Dec 10
Dec 08
Google’s big week: Nexus S, Honeycomb tablets, Chrome OS laptops, and eBooks to boot
Posted in: Android, Chrome, chrome os, ChromeOs, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, ebooks, gingerbread, Google, GoogleAndroid, honeycomb, maps, motorola, NeXus, nexus s, NexusS, nfc, samsung, Today's Chili, verizon, video, vzw
We gotta hand it to Google: if its goal was to own the technology news cycle for 48 hours, mission accomplished. The Mountain View-based company spent the first two days this week laying out pretty much every big announcement it possibly could: a new flagship phone coming next week (the Nexus S), a new Android build (2.3 Gingerbread), a preview of the next Android build (Honeycomb) on a never-before-seen Motorola tablet, the debut of its cloud-based laptop platform (Chrome OS) with hardware, and a giant plunge into the growing e-book market — and that isn’t everything. We’ve done our best to condense all the days’ highlights into something easier to digest, so read on for a recap on all things Google!
Google’s big week: Nexus S, Honeycomb tablets, Chrome OS laptops, and eBooks to boot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dec 06
Google’s Andy Rubin live from D: Dive Into Mobile
Posted in: Android, gingerbread, Google, LiveBlog, NeXus, nexus s, NexusS, Today's Chili
Stay tuned… there’s some serious Nexus S / Android action about to occur.
Continue reading Google’s Andy Rubin live from D: Dive Into Mobile
Google’s Andy Rubin live from D: Dive Into Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dec 06
What You Need to Know About Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Posted in: Android, Google, NeXus, Phones, Smartphones, Today's Chili
Google on Monday announced its new Nexus S phone, which runs an upgraded version of the Android operating system dubbed Gingerbread.
Gingerbread (Android 2.3) mostly adds refinements to older features, such as faster text input and an improved copy-and-paste tool. However, there are also some brand-new additions to the OS, such as internet telephony and near-field communications.
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new in the OS, courtesy of Google’s Android developer center.
Near-field communications
The OS ships with an NFC-reader application, which can read NFC tags. (For a full explainer on NFC, read Wired’s 2004 article.) This addition has bigger long-term implications: If a bunch of smartphones ship with NFC chips, then merchants could potentially use Gingerbread-powered devices to read their chips as a substitute for the credit card. So the idea is you’d be able to pay for everything with your phone.
Support for front-facing camera
The built-in camera app will now support a front-facing camera, if the Android device has one. (That’s cool, but Google probably should’ve added this before HTC shipped the Evo 4G smartphone with a front-facing camera.)
Dec 06
Samsung Nexus S utilizing NXP’s PN544 NFC chip
Posted in: Android, gingerbread, NeXus, nexus s, NexusS, nfc, samsung, smartphone, Today's Chili, Wireless
Well, color us surprised. Just last Wednesday, Samsung announced that it had developed its very own NFC module in-house, but today we’re learning that it came just a few months too late for inclusion in the outfit’s forthcoming Nexus S. Right on cue, NXP Semiconductors has come forward today proclaiming its involvement in the first handset to ship with Android 2.3. The outfit’s PN544 NFC controller and accompanying open source software stack will be used in the Nexus S, and naturally they’ve both been “fully integrated and validated on Gingerbread.” Of course, only time will tell what sort of applications spring up to take advantage, but we’ve got a feeling that metro payments and the like could be first in line. Nice of America to finally catch up, right?
Continue reading Samsung Nexus S utilizing NXP’s PN544 NFC chip
Samsung Nexus S utilizing NXP’s PN544 NFC chip originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 14:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dec 06
Samsung Nexus S: The New Official Google Phone [Video]
Posted in: Android, BestBuy, gingerbread, Google, NeXus, nexus s, Phones, Smartphones, Today's Chili, top
The new Google Phone is here: The Nexus S. Built by Samsung, it’s got a 4-inch Super AMOLED “Contour Display,” 1GHz Hummingbird processor, NFC support, and most importantly, it’s running a completely clean version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. More »
Dec 06
Android 2.3 update now rolling out to Nexus One owners (update: not yet)
Posted in: Android, gingerbread, Google, NeXus, nexus one, NexusOne, Today's Chili, update
Nexus One owners feeling a little Nexus S envy can breathe a little easier — we’re hearing that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is being pushed out to the N1 as we speak. We’d imagine that all the slick new features that don’t require new hardware (like NFC support) will be there, and we’re definitely interested in playing with this built-in WiFi calling stack. We’ll let you know what we find — won’t you do the same?
Update: Looks like our flood of tips came from people who were seeing their N1s get a different, less-interesting update. Google tells us that Gingerbread isn’t rolling out just yet, but is coming. Of course, we’ll let you know when the actual 2.3 update hits the OG Nexus. Ah, the heady optimism of hope.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Android 2.3 update now rolling out to Nexus One owners (update: not yet) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nov 15
The Nexus S: a closer look
Posted in: Android, exclusive, gingerbread, Google, NeXus, nexus s, NexusS, samsung, Today's Chili
Google CEO Eric Schmidt showed the world the Nexus S from a distance just a little while ago, but we knew you’d want more, and so we managed to convince the man to show us the device in person just a few minutes ago. What should you know about the heir apparent to the Nexus One? Well, it’s exceptionally thin — we weren’t able to compare, but we’d say it’s at least comparable with an iPhone 4 if not slimmer still — and it’s thinner in the middle than at either end, giving it a mildly concave profile. There’s a glossy plastic bezel up front housing an AMOLED screen, a pair of discrete volume buttons on the left side, and a black plastic back (textured similarly to the BlackBerry Bold, though patchier) which seemed too roughly manufactured to be anything but a prototype. We saw the handset for all of three seconds and weren’t able to snap a single picture nor touch it for ourselves, but as Schmidt walked away he left us with one last lingering look at Gingerbread — the screen shutting off. When he pressed the power button, the image winked out like an old CRT TV, an animation which you’ll see a carbon copy of right after the break.
Continue reading The Nexus S: a closer look
The Nexus S: a closer look originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nov 11
Nexus S for T-Mobile gets brief Best Buy Mobile nod: there and gone again
Posted in: Android, BestBuy, Google, NeXus, nexus one, nexus s, NexusOne, NexusS, samsung, Today's Chili
Well, this was rather unexpected. Earlier today, Best Buy Mobile published a humble (if not incomplete) ad for the “Nexus S for T-Mobile,” touting both its “pure Google” experience (i.e. vanilla Android) and holiday availability exclusively from Best Buy. It’s gone now, saved only by the grace of Google cache. To be honest, all we can do is speculate beyond that. An anonymous tipster to RadioAndroid pegged the Nexus S name late last month and claimed it would feature Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, and a Hummingbird processor. TechCrunch later described a Samsung-borne “Nexus Two” that has since been delayed due to some serious hardware issue. Is this a placeholder from the online devs? Does / did the S stand for Samsung, or something else entirely? And most importantly, is this presumed follow-up to Nexus One actually coming out, or did you just get your hopes up for nothing?
Nexus S for T-Mobile gets brief Best Buy Mobile nod: there and gone again originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jul 01
Nexus One gets yet another Android 2.2 Froyo update, FRF91
Posted in: Android, froyo, Google, NeXus, nexus one, NexusOne, ota, Today's Chili
Another day, another Froyo build. Now that Android 2.2 build FRF85 — i.e. the big one that got pushed over-the-air to every Nexus One this week — is out on the prowl, Google’s taken it upon itself to release yet another update, FRF91. We’ve heard from a few tipsters that it’s also going out OTA, but our devices have yet to be notified — all the same, a direct link for the file has been found, so it’s legit. Word on the street is it’s just a security update, but we’ve yet to install it ourselves. Go on, live a little, download’s just below.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nexus One gets yet another Android 2.2 Froyo update, FRF91 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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