the graphics performance may get even better.

Other tidbits found in the latest leak include the generous battery capacity of 1,500mAh, the 854 x 480 resolution on a 4-inch LCD, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash sans 720p video recording (although it’s probably just that the leaksters didn’t look in all the submenu in the camera app), 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, a microSD slot, SIM slot, micro-USB, and a second mic on the back for active noise cancellation à la Nexus One. Interestingly, the still-empty game launcher app is now called “PlayStation Pocket.” We’re still unclear just what the app will run; will it be PSOne games (the company has written an emulator before), PSP games, or an entirely new lineup? (In contrast, the PSP Go has a 333MHz processor, 64MB RAM, and a 3.8-inch 480 x 272 display — albeit on different, not-quite-comparable architecture.) Hopefully we’ll know soon enough, eh Kaz? Anyhow, you can peruse some pictures and videos below, and definitely check out IT168 for the full skinny on this (somewhat tick) device.

[Thanks, Dave]

Gallery: PlayStation Phone leak in China

Continue reading Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow

Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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