Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t get us wrong, enabling the Ovi Store was a pretty sweet add-on in the last update — but the second N900 push in just a single week features a list of fixes and changes that should put smiles on a few owners’ faces, too (and a few devs’ faces, for that matter, while they wait for this payment bug to get patched up). This time around we’ve got full support for Swiss keyboard layouts, better compatibility with 3-branded SIM cards, support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 in the handset’s Mail for Exchange service, and a handful of performance and usability tweaks for Ovi Maps. It’ll be available both over-the-air and via PC download in a phased global rollout over the next day, so keep checking; no need to get all crazy about it if you’ve already installed the first update, though — you’ll be automatically alerted when this one’s ready for you.

Nokia N900 gets its second firmware update this week originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey humans! So Hastings was telling us the truth after all — the Nintendo Wii will be joining the other two game consoles to stream Netflix starting some time in early Spring. Like the PS3, a special Netflix “instant-streaming” disc will be required for the Wii, and it goes without saying that HD’s out of the question since the Wii itself can’t push above 480p. There’ll be no additional fees beyond Netflix’s usual monthly subscription. Time for a game of Mario Kart to celebrate, no?

Update: the Netflix sign-up page is now live! [Via Joystiq]

Wii gets Netflix this Spring, disc required for streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, we hate to start off a fresh week with more talk of the Apple tablet, but this isn’t just another rumor. Stéphane Richard, second in command at Orange, was asked on a Europe 1 radio program about the Apple Tablet. When he was asked whether such a tablet will be announced before the end of the month, he responded “Yes,” and when asked whether Orange users would get it, he responded “Sure!” This is of course not a formal confirmation by any means, but he doesn’t sound like he’s talking in theoreticals, either. You can listen to it yourself at the read link below and let us know what you think below.

Update: We now have the video below courtesy of SlashGear, who aren’t quite so convinced that he’s referring to the tablet itself, possibly just confirming that others are reporting the tablet will be released next week. Any native speakers care to help us wade through the intricacies of this, the language of love?

Update 2: We’ve got a full translation after the break of the entire relevant bits, courtesy of bilingual reader Sean Mangar.

Update fin: Orange has issued a statement predictably saying these comments are being taken out of context, that Richard was “merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch.” So, the fun is over folks — or is it?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Orange exec confirms existence of Apple Tablet?

Orange exec confirms existence of Apple Tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You have to have a pretty special product to get two Engadget posts discussing your wares during the maelstrom of CES, but this Adam thing just won’t leave us alone with its Pixel Qi display, Tegra 2 innards and bona fide potential to blow the bloody doors off the homogeneous tablet market. We’ve gone back and grabbed video of the device in direct sunlight and it just kept on impressing us. The screen resolutely refused to be overpowered by the light, whether its backlight was on or off, but that was merely the tip of the iceberg as far as the happy impressions. Come past the break to find out more about buttery smooth 1080p playback (with a handy HDMI out), Notion Ink’s plans for modifying the Android OS, and more on the likely pricing of the device which is set to land in quarter two of 2010. Oh, and yea — we totally ripped it open and photographed the insides. Check that out below.

Continue reading Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on

Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d heard some rumblings, but apparently Robbie Bach let the cat out of the bag at an analyst briefing this week, stating that we should expect a showing of Windows Mobile 7 at the Mobile World Congress show in Spain, which begins on February 15th. He also added that the OS (which he’s played with, surprisingly) will “set the bar forward not in (just) an evolutionary way,” and that Microsoft is going to be “more engaged” with OEMs in its “go to market approach.” We love a good buzzword or three, but the hope here is that Microsoft has learned its lesson from iPhone and Android and is ready to compete in the next-gen smartphone game in a big way — a WinMo 7 showing just four months after the release of Windows Mobile 6.5 certainly smacks of that.

[Thanks, Matthias]

Windows Mobile 7 coming to MWC in February, not just ‘evolutionary’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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