Hasta La Gadget!

“Dear Sir or Madam,” the email began, and we almost deleted it at once, but then we realized the gentleman who wrote that line was hawking the Yosion Apple Peel 520. A quick visit to his website did nothing to allay our lingering suspicions — it appeared to be a hastily-cobbled cash-in through and through — but still, the prospect of an iPod touch case with cellular capabilities sorely tempted our wallet. We evaded the siren call and left Peel520.net without attempting a purchase, but noticed on our way out several references to the practically identical website for the MicroSIMCutter. Google tells us their owners are one and the same, so if you bought one of those sim-cutting devices (not to be confused with the Cut My Sim) and got your product as promised, we suppose you’re liable to get a good deal here. But if you have qualms, well — wait for Go Solar to formally bring the product to market, or else steer clear.

Apple Peel 520 up for preorder, from the man who brought you the MicroSIMCutter originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 21:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not the first to announce a blood glucose meter that connects to an iPhone, but Sanofi-Aventis has just rolled out what’s surely the most streamlined solution to date. Unlike the LifeScan Bluetooth glucose meter shown off during Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 preview event way back in March of last year, this one connects directly to your iPhone (or iPod touch), and it can even be kept permanently attached with the aid of a custom (and fairly stylish) case. Otherwise, it functions just as you’d expect, with it able to display all the basic info on the device itself (it can also be used without the iPhone), and a ton more info on the accompanying app. No word on availability just yet — that still hinges on FDA clearance — but the device is “expected” to run somewhere in the neighborhood of $80.

Sanofi-Aventis debuts iBGStar blood glucose meter for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 22:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Before the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes, there was Napster. The original gangster of digital music distribution has undergone many changes since its heyday as a pirate’s Shangri-La, though this latest one seems to be the most fitting. A new app for the aforementioned iOS devices as well as the iPad has been launched, giving you the full Napster experience in a more portable form factor. That means that for $10 a month you can stream and cache music from a library of 10 million songs — yes, offline listening is available too — essentially turning your iDevice into the Apple equivalent of a Zune Pass-equipped music station. Good times ahead, eh sailor?

[Thanks, Louis Choi]

Napster app arrives on iOS, completes the circle of life originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poor iPad customers. It feels like an eternity since the iPhone and iPod Touch gained multitasking with iOS 4, while owners of the tablet have been frozen in time with boring old iOS 3. 

Fortunately, Apple’s iOS 4.2 is due for launch in November, and we got an early look at the new OS on the iPad.

Based on our hands-on testing with an early beta release of iOS 4.2, there’s plenty for iPad users to look forward to. Multitasking is even better on the media-rich tablet than on its smaller siblings, grouping apps into folders makes the entire tablet experience feel less inundating, and finally, the iPad will get a feature many of us have been demanding: wireless printing.

We couldn’t test all the new features due to the unavailability of some necessary hardware, but here’s a quick first look of what you’ll get with iOS 4.2 in a few months.

Multitasking

Multitasking on the iPad works the same as it does on the iPhone or iPod Touch: Hit the Home button twice and an app drawer pops up at the bottom of the screen. In the drawer, the iPad displays apps running in the background, and you tap an app to switch to it immediately with a feature called Fast App Switching. (See our explainer on mobile multitasking if you’re curious.) When switching between apps, the iPad is noticeably faster than the iPhone or iPod Touch, and boy is it buttery smooth. It’s not a brand new feature to iOS 4, but it’s the most important addition that iPad customers should anticipate.

AirPrint

If you’re still into killing trees and wasting ink, iOS 4.2 will introduce wireless printing to the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple claims that when this feature is fully working, you’ll be able to connect to a Wi-Fi network and wirelessly print from your device without installing any drivers. (Having wrestled with dozens of printers at my previous job, I am pessimistic about printing ever becoming this easy.) One major caveat: The printers have to be configured on your Mac or PC to share over a network, or the printer has to be compatible with AirPlay. Only HP so far has partnered with Apple to offer AirPrint-ready printers.

We weren’t able to test AirPrint because it requires a yet-to-be-released version of Mac OS X (10.6.5), and we don’t have one of those new HP printers. But we’ll keep you posted once we get a chance to try it out.

AirPlay

Perhaps the most intriguing new feature in iOS 4.2 will be AirPlay, a feature that allows you wirelessly stream media from your iOS device to an Apple TV or an AirPort Express. Picture this scenario: You’re watching Inlglourious Basterds on your iPad during your commute on the train, and mid-way through the movie you hop off and walk home. You want to finish the movie while you eat dinner, so you take your iPad, launch the movie, hit the AirPlay button and boom — you can stream it straight to your Apple TV and watch it on your big screen.

You can do the same with music and photos, so AirPlay basically turns your iOS device into a fancy multimedia remote. This feature has a lot of potential to become even more interesting if Apple eventually opens AirPlay to stream third-party content to your television. (Hulu or Pandora on my TV without adding more cables? Yes, please.)

Again, the new Apple TV ain’t out yet, so we can’t give you a hands-on verdict yet, but we will as soon as we get that gear.

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Continue reading Epson and Thinxtream roll out PrintJinni printing app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Epson and Thinxtream roll out PrintJinni printing app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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