Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.
The Sprint badge on our EVO 4G definitely isn’t lit up in florescent yellow, but the logo on Sgt. David Gabriel’s sure is. During last night’s episode of The Closer, Brenda’s right hand men were instructed to bust out their cellphones in order to videotape a crime in progress, with the “crime” being the removal of a rapist’s heart for transplant into a young, innocent lady back at the hospital. We’ll spare you the gory, sticky details, but suffice it to say this 8 megapixel shooter definitely proved valuable when it came time to show and tell. Oh, and didn’t 4G just go live in the Los Angeles area? Man, talk about a timely appearance…
Not only does a “death grip” cut into your phone’s ability to connect, it also increases the amount of radio-frequency radiation it’s pumping out.
Now you can see exactly how much more radiation your head is absorbing, with an app that estimates the RF output of your smartphone, in real time.
Israeli mobile-software company Tawkon released a video Monday that shows its app measuring the impact a “death grip” can have on a mobile device’s radiation. Using the app, an iPhone 4, BlackBerry Bold, and Google Nexus One all show a significant increase in RF radiation when held tightly in the user’s palm.
That’s to be expected: Whenever a cellphone has difficulty connecting with a cell tower, it increases its RF output in order to maintain the connection. Anything that interferes with that connection — be it a death grip, stepping into an elevator, or locating yourself in a low-signal area — will increase any phone’s RF output.
So is Tawkon suggesting that the infamous “death grip” can actually be detrimental to the user’s health?
“Tawkon doesn’t advocate that the death grip is necessarily unsafe, because final answers on the health ramifications of mobile phone usage won’t be known for decades, until researchers have had that time to track long-term usage and impact,” Tawkon co-founder Amit Lubovsky told Wired. ”However, recent studies do indicate a health impact of mobile phone radiation on mobile phone users, especially on people whose usage is termed excessive and cumulative. Until the long-term studies are concluded (decades from now), Tawkon believes consumers should have the right and ability to minimize their exposure to mobile phone radiation.”
Most ongoing studies cannot yet draw a causal link between cellphone usage and physical disorders, and Tawkon should know, since the company follows many of these studies.
The World Health Organization’s Interphone study, released in May, could draw no causal link between glioma or meningioma and cellphone use. However, it noted, “There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma, and much less so meningioma, in the highest decile of cumulative call time, in subjects who reported usual phone use on the same side of the head as their tumor and, for glioma, for tumors in the temporal lobe.”
Currently, the group ranks the Motorola Droid, iPhone 3GS, Google Nexus One, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Samsung Instinct HD as the top five most radio-emissive phones. All of them, however, fall within the FCC’s acceptable SAR (specific absorption rate) limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (1.6 W/kg).
The Tawkon application gets all its information about the phone’s radiation from the cellular protocol stack that manages the baseband modem.
“We use this information in the form of different RF parameters extracted from the device itself,” Lubovsky said. “We then take into consideration the proximity of the phone to the user –for example if the phone is held against the user’s ear or on the user’s lap– to help determine the actual exposure level at any given time.”
“As part of the production procedure we have, each device goes through a long calibration process in an RF lab prior to its release to make sure that our measurements meet the actual values,” he continued.
Tawkon is available only on the BlackBerry platform via App World, Mobihand and Handango, but not on Android or iOS as shown in the video.
“It works on the iPhone, but we’re waiting for Apple approval to make it publicly available,” Lubovsky said. “Android is expected to launch very soon.”
After Google’s Nexus One, HTC’s Evo 4G phone is the first device to get upgraded to the latest Android 2.2 Froyo version of the operating system. But some users are not happy about it.
The Froyo update has broken the syncing of multiple Gmail accounts on the device. The results is that only the primary Gmail account is updated automatically. Second and third Gmail accounts have to be manually refreshed to pull in new e-mails, say Evo users on forums such as Android Central and Google’s Android support board.
“My two Gmail accounts have always worked great on 2.1. Moving to 2.2 my primary Gmail pushes instantly. My secondary Gmail account doesn’t sync at all. I have to manually sync to get it to work,” says ‘tommy m‘, an Evo user who first posted about the issue on the Android Central forum.
The problem also means that users don’t see new e-mail notifications from secondary accounts.
A HTC spokesman told Wired.com the company is aware of the bug but does not see it as a widespread issue.
“The good news is that it has not affected a majority of users,” says Keith Nowak. “We are working to find a fix.”
HTC and Sprint, the exclusive carrier for the Evo, started pushing out Froyo to customers on August 3. The update offers features such as voice dialing over Bluetooth, the ability to store apps on the external memory card and browser improvements including a faster JavaScript engine and Flash support.
The problems with syncing of multiple Gmail accounts flared up right after the Evo moved to Android 2.2. Some Froyo users have been offering homebrewed solutions on message boards including deleting the accounts and adding them again with a change to the mail setting of ‘notify once.’ But the solution hasn’t worked reliably for all users.
The last time we brought you news of Notion Ink’s long awaited Adam things weren’t looking good, but we had some hope since its CEO Rohan Shravan assured us that it would hit some markets in Q3. He also promised that a pre-order page for the Tegra 2-powered, Pixel Qi-sporting slate would launch soon. It really does pain us to say this, but it doesn’t look like any of that’s going to be happening anytime soon — we’ve received word that the company has lost a great deal of cash and that some of its major investors walked away a few weeks ago. As we’ve heard it, the company missed its July / August timeline to ramp up manufacturing because of a very big loss from an early investor. As such, the India-based company had to look for new funding, and apparently seek out a new manufacturer. We’re told they’ve secured more cash now, but things are on shaky ground. Shravan wouldn’t comment on the news, but he did tell us that he still plans to bring the Adam to market before the end of 2010. We admire that persistence and certainly believe the Adam is one of the more innovative tablets out there, but we’re gonna hold on to these tissues until we see an order page and some real evidence that things are turning around for the start-up.
Updated: Slashgear has an in-depth rundown of Notion Ink’s saga. We’ve still been told that the company has been delayed in bringing the Adam to market because of funding issues, though it has now acquired more cash. Apparently, if all goes as planned, it will begin manufacturing in November and ship later that month or in December. That lines up with what Shravan told us, but again, we will believe it when we see it.
Update 2: Here’s Shravan’s official statement…
“We will have the device before the year ends. It will be introduced at a major event after which you can order it online. It has to be placed strategically, as this is our maiden effort. Whatever has happened cannot be changed, but with the support we are getting from all, we might just become a part of the history. Also on the pricing, all the 3 devices will be lower than even the basic model of iPad.”
All together now: “Finally!” At long last, the leaks are being plugged by none other than Verizon itself, who today confirmed that the Droid 2 is more than just a figment of everyone’s imagination. Shortly after hamstringing the Froyo update for the original Droid, Big Red is tossing a tempting upgrade all up in your grille, as the Droid 2 ships with Android 2.2, mobile hotspot (a $20 / month add-on), Flash Player 10.1 and a revised QWERTY keyboard. It also ships with Swype pre-installed, though we’d prefer Swiftkey thrown in for good measure. You already know the specs by now — a 3.7-inch multitouch display, 5 megapixel camera, DLNA streaming, 8GB of onboard memory and a 8GB microSD card — but what you haven’t known is the on sale date. VZW is putting this gem up for pre-sale tomorrow at $199.99 on a 2-year contract, with in-store availability locked for Thursday.
In other news, that R2-D2 edition Droid 2 we told you about last month is legit, and we’re having a hard time containing our excitement just dreaming about the design. Said phone will be available online only in September, and it’ll ship with “exclusive Star Wars content and external hardware designed to look like the trusty Droid from the film saga.” We’re guessing these will sell out in no time flat, but there’s no price being divulged just yet. Oh, and if you’re wondering how on Earth you’re going to swing this upgrade, Verizon’s allowing any customer with a contract ending by December 31, 2010 to upgrade now (to any other smartphone, including the Droid 2) sans penalty. Sheesh guys, you shouldn’t have!
Update: The R2-D2 edition portal has gone live. And yes, if you click this link, you will hear R2-D2 say “Droid!” Too bad there aren’t any images of the handset, though. Thanks, Eric!
Not that it’s been a very well kept secret, but Motorola and Verizon have officially announced the Droid 2, the Froyo-outfitted, Flash 10.1-equipped successor to the original Droid. It goes on sale tomorrow for $199, after a $100 rebate. More »
We’d already had a pretty good indication that Motorola was shifting its strategy when it came to MOTOBLUR, and it looks like co-CEO Sanjay Jha has now finally made that move official. Speaking on the company’s Q2 earnings call, Jha said that while MOTOBLUR will continue to be incorporated into some of it’s phones, Motorola has decided that it will “focus on the value proposition of products and not MOTOBLUR as a brand name in its own right.” Jha further went on to explain that “being able to convey the value proposition around MOTOBLUR is not an easy thing to do in a 30-second ad spot,” but insisted that “MOTOBLUR continues to be important,” and added that he thinks “you will see increased functionality in MOTOBLUR” — you just won’t be seeing the MOTOBLUR name much in public anymore.
BGR’s lined up a handful of very believable rumors for Big Red today — and if you’re an Android fan, you’re going to want to pay very close attention (heck, even if you’re not, you should probably take a look). First up, Motorola’s said to have a full-touch Android 2.2 handset in the works with global roaming capability on GSM and presumably HSPA — a first in the CDMA Android world — that apparently looks a bit like a Motorola Q (without the keyboard, of course). Interestingly, we’ve recently been clued into a global roaming Moto from a trusted tipster of ours with the codename “Venus” that’s slated to enter internal testing on the 27th of this month, so that lines up pretty nicely with this rumor — but Venus could also be another global Android smartphone allegedly in the pipeline from Motorola, the Droid Pro. As its name suggests, BGR says the Droid Pro will be a monster, featuring a 1.3GHz core (faster than the 1GHz Droid X and Droid 2) and a 4-inch screen with a target street date in November — just in time for the holidays. There are also apparently global Android handsets in store from Samsung and HTC; additionally, our tipster tells us that there will be a Motorola “Ciena” sans global roaming, a phone could possibly be that WX445 we saw not long ago. It’s entering carrier acceptance testing on the 17th.
Motorola is set to refresh its original Droid phone with the launch of the Droid 2 later this week. The new Droid 2 phone will sport a better keyboard, the latest Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and a faster 1-GHz processor.
Droid 2 will cost $200 with a two-year contract on Verizon Wireless or $600 without a contract, according to Best Buy.
Motorola hasn’t confirmed a release date for the Droid 2 but widespread rumors suggest the phone will be introduced on Aug. 12.
The original Droid phone is now listed as “out of stock” on Verizon’s website.
The Droid 2 refresh comes nearly ten months after Motorola and Verizon launched the original Droid phone. In October last year, the two companies introduced Droid, then one of the most advanced Android devices in the market. The Droid debuted with a 3.7-inch touchscreen display, a slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera and a 600-MHz processor. Since then, the device has become one of the best-selling Android phones.
In June this year, Motorola announced Droid X, a device that extended the Droid brand. The Droid X, however, didn’t come with a keyboard. With its 4.3-inch touchscreen, the Droid X also sports a bigger display and a faster processor compared to the original Droid.
Droid 2 will now catch up to some of those specs. One of the key criticisms with the original Droid phone was the device’s keyboard. Many users complained that the keys weren’t comfortable to use. Motorola seems to have heard that. In a newspaper ad touting the imminent arrival of the Droid 2, Motorola has highlighted the Droid 2’s “new, advanced keyboard.”
Droid 2 also hopes to be the first phone to ship with Android 2.2 Froyo and support Adobe’s Flash technology for mobile phones — a distinction that shouldn’t matter much now since other devices including HTC Evo and even the original Droid are getting over-the-air upgrades to Froyo.
Another point to consider is that the feature upgrades won’t put the Droid 2 at the front of the pack of Android phones. HTC’s Evo has an 8-megapixel camera, compared to Droid 2’s rumored 5 megapixels. The Evo also has a front-facing camera and HDMI out — two features that will likely be missing in Droid 2.
If that’s the case, it is unlikely Droid 2 can on top of the best-seller charts like its predecessor.
Sony Ericsson’s flagship Android device, the Xperia X10, will be launching on AT&T August 15, the companies announced Monday morning.
The device was first revealed in November 2009, and was something of a harbinger of things to come for Android devices. It runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, has a 4″ touchscreen, 8GB of onboard memory, an 8.1 megapixel LED flash camera, and an elegant Sony Ericsson Android skin known simply as the UX platform (based on Android 1.6.) After the X10 was announced, handset makers HTC, Motorola, and Samsung all revealed their own Android devices with similar specs, ushering in what became known as the first generation of “superphones.”
The Xperia X10 has been available in Europe since February 2010.
Now it will finally be available in the United States on August 15 for $150 with a two-year contract with AT&T. It is the fourth Android handset available with AT&T, following the Motorola Backflip, HTC Aria, and Samsung Captivate.
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