Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve already seen the phone itself in the wild, and the folks over at Droid Life have now gotten their hands on what appears to be an early version of the HTC Merge / Lexicon user guide. While there’s not a ton of surprises to be found, it does further confirm the inclusion of Bing (and Bing Maps), and the fact that it is indeed a global phone. What’s more, Droid Life notes that any mention of the phone’s name seems to have been left out, suggesting that HTC hasn’t yet completely decided whether to call it the Merge, Lexicon or something else — the site seems confident that it won’t be called “Droid,” however, although it says it’s heard “murmurs” that was once under consideration.

HTC Merge / Lexicon user manual leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And this, folks, is a lesson of what not to do if you’re a major carrier with a majorly perturbed user base. In a way, this sort of feels like the Instinct update debacle all over again, with users claiming that a promised software update was being held beyond the 30 day return window in order to keep contracts alive. 24 hours after a Sprint forum administrator proudly proclaimed that a long-awaited Epic 4G software update was rolling out over the next few days, another admin has chimed in with a nearly-audible “sike!” Rather than letting users cheer its hard work over the weekend, Epic 4G owners are now being told that “administrative issues” are to blame for a new delay — a delay that’ll stretch on for an undetermined amount of time, to boot. Oh, and back on the topic of what not to do, the operator’s forum admin has also thrown a jab at all of you out there that would even think of accusing Sprint of pushing this update beyond the 30 day return window. Look, we all know it’s a baseless conspiracy theory, but there’s really no need to get feisty, is there? Full announcement is after the break.

Update: Looks as if the update is out there if you’re brave enough to do it yourself. But honestly, is it worth it? Probably.

[Thanks, Edward]

Continue reading Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule

Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The green Android mascot is now a walking robot and a recursive one at that–it is powered by the Android operating system.

Two Japanese companies, RT Corporation and Brilliant Service, created a humanoid robot called “RIC” to show Android is not just for smartphones and tablet computers. The robot, which took about 60 days to build, is about 4 -feet tall.

The Android robot made its debut at the Google developer day in Tokyo earlier this week and as you can see in the video above, it is a delightfully cute  machine.

The Android Droid uses an Armadillo 500 FX embedded hardware chipset and communicates via Wi-Fi with an Android cellphone or tablet. The robot can swing its arms and move it to the left and right. The top of its head can also be opened to show the brains of the device.

RT Corp created the body of the robot and did the system integration and testing, while Brilliant Service developed the robot controller software and applications necessary to operate the machine, says Robot-Dreams, a site which has posted detailed pictures.  There’s no word though on what version of Android the robot is running.

Check out the video below to see a quick snapshot of the building process.

The Android robot is fun and a great way to show the possibilities and potential of the operating system. It’s also a bit of a gimmick since the OS isn’t designed for such machines. Still it’s interesting to see developers find ways to go beyond Google approved devices for Android.

See Also:

• Jan. 25, 1979: Robot Kills Human
• Why NASA Is Sending a Robot to Space That Looks Like You
• Adorable Walking Robot Sets Distance Record
• Android Comes of Age at Google Developer Conference
• Bloatware Creeps Into Android Phones

[via Engadget]

Judging by the leaked terms and conditions, Amazon plans to swagger into the Android world with an alternative app download store, fists a-whirling. Are they building it to co-exist with Android’s Market…or for an Android-powered SuperKindle? More »

Don’t get enough Android in your life between your daytime Droid pal and that raging evening Engadget Podcast addiction? Well, try this on for size, fanboy: two Japanese companies, RT Corporation and Brilliant Service, have teamed up to make an Android logo-shaped Android that runs Android and that can be controlled by an Android device over WiFi. Happy now? All Google loyalist needling aside, this little bot is actually pretty wild, with an Armadillo 500FX board inside controlling the sizable green creature. In fact, Android and robotics has been a bit of a love fest over the past year or so, and we’re excited to see where they’re headed — hopefully recursive mascots isn’t the evolutionary endpoint here. Check out some video of the bot after the break.

Continue reading This Android android runs Android, eats humans

This Android android runs Android, eats humans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 03:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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