Archos G9 tablets to receive Ice Cream Sandwich by ‘first trimester’ of 2012

Archos’ duo of G9 tablets have been on the market for a few months now, but the French manufacturer has already made plans for the slates’ next major update, announcing today that the devices will receive an update to Android 4.0 by the “first trimester” of 2012. Archos didn’t offer anything more specific than that, but it’s certainly an encouraging sign for those looking to take a bite of Ice Cream Sandwich on a budget. Read the full press release at the source link below, but be warned that it’s in French.

[Thanks, Wewewi]

Archos G9 tablets to receive Ice Cream Sandwich by ‘first trimester’ of 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 8 desktop interface swaps classic theme for Metro, gets with the times

Microsoft’s Windows 8 developer preview greeted us with an interface steeped in Redmond’s new Metro style — its tile-centric start screen is sleek, fresh, and downright pretty. Imagine our surprise then, when the preview’s desktop default view punted us straight back to the contemporary “Aero” dressing of Windows 7. It’s not an ugly interface by any means, but shiny, translucent window frames are so last generation. Where’s the style? In the big M’s latest Building Windows 8 preview, of course. The MSDN blog’s latest Task Manager update shows the familiar feature in a clean Metro suit. Although Aero is still the OS’ default look, the Windows 7 basic theme has been substituted for a style heavily inspired by Metro’s clean tiles. The post doesn’t say much on the matter (nothing at all, in fact), but it’s nice to see the classic interface getting a facelift to match Microsoft’s new look. Want to see more? Hit the source link below, it’s got all the Metro window frames you could ask for.

Update: This post originally misstated that the updated Basic theme was a new style, but in fact, it is already available in the Windows 8 developer preview.

Windows 8 desktop interface swaps classic theme for Metro, gets with the times originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jolicloud heads to the actual cloud, Joli OS gets open-sourced

Mum’s been the word from the Jolicloud camp over the past few months — summer vacation, we get it — but the company has apparently been working quite diligently on what’s next: the “new Jolicloud platform.” According to a mildly vague blog post from the outfit, the next edition of the OS will introduce “the personal cloud,” enabling users to access the information stored there from “your iPhone, your Android phone, your tablet, your computer and pretty much any connected device with its API.” In related news, Joli OS has been open sourced and is now available to the community, and if you’re interested in finding out more about the whole ordeal, sign up for the private beta in the source links below. Invites are going out soon, or so we’re told.

Jolicloud heads to the actual cloud, Joli OS gets open-sourced originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechCrunch  |  sourceJolicloud (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

IRL: Kingston Wi-Drive, Dyson DC35 and being an Ubuntu fanboy

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

The lively comments in yesterday’s Nest thermostat post got us thinking: for all our talk of smartphones and Ultrabooks, it’s the mundane, not-glamorous stuff that we’re spending most of our money on. Take Brad, for instance, who had to make room in his iTunes library for the Aladdin soundtrack and had to get creative after maxing out his iPhone’s (non-expandable) storage. Or Zach, who felt not one, but two vacuum cleaners were necessary in his bachelor pad. And at least one of us avoids paying anything by choosing to tinker around in Ubuntu. How’d Brad make do with his 16GB of fixed storage? Why is Zach such a compulsive cleaner? And who’s the Linux fanboy on staff? Meet us after the break to find out.

Continue reading IRL: Kingston Wi-Drive, Dyson DC35 and being an Ubuntu fanboy

IRL: Kingston Wi-Drive, Dyson DC35 and being an Ubuntu fanboy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly

The Nexus One, grandaddy of Android’s latest pure-bred wonder, appears to have some fight left in it. Developer drl33tmd has managed to coax the old man into running an early port of Ice Cream Sandwich, although it’s not perfect. The somewhat unstable build is a bit sluggish, and suffers from media playback issues and a distinct lack of WiFi. Check out the demo after the break to see the original Google smartphone struggle up some increasingly steep software stairs.

Continue reading Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly

Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change Apple’s OS X 10.7 (Lion)?

Apple’s most highly sophisticated OS yet? Cupertino would have you think so, but as with any major update, there have been plenty of quirks to work through in the months following the introduction of Lion. For those of you who’ve made the 0.2 leap from 10.6.8 (or from further back, actually), we’re interested in learning how your overall experience has been. A good move? Still regretting it? What apps have broken on you? Has your workflow changed at all? Do you prefer “natural” scrolling? How would you tweak Lion if given the chance? What apps would you overhaul? What factory settings would you alter? Carefully considered thoughts are welcome in comments below.

How would you change Apple’s OS X 10.7 (Lion)? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP’s chief strategy officer to retire next month, won’t have a successor

Remember Shane Robison, the HP exec who advocated for the survival of webOS following the company’s decision to dismantle its hardware unit? Yeah well, he’s about to make an exit. HP confirmed yesterday that Robison will retire from his position as executive VP and chief strategy and technology officer on November 1st, after spending eleven years at the company. In a statement, HP praised Robison for spearheading much of its R&D and several high-profile mergers during his tenure there. “In his role, he was responsible for shaping HP’s corporate strategy and technology agenda,” the company said. “He was instrumental in steering the company’s multibillion-dollar research and development investment and has led many of the company’s largest merger and acquisition activities.” Newly minted CEO Meg Whitman, meanwhile, described Robison as a powerful innovator and lauded his role in guaranteeing “that innovation continues at HP.” Perhaps the bigger story, however, is the fact that the firm doesn’t plan on filling Robison’s shoes. In the announcement, HP confirmed that his position will be dissolved as part of “an effort to drive strategy, research and development closer to the company’s businesses.” The implications, of course, remain to be seen. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading HP’s chief strategy officer to retire next month, won’t have a successor

HP’s chief strategy officer to retire next month, won’t have a successor originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to Xperia handsets?

HTC may be busy pondering its Android 4.0 future, but Sony Ericsson is apparently ready to take a bite out of Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich. Yesterday, in a post on its Facebook page, Sony Ericsson’s Dutch branch stated that it will indeed upgrade its Xperia lineup to the latest Android OS, though it didn’t offer any details on release dates. We reached out to the manufacturer for confirmation, and received the following statement:
Sony Ericsson is currently rolling out the upgrade to Gingerbread 2.3.4 across its entire 2011 Xperia smartphone portfolio. This software upgrade will be available through a phased roll out in select markets. Beyond Gingerbread 2.3.4, we plan to upgrade our 2011 Xperia smartphone portfolio to the next Android platform made available to us.

The company went on to say that all official software announcements will be posted on its blog, so we’ll let you know as soon as we have more details.

Sony Ericsson bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to Xperia handsets? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All About Phones (Translated)  |  sourceSony Ericsson Nederland (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments

Google Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0): a hands-on screenshot gallery

Hello there, Ice Cream Sandwich! Google and Samsung just took the wraps off of the former’s newest mobile operating system here in Hong Kong, and boy — she’s a beauty. Of course, we’ve known about ICS for months now, but outside of a few sneak peeks courtesy of Mr. Blurrycam, we didn’t know precisely what to expect. Strangely, Motorola’s recent introduction of the Droid RAZR only delivered the freshest offering of Gingerbread, but the Galaxy Nexus is oh-ficially the first smartphone in the world to launch with Android 4.0. Our test unit was actually running 4.0.1 for reasons unknown, but as we mentioned in our Galaxy Nexus hands-on, it was as smooth as ever. Without question, this is easily the slickest, most polished version of Android yet, and we invite you to take a tour yourself via the hands-on gallery below. Apologies for the quantity, but we wanted to explore every nook and cranny while we had the chance.

Google Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0): a hands-on screenshot gallery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 7 overtakes XP globally, Vista found weeping in a corner

According to StatCounter, it’s taken roughly two years for Redmond’s latest to surpass XP and become the world’s most popular operating system. October 2011 marks the first time that Windows 7 has overtaken XP globally, with a 40 percent share of the market versus the latter’s 38. As for Vista, it’s been holding steady at around 11. Not that it’s much of a surprise, as in North America, Windows 7 took the crown back in April of this year. Rounding out the top five, are OS X (though it’s not clear whether that captures all of Cupertino’s beasts) and Linux, which come in at 7 and 0.82 percent respectively. But don’t take our word for it, hop on over to the source links and get your interactive chart on.

[Thanks, Pipera]

Windows 7 overtakes XP globally, Vista found weeping in a corner originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WinRumors  |  sourceStatCounter (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments