Hasta La Gadget!

KeyCase iPad Folio packs a Bluetooth keyboard, scores FCC approval originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, so this isn’t quite like seeing Duke Nukem Forever popping up on Walmart shelves, but the Cowon X7 has been a long time in the making. Rumored since 2007, the Korean company’s portable media player has now finally sauntered up to America’s Communications Commission to dot some Is and cross some Ts. We’re let into the knowledge that it’ll come with a Bluetooth radio and a HDD of some kind, which GenerationMP3 speculates will be a 1.8-inch unit. Really now, a spinny thing in our PMP feels better suited to good old ’07, but then if Cowon can combine some capacious storage with a large screen, it could still have a winner on its hands. Particularly if the rumblings of Android as the OS turn out to be true.

Cowon X7 materializes from the ether into a real life FCC applicant originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apparently the folks at EFO decided to defy conventional wisdom when designing their external board. Instead of a standard-size keyboard, the iPazzPort Mini Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard is the size of a credit card.

Intended for the iPad, iPhone, other smartphones and mobile devices, the iPazzPort keyboard is a full QWERTY keyboard, with all the function keys, CTRL, ALT, DEL and multimedia keys (play, pause, next, previous, mute, and volume up and down). Resembling a BlackBerry keyboard (without the trackball), the keys are angled upward, toward the sides. The keyboard has a backlight for typing in dim lighting.

Since it’s both Bluetooth and wireless, you can use the keyboard without any unsightly cables snaking from your mobile device.

For smartphones with an on-screen keyboard and the iPad, this portable keyboard could make texting and taking notes less cumbersome. On the other hand, for mobile devices and smartphones that already have their own keyboards (like the BlackBerry and a number of HTC models), I am not sure where the value is. It can serve as a wireless remote control for those devices, but I wonder how many people are going around wishing, “Man, I wish I had a remote for my phone!”

It’s normally priced at $40, but EFO is currently offering an $8 discount (for a bargain of $32) for anyone who pre-orders the mini keyboard. Shipping is expected in early September.

Nokia has just revealed its X3-02 handset, which does the unthinkable and marries a relatively standard 16-button keypad with a 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen. Now, we might have our reservations about Nokia’s S40 OS being able to translate to a touch-friendly UI, but the beauty of this phone is that touch comes as essentially a free extra rather than the fundamental navigation paradigm. It’s augmented with 3G, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, and the whole thing is wrapped within a 9.6mm-thin brushed aluminum shell. All that, and the X3-02 will only cost €125 (before sales taxes and subsidies, as usual) when it launches later this quarter. See it on video after the break.

Update: Nokia has informed us the X3-02 uses a resistive touchscreen, no real surprise given its price.

Continue reading Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type puts a touchscreen on your Series 40 featurephone

Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type puts a touchscreen on your Series 40 featurephone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T came right out and confessed that it would be “the premiere carrier” for Windows Phone 7, and while it’s obviously far too early to say if that’ll be the case, this ain’t a bad way to start proving one’s point. Samsung’s Cetus (SGH-i917) was just recently confirmed to be one of the first commercial Windows Phone 7 devices last week, and now the always-disclosing FCC database has shed even more light on the phone’s intentions. Based on the mention of 850 / 1,900MHz frequency support — and that whole “SGH-i917 (ATT)” marking on the label — it’s pretty safe to assume that this 4-inch, AMOLED-packin’ superphone will soon be fighting with the iPhone 4 for shelf space. There’s obviously no indication of when Ma Bell plans on releasing this one to the wilds, but it’s typically not too far out after hitting this milestone. Giddy yet?

Samsung’s Cetus SGH-i917 sashays into FCC database, winks seductively at AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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