Hasta La Gadget!

The Kindle 2 is here folks — it should look pretty familiar at this point! Feast your eyes on the photos. We’re building out with more photos and video, so stay tuned. We played for the unit for the briefest of moments, but it really does feel great in hand. The brushed metal back is great, the device is incredibly light and comfortable to hold, and the keyboard is fairly usable. We’re not convinced the five-way joystick is the best they possible could’ve worked into this space — a d-pad seems much more logical — but it’s responsive and comfortable enough to twiddle with for what it is. Here’s some thoughts:

• The five-way rocker is definitely a step up in terms of navigation — it makes getting around pages way easier by allowing you to skip through individual words, and you can actually navigate simple web pages the way you’re used to.
• The new dictionary pop up (it brings up your definition on the bottom of the screen as you’re scrolling through text) is a huge win. It was a pain before, but looking up words is now super easy. Unfortunately — according to Ross Rubin — footnotes are still handled in the slow, laborious way they’ve always been.
• Text-to-speech is a nice touch, but it’s still hard to get over that computer voice. We can see using this to hear a recipe or short news article, but we’re not convinced it’ll be enjoyable for a full novel.
• Screen refresh is way, way faster than the old model (they say 20 percent). The difference is welcome and noticeable. Moving through documents and back and forth between pages is a snap now. If you’ve been frustrated with the slowness before, this will be a big relief.
• The size difference is pretty remarkable. If you loved the crazy old design, you’ll be disappointed, but the tradeoff in thickness is probably worth it. Furthermore, the new button placement is a big improvement, one which will likely make those accidental page turns a thing of the past.

Update: There’s video after the break, and we’ve added more shots to the in-depth gallery, including some mega hot head-to-head with the original Kindle.

Update 2: We added another longer video after the break with a quick jaunt through the unit’s interface and a bit of text-to-speech action.

Continue reading Kindle 2 first hands-on! (updated with video and impressions)

Filed under: Handhelds

Kindle 2 first hands-on! (updated with video and impressions) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The TouchSmart tx2z isn’t the first multitouch laptop out, but HP’s pretty adamant that it’s the first multitouch “consumer” convertible tablet. Semantics aside, we’re interested in finding out just how impressed you early adopters are with what the company has crafted. Are the multitouch capabilities as awesome as you had hoped? If not, what areas could be improved? Would you still recommend it to prospective buyers looking to give their digits a bit more work? We get the feeling we’ll see loads of multitouch laptops gracing our presence over the next few months / years, so make sure you really unload on this one. It’s what makes progress possible, people.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

How would you change HP’s TouchSmart tx2z? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We decided to take the most recent ‘Berrys — the Curve 8900, Bold, and Storm — and toss them into a big pile. What would happen? Do they get along? What kind of bruised egos would we see? Read on for our innermost thoughts.

Continue reading BlackBerry Blowout: Storm vs. Bold vs. Curve 8900

Filed under: Cellphones

BlackBerry Blowout: Storm vs. Bold vs. Curve 8900 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The folks at Timex were kind enough to send us a pre-production version of their Expedition WS4 watch, and we can tell you right now — some serious adventuring is about to begin. We haven’t had a chance to do all the rock climbing, mountain biking, and sumo wrestling we plan on using this watch for, but we already feel stronger, smarter, more aware of the outside temperature, and way better looking. After we take on a crew of zombie Nazis, ride in a barrel over Niagara Falls, and spend 24 hours encased in ice, we’ll let you know how it holds up. Until then, enjoy the pics.

Filed under: Wearables

Timex Expedition WS4 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, we were going to write about how NEC is cutting 20,000 jobs, and Hitachi’s plan to possibly slash 7,000 workers — but this stuff is getting kind of depressing. After a meeting of the minds between our crack team of editors, we’ve decided there’s a better way to handle this recession: giveaways. Starting today, we’re going to be giving away one item a day for as long as we can (until we run out / the companies stop giving us stuff). That means that at least for the foreseeable future, you can expect a teensy sliver of economic relief in these trying times. We’re going to start out with some games — Skate 2 and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the Xbox 360. Check the rules below, and get to winning!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share a tale of heart wrenching economic strife, that’s good too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive two Xbox 360 games. Approximate value is $120.
• Entries can be submitted until Monday, February 2nd, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget’s recession antidote: daily giveaways! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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