Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve seen flavors of Android on our tablets, smartphones — even a microwave oven — but Parrot’s Asteroid receiver is finally ready to park in your car’s dash, bringing a tricked out version of Google’s mobile OS to yet another innovative platform. In addition to an FM radio and a line-in connection (duh), the Asteroid also includes USB connectivity, an SD card slot, music on demand, and voice activated music search. There’s also hands-free calling over Bluetooth, contact voice recognition, and automatic phonebook sync — all controlled using a built-in jog wheel or your voice, and displayed on a 3.2-inch LCD. The device connects to the web using your smartphone’s WiFi hotspot feature, or by attaching a USB 3G dongle. Asteroid’s built-in Maps app and external GPS antenna will be ready to help you navigate the highway for $349 beginning in October, but jump past the break for a peek at the receiver’s red-light-cam-spotting iCoyote app in the meantime.

Continue reading Parrot Asteroid to drive music, Android from your dash this October (video)

Parrot Asteroid to drive music, Android from your dash this October (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve spent time in the rain recently like many of us, you recognize the value of waterproof gear. And Fujitsu’s leaked Arrows Tab F-01D tablet gets it too, packing a 10.1-inch WXGA display, TI IMAP4430 1GHz dual-core processor, and Android 3.2 Honeycomb — all in a unique waterproof housing. The yet-to-be-announced device is rumored to be launching on Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo in September, and may include UMTS, HSPA, and LTE connectivity, along with GSM and GPRS compatibility for roaming abroad. There’s also a pair of CMOS cameras, 16GB of on-board storage, micro-USB and standard headphone connectors (with waterproof covers, we assume), and a microSD card slot. We haven’t received word on pricing just yet, or whether or not the device can survive scuba depths or just the occasional splash, but if the bizarrely named Arrows Tab is indeed slated to launch in Japan next month, we imagine those details will be bubbling to the surface any day now.

Update: Netbooknews has a wider view of the ad above confirming the F-01D.

Fujitsu to release waterproof Arrows Tab F-01D LTE tablet on NTT DoCoMo (update: confirmed) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Supposedly there are some magical TouchPads out there with Android pre-installed on them, but that won’t help you load it up your new collectors item. Thankfully the Cyanogen Mod team is hard at work on a port of Google’s mobile OS for your HP slate and aiming to claim the bounty on its head. It’s still in the extremely early stages. At the moment it does little more than boot up and unlock with the aid of ADB — even the touchscreen isn’t working just yet — but it shouldn’t be too long before you can swap out webOS with CM7. Check out the brief demo video below.

Continue reading TouchPad port of CM7 in the works, can barely be called an alpha (video)

TouchPad port of CM7 in the works, can barely be called an alpha (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung’s ChatON messaging service brings free texting to Android, iOS and BlackBerry (video)

Samsung’s ChatON messaging service brings free texting to Android, iOS and BlackBerry (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 06:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You write on paper, and the Apen A3 sends your doodles and writing to your smartphone

Apen is a neat and simple take on getting paper notes into your computer, phone or tablet. It comes in four somewhat confusing models, named A1 to A4, but it’s the last two that we’re interested in, as they work with the iPhone and iPad (A4) and Blackberry/Android devices (A3).

The kit consists of an electronic pen that contains real ink, and a receiver. You place the receiver up at the top of the paper and write or draw. The receiver records your scribblings and either beams them direct to your computer, phone or tablet, or you can hook the receiver up later via USB to copy everything across. The unit can remember the content of up to around 100 pages, so you can write most of a (short) book before needing to dump the data.

When hooked directly up to a computer, the pen can act as a mouse (there’s a button on the side for clicking), and using companion software you can scribble and draw on photos, too. But the point here is that you can write and draw on paper and later everything is available in software.

The main difference between the A3 and A4 (apart from their device compatibly) is that the A3 includes Bluetooth for sending your notes direct to your Android or Blackberry in real time. I have settled on writing directly onto my iPad using a stylus, and snapping photos of anything I write on paper and sending it to Evernote for handwriting recognition. For people who still use a lot of paper, though, the Apen looks to be worth a try. $130 (and cheaper for the computer-only versions).

Apen product page [Apen USA. Thanks, Susan!]

See Also:

• Pen Draws Working Circuits With Silver Ink
• Virtual Pen and Ink Lets Kids Scrawl on Walls
• Spiral-Shaped Ballpen Refill Packs Double the Ink
• Twist&Brush, A Kind of Reverse, Toothpaste-Filled Fountain Pen for …