Hasta La Gadget!

iOS 5 won’t be ready for the masses until this Fall, but lucky developers — and eager tech bloggers — are able to get in on the action right now. We just got done downloading the 730MB BETA, and have decided to turn our iPhone 4 and iPad 2 into guinea pigs for all the newness. Apple says that there are over 200 new features baked into the updated OS, and we’ve run through the biggies from Notification Center to Twitter to that oh-so-convenient split keyboard for you — all you need to do is click after the break.

Continue reading Apple iOS 5 hands-on preview

Apple iOS 5 hands-on preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thinking about upgrading your iPad or iPhone just to add more storage for videos, photos and music? Kingston hopes to save the day with its Wi-Drive, a WiFi-enabled battery-powered storage device designed exclusively for use with iOS. Several factors make the pocket-sized device a tough sell, however, including its cost ($130 for 16GB, $175 for 32GB), and the fact that this otherwise clever content sharing contraption adds yet another gadget to your already crowded portable mix. We’d probably save up for a new, higher-capacity device before accessorizing our old gadgets, but a compact media server does seem like the perfect companion for a road trip, serving up HD videos and other content simultaneously to multiple devices using the free iOS app. This is strictly a content server — while you can move move content off the drive and later transfer it back, there’s no backup tool included, and Kingston says we shouldn’t expect one in the future, either. Click past the break for our impressions of Kingston’s flash-based server, due to hit stores later this month.

Continue reading Kingston Wi-Drive wireless storage for iOS preview (video)

Kingston Wi-Drive wireless storage for iOS preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We made a few predictions about Google’s (then-presumed) music service in our streaming roundup last week, and thanks to the inability of an undisclosed amount of labels to take a whiff of whatever El Goog was cooking, it looks as if we’ve been left with something less robust, but nevertheless intriguing. It’s worth taking a glance at our team editorial on Music Beta by Android to get a feel of what could’ve been, but the reality is this: what was launched today is what we’ve been dealt, and now it’s time to break things down and see how it actually functions in practice.

Care to have a look at a full installation walkthrough, problem reports and two more pennies on how the service stacks up? That, along with tips on fulfilling your hopes and dreams, are tucked away just after the break.

Continue reading Google Music Beta walkthrough: what it is and how it works (video)

Google Music Beta walkthrough: what it is and how it works (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Before hitting the states this summer, the Sensation will launch in the UK, Germany, and the rest of HTC’s “key” European markets in mid-May, with Vodafone scoring a Europe-wide exclusive for “a couple of weeks.” We can’t wait to put the Sensation through its paces in a full review, but happily we already scored some hands-on time with a near-final unit. Continue below the break for some early thoughts, full specs, and close-up shots of this superphone in action.

Update: We scored some hands-on time with a European model over at HTC’s launch event. Check the video here!

Continue reading HTC Sensation 4G official: 1.2GHz dual-core, qHD display, and Sense 3.0

HTC Sensation 4G official: 1.2GHz dual-core, qHD display, and Sense 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple announced Mac OS X Lion with considerable fanfare at its Back to the Mac event last October, and now it’s dropped the first developer preview on the world — giving us a chance to sample some of the big cat’s new features and UI concepts. We installed the dev build on one of our MacBook Pros and used it over the weekend, and while we won’t be able to see any huge changes in day-to-day workflow until our favorite apps are updated to take advantage of Lion, we did see plenty of interesting system-level features and additions — and yes, iOS’s influence is all over the place. Read on for a full breakdown of what’s new!

Continue reading Mac OS X Lion hands-on preview

Mac OS X Lion hands-on preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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