Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been keeping a close eye on Sprint’s Google Voice integration since its troubled release last month, and Sprint has confirmed that many more of you are now able to activate the feature. Previously, individual customers with discounted accounts were being grouped with corporate and government enterprise customers, but it appears that the issue has been resolved (though corporate and government accounts are still unable to activate). However, Sprint confirmed that readers in Puerto Rico remain unable to activate regardless of their account status, and was unable to provide as estimate as to when integration will be available there. That said, Google has been incredibly proactive in getting these issues resolved from day one, despite clearly having their hands full this week. It looks like Google and Sprint have managed to work out some of the major kinks, but let us know in the comments if you’re running into any other problems.

Sprint / Google Voice integration now available for discounted accounts, still AWOL in sunny Puerto Rico originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As the resident Engadget home automation nerd, Google’s Android@Home announcement rocked my little low-powered RF world yesterday. Seeing a brand like Google get behind home automation is the stuff I’ve been dreaming about ever since Nokia dipped a toe into the tepid Z-Wave waters back in 2008. Unfortunately, Nokia abandoned its Home Control Center ambitions shortly thereafter, leaving the industry in the hands of such consumer powerhouses as Zensys, Sigma Designs, ExpressControls, AMX Corp, Control 4, Echelon, and Jung. Heard of them? No, no you haven’t, and that’s my point.

Home automation has long suffered from the lack of a consumer-centric approach. Consumer electronics companies have almost universally come around to the new mantra of user experience. Most companies have finally awoken from their deep eighties slumber to realize that a single product can no longer dominate an industry on its own — the age of the Walkman is over. For success, a product must encompass great software, great services, hardware that just works, and stellar support when it doesn’t. In short, the user experience is what sets the product apart. Home automators have yet to realize this but Google’s announcement could force the issue.

Continue reading Editorial: Android@Home is the best worst thing that could happen to home automation

Editorial: Android@Home is the best worst thing that could happen to home automation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 08:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPad’s music player hasn’t changed much since its debut, and unlike its desktop counterpart, it also lacks a built-in music visualizer for your mesmerization. Luckily, for the folks who are seeking ways to spice up their iPad music experience, you now have a new option: Planetary, by Bloom Studio. As you can tell by the name and the screenshot above, what we have here is a visually compelling app for exploring your tablet’s music library. It’s very straightforward: each artist or band is shown as a star, surrounded by albums in the form of orbiting planets, and then you have individual tracks displayed as moons orbiting each album.

During playback, each track leaves behind a trail on its orbit to indicate its play time, though you can hide the orbit lines (and labels) if you them too distracting. To choose other albums or artists, the good old pinch-to-zoom or the simple tapping on other 3D objects will move you between the moons and constellations, or you can just tap on the bottom-center button to jump straight to the letter selector for artists. Obviously, the former’s more fun within the first few hours, but after awhile we found ourselves preferring the quicker option to skip the mellow animation. Head past the break for our full impression and demo video.

Continue reading App review: Planetary for iPad

App review: Planetary for iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 May 2011 15:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re still shaking our heads and sighing longingly at the performance of Samsung’s Galaxy S II, a phone that wowed us in Europe but likely won’t be coming to American shores for some time — and who knows what it’ll look like when it does. But don’t get too down, dear reader, because here comes another slice of Samsung and this slab has that same 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display tucked in there. It’s a little less slim, a little less classy, and a little less quick than Sammy’s latest world-conquering wunderphone, but the LTE-equipped Charge is a proper contender in its own right. Read on to see why.

Continue reading Droid Charge review

Droid Charge review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on October 16, 2007 by CyberNet.

Apple has finally decided to inform the public about the official release date of the acclaimed Leopard operating system, and it’s in just 10 days (on October 26th). Lines will surely form outside of the Apple stores, but I would imagine that there will be more than enough copies available.

What’s new in Leopard? Apple has detailed over 300 new features that will be shipping in the latest version of their operating system. I went through the entire list and grabbed the things that I thought were the most notable:

• Boot Camp – run Windows on your Mac, and copy files between the two operating systems
• Desktop – semitransparent menu bar, reflective Dock, organize files into “stacks,” and more
• Finder – use the sidebar to group items into categories, flip through your files with Cover Flow, icons contain previews of files, and more
• iChat – use Photo Booth to add effects to your video chats, tabbed chatting, file transfer manager, and more
• Mail – includes stationary templates, to-do list manager, improved search, photo browser, RSS integration, notes, and more
• Parental controls – simple account setup, time limits and bedtimes, web filters, remote control, and more
• Quick Look – preview files without launching an application
• Safari – enhanced find, full history search, resizable text fields, and more
• Spaces – these are like virtual desktops, and you can drag and drop applications from one space to another using the Bird’s-Eye View
• Time Machine – backs up all of your files in case you need to retrieve something that has been removed

Starting October 26th you’ll be able to pick up your copy of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard at an Apple retail store for only $129! That’s quite a steal, but the even better deal is the $199 household license that covers up to five computers. If you bought a new computer after October 1st, 2007 you qualify for the free upgrade. You will, however, have to pay a $10 shipping fee to get it.

Engadget also mentioned that the Boot Camp Beta will not expire until the end of 2007 for Tiger users, and until then you’ll be able to add/edit your Windows partitions. After that time you’ll still be able to run Windows, but you won’t be able to manage the partitions without making the upgrade to Leopard.

Lifehacker has also started a poll wondering what feature is making you lust over the upcoming operating system.

Thanks for the tip CoryC!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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