Zii Trinity mobile platform packs 1080p punch, looking for OEM love

Ready to start lusting after a new smartphone? If Creative has its way, you’ll soon be enjoying Full HD video on a 3.5 / 4G device, with built-in WiFi, 5 megapixel autofocus camera, accelerated 3D graphics, and mini-HDMI and Composite video outputs. The newly announced 3.1-inch, multitouch-capable Zii Trinity has been designed by Creative subsidiary Ziilabs, and will be licensed out to clients who’ll be able to customize a Zii-optimized Android install and Plaszma interface. As if we haven’t got enough smartphone ecosystems knocking about already, this also marks the introduction of ZiiLife, which aims to be both a content delivery and productivity suite. Powered by the ARM-based ZMS-05 or ZMS-08, the new handset actually seems destined to perform plenty of KIRF and grey market duties, judging by Creative’s “strategic partnerships” with Chinese manufacturers, but that might be no bad thing as, according to Gartner, the grey market is booming right now.

Zii Trinity mobile platform packs 1080p punch, looking for OEM love originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePRWeb (Trinity), PRWeb (ZiiLife), PRWeb (China)  | Email this | Comments

The CrunchPad disappears in a puff of vapor

Michael Arrington’s CrunchPad has never had a particularly firm basis in reality, and although we’d been promised that the inexpensive browser-based tablet would be launching soon, the sky’s come crashing down: Mike says Fusion Garage, the company he hired to build the CrunchPad, has reneged on their deal, and that he’s about to file “multiple lawsuits.” What happened? Well, it’s not exactly clear: according to Mike, the CrunchPad was ready to be launched on November 20, but on November 17 Fusion Garage decided to cut TechCrunch out of the deal and sell it directly. Oh, it’s a sad tale, especially since Arrington claims a wide variety of industry heavyweights were lined up to support his tablet — including development assistance from Intel complete with sweetheart pricing on Atom CPUs, a “major multi-billion dollar retailer” who offered to sell it at “zero margin,” and even venture capital firms “waiting to invest in the company.” Making matters worse, Mike’s no longer buds with Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan, who he thought he’d be friends with “for the rest of our lives.” Tear. Now, we’re not sure we’ve heard the last of the CrunchPad — if anything, Michael Arrington is irrepressible — but we can’t say we’re surprised the first chapter has ended in such fantastic fashion. We’re assuming several major Hollywood studios are already lining up to buy the rights, and we’ve heard unconfirmed reports that George Clooney has signed on to star for free because he believes in the project so deeply.

The CrunchPad disappears in a puff of vapor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG bows its GW880 OPhone for China Mobile, we start packing our things

We don’t know what exactly China Mobile is putting in its manufacturer partners’ tea during contract negotiations, but considering how rapidly China’s largest carrier has grown its OPhone line into the most desirable single-network lineup of Android handsets in the world, we’d strongly recommend they continue to do it. Rumors of an LG entry back in August have now come to fruition in the form of the GW880, a full touch handset launching this month featuring a solid 3.5-inch WVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, and support for a pair of pretty important homegrown standards — TD-SCDMA for 3G and CMMB for mobile TV tuning. For comparison, LG’s only other announced Android phone — the GW620 Eve for global distribution — steps down to a HVGA display, so yeah, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a Mandarin lesson in a couple minutes.

LG bows its GW880 OPhone for China Mobile, we start packing our things originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  sourceLG  | Email this | Comments

Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer

Folks, today might be the day when you start to notice how ancient our smartphones have become, even if they only came out in last few months. Blame Else (formerly Emblaze Mobile) for its confusingly-named First Else, a phone “built from scratch” over the last two years and now powered by Access Linux Platform (ALP) 3.0 — a mobile OS thought to have quietly died out since our last sighting in February. Until today’s London launch event, the last we heard of this Israeli company was from October’s Access Day in Japan where it previewed the Else Intuition OS, which we like to think of as inspired by Minority Report. While it’s still too early to tell whether the First Else — launching in Q2 next year — will dodge the path of doom, we were already overwhelmed by the excellence of the device’s user experience, both from its presentation and from our exclusive hands-on opportunity. Do read on to find out how Else is doing it right.

Continue reading Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer

Emblaze’s First Else unveiled in London, promises to be a game-changer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP’s Obsidian becomes iPAQ Glisten, officially comes to AT&T

Wow, talk about digging deep in the memory bank. The same phone that we spotted way back in July (known then as the iPAQ K3 Obsidian) has finally emerged in official fashion on AT&T. Dubbed the iPAQ Glisten, this all-business smartphone boasts a vanilla coat of Windows Mobile 6.5, a 2.5-inch AMOLED display, 3.1 megapixel camera, 256MB of SDRAM, a microSD expansion slot, A-GPS, 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a QWERTY keyboard, 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. ‘Course, you’ll still be dealing with a resistive screen and a dated OS, but if you’re turned on in some weird way, it’ll be “available in the coming weeks” for $179.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and 2-year agreement.

HP’s Obsidian becomes iPAQ Glisten, officially comes to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Maps Navigation officially comes to Android 1.6

You might’ve thought that Google was positioning its industry-changing Google Maps Navigation as a value proposition for Android 2.0 and beyond, but yeah, not so much — instead, they’ve gone ahead and backported it to 1.6 (alias “Donut”) which means that T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G and G1 plus other 1.6-equipped devices across the land can get in on the action. In the case of the memory-starved G1, that’s especially surprising, and a heartening sign that the world’s first retail Android device still has some fight left in it. It’s available from the Android Market now, so go ahead — try to get yourself lost. We dare you.

Google Maps Navigation officially comes to Android 1.6 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceOfficial Google Mobile Blog  | Email this | Comments

Apple hits back at Verizon in new iPhone ads (video)

Now look, we’re not saying we know for sure that Apple thinks Verizon’s latest round of merciless attack ads on its device and US carrier are worth responding to, but these latest iPhone spots would certainly suggest it. A new campaign launching tonight focuses on the iPhone’s ability to carry voice and data simultaneously on AT&T’s network, and each of the two new TV spots ends with the line “Can your phone and your network do that?” From where we’re sitting, it looks like between this new round and AT&T’s Luke Wilson-manned comparison spots, both the phonemaker and carrier are fully stepping into the ring. Way to get their attention, guys. See the full clips after the break.

Continue reading Apple hits back at Verizon in new iPhone ads (video)

Apple hits back at Verizon in new iPhone ads (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBusinessWeek  | Email this | Comments

Verizon announces Samsung Omnia II: December 2 for $200

As expected, Verizon has chosen December 2 as the Samsung Omnia II’s date with destiny, bringing an interesting full-touch WinMo alternative to the HTC Imagio that launched back in October alongside Windows Mobile 6.5. Speaking of 6.5, there were some early concerns that Verizon’s version of the Omnia II would launch on stale 6.1 code, but fear not — it’s now confirmed that you’ll be looking at Microsoft’s latest and greatest stuff when you gaze upon that 3.7-inch AMOLED WVGA display. It’s also got a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, WiFi, and 8GB of internal storage along with microSD expansion — good news for anyone who plans on making much use of that cam, especially in video mode. Verizon’s site and retail locations both take delivery of the device on the same 12/2 date, pushing it for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Considering the pricing, we’ve gotta ask: Droid or Omnia II?

Verizon announces Samsung Omnia II: December 2 for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble’s Nook now sold out for the holidays

Hoping to put your hands on a Nook this holiday season? Here’s hoping you got in the door early, because bookseller Barnes & Noble claims that the Kindle-competitor has sold out for anyone hoping to gift the thing this year. According to the New York Times, B&N says pre-orders on the device have exceeded its expectations, and the well has now run dry on forthcoming stock. To make up for the loss, the seller is offering placeholder certificates for buyers, with a promise that the next round of devices will be shipping out around January 4th. Are suburban moms to blame? Only B&N knows for sure.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook now sold out for the holidays originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNew York Times  | Email this | Comments

AT&T loses request for injunction against Verizon’s Map for That ads

Looks like AT&T’s not getting its holiday wish after all — a federal judge just ruled against Ma Bell’s request to have Verizon’s Map For That ads pulled off the air. That doesn’t mean that this whole thing is over, though: the judge called the ads “sneaky” and said that it was possible people might misunderstand them because “most people who are watching TV are semi-catatonic.” Whether or not that’s enough to support a legal conclusion that the ads are misleading is a fight for another day — specifically December 16th, when AT&T will have a second chance to argue its case. Still, this is a big win for Verizon — everyone ready to be inundated with these ads for the next month?

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AT&T loses request for injunction against Verizon’s Map for That ads originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAtlanta Journal-Constitution  | Email this | Comments