Hasta La Gadget!

The last time we saw Ben Wu, he was busy hammering away at Quantum Phantom — a prototype program that allows users to manipulate their desktops with a simple webcam. Now, the engineer has expanded the concept to smartphones, as well, with a system that effectively turns any camera-equipped handset into a wireless mouse. To achieve this, Wu hooked up his Android phone to his PC via WiFi and used the IP Webcam app to create a video stream server. The results, by Wu’s own admission, aren’t exactly elegant (due to an unwieldy configuration process and low-res camera), though he still managed to use his creation to sketch an onscreen smiley face. Watch it for yourself in the demo video, after the break.

[Thanks, Ben]

Continue reading Quantum Phantom program turns your smartphone into a wireless mouse (video)

Quantum Phantom program turns your smartphone into a wireless mouse (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei’s handsets may not get the high-profile, stateside attention other OEMs are subject to, but that’s no reason for us to turn a blind eye to the company’s efforts. Spotted out in the wild with an accompanying spec list, the Honor (or U8860) purportedly packs a 1.4GHz processor, 4-inch FWVGA LCD display, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera capable of 720p video, a thickness of 9.9mm and an unspecified version of Android 2.3. Judging by the phones Europe- and Asia-only UMTS 900MHz / 2100MHz bands, it’s highly likely we won’t have the honor of seeing the company’s rumored flagship device grace North American shores. We’ll keep an eye out and let you know if we catch this one slipping through the FCC’s arms.

Huawei Honor leaks into the wild, prepares for ascension to the flagship throne? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you remember the Samsung Admire at MetroPCS, then the manufacturer’s Vitality handset will look mighty familiar. It’s coming to Cricket and will join the Suede (a feature phone) as the network’s only smartphone with Muve Music. Like the Admire, it features an 800MHz CPU, 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen, a 3.2MP camera and runs stock Gingerbread. While its price and release date remain elusive, we’re told the requisite plan will ring in at $65 per month — a spendy leap for the network that goes chirp in the night. Perhaps that’s the rub when you combine an Android plan with unlimited song downloads, ringtones and ringback tones. Hey, nobody ever said it’d be cheap to be law-abiding.

[Thanks, Daone]

Samsung Vitality with Muve Music serenades itself to Cricket originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back when we first caught a glimpse of the Droid Bionic, we speculated that the post-Atrix placement of the micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports might make it compatible with the updated Photon Webtop dock and accessories. Judging by the screenshot grabbed by Droid Life, we might have a winner as the add-ons look to be interchangeable, possibly a first step towards CEO Sanjay Jha’s promised improvements. The product page also says the accessories will be “affordable” for those “curious about the Webtop application” — count us in.

[Thanks, Chris]

Motorola Droid Bionic to include Webtop accessories originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was only a matter of time before the hacks for HP’s now defunct tablet started to roll in.

Android-modding group CyanogenMod released a video of its popular aftermarket software running on HP’s TouchPad tablet, a product which normally runs webOS — not Android — as its primary operating system.

“Our ultimate vision is to create a multiboot solution where the end user will be able to boot into WebOS, Cyanogenmod, and/or other OSes,” the CyanogenMod team said in a statement to Android-enthusiast blog RootzWiki. Essentially, the team wants the TouchPad to be a blank slate, so to speak, able to run multiple operating systems indiscriminately.

Since HTC first released its flagship Android phone, the Dream, the CyanogenMod team has been hard at work trying to get its software onto every Android device on the market. The software isn’t a radical departure from the Android operating system: It’s basically a mod that allows a user more control over his or her phone. From overclocking your processor to customizing your wallpaper, the mod enables subtle tweaks popular with the geeky, detail-oriented crowd.

While getting the Android software to run on the TouchPad has taken relatively little time (the device was released two months ago today), the team says its progress has been slowed due to a lack of development devices. At $100 a pop, TouchPads have been flying off the shelves since HP announced recently it would be discontinuing its mobile hardware and slashing prices on remaining inventory.

“We have talented and experienced developers who cannot contribute effectively due to a lack of hardware,” the team wrote in its statement, asking for spare TouchPad contributions from the community to help spur development.

As the group has gained in popularity, updates on the official CyanogenMod software have slowed. Original founder Steve Kondik was recruited to work for Samsung earlier this month, and team member Chris Soyars recently left for music-appmaker GrooveShark.

But a recent bounty on getting the TouchPad to run Android may have incited CyanogenMod team members to code faster (though the group denies it in its statement). Hardware-modification web site Hacknmod.com offered as much as $2,000 to those who first slapped a copy of Android onto HP’s tablet.

The version of CyanogenMod on the TouchPad (video below) is a highly unstable alpha, but the team says more features and better stability are on the way.