Hasta La Gadget!

If it weren’t for a book’s worth of confirmation text from Nokia, we’d swear the N950 was just as much a unicorn today as it’s been every day prior. Even now, the developer version of the newly-announced N9 is coming to us sans imagery, with only a scant few hardware specifications to piece together something of an image in our minds. Thankfully, the mere mention of a “QWERTY keyboard” leads us to believe that it’ll look an awful lot like a leak we spied back in August of 2010. Needless to say, this MeeGo-based device won’t ever be widely available, but those interested in breaking out the code can look forward to a 4-inch TFT LCD (compared to the N9’s far superior 3.9-inch AMOLED), an identical 854 x 480 screen resolution, a “different” 8 megapixel physical camera, a different location for said camera, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a slightly less sensitive magnetometer. It’s also devoid of an NFC module, and the 1320mAh battery falls a bit short of the 1450mAh cell tucked with the downright delectable N9. Mum’s the word on price and availability, but Nokia’s not hesitating to remind us that the N950 units that do ship will be of “beta quality and come without any warranty or support whatsoever.” Don’t even front — you’re still buying one.

Update: The N950 device after the break was pulled from a Qt developer video looking very much like those early N9 leaks (and not the E7 slider) presumably protected by a plastic case.

Update 2: Another N950 without the case can be seen above.

[Thanks, Mark and Alan]

Continue reading Nokia’s N950 developer MeeGo handset gets official: 4-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, same childlike dreams (updated)

Nokia’s N950 developer MeeGo handset gets official: 4-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, same childlike dreams (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stephen Elop said that Nokia would unveil its first MeeGo device this year, and he just made good on his word with the N9 (also known as Lankku). Just as we spotted earlier, the N9 is a solid slab of 3.9-inch AMOLED screen (854 x 480) sans a keyboard or physical switches of any kind (well, aside from that oh-so-necessary volume rocker and camera button). The phone comes with 16GB or 64GB of onboard memory and 1GB of RAM wrapped in a polycarbonate shell that’s colored all the way through, so dings and scratches won’t show — unless the wounds run deep, of course. An OMAP3630 1 Ghz processor does the computing while a PowerVR SGX530 GPU is around for graphical grunt work. Connectivity comes courtesy of quad-band GSM and penta-band WCDMA radios, plus Bluetooth 2.1, NFC, and GPS. There is also a dedicated camera button for the 8 megapixel wide-angle shooter, which is capable of aperture F2.2 for low light picture taking and true 16:9 720p video recording. Oh, and it’s an AF shooter, not EDoF.

The entire thing measures 116.45- x 61.2- x 7.6-12.1mm and weighs 135 grams, with a battery capable of lasting up to 50 hours (music), 4.5 hours (720p video), or between seven and 11 hours (GSM yappin’). You’ll also get gratis turn-by-turn drive and walk navigation with voice guidance in Maps, a dedicated Drive app, proximity sensor and a choice of hue: black, cyan, and magenta. Other hardware specs include 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, an ambient light sensor, compass, orientation sensor, a micro SIM slot, tethering support and a 3.5mm “AV connector.” It’ll be humming along on MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan, with apps being compliant with Qt 4.7 and HTML5 support bundled in.

As for software? Aside from Angry Birds Magic, Galaxy on Fire 2, Real Golf 2011 and OpenGL ES 2.0, those who take the plunge will be greeted with a Webkit2-based browser, pinch-to-zoom support, unified notifications for Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds in the Events view as well as social networking profiles and status updates merged into phone contacts. MeeGo touts a user interface simplified to three home views — events, applications and open apps — with a swipe gesture able to take you back to the home view. For those looking to expand upon what’s loaded from the factory, Ovi Store access is included, but we’ve no idea what kind of pricing will be affixed. We’ll be getting a fair bit of hands-on time with this guy in just a few hours, so keep it locked here for our first impressions!

Continue reading Nokia’s N9 official: a luscious slab of MeeGo coming later this year

Nokia’s N9 official: a luscious slab of MeeGo coming later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, it’s technically been possible to manage one’s TiVo via the mobile web for a half-decade now, but earlier methods were neither intuitive nor enthralling. Earlier this year, the company released its iPad app — a diddy that showcases functions like remote control features, ToDo List prioritizing and Season Pass management. After hinting at a number of apps for smaller-screen devices (boasting all manners of operating systems), the latest print edition of CEPro has delivered solid intel that the aforesaid whispers are becoming reality. With Honeycomb slates dropping left, right and center, we’re wondering if the Android build will target tablets first and smartphones later — perhaps even a merged edition once Ice Cream Sandwich crawls from the freezer. Either way, it’ll soon make recording season-long reruns of The Hills even easier for those living within iOS or Android ecosystems, including updates from the places you’re too embarrassed to mention in public.

TiVo Android and iPhone apps in the works, Season Passes soon at your fingertips originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dead battery in Belgrade? Head to the city’s Obrenovac district, where a group of students has developed the world’s first public charging station powered entirely by solar energy. Known as the Strawberry Tree, the structure’s 16 ports support a variety of handhelds, allowing pedestrians to juice up their cell phones in just ten to 15 minutes, at no charge. Its built-in batteries can also store up to a month’s worth of back-up energy, enabling the station to hum along at night, or even during Serbia’s less sunny seasons. In the first 40 days following its November launch, the Strawberry Tree logged some 10,000 charging sessions — or about ten charges per hour. Creator Miloš Milisavljevic was just 17 years old when he came up with the idea, and now, at the ripe old age of 22, is looking to plant new stations across other Serbian cities, through his Strawberry Energy NGO. He says these installations won’t generate much revenue from consumers, but that’s not really the idea:

“Energy from the sun is free, and it would be unethical to charge people to use the Strawberry Tree…We are trying to inspire young people to think about the source of the energy they use, and behave and act responsibly.”

You can check out the Strawberry Tree in the video below, or find out more about Milisavljevic’s ideal-driven endeavors in the full PR.

Continue reading Strawberry Tree brings free, solar-powered charging to Belgrade’s BlackBerrys, more (video)

Strawberry Tree brings free, solar-powered charging to Belgrade’s BlackBerrys, more (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to battery-boosting power sleeves, we’d say the iPhone’s covered, but what of the little green monster? Well, at least two Androids can now get juiced by way of a new charging case from PowerSkin. HTC’s Inspire 4G and Desire HD are getting a little extra power with the release of this black silicone skin, which promises 1500mAh and up to eight hours of added battery life. The PowerSkin will set you back $60, and is now available at Amazon and the source link below.

PowerSkin battery case pumps juice to HTC Inspire 4G, Desire HD originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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