Hasta La Gadget!

We already know plenty of people who’ve eschewed traditional turn-by-turn GPS systems in favor of plotting it out for free on Google Maps, and now there’s whispers that Mountain View is coming after the rest of the market with a free nav app. That’s at least what nav services providers are saying to Forbes, who think El Goog is gearing up to release a free ad-supported navigation app after making moves to use its own US maps instead licensing data from Tele Atlas and putting ads on the iPhone Maps app. Obviously that would shake things up a ton — and make Android devices a huge bargain — but we’ll see where this all leads over the next few months.

[Via Fierce Mobile Content; thanks Elad]

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Handhelds, Software

Google developing free navigation app? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has reportedly met with major U.S. publishers, including The New York Times and Wired.com’s parent company Condé Nast, to discuss the future of digital media — perhaps floated by a touchscreen tablet. Now, even Australian media companies appear to be in talks with Apple, too.

Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday that Australian media companies have received specifications of Apple’s tablet. However, the Herald said none of its sources would go on the record (presumably because they are barred by a non-disclosure agreement.)

Corroborating previous Apple tablet rumors, The Herald claims the device is “tipped to be a larger version of the iPhone,” with a strong focus on e-reader capabilities.

The Herald’s report trails a video making rounds on the web yesterday, in which NYT editor Bill Keller alluded to an “impending Apple slate” during his keynote speech discussing digital strategies. Keller declined to comment when Wired.com requested clarification on the remark; he responded, “I ain’t sayin’” to All Things Digital.

Nevertheless, to date there’s a heap of independent reports citing anonymous sources who claim a media-centric Apple tablet is due out early 2010. To keep up with the news and rumors, read our previous round-up aggregating rumor reports about the Apple tablet.

See Also:

• In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …

Illustration of an imaginary Apple tablet: Factoryjoe / Flickr

Bill Keller speaks to the digital group at The New York Times from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller may have let slip something about an upcoming Apple tablet — but you have to make a lot of assumptions to interpret his comment as confirmation that an Apple tablet is really coming. Speaking to the digital media group at the Times, Keller spoke of his hopes that the newsroom would get more involved in delivering the news via various online media:

I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.

Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab posted the video of Keller (embedded above — fast forward to 8:30 to see the quote) as well as a transcript of Keller’s talk.

Gawker pounced on the comment as, perhaps, an inadvertent case of letting the truth slip out. The Times has been rumored to have met with Apple on the future of digital media — as has Wired parent company Condé Nast — and many assume such discussions included talk of delivering the news to an upcoming, e-reader-like Apple device.

But the Apple tablet is also one of the most widely expected devices of the year, and it’s just possible that the executive editor of the Times maybe, you know, reads the news?

In short: It’s not much of a confirmation at all. But then, we all know an Apple tablet is coming, right? Right?

See Also:

• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet

At this point we have no idea why Dell won’t just up and launch the Adamo XPS, but if they can’t get it sorted we’ll just piece it together ourselves — and today we’ve got two different sources providing specs for the super-thin laptop with the funktastic hinge. Inside that crazy 1.5-pound case lies some pretty standard internals: we’re hearing there’ll be 1.4 and 1.9GHz dual-core Intel ULV processors with integrated X4500MHD graphics and 4GB of DDR3 RAM, all under (well, behind) an LED-backlit 13.4-inch WXGA screen and either a 128 or 180GB SSD. That’s good for a reported score of just 3.3 on the Windows 7 experience test — pretty sad for a $2,000 machine. The two available batteries are said to be rated at either 20Wh for 2.5 hours of juice or 40Wh for four hours, and here’s the crazy thing — that touch sensitive case latch we’ve been hearing about? Yeah, it doesn’t work without power, so you can’t open the machine if your battery is dead. Nice. Now Dell, honestly, can we dispense with the run-around?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Adamo XPS specs leak out: ULV processors, integrated graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like the cat’s out of the bag. The Wall Street Journal’s had a glimpse at what it says is an upcoming ad for Barnes & Noble’s impending announcement, which just so happens to be a e-book reader with color touch screen (sound familiar?) dubbed the Nook. According to the article, it’ll be out Tuesday, retail for $259, and will let users “lend e-books to friends.” Very interesting, indeed — so who’s excited for tomorrow?

Update: We can’t say with 100 percent assurance, but a reliable source of ours claims that Barnes & Noble will be partnering with Best Buy for sales of the device, and units will actually be available this Thursday. That last bit sounds daring at best, as it’s Windows 7 launch day, but you never know what folks will get up to these days. Stay tuned!

Filed under: Handhelds

Barnes & Noble ‘Nook’ e-reader with color touchscreen out Tuesday for $259, says WSJ (update: Best Buy connection?) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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