Hasta La Gadget!

Arduino, Android and the iPhone usually get all the DIY love, but Mike Linnen, he has taken the road less traveled by — turning to Windows Phone 7, Azure and a Netduino Plus to get his home hacking on. The .NET-powered microcontroller is the heart of Linnen’s new sprinkler system which can be scheduled to turn on and off automatically or manually triggered remotely from his WP7 handset. The system also monitors weather forecasts and, if the chance of rain is above 39-percent, any sprinkler activity for the day is canceled to avoid over watering the grass and plants. It’s all pretty neat, and there’s some DOS command line action thrown in for good measure. Check out the lengthy demo video after the break, and hit up the source for more detail and the necessary code to set up your own.

Continue reading Netduino and WP7 used to remotely control sprinkler system, show off Microsoft’s DIY credentials

Netduino and WP7 used to remotely control sprinkler system, show off Microsoft’s DIY credentials originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of August 15, 2011:

• Vodafone’s very own budget-friendly Facebook Phone, the Vodafone 555, is now on sale. £62.50 is all it will take to get the non-touchscreen featurephone in your fingertips. [via SlashGear]
• A spec sheet and screenshots of the Sony Ericsson Nozumi leaked this week. The handset will likely feature a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm S2 CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, and 4.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution. Interestingly enough, the phone is rumored to require a micro SIM, much like the iPhone 4. [via XperiaBlog]
• US Cellular launched two new Android devices for its prepaid lineup, the Samsung Gem and HTC Merge. The Gem offers a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 800MHz CPU, and Android 2.2 for $140, while the Merge is a global-capable QWERTY slider with a 3.8-inch display, Android 2.2, and more for $300. [via US Cellular]
• Immediately following Google’s acquisition of Motorola, discussion centered around the possibility of the latter company becoming the preferred OEM for Android — a privilege that would, in theory, include designing and producing the next Nexus. Andy Rubin, the head honcho for the open-source OS, put such rumors to bed by offering more insight on the approval process for upcoming Nexus phones, and insisted that HelloMoto will continue to be treated the same as every other OEM; it will have to bid for the job just like every other company does. [via AndroidCentral]
• The Huawei Blaze, a budget Android handset that runs on Gingerbread, may arrive in the UK as early as September. The Blaze would mark the first time we’ve seen the company offer a phone under its own branding in the UK. [via CNet]
• Shocked to hear the Kyocera Echo isn’t selling as well as the company had hoped? Yeah, neither are we. Nonetheless, in the hopes of sparking sales, it’s started offering twelve premium games for free to the first 10,000 downloads as part of its “summer of free apps” campaign. Good luck with that. [via Electronista]
• With all of the buzz rightfully centered around Nokia and its quest for Windows Phone dominance, how bright does Vertu’s future look? If Eldar Murtazin is to believed, Espoo’s luxury phone branch will also be on the receiving end of WP7 devices. The main difference with Vertu’s version compared to the rest of Nokia’s lineup? It’ll most likely be covered with gold and diamonds. [via WMPowerUser]
• The Samsung Galaxy Q, another name for the Gravity Smart, is now available on Rogers. The device is geared toward the lower end, so it may not be the most lustworthy letter in the Samsung Galaxy alphabet. [via MobileSyrup]

Mobile Miscellany: week of August 15, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In two years, we’ll mark the thirtieth anniversary of the first commercially available cellphone — built by Motorola, incidentally. Given this week’s big news from Google, and other big events that we can only presume are yet to come, those two years may also prove to be some of the most interesting yet for the mobile industry.

One of the more telling things about Google’s acquisition announcement on Monday was the response from Motorola’s competitors (and Google’s partners). Immediately following the news, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC and LG all came out to praise Google’s commitment to “defending Android,” which presumably also means that they remain committed to using Android. What’s more, as Google itself has made explicitly clear recently, it’s not just defending Android as any company would defend its own product, but defending it against what it’s described as “hostile” and “organized” threat from Apple and Microsoft (and, to a lesser extent, Oracle).

That increasingly hostile footing and a further-bolstered Google (assuming the acquisition goes through) also now creates some clearer lines and an entirely new dynamic between the major players in the mobile industry. Google and Microsoft are now taking similar approaches by licensing out their operating system to others while also having a hand in hardware development (by proxy with Nokia in the case of Microsoft). Neither are about to go as completely independent as Apple has, of course, but they both seem to have decided that it’s no longer enough to just focus on software and leave manufacturers entirely to their own devices.

That leaves RIM and HP who, like Apple, are each trying to go it alone with their own hardware and mobile operating system — although HP is apparently open to the idea of licensing webOS if it has any takers (an option that seems to be getting less and less likely). The question now is will they succeed by staying out of the fray, or will they be forced to join it and choose sides?

Continue reading Editorial: Google, Microsoft and the incredible shifting mobile landscape

Editorial: Google, Microsoft and the incredible shifting mobile landscape originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android’s always had a best friend forever (or, for the time being) in Verizon. Together, the two companies were able to establish Andy Rubin’s mobile OS as a serious platform competitor, fighting back against the then threat of AT&T’s exclusive iPhone juggernaut with Moto’s Droid. Flash forward to present day and it’s no wonder Big Red’s SVP John Thorne is giving a public-facing, albeit tentative, thumbs up to Google’s Motorola Mobility acquisition. Thorne’s official line on the deal concerns the “stability [it might bring] to the ongoing smartphone patent disputes,” but the executive declined to comment further, citing a lack of known details for the proposed buyout. Certainly, the wireless operator has good reason to keep a close eye on the takeover, as a recent Chitika survey pegs it with a commanding 41 percent share of active Android handsets. So far, only Nokia has come out from behind Microsoft’s shadow, hailing the move as a boon for WP7 and casting shade on Google’s intentions. As for the rest of the industry, it appears they’re all making heavy use of that nifty statement generator. Hit the more coverage link to see what we mean.

Verizon embraces Google’s Moto Mobility deal, hopes for an end to patent disputes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Microsoft preparing to fill in Google’s old mobile boots? It could very well be, now that the search king has firmly committed to the hardware side of the mobile business. According to a report on GigaOM, MS was one of many potential suitors circling Motorola’s treasure trove of patents, effectively forcing El Goog to swoop in for the $12.5 billion kill. Moto’s portfolio of 17,000 patents and 7,500 patent applications would have significantly strengthened Redmond’s attack on the Android platform, but it appears the loss might actually benefit MS in other unintended ways. Despite the cheery, public well-wishing from handset makers, insider rumblings indicate a possible mass OEM defection to Windows Phone 7 could shortly be afoot, paving the way for a fierce, three-way mobile OS fight. For its part, Google doesn’t seem too worried about the competition, considering the deal’s hefty $2.5 billion break-up fee — a percentage three times that of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger penalty — a confident financial sign it intends to win this wireless race.

Google’s Moto Mobility deal may have had Microsoft roots, comes with $2.5 billion break-up fee originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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