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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What do you do if you’re the maker of a popular netbook operating system? Create your own netbook, of course! Okay, it does seem like a rather odd step, but Jolicloud CEO Tariq Krim tweeted a few teaser images this morning and then confirmed with the exclusive shot above that the software company is in fact working with a hardware partner to create its own 10.1-inch netbook. The details are fairly slim at the moment, but Krim did share that the mini-laptop will boot Jolicloud 1.1 and be primarily aimed at those in the 12 to 25 age range. As for specs, your guess is as good as ours at this point, although he boasted that it will be able to rock 720p video. We can’t tell much from the picture above, but it sure does have a funky lid, VGA port and a few USB sockets. Pricing and availability are being firmed up now, but it will apparently hit for under $500 and before those long-awaited Chrome OS netbooks. That’s not really saying much at this point since we’ve been wondering about the whereabouts of those Chrome-books for almost a half a year now, but hit the gallery below for a few more mysterious shots and we’ll promise to fill you in on the details when we hear more.

Jolicloud prepping a netbook of its own originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On the tenth day of the tenth month in the tenth year (read: today) Ubuntu Linux has hit its 10.10 revision, though it’s mostly more of the same. The new Unity desktop interface makes cramped netbook screens more organized, software purchase support might legitimize Ubuntu as an app platform, Ubuntu One brings a free 2GB of Dropbox-like cloud storage to automatically synchronize files and folders, and streams music to Android and iPhone devices too… for a price. There’s also full multitouch support, if you’ve got the hardware. “There’s never been a better time to try Ubuntu,” the open-source community cries, and they’re probably right — early reviewers claim this Maverick Meerkat build is one of the best they’ve tried. Find the 700MB downloads at our source link, or in torrent trackers all around the world.

Read (1), (2) – Expert Reviews
Read – ExtremeTech

[Thanks, Bobby]

Ubuntu 10.10 ‘Maverick Meerkat’ officially released: get your cloud storage, paid apps and Unity UI now originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What is this madness we see before us? Hexxeh, he who provides your nightly Chromium builds, has dropped a small but perfectly formed bombshell by revealing that he’s managed to install Google’s nascent OS onto Apple’s hotcake of a tablet, the iPad. He’s evidenced this feat by tweeting from the liberated slate, though one of his outgoing missives includes the dire warning that he’ll “dash your hopes later, there are a few catches.” Well, at least that gives us a little time to fantasize about Appoogle synergies before those dream-destroying details are revealed in full.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Chromium OS infiltrates iPad, makes itself comfortable originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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