Hasta La Gadget!

Sure, Android is a brand new operating system at a seemingly huge disadvantage to other, more entrenched household names like Windows Mobile or Symbian. Well, all that could change — at least according to research just released by Gartner, Inc. The company’s report claims that Android could claim upwards of 14 percent of the global mobile operating system share by 2012 (it now has less than 2 percent). This would make it the number two (behind Symbian OS) phone OS in the world. The main factors behind this surge, according to Gartner’s report, are the fact that Android is a Google-backed proposition, a company which will continue to offer more cloud-computing services and apps which will increasingly draw users into its web. They also note Android’s “blend” of app heaviness (making it like the iPhone) combined with the task-mastering of Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones. We’ll let you know when Grandma Elly has a Sholes — that’s the real test of success and popularity in our world.

Filed under: Cellphones

Android could nab second place in mobile operating systems by 2012, says research originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ah, Snow Leopard. It’s the same cat you’re used to caressing (or beating, as the case may be), but in a much, much colder climate. Or something like that. OS X 10.6 promised Leopard users a “refined” experience, and one that would only cost upgrading users $29. At that price, most Apple fanatics figured that picking it up on launch day was a no-brainer, but as we’ve come to sadly expect from Cupertino’s software labs these days, all wasn’t perfectly well with the big snowy cat. Even now, users are still kvetching about broken functionality and mental pains that are literally indescribable. Even if you’re not in that camp, we’re eager to hear how your Snow Leopard experience has been. Are you satisfied with the upgrade? Will you never, ever install an Apple update again before a million others try it first? Are you already looking forward to 10.7 Windows 7? Tell all in comments below — you never know who could be tuning in.

Filed under: Software

How would you change Snow Leopard? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It would seem that the humble netbook owner’s Windows 7 options just keep improving as the grand new OS comes closer to release. After plans to limit netbooks to running three apps at a time were thankfully scrapped, Microsoft has now confirmed with us that it is going to allow OEMs to splash any version of Windows 7 they desire onto their Atom-powered miniature laptops. That’s right, you can totally rock Windows 7 Ultimate and Aero visualizations on a machine that can handle neither. Joking aside, it’s pleasing to see the Redmond brain trust steer clear of arbitrary limitations on customer choice.

[Via GadgetMix]

Filed under: Laptops, Software

Windows 7 coming to netbooks in all its myriad flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

While Intel was off showcasing its latest and greatest in San Francisco, Microsoft was camped out over on the right coast with a bit of its own news. In a two-part announcement at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston, the Redmond giant declared that Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 had been released to manufacturing, meaning that Silverlight is now a huge step closer to getting all up in your next embedded device. In more interesting news, the outfit also stated that its initial rollout of Windows 7 technologies (read: support for multitouch and gestures) to OEMs of these specialized devices had begun, meaning that low-power gizmos based on x86, ARM or MIPS processors (smartbooks, anyone?) would soon have access to some of the same stuff used in Microsoft’s own Surface. Feel free to dig into the links below for more, but we’re warning you — there’s some serious technobabble behind those blue words.

[Via ComputerWorld]

Read – Windows 7 technologies headed to embedded devices
Read – Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 gets RTF

Filed under: Software

Windows 7 technologies headed to embedded devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We can say for sure that our own Windows 7 upgrade experience didn’t take, oh say, a whole day, but according to Microsoft, your own just might. The boys and girls in Redmond set out with a goal of seeing the Vista to Windows 7 upgrade accomplished around five percent faster than an upgrade to Vista, and while it seems that they succeeded, the staggeringly wide range in install times has us a wee bit concerned. A variety of testing situations were put in place, and nearly every profile was tested on low-, mid- and high-end hardware. A clean install of Windows 7 on mid-to-high-end hardware took just a half-hour, but a 32-bit upgrade on a mid-range machine with 650GB of data and 40 applications took an astounding 1,220 minutes, or just under 21 hours. The wild part here is that it’s not all that uncommon for a power user / all-around nerd to have a half-terabyte of information and two score programs, and in anticipation of one install actually taking over a day, the team didn’t even bother testing this path on a low-end rig. Good thing our imaginations are in check, huh?

[Via ArsTechnica. thanks Martin]

Filed under: Software

Upgrading to Windows 7? Set aside 21 hours, just in case originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments