Entelligence: Got game?

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

There was a lot of buzz last week when Apple announced that there now more than 100,000 applications in iPhone App Store, and more than two billion apps downloaded. Those are impressive numbers. A former Palm executive recently told me that in the heyday of Palm OS, two thirds of users never installed a third party app and the average “power user” installed around ten. That averages out to about two apps per device — a pretty low number compared to most iPhone users, even novice users.

But that’s only part of the story. A few months ago, I discussed the viability of multiple mobile OS platforms and how it’s not likely that they all will survive long term, and one big reason Apple’s platform looks better and better is entertainment apps. Looking at my own device, once you get past the three core apps I use all the time (Mail, Tweetie, and Byline, a Google Reader app), the bulk of my hundred plus apps are all entertainment related — and most of them aren’t available on any other platform.

When you look at the out-of-the-box experience of most smartphones today, they’re all pretty good when it comes to basics. Email, web browsing, personal information management, and voice are all acceptable. What’s missing are the applications and experience that make up mobile entertainment. Media and content consumption are one core pillar. Games are another.

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Entelligence: Got game? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change Garmin-Asus’ nuvifone G60?

The nüvifone G60 took nearly two years to go from introduction to on sale at AT&T, and just weeks after its introduction, it has been nearly completely forgotten. Smartphones like Motorola’s Droid and HTC’s Droid Eris have already snagged the spotlight, and of course, that $300 (on contract) price tag that it debuted with didn’t help attract any eyes, either. That said, we’re sure at least a few (couple?) of you bit the bullet post-price drop, and now we’re overly anxious to hear how you feel about it. After two years, does this thing really live up to the expectations? Are you satisfied with the navigation capabilities? Is the lackluster battery life worrying you yet? Should Garmin-Asus even bother with a second-gen device? Sound off in comments below!

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How would you change Garmin-Asus’ nuvifone G60? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP dm3t review

We’re really into the new influx of inexpensive CULV-based laptops that’s arrived with Windows 7, and just like the ASUS UL80Vt, we knew we had to check out the starts-at-$599 HP dm3t the second we saw the first leak. In many ways, it’s the perfect throw-it-in-a-bag-and-go portable on paper, with a sleek and rigid case design, a 1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo processor, and a 13.3-inch screen, but there’s a big difference between loving a machine’s spec sheets and reviews and loving it in real life, so we spent a couple days playing with a spec’d-up $819 model — read on for our impressions.

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HP dm3t review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show: Philippe Starck Q&A bonus round

If you’ve already watched our interview with Philippe Starck, you’ll want to catch this quick game of word association we play as well!

Host: Thomas Ricker
Directed by: Daniel Gallenkamp
Edited by: Chad Mumm and Michael Slavens
Music by: Bit Shifter
Titles by: Julien Nantiec

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The Engadget Show: Philippe Starck Q&A bonus round originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of designer Philippe Starck

If you care about design, then you know the name Philippe Starck. As an industrial designer, Starck has been responsible for some of the most groundbreaking — and divisive — products ever created. He’s been both vilified and deified, and while there are solid arguments for both stances, there is no denying that he is a force to be reckoned with. Fresh off of his design of LaCie’s new Mobile and Desktop drives, Engadget’s Senior Editor Thomas Ricker had a chance to sit down with the man himself in Paris and hear his thoughts on life, love, and good design. What we learn will shock you, amaze you, warm your heart… and convince you that Starck is a serious Apple fanboy. The full video is after the break. Don’t be a fool — watch it now!

Bonus round:
Catch a game of word association with Starck right here!

Host: Thomas Ricker
Directed by: Daniel Gallenkamp
Edited by: Chad Mumm and Michael Slavens
Music by: Bit Shifter
Titles by: Julien Nantiec

Subscribe to the Show:

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Philippe Starck interview
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The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of designer Philippe Starck originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Hey, AT&T — drop lawsuits, not calls

AppleInsider published a piece this week that does a good job rounding up the latest counterarguments we’ve been hearing against Verizon’s claims in its suddenly ultra-aggressive attacks on archrival AT&T’s network — attacks that have offended AT&T right into getting the legal team involved. Both sides are applying enough spin to make you dizzy at this point, so let’s break down the latest round of pot shots, shall we?

  • Verbiage on Verizon’s site suggests that swaths of its 3G network are still running at EV-DO Rev. 0 speed: false. In fact, 100 percent of Verizon’s 3G coverage has been Rev. A since 2007 — the wording refers to 1xRTT, which is the transport technology in use where EV-DO hasn’t been deployed.
  • You can’t distinguish between EV-DO and 1xRTT on Verizon’s coverage map: false. Turns out Verizon has one of the more comprehensive coverage browsers among top-tier carriers. The technologies aren’t called out by name, but they’re there — they list compatible features in different coverage zones, ostensibly to reduce customer confusion since your average Joe (not to be confused with our own Joe Flatley) doesn’t know or care what “1xRTT” means.
  • EDGE approaches the “low end” of EV-DO Rev. A: false. At the top end of the specification, EDGE can theoretically approach 500kbps in a cleanroom environment — but in reality, it runs at a fraction of that and suffers more severe latency issues in practice (which is sometimes a greater detriment to a mobile web browsing experience than raw speed) than UMTS and EV-DO. Heck, AT&T itself claims 75-135kbps. Meanwhile, we got 823kbps on the downlink in real-world modem use on Verizon’s Rev. A.
  • AT&T’s 3.6Mbps and 7.2Mbps deployments are significantly faster than EV-DO Rev. A: true, but only in theory. We’re getting downlink speeds ranging from the low 100s — yes, 100s — to the high 800s in Chicago and New York; Chicago’s got a trial 7.2Mbps network that’s live, but even if we’re not connected to it (hard to say), we should still be on 3.6. We seriously have no idea what AT&T’s doing behind the scenes with these rollouts, but in urban areas, at least, they’re not helping. At all. And that’s assuming we can help ourselves from dropping down to EDGE.
  • AT&T’s service is augmented by the nation’s largest WiFi network: we won’t even justify that with a rebuttal.
  • Verizon’s gaming the system by comparing only their 3G networks: the truth hurts, AT&T. Verizon’s commercials would have you believe that by comparing only 3G coverage, Verizon wins by a country mile. And guess what? They do. To AT&T’s credit, the 3GPP’s WCDMA technology path is considerably more advanced and extensible than EV-DO Rev. A is, but beyond UMTS’s simultaneous voice / data capability, the end user’s experience is pretty similar in day-to-day use. We go where the faster real-world speeds (and the reliable calls) are.
  • Verizon is “defending steep losses” with its anti-AT&T, anti-iPhone commercials: false. Verizon added 1.2 million net customers in the most recently reported quarter, excluding acquisitions.
  • LTE is “still years away from viable use” on Verizon: false. They’ll have 20-30 markets commercially live in 2010, which is 20-30 more than AT&T will have. It’s not nationwide coverage by a long shot, but it gives the carrier a notable lead in the 4G transition since AT&T has sparsely detailed its LTE plans and isn’t expected to go live with any markets until 2011 at the earliest.

To be fair, Verizon’s taking a questionable angle in its advertising by trying to associate 3G coverage with call reliability — in AT&T’s case, the two are totally, completely unrelated — but the fact remains that for a bunch of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco-based Engadget editors, Verizon bests AT&T in both categories, and we’re having a hard time arguing with personal experience.

So listen, AT&T, we’re sorry Verizon made you upset, but the solution’s actually pretty simple: compete. Fix your network, keep scoring hot exclusives, and get hungry again — because in a year or two, no one’s going to give a damn that you used to have an exclusive on the iPhone.

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Editorial: Hey, AT&T — drop lawsuits, not calls originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chumby One review

Let’s be honest: it’s really hard to dislike Chumby. In fact, you feel almost compelled to root for any company bold enough to put out a product as unapologetically wacky as the original Chumby, a device that somehow managed to marry a soft, cuddly vinyl sphere with WiFi and a touchscreen. It didn’t make a lot of sense, and as far as we can tell, the company didn’t really intend it to — they basically threw it out there and said, “hey, so we’ve got this… uh, thing… now let’s see what you can do with it.” It was an open platform, Chumby encouraged hackers to dig in and understand the guts, and over time, a small-but-vibrant community of users and developers emerged with several hundred widgets capable of doing everything from showing the time to cracking a few Chuck Norris jokes.

A quirky, overpriced alarm clock without broad market appeal can only take you so far, though — someone’s eventually got to pay the bills. Enter the $100 Chumby One, Chumby’s first attempt to grow up and produce an affordable device that loses a little bit of the Chumby Classic’s insanity while carefully staying true to the company’s roots. Will this be Chumby’s ticket out of the geek niche and into mainstream living rooms and offices?

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Chumby One review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: Best multitouch monitor?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Matthew, who just can’t wait to let his fingers do the talking within Windows 7.

“With all the new multitouch capable monitors coming out, which one is the best? With the release of Windows 7 I really want a touchscreen monitor for my desktop. I’m looking to get a Full HD monitor that supports multitouch and can still look great during gaming and movies. Which one has the best specs for the price?”

We know this sector is still in the early stages, but we’re guessing there are a few options out there and on the horizon for those looking to take advantage of one of Win7’s most enticing features. Any tips here, wise ones?

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Ask Engadget: Best multitouch monitor? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Behold II hits T-Mobile on November 18th, unboxed today (now with video!)

Dubbing itself the “multimedia powerhouse” for T-Mobile’s expansive Android lineup, the Samsung Behold II has just been confirmed for that rumored November 18th launch on T-Mobile (still no word on price, though we’re hearing a predictable $200). The slate-style touchscreen handset has a 3.2-inch AMOLED display, and puts it to good use with a hearty skinning job on the part of Samsung, porting in most (but not all) of its TouchWiz UI — unfortunately for us, that silly cube menu made the cut. Underneath is Android 1.5, and what seems to be a pretty standard processor.

Hardware-wise there’s really nothing to complain about on this phone. It’s heavy, relatively thin (not iPhone-thin, but just fine), with solid materials and wonderfully tactile face buttons. The screen is everything you’d expect out of an AMOLED display, though high-resolution phones like the Droid dampen that enthusiasm somewhat. One wonderful Samsung addition to the traditional Android experience is a “real” camera button on the side, which can even register half-presses for focus. For someone who doesn’t want a physical keyboard, but doesn’t want their handset to feel like a toy (sorry, myTouch) there’s plenty to love. However, we’re more concerned about the software side of things. We’re not morally opposed to Samsung adding in TouchWiz, but we are afraid of anything that has the potential to slow down the OS, and on first glance we’d say it’s notably less responsive than stock Android. We’ll of course be going further in-depth to see just how usable this iteration is, but let us just put this out on the table: a virtual 3D cube to launch media apps is no way “intuitive,” “helpful” or “cool.” OK, maybe it’s kind of cool, but seriously Samsung, stop it. Check out our unboxing below.

Update: We added some video after the break. Behold the cube!

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Samsung Behold II hits T-Mobile on November 18th, unboxed today (now with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Storm2 hands-on and impressions

For a company with the most starched, buttoned-up roots of any major wireless manufacturer, RIM’s venture out of its enterprise comfort zone to the consumer space went amazingly smoothly thanks to the introduction of the original Pearl, a phone that’s still sold in a variety of colors, configurations, and carriers to this day. At some point, though, it became clear that the industry was moving toward touch — a space RIM had never dabbled in — and the trend gave birth to the Storm, a product that had obviously been rushed to market with countless software bugs and a dodgy SurePress concept that caused more problems than it solved. With prototypes floating around in the wild mere months after its predecessor’s release, RIM’s message was loud and clear earlier this year: “we need to fix the Storm, and we need to do it quickly.” Ultimately, it’s ended up taking the company just about a year to get the Storm2 to market, a product that attempts to tweak Waterloo’s touchscreen strategy just enough to undo a few mistakes and send it down the right path. Mission accomplished? Read on.

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BlackBerry Storm2 hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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