This fall, smartphones are going to be better than they’ve ever been. That’s true every year, but iOS 5 and Windows Phone 7.5 are looking pretty fantastic. What about Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, though? More »
Groupme, the little group messaging service that made a bit of a splash at Google I/O, turns 3.0 today. There are some shiny new features on board, including a simpler way to exchange private messages and “Questions” for sparking conversations when you’re not sure who to talk to. But, the big news — Groupme 3.0 is now platform and nation agnostic. With the latest update, the service will be available in 90 countries and add Windows Phone 7 to its list of supported OSes, alongside iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. Even if you’re sitting in front of your desktop you can still take part in the mass messaging fun. The website has been overhauled and now sports all of the same features, like photo-sharing and group management, as the mobile apps. Check out the source link to get the latest version for your handset of choice — provided you’re not a Symbian fan — and don’t miss the gallery below.
Gallery: Groupme 3.0
Groupme 3.0 goes international and cross-platform, questions everything originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’ve had a few weeks to get accustomed to iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion, but one headlining feature has been notably inaccessible since it was unveiled earlier this summer. During his WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs touted iCloud as a service that will sync many of your Apple devices, for free. Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even Windows computers can synchronize documents, contacts, calendar appointments, and other data. You’ll also be able to back up your iOS devices remotely, use an Apple-hosted email account, and store your music in the cloud. Well, this week Apple finally lit up its cloud-based service for developers, letting some of us take a sneak peek at the new service.
Apple also announced pricing, confirming that you’ll be able to add annual subscriptions with 10GB ($20), 20GB ($40), or 50GB ($100) of storage ‘atop your free 5GB account. We took our five gig account for a spin, creating documents in Pages, spreadsheets in Numbers, and presentations in Keynote, then accessing them from the iCloud web interface to download Microsoft Office and PDF versions. We also tried our luck at iOS data syncing and the soon-to-be-controversial Photo Stream, so jump past the break for our full iCloud hands-on.
Gallery: Apple iCloud and iWork beta hands-on
Continue reading Apple iCloud and iWork beta for iOS hands-on
Apple iCloud and iWork beta for iOS hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Skype for iPad. I’ll bet these people are hotter than your own Skype contacts
Skype made a premature launch of its iPad-native VoIP app last night, and quickly removed it from the App Store, claiming it was pulled “To ensure your best Skype experience.” That didn’t stop the lucky few who downloaded it from posting lots and lots of screenshots to the Internet, or grabbing the official promo shots (seen above).
The iPhone version of Skype already works just fine on the iPad in pixel-doubled mode. Or I should say it works just like the iPhone version, with the same battery-draining runaway background processes enjoyed by those using it on the iPhone (I have only anecdotal evidence, but the only time I have left Skype running overnight is also the only time my iPad my iPad has overheated and dropped almost a full battery charge in a couple of hours).
Skype for iPad takes advantage of the bigger screen, letting you chat whilst making a video call and showing contact info in popovers. It also duplicates the functionality of the iPhone version, letting you continue a call while you use other apps.
Why would Skype pull the app? My guess is that the now-approved app either has a bug that Skype wants to iron out before going public, or that it has a big announcement planned and wanted to sit on the launch until then. Either way, it can’t be long. Time for me to visit the Apple Store and have a Genius take care of the broken mic in my iPad.
UPDATE Aug 02 2011. Skype is back in the store, free, and ready to download.
Skype for iPad [iTunes]
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Thought Android was killing it in the US? Try the rest of planet Earth, bud. The latest from our friends at Canalys has Google’s mobile OS on 48 percent of smartphones worldwide, or nearly one out of every two sold. Mountain View’s stratospheric rise came at someone’s expense, and it looks like Nokia’s the loser here folks, which corroborates the data from last week’s IDC report. Espoo’s foibles are troublesome in a market that grew 73 percent year over year, especially when Samsung shipped 421 percent more handsets than it did a year ago. As a result, the Korean company has surpassed Nokia in smartphone marketshare, just like its rival in Cupertino. Despite the rampant growth, the research firm suspects Sammy could have done better, noting that it had failed to capitalize on Nokia’s “weakened state around the world” with its “global scale and channel reach.” We’ll see if Samsung takes Canalys’ constructive criticism to heart in Q3, but while you wait, you can read the full report after the jump.
Continue reading Canalys: Android rules the smartphone world, Samsung could’ve done better
Canalys: Android rules the smartphone world, Samsung could’ve done better originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Storage upgrades for iCloud can be purchased from your iOS device
Apple’s iCloud.com Web site has gone live, allowing developers to test out the online version of MobileMe’s replacement. At the same time, beta versions of the iWork suite for iOS and iPhoto have also been made available. And inevitably, many details have already leaked to the web.
ICloud is Apple’s new “sync” service. When you create or edit a photo or document on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Windows PC, it is automatically pushed to any other device you have chosen. Thus, you can snap photos on your iPhone and have them ready to edit on your iPad in seconds, along with a safe backup on your home Mac.
The iCloud.com site is the online home for your data. There’s a calendar, an address book, a mail web app, access to the Find My iPhone service and a new section called “iWork.” These all look a lot like their iOS counterparts, right down to the icons. This is no surprise, as even the awful MobileMe used a very iPad-like interface for its Mail web app.
Most interesting are the online versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Posted screenshots show that there is no editing or even viewing functionality yet. Visitors are told instead to launch the apps on their iOS device and switch on iCloud. Perhaps there will never be a way to view your documents on the web, or maybe it will be added before the official launch.
Right now there doesn’t seem to be any way to view your photos at iCloud.com.
Windows users needn’t feel left out, either. Also available is the iCloud Control Panel for Windows (beta 3), which lets you configure iCloud on the PC. Photo Stream, contacts and calendars are supported, and presumably iWork documents might somehow be wrangled to open on the PC, too.
Cloud backup is also working in devices running the latest iOS 5 beta. You can choose to back up your camera roll (photos actually taken with the device), accounts, documents and settings to iCloud automatically whenever the iDevice is plugged in to power. This is essential for anyone using an iPad as their main machine, and not tied to a computer with iTunes.
ICloud is free, and comes with 5GB storage. You can also pay for more. $20 per year will buy you 10GB storage, $40 will get you 20GB and for $100 you will get 50GB. But before you rush out and spend the extra, remember that iCloud’s storage quota doesn’t include your photos, your iTunes music, your apps or your purchased books. In fact, 5GB looks like more than enough for most people. Extra storage can be purchased from within the iCloud settings app on your iOS device.
The iCloud service will launch to the public along with iOS 5, some time in September.
iCloud.com [Apple]
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MobileMe’s impending demise just got one step closer, folks. Apple’s updated iCloud.com to now sport an official login page with what we’re assuming is Cupertino’s rendition of a CNC-machined aluminum unibody badge. It looks like those of you rocking iOS 5 or OS X 10.7.2 and who’ve also created an iCloud account are probably already busy frolicking through email, editing contacts and slinging calendar events all from the comfort of your browser. Those services already existed under its predecessor, but it looks as if Cupertino has spruced ’em up with fresh paint jobs. A screenshot from MacRumors also shows the addition of an iWork section, which we’d surmise means the previously siloed iWork beta now has a new place to call home. We couldn’t get past the migration step with our trusty MobileMe account (disappointing proof is after the break), but you’re more than welcome to tap the more coverage link and have a go yourself.
Oh, and if you’re wondering how much it’ll cost you to claim more than those 5GB that Apple’s tossing in gratis, the folks over at Electronista have confirmed that an extra 10GB will cost $20 per year, while an extra 20GB runs $40 / year and an extra 50GB will demand $100 per annum.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading Apple launches iCloud and iWork betas, confirms pricing for extra capacity
Apple launches iCloud and iWork betas, confirms pricing for extra capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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See that kid above? That’s Nicholas Allegra. He’s the hackdom Harry Potter to Apple’s Ye-Who-Shall-Not-Jailbreak-Our-Wares, and Forbes managed to sniff him out for a little bold-faced exposé. The 19-year old hero of the iOS community, better known as Comex, got his self-taught start with Visual Basic when he was still in single digits. After graduating through a venerable online forum education, the precocious coding lad set his smarts to homebrew Wii development, and the rest is JailbreakMe history. The self-described Apple fanboy admits his background is atyipcal of the cybersecurity industry, but with a former National Security Agency analyst praising his work as years ahead of his time, we don’t think he should worry. For all the trouble his code has caused Cupertino, Allegra’s not trying to be the embedded thorn in Jobs’ side. Rather, the iPhone hacker claims “it’s just about the challenge” and plans to keep on keeping ol’ Steve on his billion dollar toes.
Getting to know you: Comex, the boy behind iOS’ JailbreakMe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sonos may not inspire the sort of high-end audio lust that a company like Polk can, but it doesn’t draw the ire of serious audiophiles the way Bose does either. It straddles a fine line between respectability and gimmicky, and rightfully so — Sonos isn’t really an audio company in the purest sense of the term. Rather than loading up its components with vacuum tubes and gold-plated connectors, units like the recently launched Play:3 make their mark by incorporating wireless streaming — a feature that’s actually painless to setup. They’re for people who have embraced the digital music revolution, but don’t want to be stuck sitting in front of the computer or tethered to an iPod when the mood to groove strikes. The Play:3 also happens to be the first accelerometer-packing speaker we’ve ever tested that dynamically changes the EQ based on its orientation. As usual all the details — from connecting and controlling the player to whether or not it produces the sound quality to justify its somewhat lofty $299 price tag — are after the break.
Gallery: Sonos Play:3 review
Continue reading Sonos Play:3 review
Sonos Play:3 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Until now, mobile app developers have followed a pretty predictable MO: develop for iOS first, Android second, and everyone else after that. Since last year, many of you code monkeys out there have been tapping into Nitobi’s PhoneGap, a project that makes it easier to churn out apps for almost every OS, all at once. It’s been picking up steam, with about 40,000 downloads per month, 600,000 in total, and a steady stream of donations. That all culminated this weekend with the release of PhoneGap 1.0, which lets devs use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to write and deploy apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, webOS, Bada, and Symbian. That’s a long list indeed, but we see one glaring omission: Windows Phone 7. Hit the source link to download it for free and check out the promo video below for an oh-so quick overview.
Update: Oops! Looks like WP7 is included! Our apologies, and feel free to celebrate accordingly.
Continue reading PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video)
PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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