Hasta La Gadget!

Surely by now you’re mighty familiar with Samsung’s Android-conquering Galaxy Tab 10.1, but we’re still here waiting on that slate’s promised TouchWiz update. Now it’s on display, courtesy of an official video posted by the company. Whilst listening to some incredibly jazzy music that will make racing fans think they’ve accidentally booted into Gran Turismo 5, watch a disembodied hand show off some of the Honeycomb customizations that, for the most part, look fairly unobtrusive, including a bigger, friendlier settings screen. More interesting, though, is a look at the Mini Apps that are accessed by what looks to be a gesture from off the bottom of the display. Six proggies will be available at launch: a calendar, task manager, clock, note pad, calculator, and music player. We’re still not sure just when the OTA update will filter out to enable these suckers, but more importantly we’re not sure what to call them when it does. Mini Apps isn’t doing it for us, and sadly Java already has “applets” locked up tight.

[Thanks, Marc]

Continue reading Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps

Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does Gmail’s current look seem chaotic and claustrophobic to you? Are you overwhelmed by the myriad mailing options, labels, and chat windows? We aren’t either, but apparently Google sees things differently, and has an interface overhaul planned that’ll simplify things in your webmail world. It looks like the spacious and simple design language from Google + will carry over to all the web services proffered by the gang in Mountain View. For now, it’s available as a couple of simplistic skins to be tried on in the Themes tab of your Gmail settings, with more permanent changes rolling out in the coming months. Google Calendar is slated for a stripped-down wardrobe in the next few days as well, with El Goog promising more cosmetic and functional changes for both services later this summer. In the meantime, the company’s looking for feedback on its new interface so it can fix any issues folks find. We want your opinions, too, so tell us what you think of Google’s new threads in the comments below.

Google says less is more: Gmail and Google Calendar to sport a more spartan look originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Make no mistake, Microsoft isn’t playing coy in the smartphone market any longer. The folks in Redmond are making a significant jump forward in the mobile arena, announcing that the upcoming version of Windows Phone, codenamed “Mango,” will be heading to a device near you in time for the holidays. As its competitors have raised the bar of expectations to a much higher level, Microsoft followed suit by adding at least 500 features to its mobile investment, which the company hopes will plug all of the gaping holes the first two versions left open.

We received a Samsung Focus preloaded with the most recent developer build (read: not even close to the market release version) and we had a few good days to put it through its paces. It’s still far from completion, as there were several key features that we couldn’t test out; some weren’t fully implemented, and others involved third-party apps that won’t be updated until closer to launch. Yet we don’t want to call this build half-baked — in fact, it was surprisingly smooth for software that still has at least four months to go before it’s available for public consumption.

At the risk of sounding ridiculously obvious, we’re mighty interested in seeing the final result when all is said and done this holiday season. As a disclaimer, we can’t guarantee that the stuff we cover here will actually look or act the same when it’s ready to peek out and make its official introduction in Q4; as often happens, features and UI enhancements are subject to be changed by the Windows Phone team as Mango gets closer and closer to release. Let’s get straight to brass tacks, since there’s a lot of details to dive into. It’d be best to grab a large beverage (we’d recommend a Big Gulp, at least), find your most comfortable chair, and meet us after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7.5 Mango in-depth preview (video)

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango in-depth preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like Apple’s getting another fix in before Lion slinks on to the scene. Mac OS X 10.6.8 is now available for download, and brings with it a number of “general operating system fixes,” including further support for IPv6, improved VPN reliability, and removal of known variants of Mac Defender. It also promises to fix a glitch that has Preview randomly shutting down, and will get the App Store ready to roar for when Lion lands on the scene. We’re getting it going on our laptop at home. If you’ve done the same, let us know how it’s working out for you.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 update now available originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba’s Regza AT300 tablet for the Japanese market delayed until late July, will ship with Android 3.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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