Oct 12

Archos 5 has 99 problems and a glitch is one, 160GB version pulled by Amazon

Posted in: amazon, Android, archos, handheld, MID, PMP, tablet, Today's Chili, touchscreen

It was only just allowed out to play, but Archos’ five-inch, Android-sporting internet tablet has been called back in by its fastidious mother, a role played by Amazon in this case. Only the hard drive-based 160GB model is affected at present, with the 32GB version selling as normal and the half terabyte option out of stock already. Charbax of ArchosFans.com, a man in the know on this subject, has suggested this might have been caused by a firmware update wiping out some pre-installed Android apps, which is now being addressed. His site’s forums and Amazon customer reviews, however, paint a different picture: there are consistent complaints about bugs and lock ups — software issues that could well affect the other models in the line — with some going so far as to suggest Archos has used its customers as Beta testers. There doesn’t appear to be anything structurally wrong with the device, meaning a robust firmware update could remedy all ills, so now it’s just a matter of waiting for Archos to do what it should have done before release.

[Via Pocketables]

Read – Amazon product page
Read – Archos Fans forums

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Archos 5 has 99 problems and a glitch is one, 160GB version pulled by Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 02

Pandora rolls into production this month, emulates Dreamcast now

Posted in: gaming, handheld, Today's Chili

The OpenPandora kids have dropped us a line to say that yes, finally, “after a lot of serious tweaking,” it looks like Pandora is ready to roll. And as an added bonus, they’ve given us a little demonstration of the open source game platform rocking a Dreamcast emulator. Not that you’ll be able to play The House of The Dead 2 flawlessly on the thing — apparently the CPU suffers from some sort of floating point unit problem and a great many texture / blending modes are not supported. So don’t abandon that Dreamcast Tablet just yet. As far as getting your hands on the handheld yourself, here’s the skinny: of the four thousand devices in the initial lot, there are about a hundred units unspoken for and still available for pre-order. Priced at $330 each, if you’re interested you’d better jump now — there won’t be another batch until 2010. In the meantime, you can see that Dreamcast emulator we told you about in action after the break.

[Thanks, Devon]

Continue reading Pandora rolls into production this month, emulates Dreamcast now

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Pandora rolls into production this month, emulates Dreamcast now originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 01

Sony’s PSP Go available t-t-t-today junior!

Posted in: gaming, handheld, now available, NowAvailable, psp, sony, Today's Chili

It may not do UMDs, but it does fun, and it does it well. Just in case you’ve forgotten — after all, it’s not like anything really happened in September to mess with your memory — today’s the day to find Sony’s PSP Go on store shelves. $249.99, you, your local retailer and some fancy digital content — it’s a date. Isn’t it?

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Sony’s PSP Go available t-t-t-today junior! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 30

Smart Devices SmartQ5a MID… now with Android!

Posted in: Android, arm, handheld, MID, tablet, Today's Chili

If you’re a MID fan that’s curious about this crazy “Android” you’ve been hearing about, it looks like the realms are colliding in many new and interesting ways as of late. E World, which seems to be owned by China Mobile, is selling the SmartQ5a touchscreen device pre-installed with Android 1.5 for $199.99. We know some of the more hardcore have been taking it upon yourself to install the open source OS on Smart Devices’ 4.3-inch wonder for a while, but now the whole affair appears to have the stamp of approval of the People’s Republic itself. We’re just wondering who you’d contact if you have to take advantage of the one year warranty.

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Smart Devices SmartQ5a MID… now with Android! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Video: PSP Go torn down, owners counseled on warranty violation

Posted in: gaming, handheld, psp, sony, teardown, Today's Chili
Sure, most of you are interested in the playability and durability of your gaming devices — that’s why we do our extensive, award-winning reviews (for instance, our latest PSP Go review is quite a page-turner). But sometimes you just want to rip into a device and see the chips and the solder — that’s why we’re grateful that the kids at iFixit have provided us with a complete tear-down guide, featuring step-by-step instructions and plenty of pretty pictures. Apparently, the Go owes its diminutive size to the fact that it eschews an internal metal framework altogether (instead relying on the external plastic shell to provide structural integrity). But don’t take our word for it! Check out the full video below — it’s basically Hostel with a handheld gaming device.

Continue reading Video: PSP Go torn down, owners counseled on warranty violation

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Video: PSP Go torn down, owners counseled on warranty violation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 23

eviGroup’s Android-based Wallet MID debuts in France (avec video)

Posted in: Android, handheld, MID, Today's Chili

Haven’t found a tablet or MID to your liking just yet? Then you may just want to wait another 24 hours, ’cause that’s about the rate they seem to be cropping up these days. This latest one comes from France’s eviGroup, and distinguishes itself somewhat by using Android for an OS, although there doesn’t appear to be any UI customizations to speak of. Otherwise, it looks like this “Wallet” will be able to more hold its own, if not completely stand out form the pack, with it packing a 5-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, 8GB of internal memory, a miniSD card slot for further expansion, an integrated digital camera, and the trifecta of built-in WiFi, GPS and 3G. Still no word on a release over here, but the folks at eviGroup are promising to launch it in Europe at the “beginning of 2010” for €300 (or about $440), and they’ve kindly gone ahead and put together a thorough video overview that you can watch right now (after the break).

[Via Android France]

Continue reading eviGroup’s Android-based Wallet MID debuts in France (avec video)

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eviGroup’s Android-based Wallet MID debuts in France (avec video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 22

Peek manages to survive a whole year, promises more features for year two

Posted in: Email, handheld, Today's Chili

We actually first caught wind of the Peek email-only handheld around 13 months ago, but today Peek is celebrating its first year as a company with a shipping product. During the past year, it has managed to ship two distinct devices and a good bit of functionality, but most importantly, it has managed to survive. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the past dozen months have been twelve of the most tumultuous (financially, anyway) in American history, yet this startup is still going strong and looking forward to a second year full of “new features and services” and even a few international launches. Generally we don’t stop to wish companies a happy first birthday, but seriously — how many of you expected this firm to be around in late 2009?

Read – First Peek birthday
Read – Tales of survival

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Peek manages to survive a whole year, promises more features for year two originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 10

Sinchun’s UMPC-501 5-inch tablet makes its grand entrance

Posted in: handheld, MID, Today's Chili, UMPC, Windows XP
You know, for all the buzz surrounding Android-powered MIDs — most of which we’ll probably never see — it sure is nice to see an actual device that’s ready to hit the shelves for a change. Case in point: the UMPC-501 A is a rather nondescript 5-inch (800 x 480) touchscreen device by Sinchun Electronic Co., a company located deep within the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Weighing a mere 350g and measuring 6.3 x 3.75 x .87 inches, this bad boy sports a 1.1GHz Atom Z510 processor, 1G RAM, SSD storage (size to be determined), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, 3G, a SiRF Star III GPS, a removable battery (so this is definitely not the Apple Tablet then?) and ships with Windows XP Home (yeah, guess not). Barring any unforeseen events, it should be available sometime this month for under 3000 Yuan ($441). Now if only someone would stick this thing to a fridge. Get a closer look after the break.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Sinchun’s UMPC-501 5-inch tablet makes its grand entrance

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Sinchun’s UMPC-501 5-inch tablet makes its grand entrance originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 02

Sanyo’s Gorilla Lite PND packs 4GB in an incredibly thin frame

Posted in: gps, handheld, Japan, SSD, Today's Chili

Sanyo, a company best known among mid-80s McKean Elementary school students for the portable cassette recorder Henry Hutchinson used to incessantly play “Mr. Telephone Man” by New Edition (true story), seems to be going from strength to strength with its Gorilla line of handheld PNDs. The NV-LB50DT Gorilla Lite packs a 5-inch touchscreen, LED backlight, and 4GB SSD in a package a mere 18.8mm thin. The device also features a 1Seg digital TV tuner, an accelerometer for switching between landscape and portrait mode, support for MP4, JPEG, MP3, and WMA playback, and Sanyo ECO mode (which tells you if your driving style is good or bad for the environment). Sure, this isn’t the DVD playing, CD-ripping powerhorse that we last saw from the company, but you probably knew that as soon as you saw the word “Lite” in the name. Available soon for a price to be determined.

[Via Akihabara News]

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Sanyo’s Gorilla Lite PND packs 4GB in an incredibly thin frame originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 02

Nokia’s 3D N810 Internet Tablet caught on blurrycam

Posted in: cellphone, handheld, Today's Chili

We can’t say that the idea of stereoscopic displays on cellphones ever really appealed to us — more than anything, it sounds like the recipe for a nasty migraine. But provided a company figures out how to do it right (and without the silly glasses) true 3D could lead to some pretty interesting interface design, to say the very least. With Sony singing the technology’s praises at IFA this morning, it’s fitting that Nokia is showing off one such number at Nokia World in Stuttgart today. According to Pocket-lint, the N810 Internet Tablet shown above has been outfitted with a “special screen” made by a “secret third party manufacturer” and displays 3D content to the naked eye. Sure, we’re pretty skeptical that 3D will be a hit (or even stop being lousy) any time soon, but who knows? There seem to be a few companies out there who think that it could pull them out of their doldrums.

[Via The Raw Feed]

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Nokia’s 3D N810 Internet Tablet caught on blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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