Want a PlayBook that runs Android 3.0? You can get one at MacMall!

Hurry and order yours today — before they run out of magic dust.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Want a PlayBook that runs Android 3.0? You can get one at MacMall! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ECOtality announces Blink Mobile EV charging app

It’s fast becoming apparent that no electric vehicle is complete without an accompanying smartphone app to help you find places to charge it, and it looks like ECOtality isn’t about to let that trend pass it by. It’s just announced its new Blink Mobile app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices, which will let folks locate Blink charging stations, check up on the charger’s status, and receive various alerts (like when your car is finished charging at home). Unfortunately, you can’t download it just yet, but ECOtality says it will be available sometime this summer, with the iOS and Android apps likely to come out a bit ahead of the BlackBerry app — a web-based app is also in development. Head on past the break for the complete press release.

Continue reading ECOtality announces Blink Mobile EV charging app

ECOtality announces Blink Mobile EV charging app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buick, GMC getting IntelliLink smartphone connectivity

Back in February, General Motors debuted its MyLink smartphone integration for the Chevy Volt and Equinox on the Engadget Show, letting drivers control their iOS, Android, and BlackBerry smartphone apps via voice or touchscreen. The company announced today that it will be offering the same technology — albeit rebranded as the tongue-twisting IntelliLink — on several 2012 Buick and GMC models, including the Buick LaCrosse, Regal, Verano, and the GMC Terrain. IntelliLink offers up a fairly similar feature set as its Chevy counterpart — connecting to iPhones and Android handsets via Bluetooth or USB, and leveraging Nuance voice recognition and Gracenote databases to control the likes of Pandora and Stitcher Radio. Autoblog reports that IntelliLink will hit the Buick Verano first, followed by the LaCrosse and Regal, though you might be more interested in the Terrain — owners will also be able to control their vehicle’s rear-view camera with IntelliLink, and who doesn’t like manipulating megapixels in the name of pedestrian safety?

Continue reading Buick, GMC getting IntelliLink smartphone connectivity

Buick, GMC getting IntelliLink smartphone connectivity originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon Wireless: we might sell the BlackBerry PlayBook, if we feel like it

Frightened by the mere thought of picking up a partially-baked BlackBerry PlayBook? So is Verizon Wireless, it seems. Despite a March 22nd press release (embedded after the break for convenience) from Research in Motion suggesting that VZW would indeed be a “retail channel” for the QNX-based slate, the carrier’s Brenda Raney is singing a different tune. According to her:

“We’re still evaluating the BlackBerry Playbook and have not made a determination as to whether we’re going to distribute it.”

‘Course, we wouldn’t cry too hard if Big Red ends up passing — Sprint’s 4G version ought to satisfy anyone pining to pick one up with an integrated cell radio. Too bad Mike Lazaridis isn’t around to opine on just how “unfair” such a statement is.

Continue reading Verizon Wireless: we might sell the BlackBerry PlayBook, if we feel like it

Verizon Wireless: we might sell the BlackBerry PlayBook, if we feel like it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota Entune and Prius V hands-on

This year at CES we got our first glimpse of the Toyota Entune infotainment system, and then a week later at the North American International Auto Show we got our first close-up look at the bigger, hatchbackier Prius V. Now, here at the New York International Auto Show, the two pieces have come together into one five-door package. The car and the infotainment suite are slated to hit dealerships this summer and we sat down in one to try out the other. See if you can figure out which is which before clicking on through to check out our impressions.

Continue reading Toyota Entune and Prius V hands-on

Toyota Entune and Prius V hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry PlayBook Teardown Reveals Neat-Freak Interior

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Remember when computers had removable batteries? Neither do I, but apparently they did. These days, the batteries come hidden away from the user, freed from their bulky cases so that device makers can squeeze more into smaller and smaller spaces. So it is with the BlackBerry PlayBook, freshly torn open by the ravenous zombies at iFixit. “Chipzzzz”, they cry as they rip into brand new electronics with their spudgers. “Chipzzz!”

But this hard-to-access battery (hidden behind the motherboard and speaker), along with a metal frame glued to the screen, is the only hard-to-repair part of RIM’s new miniature tablet. Everything else can be disassembled with standard tools, leading iFixit to give it a 7 out of 10 repairability rating.

So just what is inside? Well, the battery, of course, which is a 20 watt-hour model, compared to the 25 watt-hour battery in the iPad, and the 24 watt-hour in the Xoom. Then there are the camera, accelerometers, motherboard and so on, and these are all incredibly neatly lined up. It’s so tidy in there that the layout could have been designed by Rain Main.

Those speakers are promising, too. First, there are two of them. Second, each one is actually made up of two units. When I tried out the PlayBook at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, I couldn’t hear anything thanks to the trade-show acoustics, but stereo is certainly a step up from the iPad, and especially the iPad 2 which has a crappier sounding speaker than the original.

Otherwise, the PlayBook is much like any other tablet: A screen and a small board of chips, with the rest of the case filled up with batteries. To see the full (and neat and easy to repair) details, head over to iFixit.

BlackBerry PlayBook Teardown [iFixit. Thanks, Miroslav]

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BlackBerry PlayBook pried open, gyroscope and other goodies discovered

What’s in a PlayBook? No, literally, what is in that thing? Well, most of the specs were known ahead of today’s release, but there was a bit of confusion about whether RIM’s 7-inch tablet did or didn’t have a gyroscope, which has now been set straight (it does!) by the crew at iFixit. They did their usual study of what it’ll take to repair your own PlayBook should the need ever arise, and gave it a repairability score of 7 out of 10. Replacing the front glass would be a bit of a pain to do, but then that’s the case with most portable devices. The motherboard also got a thorough examination, with all the power management, wireless connectivity, and memory chips getting identified and recorded for posterity. If you want to check iFixit‘s work, feel free to visit UBM Tech Insights as well, who have their own component list and closeup photography of that dual-core TI OMAP4430 system-on-chip. Yes, closeup photography.

BlackBerry PlayBook pried open, gyroscope and other goodies discovered originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T Lacks PlayBook Bridge Support for BlackBerry Smartphone Users

RIM's PlayBook tablet has already taken much heat for launching without crucial features. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The only way to access e-mail, calendar and contact information on the BlackBerry PlayBook without using a browser is with an app called BlackBerry Bridge, which links Research in Motion’s tablet to BlackBerry smartphones.

Too bad that AT&T subscribers can’t use it yet.

BlackBerry users on AT&T’s network are out of luck when it comes to Bridge, as AT&T is currently the only carrier that does not support the app on BlackBerry smartphones. That means they’re stuck with either e-mail access via web browser on the PlayBook, or sticking to their phones for native e-mail access.

As one Crackberry.com user noted, the flagship BlackBerry smartphone on AT&T — the BlackBerry Torch — can’t even be bridged.

Initial speculation on AT&T’s lack of support suggested the company didn’t want BlackBerry users to take advantage of tethering the PlayBook to their phone’s data plan without paying for it, as Crackberry.com’s Adam Zeis wrote.

But AT&T provided Wired.com with a statement, quashing the speculation:

AT&T is working with RIM to make the BlackBerry Bridge app available for AT&T customers. We have just received the app for testing and before it’s made available to AT&T customers we want to ensure it delivers a quality experience.

When asked if AT&T would charge its BlackBerry smartphone customers for using Bridge as a data-tethering connection to the PlayBook, AT&T would not comment further, restating that it “just received the app for testing.”

RIM has already taken flak for rushing the PlayBook to market without crucial features.

There is, however, an unofficial workaround for AT&T subscribers. Apparently, AT&T is only blocking the download of the app itself from App World, and not the actual bridging process between devices, as Crackberry.com points out.

RIM’s PlayBook has been heavily criticized for its lack of native e-mail applications. The company has tried to downplay its significance in press interviews, as evidenced by CEO Jim Balsillie’s comments in a recent Wall Street Journal interview:

“A lot of people who want [the PlayBook] will pair it freely and securely off their BlackBerries [by tethering it via Bridge]. Because it’s a full web [environment], you don’t need a specific mail client for all your Webmail, and most people do you use Webmail.”

Though RIM is still hedging its bets for the crowd that wants that specific mail client: A “a standalone, nonweb, nonpaired e-mail client” will be made available to the PlayBook within the next 60 days, Balsillie told The Journal.

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BlackBerry Bridge not available for PlayBook users on AT&T, unofficial workaround available

We’re not sure why this was never mentioned before the BlackBerry Playbook launch, but it looks like AT&T customers opting for RIM’s new tablet won’t be able to take advantage of one key feature, at least officially. For reasons yet unknown, AT&T appears to be blocking folks from downloading BlackBerry Bridge to their BlackBerry smartphones, with the speculation being that it doesn’t like the free tethering the Playbook enables. As the folks at CrackBerry have discovered, however, AT&T is only blocking the Bridge app, not the actual Bridge process — which means you can still download the app though unofficial means and Bridge your AT&T BlackBerry to your Playbook. Here’s hoping AT&T figures out a workaround of its own sooner rather than later.

Update: We just heard back from AT&T, and it’s looking like you’ll need to have a bit of patience here as the kinks are worked out. Here’s the direct quote from a company spokesperson:

AT&T is working with RIM to make the BlackBerry Bridge app available for AT&T customers. We have just received the app for testing and before it’s made available to AT&T customers we want to ensure it delivers a quality experience for our customers.

BlackBerry Bridge not available for PlayBook users on AT&T, unofficial workaround available originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry PlayBook now on sale in the US and Canada, starting at $500 with 16GB of storage

Today is the day in BlackBerry land. The wait for a dual-core device with an up-to-date operating system and that stylized BB logo is now over, and a vast array of stores in the US and Canada are now ready to sell you your PlayBook. Whether you’ll actually want to buy one is less clear-cut, however, as basic productivity apps like native email and calendar aren’t yet available, Android app compatibility hasn’t yet been rolled out, and the PlayBook has an unfavorable dependency on having a BlackBerry smartphone nearby in order to be the best tablet it can be. Still, if you believe in RIM’s ability to overcome those early software hurdles, the PlayBook’s ready for ownership in exchange for $500 for the 16GB model, $600 for the 32GB version, or $700 for the 64GB-equipped top option (prices are the same in both US and Canadian dollars).

BlackBerry PlayBook now on sale in the US and Canada, starting at $500 with 16GB of storage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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