Hasta La Gadget!

Who says down necessarily means out? Despite our qualms with the JooJoo tablet, it looks as if the startup is pushing forward with plans to expand availability beyond US borders, as the Fusion Garage order page now clearly states that orders are being accepted from those with addresses in Europe and the Great White North. There’s no exact ship date listed for either of those nations (we’re guessing it’ll depart within 24 to 48 business hours), but pricing is pegged at $499 CAD with free shipping for our northerly neighbors, while those in Europe are being asked to pay €359 ($473) plus €13 ($17) in shipping fees. As to those user experience shortcomings, Chandra Rathakrishnan promises us a “robust software update” in short order that will apparently eliminate many of the widely reported problems with the device. You’ll be justified in retaining your reservations, but some hope is better than none, we suppose.

JooJoo now available in Europe and Canada, new firmware promised ‘shortly’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Playing some Sudoku and reading Engadget on our Nook? Yeah, we are! Obviously, after hearing about the Nook 1.3 firmware update this morning, us bookworms nabbed the latest software to check out the added features. The over-the-air update took about a total of ten minutes from start to finish, and when the e-reader had restarted the new Games, Wi-Fi, Audio, and Web shortcuts were more than obvious on the main menu. The browsing experience, which is clearly marked beta, is very similar to that on the Spring Design Alex — you input the address on the touchscreen and an expanded view of whatever site you’re visiting appears on the E-Ink display. You can use the LCD to navigate the page, though the physical page turn buttons work as well, which is actually a nice trick. It isn’t the fastest browsing experience, but it’ll definitely be useful for quickly reading some news or checking the weather when you are near a WiFi network – we got a page not found message over 3G.

As for the Sudoku and chess games, it’s all pretty standard — the boards appear on the E-Ink screen and you use the touchscreen to input numbers or move pieces. We weren’t near a Barnes & Noble to check out the borrow-a-book feature, but the navigation seems to have gotten even snappier since the 1.2 update, and the lower screen is refreshing noticeably faster. Our early verdict? Those Best Buy shoppers are getting a heck of a much better Nook than we did a few months ago.

Barnes & Noble Nook gaming and web browsing impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hero owners, look away now. Google’s Froyo appears to be almost ready to exit the freezer and enter handsets on an official basis. Since April 7, Android and Me have noticed visits from devices identifying themselves as having Android version 2.2 on board, while German site MobiFlip.de has come across pictures of a T-Mobile myTouch 3G (aka HTC Magic) that is supposedly running the latest software. The images are certainly easy to spoof (including a wonky looking .2), but their timing and our eternal optimism invite some attention. They indicate a new option for automatically pulling down app updates from the ether, which would be kinda neat, while Android and Me have also compiled a list of other rumored new features for Android 2.2 and confirmed with “sources familiar with the matter” that the new OS is indeed being tested right now. Their tip is to gaze expectantly toward the Google I/O conference starting on May 19 when we’re sure to learn at least a little bit more. Considering Android 2.0 got a full features demo at that meetup last year, chances are good that Froyo will be on show in just under a month’s time.

Android 2.2 spotted in analytics data, running on Magic? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plenty of UK Hero owners were disappointed this morning upon hearing the news that free Google Maps Navigation had spread beyond the borders of the USA but required Android 1.6 as the minimum OS version. Stuck in their Android 1.5 world, they must have hoped that HTC would just hurry up and open the gates to Eclair heaven, but hurrying up is, regrettably, the opposite of what’s happening. Tech Radar heard from a Google rep that the Hero’s move to Android 2.1 won’t be happening until June, and followed it up with HTC directly. The official response was that a free update for European Hero variants will indeed be provided “starting in June.” At least this cloud of disappointment will only hang over Europe, as other territories — like Taiwan — might still get the update reasonably soon.

[Thanks, Paul]

HTC Hero won’t see upgrade to Android 2.1 until June, at least in Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate’s FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player has quite a few competitors surrounding it, and for the most part, it didn’t really offer a huge competitive advantage when we peeked it back in September. ‘Course, that’s before support for Netflix‘s Watch Instantly came along, and today, the tables seem to have turned. The aforesaid storage outfit has announced that a gratis firmware update will enable this here player to stream Netflix as well as content from YouTube, vTuner and Mediafly. For those just now willing to give this unit a second look, it also doubles as a UPnP / DLNA streamer to play content stored on networked PCs and drives, and it can procured for right around $100 sans a FreeAgent HDD. So, Roku — you just going to sit there and take this, or what?

Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player gains Netflix streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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