Hasta La Gadget!

We just spent a few minutes playing with the beta version of Skyfire 2.0 for Android that was released today, and we’ll cut to the chase: this is easily the best browser we’ve used on the platform. Clearly we’ll need to spend more time with it to make sure it can handle all the typical sites you’d want to visit while you’re on the road — but loading the desktop version of Engadget is always a great barometer for this sort of thing, and this browser rocked it. Rendering is about as reasonably fast as you can expect it to be (on our Snapdragon-powered Nexus One, anyhow), and everything we saw displayed spot-on perfect (save for embedded Flash, of course), but if you’re in a situation where you don’t need to see the full page or it looks screwy, you can toggle it to send an Android user agent right from the app’s toolbar below the URL field. It works just about as well as Steel and the built-in browser on a G1 we tested, and Flash videos work just fine there as well.

The browser touts compatibility with Flash videos, too, so we headed over to YouTube to try our hand at it; it immediately detected the presence of a video and popped up the so-called “SkyBar” at the bottom of the screen, where you can press the Video button to load the video in a new window. It doesn’t work embedded in the page, but considering how small your phone’s screen is, that’s really for the best — you get the full-screen experience, and in our testing, it looked fantastic. One downside is that you don’t seem to be able to scrub videos while they’re playing, but maybe this is something these guys can get patched up for the final release. Follow the break for our full video!

Update: One annoyance we’ve noticed is that pinch-to-zoom works in “steps” — it’s not smooth, which makes it pretty weird to use, but remember that Opera Mini doesn’t support it at all.

Continue reading Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview!

Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So we’ve just gotten our cold, live hands on the new MacBook Pro — you know, the one with the Core i7 CPU? We’re obviously going to be taking this puppy for a spin around the block (a 15-inch version with a 2.66GHz CPU), but we wanted to show you what it looks like (exactly the same as always), and mention a few takeaways from our conversation with Apple about the product. As you already know, the 15- and 17-inch models have a new GPU configuration, utilizing Intel’s integrated HD graphics alongside NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 330M. What you might not know is that the new laptops have done away with the previous method of switching from integrated to discrete graphics, that is, forcing you to select one or the other and then logging you out and back in for the switch. This process is hugely streamlined in the new versions, providing switching on the fly from integrated to discrete, and requiring zero input from the user (similar to NVIDIA’s Optimus). The switches take place on an app-by-app basis judged on what kind of resources that particular application you’re opening requires — so this should be interesting to see when it comes to third-party titles. Apple is also only providing two options here; keep the automatic GPU switching on, or switch to only discrete graphics. So if you’re planning on running these babies just in integrated mode, you’re out of luck.

Other additions to the laptops include “inertial scrolling” (a la iPhone), which feels like a software change to us, but is apparently related to new trackpads on these models, and new configuration options when buying, such as getting yourself a 1680 x 1050 high res display (yes, please) or opting for a 512GB SSD (clocking in, weirdly, at $1,400 for the 2.4GHz models, but $1,300 for the 2.53GHz and 2.66GHz versions). Speaking of money, you may have noticed that Apple bumped the cost of the base 15-inch MacBook Pro from $1,699 to $1,799 — not a welcome change in today’s bummer of an economy, though they’ve brought down the entry to the 17-inch to $2,299. At any rate, you can check out some snaps of the new system below, and hang tight for a full review coming soon.

MacBook Pro Core i7 unboxing and preview originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d love nothing more than to extol the merits of Sony’s Alpha ultra-compact concept with an interchangeable lens — which bears a striking resemblance at face value to Olympus and Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds standard — but alas, the little device is hidden behind glass. Furthermore, all the Sony reps we managed to corner wouldn’t answer our questions. Will the lenses be interchangeable with Sony’s current Alpha DSLR line, or any of the MFT lenses? What’s been cut from traditional Four Thirds models to accommodate for the drop in size? Radio silence, save for a repeat of this morning’s information and a finger point to the adjacent ”
Exmor APS HD CMOS” sign — which, as we know from this morning, is larger than a Four Thirds sensor, but we’re not sure how much. Still, enjoy the pics we managed to take from behind the glass — and also be sure to enjoy the shots of this morning’s other Sony announcements, the
Super Telephoto Lens (500mm F4 G) and the prototype Distagon T 24mm F2 ZA SSM.

Sony Alpha ultra-compact concept hands-off: leaves much to the imagination originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forget everything you know about Windows Mobile. Seriously, throw the whole OS concept in a garbage bin or incinerator or something. Microsoft has done what would have been unthinkable for the company just a few years ago: started from scratch. At least, that’s how things look (and feel) with Windows Phone 7 Series. This really is a completely new OS — and not just Microsoft’s new OS, it’s a new smartphone OS, like webOS new, like iPhone OS new. You haven’t used an interface like this before (well, okay, if you’ve used a Zune HD then you’ve kind of used an interface like this). Still, 7 Series goes wider and deeper than the Zune by a longshot, and it’s got some pretty intense ideas about how you’re supposed to be interacting with a mobile device. We had a chance to go hands-on with the dev phone before today’s announcement, and hear from some of the people behind the devices, and here’s our takeaway. (And don’t worry, we’ve got loads of pictures and video coming, so keep checking this post for the freshest updates).

First the look and feel. The phones are really secondary here, and we want to focus on the interface. The design and layout of 7 Series’ UI (internally called Metro) is really quite original, utilizing what one of the designers (Albert Shum, formerly of Nike) calls an “authentically digital” and “chromeless” experience. What does that mean? Well we can tell you what it doesn’t mean — no shaded icons, no faux 3D or drop shadows, no busy backgrounds (no backgrounds at all), and very little visual flair besides clean typography and transition animations. The whole look is strangely reminiscent of a terminal display (maybe Microsoft is recalling its DOS roots here) — almost Tron-like in its primary color simplicity. To us, it’s rather exciting. This OS looks nothing like anything else on the market, and we think that’s to its advantage. Admittedly, we could stand for a little more information available within single views, and we have yet to see how the phone will handle things like notifications, but the design of the interface is definitely in a class of its own. Here’s a few takeaways on what it’s like to use (and some video)…

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video)

Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We let you in on one of Klipsch‘s little secrets when we revealed the Image X10i to the world back in December, and now that the company’s highest-end iPhone-friendly earbuds will be shipping en masse within a month, we figured we’d grab a set and let you know if they were indeed worth their weight in gold (or just $349.99, really). The X10 has sat atop the company’s most recent lineup of earbuds for awhile now, and with the raging success of the S4i came a stellar idea: add the same iPod / iPhone remote to the flagship set of ‘buds. The X10i is just that — a set of X10 earbuds with the iPhone remote that we highlighted in our S4i review. Needless to say, the X10i isn’t aimed at the budget-minded listener, but we were most curious to see if these really were worth the $250 leap from the aforementioned S4i. Read on to peek our conclusion.

Continue reading Klipsch Image X10i iPhone-friendly earbud impressions

Klipsch Image X10i iPhone-friendly earbud impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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