Hasta La Gadget!

Tim Cook kicked off today’s ‘Let’s talk iPhone‘ event by the numbers, mentioning that “the MacBook Pro and iMac are the number one best selling notebook and desktop in the United States.” Apparently the Mac platform grew by 23 percent over the last year, versus a four percent growth from the PC sector. Brandishing a chart tracing the trend back five years, Cook says that Apple is now pushing 60 million Mac users worldwide, leaving Cupertino just shy of owning a fourth of the personal computer market. “There are still 77 percent of people who are buying something else,” Cook said, “We have an incredibly high ceiling here. We have a long way to go.”

Tim Cook: Macbook Pro and iMac are the best selling notebook and desktop in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, Tim Cook has yet to even take the stage and already the leaks are starting to pour in. It started with a pair of images buried in the Apple store’s HTML code. But, perhaps more telling, was the page for the Ginza, Japan store listing the launch of the iPhone 4S as a featured event starting at 8am on October 14th. While that doesn’t necessarily mean the tweaked iPhone 4 variant will launch everywhere on the same day, it seems a safe bet that the US and UK will be getting in on the action that Friday morning.

Update: Well, that was short lived. The text is gone… for now.

iPhone 4S landing on October 14th according to Apple Store page in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you or somebody you know is blind or visually impaired, then you’ll definitely want to take note of AT&T’s latest offering for its Android phones, which is certainly more charitable than its prior solution. For a limited time, the carrier is distributing a free, customized version of Mobile Accessibility, an app that provides voice cues and assistance for completing many common tasks on Google-powered smartphones. Users will find the ability to place calls, send email and text messages, set alarms, browse the web, find their current location and more. With voice synthesis provided by Nuance Vocalizer, the app traditionally retails for $99 in the Android Market — so it might be wise to act quickly on this one. To learn more about Mobile Accessibility Lite, you’ll find a quick video tour and the full PR after the break.

Continue reading AT&T intros free Android accessibility solution for visually impaired (video)

AT&T intros free Android accessibility solution for visually impaired (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just in time for the return of everyone’s favorite serial killer, Showtime Anytime soft-launched recently, bringing online access to the network’s library of movies, TV shows and more. Multichannel News reports AT&T U-verse subscribers are the first to gain access, although this same content has already been streaming on Comcast’s Xfinity TV website and app. It’s no HBO Go yet — more cable companies and a few mobile apps will be necessary to match its rival there — but the approach is the same, after pulling its shows from Netflix this TV Everywhere offering hopes to add enough value to keep viewers on the traditional pay-TV train a little longer. While there’s no self-branded streaming app yet, the channel has also launched a Showtime Social iPad app to keep viewers tied in with their friends and other viewers while they watch — let us know if it makes Dexter any more / less creepy.

Showtime launches Anytime streaming portal, social iPad app originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updates

• The top story this week revolves around the HTC Thunderbolt’s long-awaited Gingerbread OTA update. It was finally rolling out, which was exciting news for owners of the device — until it had to be pulled because of some rather significant bugs. The largest of them all was that voicemail notifications no longer worked properly; video chatting through Google Talk was also slightly messed up as well. No word on when we can expect to see it come back with those bugs fixed. [Droid-Life]
• Unfortunately, the Thunderbolt isn’t the only phone falling victim to pulled revamps; the LG Optimus S on Sprint had its Gingerbread update kiboshed, though users have had two weeks to get it — plenty of time for anyone to experience some of the bugs, which included the phone not charging, the SD card not being recognized when the phone’s connected to the computer, no access to data services, and predictive text on the virtual keyboard stopped working. It’s disappointing to see this happen so soon after the Kyocera Echo update went through a similar debacle. [SprintFeed]
• LG Optimus 3D: V10K firmware update, enables phone to convert OpenGL-capable 2D games into stereoscopic 3D. Note: this still runs Android 2.2.2, so we’re still waiting for Gingerbread. [AndroidCentral]
• Motorola Xoom WiFi: Android 3.2.1 is beginning to roll out. [AndroidCentral]
• Dell Streak 7: Honeycomb update rolling out now to unspecified regions [AndroidCentral]
• Asus Eee Pad Transformer: Revamped to Android 3.2.1, adds other bug fixes [AndroidCommunity]
• Casio G’Zone Commando: Gingerbread rolling out now [Droid-Life]
• Motorola Droid 3: Minor maintenance refresh; enhances Google Talk with video chat support, several other fixes. [PhoneDog]
• T-Mobile Samsung Nexus S: OTA install (with option to manually install) to Android 2.3.6; doesn’t appear to break tethering. [AndroidCentral]

Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery

• The Android 2.3.5 ROM for the global Samsung Galaxy S II leaked early this week. [Pocketnow, SamFirmware]
• You can now download the Android 2.3.4 SBF for the Motorola Droid X2, courtesy of XDA. [Droid-Life]
• If you have a Sony Ericsson Xperia-branded device from 2010 or 2011, CyanogenMod7 support will most likely come included as part of an upcoming update. Ten Xperia devices will be added, though a timeframe for release wasn’t announced. Check here to see if your device made the list. [XperiaBlog]

Other platforms

• Check here to see if your phone is ready to receive Windows Phone Mango.
• The ultra-rare AT&T HP Pre 3 just received an OTA update to 2.2.3.2207, right after a new webOS Doctor became available for the same refresh. [PreCentral]

Refreshes we covered this week

• Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update now rolling out
• How to force Mango to your phone right away
• Samsung Taylor receiving Mango?

Refresh Roundup: week of September 26, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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