Hasta La Gadget!

Even without yesterday’s premature video promo, you had to know Motorola wouldn’t leave its international audience without a successor to the Milestone, so today — surprise, surprise — we’re being treated to the Milestone 2’s launch. The first thing to be said here is that if you’ve handled a Droid 2, you’ve also handled a Milestone 2 — the new phone follows Moto’s tradition of being a simple rebadge away from the Verizon-friendly Droid naming scheme, which means it retains the same 1GHz OMAP SOC, 512MB of RAM, 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of integrated storage (plus an included 8GB MicroSD card), and Android 2.2 as the default, albeit Motoblured, OS. Also, we got this straight from the Motohorse’s mouth: Motoblur’s not going anywhere, it’s the company’s “Android solution” and is here to stay.

One advantage over the Droid 2 here is the addition of 720p video recording. It’s still the exact same imager as on the back of the first Milestone, but now you can catch moving visuals in HD resolution. Moto were keen to point out the 5-device hotspot capabilities (courtesy of Froyo) on the Milestone 2, but they showed it off using a wired connection since the demo handset’s O2 SIM card wouldn’t permit wireless tethering. Well, that was a grand demonstration of how vulnerable our Android 2.2 goodness will be to the whims of mobile carriers. The Milestone 2’s expected to launch around Europe in Q4, with carrier-dependent pricing as per usual.

Update: Hands-on video now available after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Milestone 2 arrives, 720p HD video, Android 2.2, and Motoblur Enhanced in tow

Motorola Milestone 2 arrives, 720p HD video, Android 2.2, and Motoblur Enhanced in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yearning for a bit of dual-core action on the move? Who isn’t. Hannspree will soon try to quell that 1080p-sized hunger in all of us with its freshly announced €399 ($507) Froyo tablet. There’s no lack of spec sheet ambition here: a 1GHz Tegra 2 SOC is surrounded by 16GB of internal storage (expandable via MicroSD), an accelerometer, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 1,024 x 600-pixel capacitive touchscreen, and mini versions of HDMI and USB ports. Flash 10.1 is also proudly supported, while the 3,500mAh battery is said to last up to 8 hours when playing 1080p movies. We’d be getting real excited right about now, but we’ve learnt to be cautious with such lofty promises — remember the Gemini?

Continue reading Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet

Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point, we’re starting to think that Motorola is intentionally (and cruelly) teasing us with its Droid successor. Today we can add to the parade of leaks preceding the Droid 2‘s debut in the form of the above hard case, which has just landed in Best Buy’s storerooms. Before you go off on some conspiracy theory comparing this to the iPhone’s Bumper and questioning whether this Droid might need a jacket, you should be aware that Rocketfish does similar paraphernalia for the Droid Incredible, marking this out as an entirely unremarkable run-of-the-mill accessory. Which might be the best news of all, we figure — if the unexciting peripherals are already being shipped, the handset itself shouldn’t be too far behind.

[Thanks, Justin]

Continue reading Droid 2 cases arrive at Best Buy, Droid 2s soon to follow?

Droid 2 cases arrive at Best Buy, Droid 2s soon to follow? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer gets too fat to be able to dial a number? Well, he wouldn’t have had that problem had BlindType been around. This soft keyboard is described by its makers as being extremely resilient to inaccurate input and looking at the demo video after the break, you kinda have to agree — it seems to have a pretty kickass predictive algorithm. Aside from that, the keyboard also dynamically adjusts to wherever and however you choose to type, meaning its size and orientation track along to your input, which goes some way to justifying the somewhat odd name (it’s meant for blind operation, not blind people). Text can be inserted without the keyboard even being on screen, while spaces are added by swiping to the right. BlindType should be coming to Android and iOS devices some time in the near future.

[Thanks, Fadl]

Update: We asked BlindType’s makers whether implementing their software will require replacing Apple’s default button slate and they’ve confirmed that it would. They’re making and submitting it for iOS use, nonetheless, “to put pressure on Apple to finally allow this kind of thing.”

Continue reading BlindType vows to autocorrect all wrongs with your iPhone or Android virtual keyboard (video)

BlindType vows to autocorrect all wrongs with your iPhone or Android virtual keyboard (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The lesser of ASUS’ two Eee Pad tablets announced at Computex this year, the EP101TC, is getting itself a software rejig ahead of its planned early 2011 launch. Originally slated to run on Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Compact 7 — a wordy OS, if nothing else — the Pad will now entrust its operational infrastructure to Google’s Android. ASUS is currently working on prototypes with Froyo on board, but Gingerbread (or Android 3.0) has not been ruled out as a possible final OS choice. We’re told to expect the first public demos at CES 2011, with retail units likely following on from there at a relatively brisk pace.

ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC opts for Android, dumps Windows Embedded Compact 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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