Hasta La Gadget!

How would you feel about a little Android 2.3.5 (!) action on that Nexus S 4G of yours? What about some WiMAX performance improvements? You should be getting all that plus WiFi connectivity and speakerphone quality tweaks, along with TTY support on Monday July 25th, which is when Sprint is expected to begin rolling out an OTA update for Samsung’s pure Gingerbread handset. We were given an exclusive first look at the new software, and while it’s still being finalized, we tested it side-by-side with the original, and our results show a welcome increase in 4G speeds across the board. As you may remember, we observed repeatable WiMAX performance issues with the old software, so this update is excellent news indeed. The amount of improvement will likely depend on your locale, but even in signal-challenged San Francisco and New York we noticed the difference right away — so kudos to Google, Samsung, and Sprint for addressing this. We also experienced performance in-line with our Epic 4G — the benchmark device used for our initial testing with the previous firmware version. Take a look at our gallery below, and peek at our hands-on video after the break.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Continue reading Sprint readies Nexus S 4G update with improved WiMAX performance, we go hands-on (video)

Sprint readies Nexus S 4G update with improved WiMAX performance, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you thought Lodsys was done making a spectacle of itself and dragging app developers to court, you were sorely mistaken. The king of the patent trolls has amended its original complaint against mobile devs, removing one company, but adding five new ones — all of them big names. Rovio, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Atari, and Take-Two Interactive have been added to the list of defendants in the suit filed back in May. Vietnamese company Wulven Games has been dropped from the complaint, but Lodsys has more than made up for it by directly targeting possibly the largest mobile title out there — Angry Birds. You can find the completely amended filing at the source link and, if you’re in the mood for a bit of a refresher, check out the more coverage link.

Lodsys adds Rovio, Atari, EA and others to patent suit, makes birds even angrier originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Labs isn’t the only thing winding down in Mountain View, it seems Google’s Firefox toolbar is also kaput. Citing exponential growth in the browser space, the outfit declared that the Google toolbar for Firefox is no longer necessary — modern browsers are just too darn capable. Support will continue for older versions of the browser, but Firefox 5 will have to stand on its own. Still, El Goog admits that dropping the toolbar kills more than a few features, and is offering a list of similarly featured add-ons to users via the defunct toolbar’s help page. Not enough? Head on over to the announcement’s comment page and join the peanut gallery, a few clever legumes seem to have uncovered a FF5 workaround. As for the rest of us, it’s not like we didn’t know Google had its own browser (and interests) to take care of, right?

Google says goodbye to browser toolbar, drops support for Firefox 5 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve seen this handsome screen on your Asus Transformer, it means you’ve finally managed to root it. Congratulations. And yet, it’s all so… anticlimactic. What was the point of it? In fact, what’s the point of anything? Hey, don’t go down that road. Install Netflix instead, courtesy of a new patch from XDA Developers at the source link below. Then watch Kung Fu Panda one more time and the sense of order in your life will magically return. Like the wise Oogway said: “You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.”

[Thanks everyone who sent this in]

Netflix patch arrives for rooted Asus Transformers, it’s okay to be happy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The third installment of a trilogy is typically the most satisfying. The Empire Falls, Frodo destroys the ring, Cinderella goes back in time. (Okay, that’s a stretch.) Our protagonist in this tale is the Droid 3, which bears an uncanny resemblance to its dad and granddad— but Verizon’s added a few new components and made some minor design tweaks in attempt to improve the overall experience.

Are these adjustments enough to save the series? The original Droid launched with much fanfare, a device that steered Motorola back onto the path of success from its post-RAZR Hades. It had a refreshing gold-laden design that oozed elegance, top-of-the-line specs for its time, and was the pioneer that helped usher Google’s mobile OS into a new era. Each new iteration has received less attention than the one before, however, and the Droid 3 experienced such a quiet launch that we blinked and almost missed it. No matter, though — as long as the phone can speak for itself, it doesn’t need the confetti to accompany it. But is the third time another charm for the Droid? Or will it be buried by other heavyweights like the Droid Bionic or Samsung Galaxy S II Function? Join us after the break to find out.

Continue reading Motorola Droid 3 review

Motorola Droid 3 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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