Sprint: Samsung Moment and HTC Hero Android 2.1 updates now coming ‘in Q2’

Ouch. Just a few days ago, it seems like a certainty that Sprint would be pushing out Android 2.1 updates to the aging Samsung Moment and HTC Hero, but now a company admin has stepped in to assure us that things aren’t nearly that close to go. The full text is pasted in after the break, but the long and short of it is this: the long-awaited 2.1 update is now on track “to be available in Q2.” The carrier did confess to wanting this out sooner rather than later, but hey, at least your patience is really, really appreciated.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Sprint: Samsung Moment and HTC Hero Android 2.1 updates now coming ‘in Q2’

Sprint: Samsung Moment and HTC Hero Android 2.1 updates now coming ‘in Q2’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3G gets an Android port to call its own (video)

You’ll recall, studious little gremlins that you are, that we recently saw the venerable first-gen iPhone prancing about with an unusual little green droid providing it with operational commands. Well, the coder behind that project, David Wang, has now stepped his game up to the iPhone 3G, which has been outfitted with an almost complete implementation of Android. Audio support is the last missing piece of the puzzle, but the groundwork has been laid and it too should be ready for some unholy Apple plus Google action within the next few days. Downloadable binaries are currently being prepared, so we thought we’d help you fill the time with a video demo of the port, which may be found just past the break.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Continue reading iPhone 3G gets an Android port to call its own (video)

iPhone 3G gets an Android port to call its own (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 03:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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webOS update coming soon, PDK apps likely to land

Well, what have we here? A friendly tipster, who just so happens to be a registered Palm developer, has sent us the latest informational email from the recently-swallowed outfit, and while the tone here may be gentle, the implications are certainly serious. According to the memo, a new webOS update is “coming soon,” and developers are being alerted that they’ll need to be prepared to test their apps when it hits. Sometime early this month, devs will receive a specific launch date for the SDK release candidate, and while we’re told that the “scope of the changes in this [forthcoming] update is limited,” it’ll be particularly important for coders to “test PDK apps against this release candidate.” Seems like that promise of seeing PDK apps hitting the Catalog by mid-year is on track, acquisition be darned.

Continue reading webOS update coming soon, PDK apps likely to land

webOS update coming soon, PDK apps likely to land originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 00:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubuntu 10.04 ‘Lucid Lynx’ arrives on the scene

It’s been less than a year since Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” was released, but the next big version of the Linux OS has now already arrived to take its place: Ubuntu 10.04 “Lucid Lynx.” In addition to the usual tweaks and fixes, this one promises a boot speed that is “noticeably quicker” on almost any machine (and especially on those with SSDs), along with a range of new features including a social networking-oriented “Me Menu,” Ubuntu Software Centre 2.0 for easier access to new software, and a slew of new cloud-based services courtesy of Ubuntu One — not to mention the Ubuntu One music store. The release also marks the first time that GIMP doesn’t come pre-installed (you get F-Spot instead), and it is naturally complemented by Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition, which promises even faster boot speeds and other optimizations. Ready to make the jump? Then you can grab the Release Candidate right now at the link below, or you can wait a bit for the final Long-Term Support (LTS) version, which is said to be “just around the corner.”

Update: And just like that, the LTS version is out! Get it at the source link below.

Ubuntu 10.04 ‘Lucid Lynx’ arrives on the scene originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WebOS 1.4.1.1 now available for Verizon subscribers

Hardly the most exciting Palm news you’re gonna hear this week, but the company that still owns itself for the time being has just updated its WebOS software on Verizon to the extremely granular version 1.4.1.1. The helpful changelog informs us there are no new apps, but pinch-zoom now works correctly in Doc and PDF views, a lag in the camera shutter sound has been rectified, and forwarding videos uploaded to YouTube on to your friends via email has also been made to work as it should. The most important fix of all, though, is to a keyboard input issue whereby a single key press would generate a letter twice — both Pre Central and one of our readers report that this problem appears to have been consigned to the past. Good stuff, now let’s see it go global, shall we?

[Thanks, subzero and Sam F.]

WebOS 1.4.1.1 now available for Verizon subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 7 hits 100 million licenses mark, becomes Microsoft’s fastest-selling OS

It’s hardly been a secret that Windows 7 was on track to become Microsoft’s fastest-selling operating system, but the company has just now finally made that designation official, and also revealed that the OS has crossed the magical 100 million licenses sold mark in the process. In other words, that translates to Windows 7 being installed on one in ten of the world’s PCs just six months after it launched, which is pretty darn impressive any way you slice it — or punch it, as the case may be.

Windows 7 hits 100 million licenses mark, becomes Microsoft’s fastest-selling OS originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Home Server ‘Vail’ beta now available for download, brings improved UI and streaming options

It’s been a long (long!) time since we’ve caught wind of a substantial Windows Home Server refresh, but for those waiting on pins and needles, we’re thrilled to say that the excruciating wait has finally ended. Sort of. Microsoft has revealed today its public beta of the next version of WHS, code named “Vail.” The primary upgrades / changes include the extension of media streaming outside of the home or office, improvements in multi-PC backup and restore, simplified setup and user experience as well as “significantly” expanded development and customization tools for partner. Beyond that, the company’s playing things pretty close to the chest, but you can feel free to grab a 64-bit copy of the beta starting today and dig in yourself. ‘Course, Microsoft recommends that you install the software on a secondary (read: not important to your livelihood) machine, and on the development front, it’s introducing a new SDK for those who wish to “create add-in applications using Vail’s new extensible programming model.” So, whatcha waiting for? That download is a-callin’, and a brief demo video is just beyond the break.

Update: And we’ve already got our first review — good for those too chicken (or busy, frankly) to completely wipe a second PC just to see how Vail stacks up.

Continue reading Windows Home Server ‘Vail’ beta now available for download, brings improved UI and streaming options

Windows Home Server ‘Vail’ beta now available for download, brings improved UI and streaming options originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Windows Blog, Microsoft Connect [Download Link]  | Email this | Comments

HTC ‘continues to assess’ developing its own smartphone OS, Palm says ‘hey, assess this’

Failing a Palm acquisition, there might still be justification for HTC to build out its own software platform for many of the same reasons that buying Palm would make sense — the company’s getting bigger and more important to the market by the day, after all, and being left at the mercy of Google and Microsoft to produce cohesive platforms of their own might not sit well with Chou’s team ad infinitum. The HTC Smart could be regarded as its first baby step toward that goal, though the handset — based on Qualcomm’s Brew MP platform — is actually a featurephone that won’t fly with the same kinds of consumers that are cross-shopping Android and Windows Phone products. To that end, Bloomberg says that HTC’s CFO revealed in an interview that his company continues “to assess [developing its own smartphone operating system], but that requires a few conditions to justify.” Naturally, he went on to clam up when nudged about the Palm sitch — and he never got around to laying out what those “few conditions” were that would spur HTC to pull the trigger on any of this — but it’s starting to seem inevitable that this is all going to go down one way or another.

HTC ‘continues to assess’ developing its own smartphone OS, Palm says ‘hey, assess this’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: End of the Road for Original iPhone OS Updates

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This could be bad news for owners of the original iPhone: Steve Jobs told an inquiring customer over e-mail that the first-gen iPhone (the EDGE-only model with the aluminum back) will not be compatible with iPhone OS 4, Engadget reports.
There’s no official comment from Apple on this yet. If true, that means this will be the first time since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007 that a coming OS update won’t be compatible with earlier hardware. Three years sounds a bit short to dead-end a product when considered in isolation.
But then again, given that you can buy a brand new phone right this moment that can’t get an update to the next version of the OS, that has already been announced, it’s not so bad.

Apple Adds iPhone Multitasking–You React

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Apple and company CEO Steve Jobs finally went and did it, they added Multitasking–of a sort–to the iPhone OS. It’s not a pure-play, mind you. In iPhone OS 4 there are now certain services that developers can access to run processes in the background. Jobs is promising that this will protect performance and battery life.

Aside from a Verizon iPhone, this was probably the single-most-requested iPhone feature. While the developer preview is coming out today, consumers won’t see it until the summer, likely with a new iPhone. This sounds like good news for iPhone, iPad and Touch owners, especially those who wanted to run Pandora streaming music in the background while doing other things. Of course, I was curious what consumers thought of the news. I asked: “So what does everyone think of Apple’s iPhone OS 4.0 “multitasking” for new iPhones, iPads and Touchs? Is it good enough?”

Here’s a sampling of how people responded on Twitter.