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Continue reading Survey finds BlackBerry developers still profitable, Android Market as the store to watch

Filed under: Cellphones

Survey finds BlackBerry developers still profitable, Android Market as the store to watch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say hello to Engadget Distro. At its most molecular level, it’s nothing more than a series of ones and zeros, cobbled together in a compiler and made to look like words and images on Apple’s iPad. But in reality, it’s something far greater — something that the entire Engadget staff couldn’t be more proud to have their names on. Distro is the week in technology news, distilled down and reformatted into a beautiful, offline view that can be enjoyed anywhere. You know, like one of those regional jets still awaiting their rightful Gogo injection. We’ve got a team of designers and editors toiling around the clock to assemble our best long-form feature content and reviews, re-wrapping it in a fashion that takes full advantage of a little thing called “multitouch.”

As of now, we’ve got plans to launch Distro on the iPad soon (as in, super soon!), but you can bet we’re already hammering away on versions for the other major tablet platforms. Rest assured, we’re as eager to finish them as anyone, and yes, they’ll all be absolutely free of charge. For those who find themselves a touch overwhelmed with the sheer torrent of news that occurs in this space each and every day, Distro offers a relaxing, peaceful alternative. Sort of like morphine, but available sans a prescription. We’ll be showing off a sneak peek during tonight’s live Engadget Show (tune in here!), and we’ll be sure to keep you abreast of our launch date as it draws closer. For now, have a look at what Distro will bring in the video after the break. We hope you enjoy.

Continue reading Introducing Engadget Distro!

Introducing Engadget Distro! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LeVar Burton may best be known ’round these parts for his role in Star Trek, but he’ll soon be known as the guy who made childhood reading relevant again. It wasn’t that long ago that today’s up-and-coming adults were soaking up all sorts of useful knowledge during their summers, glued to a PBS station and doing their darndest to climb inside of mum’s CRT television. And now, their kids will be doing likewise — but with an iPad. Burton has plans to produce an educational RRKidz iOS app that enables readers to “explore topics of interest in a multimedia-rich environment, with voice-over-enhanced children’s books, familiar videos of Burton at real-life places, and games.” In order to do so, he’s planning a “disruptive” technology that’ll bolster a conventional PDF book with basic animations, voice-overs and games “in a matter of hours.” There’s no specific time table on a release, but we’re guessing Burton’s moving along as usual pace: Mach 5.

Reading Rainbow roaring back with RRKidz iPad app, ‘disruptive’ ebook technology in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today, Windows Division prexy Steven Sinofsky treated Build 2011 attendees to a walkthrough of the various tweaks, subtle or otherwise, Microsoft’s made to Windows 8. Staying true to its roots, the new OS implements the familiar keyboard commands users have become accustomed to over the years — you know, like CMD and Ctrl+F. And as for its update to Internet Explorer, MS has imbued its tenth iteration with the ability to switch between the much-hyped Metro-style UI and plain old desktop view — all according to your whimsy. Of course, Redmond’s instituted other sweeping changes across the platform, and you can check some of the highlights after the break.

Continue reading Windows 8 details: new features, UI enhancements and everything in between

Windows 8 details: new features, UI enhancements and everything in between originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know, we know — you’re anxiously awaiting the public launch of iTunes Match, but what if you’re one of those people? You know, the crowd that dips their toes into both Google and Apple offerings. It’s clearly not as blasphemous as you may have been led to believe, as the fine folks in Google’s mobile department have just produced an iOS-specific web app for Google Music Beta. For those who’ve forgotten, Music Beta was launched a few months back at Google I/O, giving audio archivists the chance to upload 20,000 of their favorite jams into the cloud; now, as you might imagine, it ain’t just Android users tapping into those libraries. Predictably, the Music Beta iOS web app enables iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users to login to their accounts and stream at will, and if you’re down to give it a go, the download link is just below — you’ll need to have been accepted previously into the beta, though.

We gave it a quick whirl on the iPad here at Engadget HQ, and it works beautifully. As you’d expect, the actual graphical elements are a bit lacking compared to the Android app, but all of the core functionality is there. Swiping left / right cruises through Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlists and Genres, and the track currently playing remains in a top bar regardless of what main window you’re in. The search function works as advertised, and on a basic cable connection our results populated within two seconds of getting the third letter down. All in all, it’s a fairly nice spread (see for yourself in the gallery below), but not quite as nice as we’re envisioning a dedicated app to be. Still holding out for one? Heh… we never said Google was that generous.

Google Music Beta crosses the aisle, launches for iOS via web app (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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