Hasta La Gadget!

That’s right, we just arrived in Barcelona fattened up on airline food and as rested as 8 hours of recirculated oxygen consumed at a 30-degree incline can provide. Weary? No way, we’re staring Mobile World Congress 2010 in the face, and if you’re a smartphone nerd (and really, what modern gadget fan isn’t?) then this is the event that will reveal our future handheld device purchases. So what’s going to happen? Windows Mobile 7 seems like a lock as is a Samsung Bada debut with the Wave handset. But what are HTC, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and the rest of the industry up to? We’ll find out soon enough — press events begin tomorrow.

Engadget is live from MWC 2010! originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We just heard about Garmin-Asus’ WinMo 6.5.3-packin’ M10 yesterday, and already the handset has been broken out for a photo shoot and hands-on review in Russia. The design itself isn’t anything otherworldly, but we have to say — we’re kind of digging the user interface. Granted, we’ve a soft spot in our hearts for Garmin’s nuvi line of PNDs, so anything remotely familiar gets a big thumbs-up ’round these parts. At any rate, critics noted that the phone was a pleasant mix of WinMo and nuvi, which is something that really sets it apart from other Windows Mobile-based offerings. There’s nary a mention of exactly how awesome this thing would be with Windows Mobile 7, but if you’re in no hurry to ponder the next big thing, give that source link a look.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 gets handled, reviewed in the wilds of Russia originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Hi-Tech  | Email this | Comments

We pretty much knew that Windows Mobile 7 is coming next week at MWC, but the Wall Street Journal has a piece up confirming the announcement, along with a few other interesting details. As we’d heard, the new UI is a riff on the Zune HD interface, and the OS “reflects a much tighter focus” on hardware / software integration, all based around a “small number” of hardware chassis specs — pretty much what we’ve known, but it’s interesting that the Journal‘s source says the plan is to “limit the wild variation” that’s typically been the hallmark of Windows Mobile. The WSJ also says that the long-rumored Pink project is a separate phone designed to replace the Sidekick — which we also basically knew — but that it won’t make an appearance at MWC at all. Hmm, sounds like someone ought tell all those Twittering Danger employees. We’ll see what happens — it all goes down early on Monday.

Wall Street Journal: Windows Mobile 7 coming next week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

HP’s mobile computing unit appears to have decided that the term smartbook refers to putting a smartphone’s components inside a netbook’s body — which kind of makes sense — so they’ve built their Airlife 100 atop an Android OS platform, underpinned by a Snapdragon CPU (unconfirmed, but highly likely), a 16GB SSD, 3G and WiFi connectivity, and a 10.1-inch touchscreen display. We really can find no cause for complaint — in fact this is the most excitement a Compaq-branded product has caused us… ever. HP touts a rock solid 12-hour battery life for the Airlife, which stretches out to a mighty 10 days of standby, in case you’re one of those folks who hate to switch their electronics off. Announced in partnership with Telefonica, this smartbook will be offered as a subsidized part of mobile broadband service plans in Europe and Latin America. It may well find itself renamed under the HP Mini branding when it rolls around to the US, but for now head on over to Engadget Spanish for the full PR.

Compaq Airlife 100 puts Android OS, Snapdragon CPU, and an SSD behind 10.1-inch touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Engadget Spanish  | Email this | Comments

It’s been a long, long while since we’ve seen any life from the OMAP4 labs at Texas Instruments, but with the sudden resurgence of the tablet, now seems just about right for the company to start showcasing the platform’s prowess once more. TI is expected to have a mind-bending showcase at Mobile World Congress later this month, but Slashgear was able to get a sneak peek at what’s to come at the outfit’s Dallas office. The device you’re peering at above definitely piqued our interest, as it’s some sort of twin-screened handheld that can actually support a third independent display courtesy of an integrated pico projector module. We’re told that OMAP4 will bring along dual 1GHz ARM A9 cores, patently ridiculous battery life figures (145 hours of MP3 playback with a 1,000mAh battery) and support for 1080p output via HDMI. Naturally, TI has no intention of ever bringing this piece of hardware to market, but it’d certainly love if some other firm stepped in and did so. Here’s hoping we’re overrun by potential suitors in Barcelona — given that the show kicks off on Valentine’s Day, we’d say the timing would be just about perfect.

TI’s OMAP4 prototype drives three independent displays without breaking a sweat originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Slashgear  | Email this | Comments