The Engadget Show returns February 27th with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, Windows Phone 7 Series, and more!

If you’re a fan of entertainment of the digital variety, you’d be a fool to miss the next live taping of The Engadget Show. We’ll be sitting down with Avner Ronen, creator and CEO of Boxee and taking a look at the forthcoming (and very anticipated) Boxee Box. We’ll also be discussing Avner’s strategy for taking on the networks and cable providers, and the best methods of defending oneself from Jeff Zucker. Not only that, but we’ll have a Windows Phone 7 Series device on hand for a demo and discussion, plus the regular kind of Engadget Show zaniness you’ve come to know and love. You can also expect good clean music from Nullsleep, and stunning visuals from Outpt and Paris. If you miss this one, you’ll basically have zero good stories to tell your grand children.

The Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are — as always — free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served… so get there early! Here’s all the info you need:

  • There is no admission fee — tickets are completely free
  • The event is all ages
  • Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:30PM on Saturday, doors will open for seating at 4:30PM, and the show begins at 5PM
  • You cannot collect tickets for friends or family — anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
  • Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we’re full, we’re full
  • The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break)
  • The show length is around an hour

If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

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Continue reading The Engadget Show returns February 27th with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, Windows Phone 7 Series, and more!

The Engadget Show returns February 27th with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, Windows Phone 7 Series, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All the Smartphone OSes: A Beginners’ Guide [Smartphones]

Windows Phone Series 7 is here, and it’s like nothing we’ve seen from Microsoft—or anyone else—before. But how does it measure up? And where does every other smartphone OS stand?

If you want to skip the gallery format, click here.

iPhone OS 3.x

The third major release of the iPhone’s software, and the second since the platform got its App Store, iPhone OS 3.x has succeeded on the strength of simplicity, intuitiveness and a tremendous selection of applications. It serves as the basis for the OS that will ship with the new Apple iPad.

Available: June 2009
Open Source/Free: No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: No
Multitasking: No
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: Safari/WebKit
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Sync/Patcher
Syncing Software: Yes
App Store Size: 100k+
App Sideloading: No
Jailbreaking/rooting: Yes
Flash Support: No

Android 2.x

In just over a year, Google’s Linux-based Android OS has gone from a rough-edged software experiment to a smartphone powerhouse, running atop some of the most powerful hardware available. Version 2.1 is the software platform for Google’s own first phone, the Nexus One. Android phones vary in both hardware configurations and software versions, but are generally increasing in popularity.

Available: October ’09
Open Source/Free: Yes/Yes
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: Yes
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: Chrome/WebKit
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Over the Air
Syncing Software: No
App Store Size: 20k+
App Sideloading: Yes
Jailbreaking/rooting: Yes
Flash Support: Within six months

Palm webOS 1.x

Palm’s webOS represented a complete reboot for the company, whose aging Palm OS found itself outpaced by more modern, finger-friendly offerings from Apple and Google. At the core of the OS is a novel multitasking system, with which users can cycles through apps, or “cards.” Another webOS selling point is the deep integration of social networking directly into the OS, and an emphasis on messaging.

Available: June ’09
Open Source/Free: No/No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: No
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: webOS/WebKit
Video Recording: Coming soon
Upgrades: Over the Air
Syncing Software: No
App Store Size: 1400+
App Sideloading: No
Jailbreaking/rooting: Yes
Flash Support: Within six months

BlackBerry OS 5

RIM is known for issuing frequent updates for its mobile OSes, but they are minimal, and at heart, BlackBerry OS 5 is deeply similar to its early, decade-old predecessors. BlackBerry OS is inclined towards messaging—its inboxes feature prominently—with web browsing and apps as secondary focuses. RIM’s recent success with the consumer (as opposed to enterprise) market shows they’ve taken pains to improve the usability and aesthetics of the OS, though its corporate roots still show through.

Available: November ’09
Open Source/Free: No/No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: No
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: No
Browser/Engine: BlackBerry/Proprietary (WebKit forthcoming)
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Sync/patcher/over the air
Syncing Software: Yes
App Store Size: 3k+
App Sideloading: Yes
Jailbreaking/rooting: No
Flash Support: Within six months

Windows Mobile 6.5.x

Windows Mobile 6.5 is the last predecessor to Windows Phone 7 Series, and it will coexist with WP7 for the foreseeable future, as a bridge for corporate customers. Its basic design and codebase harks back to the early 2000s, and while it featured multitasking, copy and paste and a significant number of 3rd party apps well before the iPhone or Android did, WinMo failed to keep up with its competitors. Even with version 6.5, which added new, finger-friendly interface elements and an app marketplace, success was not to be. Despite its successor’s seemingly related name, this is the end of the road for the WinMo OS.

Available: October ’09
Open Source/Free: No/Licensed
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: Yes
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: No
Browser/Engine: Internet Explorer/Trident
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Sync/Patcher
Syncing Software: Yes
App Store Size: Under 500 1000+, depending on handset
App Sideloading: Yes
Jailbreaking/rooting: No
Flash Support: Yes

Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7 Series is a total revamping of Microsoft’s mobile strategy, drawing more on design philosophy of the Zune HD than of Windows Mobile. The interface is designed primarily for touch input, and eschews icon grids and menus for a series of paneled hubs. The unreleased OS features deep integration with Xbox and Zune services, as well as a completely new app store.

Available: Holiday ’10
Open Source/Free: No/No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: Yes
Multitasking: No, probably! (With possible exceptions.)
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: Internet Explorer/Trident
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: TBD
Syncing Software: Media
App Store Size: TBD
App Sideloading: TBD (Unlikely)
Jailbreaking/rooting: TBD
Flash Support: TBD (Probable)

Best Buy kicks off Motorola Devour pre-sale, no rebate required

You’ll still have to wait until February 25th to actually get your hands on one, but those not wanting to take any chances on missing out on the Motorola Devour can now head down to their local Best Buy or Best Buy Mobile store and reserve one starting today. The only catch is that you’ll have to buy a $50 Best Buy gift card to hold your spot for the phone, but the good news is that you won’t have to deal with any of those pesky mail-in rebates — just a simple instant discount at the check-out. Curiously though, while Best Buy will gladly sell you a $50 gift card, it’s still not saying exactly much the phone itself will actually cost — here”s hoping we hear more about that before you actually wind up in the check-out line.

Best Buy kicks off Motorola Devour pre-sale, no rebate required originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint: Android 2.1 update for Hero, Moment coming in early Q2

And there you have it, folks — word straight from Sprint that the much-anticipated Android 2.1 update will be coming to the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment “early” in the second quarter of this year. As you may recall, Sprint has actually been talking about this update since December, but “early 2Q10” is at least slightly better news than the previous “1H2010” estimate the carrier’s been dishing out.

Update: Sprint has posted a follow-up tweet saying that OTA vs. PC-based or in-store upgrades are “still TBD upgrade options.”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sprint: Android 2.1 update for Hero, Moment coming in early Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live from Eric Schmidt’s keynote at MWC 2010

We’ve just been ushered into the rather gigantic Auditorium 1 of Hall 5 at Mobile World Congress 2010 where we’re awaiting none other than Google chief Eric Schmidt to take the stage. What’s in store — Buzz news? Android buzz? Buzz buzz? Read on to find out!

Continue reading Live from Eric Schmidt’s keynote at MWC 2010

Live from Eric Schmidt’s keynote at MWC 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Milestone now available on Telus, AT&T*

Two days earlier than expected, Motorola’s Milestone has become available to the public via Telus Mobility. For Canadians, that means that you can wrap your palms around one of the sexiest Android devices out for as low as $199.99 on a 3-year contract, while it’ll set you back $499.99 with a 2-year deal, $549.99 with a 1-year agreement or $599.99 outright. Americans — you should pay close attention that to last figure. A half dozen Benjamins (not including losses in currency conversion and the trip to go get one) will land you what’s essentially a 3G-enabled Droid for AT&T’s network. You know you need an excuse to go see the Yanks take the ice against the Canucks on Sunday, so you might as well snap up your dream phone before heading back from Vancouver.

*AT&T support hinges on one’s ability to procure a Milestone from Canada, get it back across the border, unlock it and slide an activated AT&T 3G SIM card into it. Godspeed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Milestone now available on Telus, AT&T* originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC enhances Sense with Leap and Friend Stream (updated with video)

Our recent chance encounter with a multitouch-friendly iteration of HTC’s Sense UI turns out to have been a preview of the company’s latest version of the software. Announcing that it has “enhanced” the already quite delectable skin, HTC has noted it’ll be available preloaded on the brand new Desire and Legend handsets, and as a free download for the venerable Hero. So what’s new? The press event this morning told us about Leap, the new pinching function that allows you to view all your home screens at once (see above), and Friend Stream, which aims to be your social media aggregator du jour with its one stream combining Facebook, Twitter and Flickr updates. There’s also a new newsreader application and widget, along with additional improvements to the browser and web client. You’ll find the full PR after the break and early impressions of the new interface in our hands-on with the new phones.

Update: See a full walkthrough of the new UI in a video after the break.

Continue reading HTC enhances Sense with Leap and Friend Stream (updated with video)

HTC enhances Sense with Leap and Friend Stream (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Desire: your Nexus One with Sense and Flash has arrived (video)

The one thing you’ll never see on a stock Nexus One is a skinned interface like Sense or TouchWiz — they’re just not Google enough for a phone commissioned and sold directly by Mountain View. Thing is, Sense on Android has plenty of fans, and the mere thought of running it on something with as much oomph as a 1GHz Snapdragon brings tears to our eyes. The solution? The Desire, of course, featuring virtually all of the original Nexus One’s mojo with a little less direct Google support, a little more Sense, and a trackpad in place of the old trackball. The 3.7-inch AMOLED display carries over, but things get interesting on the software side: not only do you get HTC’s freshly-updated Sense with Friend Stream, you also get Flash 10.1 compatibility, which means you need every clock cycle of that 1GHz more than you ever thought you would. Unfortunately, North Americans, you’re getting screwed on this one for the time being — HTC is only announcing that it’ll be “broadly available” throughout Europe and Asia in the early part of the second quarter, while it’ll come to Australia via Telstra. Supersonic, care to save us?

Update: Promo video is now after the break (thanks, O’Neill!), and our hands-on with the device at MWC can be found here.

Gallery: HTC Desire

Continue reading HTC Desire: your Nexus One with Sense and Flash has arrived (video)

HTC Desire: your Nexus One with Sense and Flash has arrived (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Legend takes the Hero to new heights of aluminum

If you thought that machining a phone from a single block of aluminum might cause RF issues in a phone… well, you can apparently think again, because HTC just went there with its freshly-introduced Legend. The rumored and leaked device becomes a proper successor for HTC’s time-tested Hero by upgrading the LCD to a 3.2-inch AMOLED display (while still carrying over the old HVGA resolution) and moving up from a trackball to one of those newfangled optical trackpads, though this one’s got a bit of a twist: it’s surrounded by a clickable button. The phone runs Android 2.1 with a series of brand new Sense enhancements, most notably the addition of a “Friend Stream” widget that aggregates friends’ status updates across services (a trend we’ve been seeing a lot of lately). We’re not hearing about North American availability at this point, but it’ll hit Vodafone and direct sales channels in Europe in “early” second quarter.

Update: Check out the promo video after the break!

Continue reading HTC Legend takes the Hero to new heights of aluminum

HTC Legend takes the Hero to new heights of aluminum originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TAT Home: the gesture-powered 3D home screen your Android device has longed for

It’s hard to believe this homegrown home screen actually runs as quickly as the video demo (posted up after the break) shows, but even if it’s just 89.877 percent as fast, we have a good idea we’d be interested. TAT Home is a gesture-powered 3D home screen for Android, and it relies heavily on cascading windows and finger flicks in order to improve your navigational efficiency. Clueless as to what we’re referring to? Jump past the break and mash play, and then surf on over to the source link to sign up for the preview program.

[Thanks, Jesper]

Continue reading TAT Home: the gesture-powered 3D home screen your Android device has longed for

TAT Home: the gesture-powered 3D home screen your Android device has longed for originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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