Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve heard a similar message from Nokia dating all the way back to MeeGo’s introduction at MWC back in February, so it comes as little surprise that Espoo is apparently trumpeting the virtues of ARM for its first MeeGo-powered device that’s still targeted for the tail end of 2010. What might make this particularly interesting is the fact that MeeGo 1.0 is clearly further along for Atom devices than it is for the Cortex A8-based N900, not to mention that Nokia has already warmed up to Intel thanks to its Booklet 3G — but regardless of the silicon, getting the platform solid enough for any sort of retail device by the end of 2010 still seems like a tricky proposition when you figure that the ARM build doesn’t even have a proper user interface yet. Ultimately, it might come down to a question of size; Intel still hasn’t proven that it can scale Atom down far enough to tackle the smartphone market head-on, so if Nokia wants to go small with its first MeeGo hardware, that alone could be impetus enough to go ARM.

Nokia will kick off MeeGo effort with ARM-based silicon, not x86 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 May 2010 21:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unfortunately, we don’t know much about this new Marvell powered tablet, but we couldn’t resist sharing our impressions of the very svelte 10-inch device. We only got a few minutes to play around with the slate at the Netbook Summit, but we can tell you that it has a brushed metal back and there’s an opening on the front for a camera. As for the internals, it’s based on Marvell’s Moby reference design, which uses its Snapdragon-class Armada 610 processor, and will run Android 2.1 Eclair. The rest will be up to whatever Marvell customer is bringing this bad boy to market — the Marvell executive that let us catch a glance at the device wouldn’t turn it on as he feared we may see the mystery customer’s logo. We told you we didn’t know much, but from what we saw today it sure looks promising. Now, if only we felt Android was ready Google would give us a tablet-ready version of Android…

Marvell shows off 10-inch Android tablet at Netbook Summit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 May 2010 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s easy to forget some of Google’s “we will own you and your children” initiatives: there are simply so many of them. One particular gambit that has been flying under the radar is Google’s Native Client, which allows the Chrome browser to execute x86 code natively. This has big implications for moving those beefy, number crunching desktop app holdouts to the browser, which would not only be a boon for Google’s ability to make Microsoft and Apple-beating web apps, but a big win for Chrome OS as well. Right now the Native Client is only working with the developer-oriented Chromium browser, with ubiquitous support a distant dream, but Google has already worked out ARM processor code portability, has plans to be completely processor agnostic in the future, and will be updating the SDK “rapidly” in the coming months. Basically, it’s on. Check out a video demonstration of some “hello world” code after the break, along with a brief demo of a 3D shooter.

Google’s Native Client SDK developer preview provides helpful reminder of plans for world domination originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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See the marking on that chip with the Apple logo. No, not the “N90” codename indicating that it’s from Apple’s next generation GSM iPhone, the other text. If we’re not mistaken then we’re seeing “339S0084” on that chip from today’s fourth-generation iPhone teardown. Guess what? According to Chipworks, that’s the Apple A4 microprocessor fabricated by Samsung and the presumed work of Apple’s acquired PA Semi and Intrinsity engineers. The “APL0398” text is also the same as that found on the iPad’s speedy and power sipping A4 system-on-chip. The other markings differ however. What that means isn’t entirely clear yet but we’re digging.

Fourth generation iPhone teardown reveals A4 microprocessor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 06:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It can take someone anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to solve the Rubik’s Cube puzzle. But a neat contraption built out of an Android powered Motorola Droid phone and a Lego Mindstorms NXT kit can whip the Cube into shape in just under 25 seconds.

Folks at ARM, whose architecture the Motorola Droid processor is based on, created the device and have called it the Speedcuber. With the use of the yellow Lego pieces and the droid, the robot is extremely attractive. But it’s not just about looks.

An Android App running on the Motorola Droid uses the phone’s camera to take pictures of each face of the cube and sends the solution to the Lego NXT controller via Bluetooth.

Check out the video above to see the cube twisted into the right configuration in seconds.

The Speedcuber was on display at the Embedded Systems conference that ended Wednesday.

See Also:

• Wired 14.02: Geeks in Toyland
• Robotic Spider Melds Legos and 3-D Printing
• Frank Lloyd Wright Lego Sets
• Beautiful Polaroid Camera Sculpted in Lego

[via Make]

Video: Armflix