Hasta La Gadget!

Will that fancy new smartphone you’re looking at buying run a version of Android that hasn’t even been announced yet? Or that Nokia 5800 — where’s the Symbian^3 upgrade? Has the lack of commitment on a launch date for the webOS 2.0 upgrade stopped you from buying a Pre on Sprint? The balance between the relative importance of hardware and software in the smartphone industry is definitely teetering toward the software side these days for a number of reasons: screens have no need to get any bigger or higher-resolution, processors likely can’t get much faster without a significant advance in battery technology, and we’re reaching a point where we’re all going to have HD camcorders in our pockets capable of taking still shots that’ll put even higher-end point-and-shoots to shame. So when you stabilize the hardware like that — that is, you get to the point where manufacturers are iterating essentially the same large slate over and over again with marginally better specs — the spotlight starts to fix squarely on the software underneath.

That is to say, whether a phone receives “good” operating system builds (and receives them on a timely basis) really makes or breaks its retail success now more than ever before. All too often, the question isn’t whether a particular device is great, it’s whether the manufacturer and carrier have committed to upgrading it — quite often to a version of its operating system that hasn’t officially been announced. It’s a recipe for confusion and paralysis among consumers that really don’t have a great reason to be putting off their purchases — they just want a reasonable assurance that their new phones aren’t going to be regarded as “obsolete” in six or nine months. And why shouldn’t they?

Continue reading Editorial: Should your next mobile OS update cost you?

Editorial: Should your next mobile OS update cost you? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We felt that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 was a product that would be perpetually evaluated, tweaked and overhauled as time went on, and sure enough, we’re already seeing those winds of change blow yonder. Reportedly, Microsoft has now removed the restriction that prevented developers from writing applications that would continue to operate behind a locked screen (without a user’s explicit permission, anyway), enabling a whole host of apps to breathe in a manner in which they simply should. Audio apps, for example, will now be able to run in the background without yet another layer of pointless Vista-esque permissions, and Microsoft’s Charlie Kindel said in an interview at its Professional Developer Conference that this move “is an example of us continuing to listen to customers.” Frankly, it’s just more fair — Microsoft’s own ingrained applications could already do this sans user permission (email, Zune playback, downloads, etc.), so it makes sense to give loyal developers that same opportunity. Of course, devs will have to prove that background apps won’t burn up an absurd amount of battery life, but that’s definitely not an unexpected qualification.

Microsoft loosens up, enables Windows Phone 7 apps to run beneath screen lock originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, maybe Microsoft meant “people don’t do that in 2010.” At the mega-corp’s UK-based Windows Phone 7 launch event, we were just informed that its hot-off-the-presses mobile OS will be blessed with a software update that’ll add copy and paste functionality in “early 2011.” That’s according to one Andy Less, and while details beyond that are scant, it’s possible that said update will also bring other magical makeovers into the fold. We’re still a little baffled that the company would leave such a seemingly vital part of the software out at launch, but we guess certain corners always have to be cut in order to get something out before a sure-to-be-profitable holiday quarter. And hey, it’s not like we haven’t seen another major mobile OS player pull this same stunt before.

Update: CNET’s Ina Fried got a quick look at an early implementation of copy and paste in Windows Phone 7, and says it works fairly well: You start by clicking on a single word, then drag your finger across the rest of the passage you’d like to transmit to expand your highlighted selection. When you let go, a paste button appears. Sound about right to you?

Copy and paste coming to Windows Phone 7 in ‘early 2011’ (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First things first — before you jump on past the break and mash play, mute your speakers. Mute. As in, off. Alrighty, now that you’re prepared, you’ve got two minutes and 14 seconds of teasing just a click away, as some sure-to-be-yelled-at developer has leaked a sneak peak into the wide, mysterious world of webOS 2.0. Not that we haven’t seen a cornucopia of screenshots already, but at least this emulation vid gives you a better idea of how things will actually flow once it gets released to end users. Oh, and as for those DropBox and MobileMe integration rumors? Looks like that’s just QuickOffice being QuickOffice.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Palm webOS 2.0 preview video hits the wilds

Palm webOS 2.0 preview video hits the wilds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already gotten a glimpse at MeeGo’s prerelease stock UI for handsets, but just like Symbian, there’s no guarantee that the experience is going to be consistent across manufacturers — and a new video apparently captured from an online survey makes it seem like Nokia might be looking to go in a slightly different direction. The one minute, twenty-nine seconds of footage walks us through five parts — starting up, the “powerful multitasking UI,” getting connected, the Ovi Store experience, and the music player — and as you might imagine, it’s the Ovi Store portion that has us feeling like this is a thoroughly Nokia-customized experience (not to mention the copyright in the lower left). It generally looks richer and more functional than what we’ve seen before, and parts — like the webOS-esque multitasking — remind us of Maemo 5’s thumbnails, which makes perfect sense considering MeeGo’s roots. Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, MTA]

Continue reading Nokia’s treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed?

Nokia’s treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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