Hasta La Gadget!

Look, there’s no arguing that Apple charges a boatload for its first-party adapters, and this isn’t the first time that one of those overpriced dongles has caused an uproar (Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter, anyone?). But when the company trots out an iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter and promises to enable users to “see their videos and slideshows on the big screen,” it should probably make a few clarifications. Instead, more than a handful of consumers are revolting over on Apple’s own webstore, noting that any video laced in any type of DRM (iTunes flicks and Netflix streams included) won’t output at all. Contrary to popular belief, this adapter doesn’t actually mirror the iPad’s display, which is fairly absurd in our eyes — teachers are even stating that Apple’s own Pages and Keynote apps won’t output via the dongle, making this effectively worthless for blowing up presentations for all to see. We (sort of) get the DRM thing, but not including support in your own presentation app? Unacceptable. A tipster has noted that Apple informed him that “it’s up to the app makers to enable the video out function,” so we suppose all that’s needed to solve a lot of controversy is for some switch to be flipped in some direction. Any other hang-ups with this thing that the world should know about? Drop ’em in comments below.

[Thanks, Tony]

Update: A few tipsters have noted that Keynote does in fact work here. Here’s a growing list of what does and doesn’t work with the adapter.

Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter not accomplishing the simplest of tasks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Heads-up, iPad owners (or to-be owners, as it were) — the same devices you currently use to juice up your iPod touch or iPhone may not work on your fancy new tablet. Consumer Reports, TUAW and our own Chris Ziegler have confirmed that their powered USB hubs wouldn’t charge the iPad, and we’re even seeing reports that some Wintel rigs won’t either. The only sure bets right now are Apple computers and your nearby AC outlet, leaving iPad owners with fewer options when it comes to topping off that battery when away from your abode. We’re pretty certain this all boils down to the iPad requiring more power than most powered USB ports are designed to give, but it’s still something to keep in mind. So, any of you early adopters finding that your own powered USB hub or non-Mac does rejuvenate the iPad? Let us know in comments below.

Update: Macworld has a nice explaination of the whole situation. Looks like tablets just require more power to charge than smartphones — who woulda thunk it?

Update 2: And now Apple has come right out with a support article — head on over to see what it recommends.

Apple iPad charging woes: USB hubs, non-Macs and weak ports not rejuvenating originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, brother. This just keeps getting better and better, and by “better and better,” we mean “uglier and uglier.” Google’s abrupt decision to stop censoring results in China and redirect users on the mainland to the outfit’s Hong Kong portal has stirred up all sorts of tense feelings around the globe, and if you thought this whole war would be confined to the desktop, you were sorely mistaken. China Unicom, which is gearing up to present its customer base with a few more smartphone options with Android loaded on, recently announced that it wouldn’t be using Google as the search engine on those very phones. Lu Yimin, president of the operator, was quoted as saying that his company was “willing to work with any company that abides by Chinese law,” but that it didn’t have “any cooperation with Google currently.” Granted, this is just the latest in a series of blows to Android’s proliferation in the world’s biggest nation, but you can really tell it’s getting personal now. C’mon guys — can’t we just hug it out?

China Unicom won’t use Google’s search engine on Android phones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mama always said that some folks just never learn, and we reckon there’s plenty of wisdom to be had from that very statement. Year after year, German police are called in to raid select booths at CeBIT (and IFA, to be fair), and yet again we’ve seen a booth cleared out at the request of powerful lawyers from a few companies you may have heard of. Word on the street has it that Apple, Siemens and Sisvel were all kvetching over patent infringements made by an unnamed company exhibiting at last week’s show, and within an hour or so of the fuzz showing up, the whole thing was stripped and a hefty fine (€10,000) was levied. Unfortunately, the exact details of who was violating what remains clouded in mystery, but for whatever reason, we get the feeling that something extremely similar will be going down in Hannover next year. We blame KIRFers determination.

Updated: Turns out one of our editors at CeBIT saw this whole situation go down at the FirstView booth. Within minutes the entire booth was surrounded by the Polizei, and though we tried to dig further on the situation our inability to speak German caused some communication issues so we decided it best to move on to the next craptablet on the floor. We will, however, always have the shot above to remember the confusing experience.

[Thanks, TheLostSwede]

Apple, Siemens and Sisvel patent infringement leads to CeBIT booth raid originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For a device with as much superphone street cred as the Milestone, you’d think a basic task like listening to music through the headphone jack would be a cakewalk. No problems, right? So straightforward, really, that it’s not even worth testing thoroughly — and therein lies the problem, it seems. Milestone owners on both sides of the pond are reporting en masse that music playback occasionally skips over the jack — though stereo Bluetooth, ironically a more CPU-taxing operation, seems to be fine. For many owners, particularly those who don’t carry a separate PMP, that can totally be a deal-breaker. It’s said you can work around the issue by putting the phone into airplane mode, which effectively makes it a dedicated PMP anyhow — not an optimal solution, right? Yeah, Moto, this seriously isn’t shaping up to be your week, so let’s just make sure you earn some brownie points with awesome customer service through this rough patch.

[Thanks, Vlad G.]

Motorola Milestone skipping on music playback, perfect for Billy Joel’s ‘Movin’ Out’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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