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Vodafone’s Wayfinder is first victim of free smartphone navigation services

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Back in January 2009, as Vodafone was preparing to close a £20 million ($30 million) deal to buy Swedish mapmaker Wayfinder, it was seen as a bold move from a carrier intent on entering the apparently lucrative market for location based services. Fast forward to the present day — past the bit where free Google Maps Navigation destroyed TomTom and Garmin share prices, and past the introduction of free turn-by-turn navigation to Nokia’s Ovi Maps — and you’ll find Wayfinder gently sobbing into a handkerchief as it permanently closes up its doors. Vodafone’s Anna Cloke gives us the reason for it with devastating concision:

“We could not charge for something that others gave away for free.”

So there we have it, the paid navigation services deathwatch has its first fatality, and it’s the unfortunate nature of the beast that plenty of others will be following suit, unable to resist the destructive effects of the free and ubiquitous services now on offer.

[Thanks, Chris]

Vodafone’s Wayfinder is first victim of free smartphone navigation services originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series devices to boast 480 x 800 pixel displays, HD2 owners sigh

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Even though Microsoft’s big MIX event is still days away, the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform is already pretty well defined. It’s also clear that Microsoft wants to keep things tidy for developers by requiring all WP7 phones to meet a certain base-level spec. Now, thanks to a post from Microsoft’s Shawn Hargreaves, we know the display resolution for the first batch of Microsoft’s next generation phones: 480 x 800 (WVGA) pixels at launch, with a future update that will introduce a 320 x 480 (HVGA) native resolution. Dedicated hardware will ensure image scaling across all those pixels without taxing the GPU. That allows game developers, for example, to write to a lower resolution (requiring less horsepower) and then scale up as required while remaining compatible to a variety of screen resolutions.

Now, for those playing along at home, the HD2 getting ready to launch on T-Mobile in the USA is also WVGA and it features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, Microsoft’s WP7 silicon partner. So we can assume (but not guarantee) that it meets the image scaling hardware requirements described by Hargreaves. Man, if only the HD2 had three-buttons.

[Thanks, Cytrix]

First Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series devices to boast 480 x 800 pixel displays, HD2 owners sigh originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android’s American market share soars, WinMo pays the price

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Mobile manufacturer and platform market share stats for the US are in for the month of January thanks to comScore, and as usual, they tell a fascinating (and somewhat unpredictable) story of what’s actually going on at the cash registers. Motorola — which has long since fallen off its high horse on the global stage — still maintains a commanding presence in the American market by representing some 22.9 percent of all subscribers, though that’s down 1.2 percent from October 2009; that’s particularly interesting in light of the Droid’s success, and a possible sign that smartphones still aren’t on the cusp of dominating the phone market overall. Samsung recently touted the fact that it had held onto the States’ overall market share crown, though Sammy was undoubtedly referring to sales, not subscribers — in other words, there are still a ton of legacy RAZRs out there inflating Moto’s stats.

Turning our attention to smartphone platforms, BlackBerry OS, iPhone, and Android all saw gains, while Windows Mobile and Palm both saw significant downturns. You might use Palm’s loss of 2.1 percent of overall market share in a single quarter as a big nail in webOS’ coffin, but we’re inclined to believe this includes legacy devices — and considering the huge installed base of Palm OS-based handsets (Centros, for instance) that are coming off contract these days, it’s neither surprising nor alarming to see that kind of drop. Android’s gain, meanwhile, likely comes in large part from WinMo’s whopping four percent loss — it’s no secret that WinMo 6.x is well past its expiration date with customers leaving in droves (even before Windows Phone 7 Series announcement), and our informal observations lead us to believe that many of those folks are heading for Android. After all, it’s kind of convenient that Android gained 4.3 percent and WinMo lost about the same, isn’t it? BlackBerrys still dominate the American smartphone landscape, and the iPhone market looks like it might be mature for the time being — Apple added just 0.3 percent to its market share in the quarter, possibly a sign that folks are holding out for whatever Cupertino brings us come Summer. Is this a sign that Palm needs to step up its game yet again? Undoubtedly — but at the same time, we wouldn’t call the loss of those Palm OS subscribers a death knell just yet.

Android’s American market share soars, WinMo pays the price originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobiado’s 712GCB: ‘your choice of yellow or rose gold’ is really all you need to know

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Were you up late at night trying to imagine what a Mobiado 712ZAF might look like were it covered in 8 microns of 18-karat gold? Well, an honest night of peaceful slumber might finally be within reach now that the Canadian company has answered the call with the 712GCB. The pricey candybar carries over everything you love (or hate) about the 712ZAF, including the 2.2-inch QVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, AGPS, and tri-band 3G, but swaps out the plebeian bits of colored steel for your choice of yellow or rose gold. Price is, of course, unlisted — but you were just planning on putting it on the black card without asking any questions anyway, weren’t you?

Mobiado’s 712GCB: ‘your choice of yellow or rose gold’ is really all you need to know originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Talkin’ Windows Phone 7 Series gaming with Microsoft at GDC

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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We already got a look at Microsoft’s little XNA show-and-tell as relates to Windows Phone 7 Series, but our colleague Andrew Yoon over at Joystiq had a chance for longer sit-down with Xbox Live general manager Ron Pessner and XNA Game Studio manager Michael Klucher at GDC today, and he’s been kind enough to share the interview with us. The main topic of conversation was the company’s plans regarding Xbox LIve and, specifically, how it would be integrating it into Windows Phone 7 Series. And believe us, there was plenty to discuss — including the sweet science of porting games from Zune HD to 7 Series phones (“it’s 90, 95 percent code reuse… in an hour or couple of hours, we’re taking games that were written for Zune HD and putting them on the phone”), the importance of maintaining a consistent gameplay experience amongst different hardware, and the reasoning behind limiting devices to asynchronous multiplayer. What are you waiting for? Hit the source link to embark on this miraculous journey of discovery.

Talkin’ Windows Phone 7 Series gaming with Microsoft at GDC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unreal Engine 3 up and running on webOS, and we’ve got video!

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Palm just showed us the Unreal Engine 3 running on webOS, which apparently took a couple weeks to port over to the platform using that fancy new PDK. It runs at a pretty smooth clip, with just a tiny bit of artifacting in our enemy’s death animation. As an added bit of wow factor, Palm has it currently setup to demonstrate the game at 1 fps when in card view. Like most touchscreen shooters, this doesn’t really solve the problem of simulating dual analog sticks, but it’s still a fun and good looking engine for a mobile device. We’re still unaware of any games that have been built for the mobile engine, which has now been shown for iPhone, Tegra 2, and will be headed to the iPad as well, but we have to assume we’ll be seeing some before too long. Check out the webOS video after the break.

Continue reading Unreal Engine 3 up and running on webOS, and we’ve got video!

Unreal Engine 3 up and running on webOS, and we’ve got video! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone SDK 3.2 showing first hints of multitasking for third-party apps?

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Naturally, we need to first disclaim this noise by saying that rumors of third-party multitasking capability in the iPhone are as old as the iPhone SDK itself. That said, it’s hard to ignore a new reference to a “multitasking dialog box” buried deep within the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta that — while not new to beta 4 specifically — we’re told didn’t exist in 3.1.3. Now, the wildest possible speculation would have us believing that this is the very first by-product of a new multitasking system for developers that’s being developed for the platform, presumably destined for an appearance in OS 4.0 when it’s introduced along with new hardware this summer — but it’s just as likely that Apple will continue to keep the iPhone’s multitasking capability to itself, a function it uses liberally among the phone and music apps, just to name a couple. For what it’s worth, AppleInsider is citing a tipster claiming that Apple’s got a “full-on solution” to multitasking that would properly address its main concern — battery life issues — for release this year, so maybe we’ll be able to chuck those awful push notifications before we know it. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be over here in the corner running a few dozen apps on our Pre Plus.

iPhone SDK 3.2 showing first hints of multitasking for third-party apps? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iDongle hardware iPhone jailbreak tool makes hacker life a little simpler

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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If you needed any more proof that Apple’s lame cat-and-mouse game with the iPhone jailbreak community has only served to increase the scene’s resourcefulness and creativity, look no further than the iDongle, a slick piece of hacker-made hardware that can jailbreak and activate an iPhone 3GS or iPod touch running OS 3.1.2 just by plugging it into the dock connector. What’s more, it allows a jailbroken iPhone to be rebooted away from a computer, which is currently a problem for on-the-go hackers — just stick this guy in your bag and you’ll be good to go. There’s only a dozen prototypes right now, but pre-orders are being accepted to raise funds for production — we’ve got a feeling quite a few people are going to be interested. Video after the break.

Continue reading iDongle hardware iPhone jailbreak tool makes hacker life a little simpler

iDongle hardware iPhone jailbreak tool makes hacker life a little simpler originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid…. and a Jitterbug

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Sure, you read reviews and take recommendations from friends before you buy a new cellphone, but have you ever stopped to consider what the inventor of the cellphone uses on a daily basis? C-SPAN has, and recently took the opportunity to ask the man himself, Marty Cooper, that very question during a wide-ranging interview. While Cooper said that he has used an iPhone previously, he recently passed it on to his grandson in favor of a Motorola Droid, which he says he chose because he wanted to get more experience with Android. But that’s not all, Cooper also revealed that he carries a Jitterbug as well for when he just wants to make phone calls. Surprising for a pioneer of mobile technology? Not exactly, as Cooper actually co-founded Jitterbug with his wife, who he credits with inventing the phone. Head on past the break to watch the complete interview.

Continue reading Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid…. and a Jitterbug

Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid…. and a Jitterbug originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DARPA looking to develop iPhone and Android apps, App Store

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Sure, in the past we’ve got a hearty chuckle out of initiatives that involved Redfly terminals and Clippy variants, but the question remains: how can we get cutting-edge tech into the hands of soldiers faster? We’ve recently come across some RFIs for DARPA projects aimed at developing apps and an App Store for Android and the iPhone OS, with two in particular — Mobile Apps for the Military (DARPA-SN-10-27), and Transformative Apps (DARPA-BAA-10-41) — catching our eye. The agency is calling for apps for battlefield, humanitarian, and disaster recovery missions, including command and control, mission planning, surveillance, reconnaissance, and language translation. Of course, if you start taking commercial smartphones out to the field there’s the small matter of network coverage — if you thought that getting a reliable connection in midtown Manhattan was an issue, what about downtown Kabul? Looks like DARPA also has plans for a military that brings its own towers with them, light-weight mobile base stations that could create a “secure mobile tactical network … compatible with commercial smartphones.” What do you think? Looking to help your country out, make a bit of money, or maybe a little of both? Check the links below to start your lucrative career as a military contractor. And tell ‘em Engadget sent you.

[Thanks, Sriram]

DARPA looking to develop iPhone and Android apps, App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Incredible out in the wild once more, Verizon color scheme alive and well

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Android Forums is alight today with fresh HTC Incredible chatter — a phone every Android fan on Verizon is desperately waiting for — and we’ve managed to glean a few more pictures and possible specs out of the mess. It looks like we can expect a half gig of RAM with about 320MB available (roughly the same as what you find on the Nexus One) and an 8 megapixel cam, but interestingly, the phone’s Snapdragon core is apparently underclocked to 768MHz, almost certainly a battery-saving measure on HTC’s part; fortunately, the Sense-powered Android 2.1 firmware is still said to be “blazing fast.” It measures 117.5 x 58.5 x 11.9mm — just a hair narrower, shorter, and thicker than its Nexus One doppelganger, small enough of a difference so that we think it’ll be virtually indistinguishable in person. As shots go, we’re seeing now that HTC has moved from the brightly-colored glossy shell to a soft-touch black one while keeping the strange contours; we think there’s at least a chance that this is final ID, too, since the Verizon logo is silkscreened at the bottom. Inside, the entire thing (including the battery itself) is a shockingly loud shade of red, mirroring an odd design trend first seen on the HD mini. We definitely dig it. If the stats over on the forum hold up, the Incredible’s on track for a launch in April or May, so it’s still a few weeks off — in the meanwhile, we encourage you to check out more of the new shots after the break.

[Thanks, Matt and EBBY]

Continue reading HTC Incredible out in the wild once more, Verizon color scheme alive and well

HTC Incredible out in the wild once more, Verizon color scheme alive and well originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Novothink rolls out Solar Surge iPhone / iPod touch charging case

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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It’s not November ‘09 as originally promised, but Novothink has now announced that its Solar Surge charging cases for the iPhone and iPod touch are finally available. Those will run $79.95 for the iPhone 3G/3GS version and $69.95 for the iPod touch version (second gen only, it seems), which are each available only in black or white at the moment (additional colors are “coming soon), and should add between four and eight hours of talk time, or up to 20 hours of additional audio playback. That’s, of course, when the charger is fully charged, but Novothink says you can still expect to get between 30 and 60 minutes of talk time after two hours of exposure to direct sunlight.

Novothink rolls out Solar Surge iPhone / iPod touch charging case originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Casio G’zOne Brigade now officially available on Verizon

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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It’s no mere coincidence that folks have been able to pick up Brigades this week, because Verizon’s chosen today to officially light up retail availability of its latest in the long-running G’zOne series from Casio. The landscape QWERTY clamshell features a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with video capture, microSD expansion, EV-DO Rev. A data, mil-spec 810F compliance for resistance to just about all the bad stuff you could possibly come in contact with during an average day, and a pair of displays: WQVGA on the inside paired with a 128 x 96 monochrome OLED up front. It runs $249.99 on contract after $50 rebate and it’s available today, so start planning your next dusty, wet, cold, rocky activity where you can put this thing to the ultimate test.

Casio G’zOne Brigade now officially available on Verizon originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile webConnect Rocket available March 14, already blowing minds in Philly

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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It looks like T-Mobile’s webConnect Rocket USB modem will be released right on schedule, even if you currently have to be in Philadelphia to enjoy those HSPA+ speeds (then again, if you’re in Philadelphia you probably deserve a break). Accordingly, folks jumping on that March 14 release date can expect to pay $99 with a two-year contract that entitles you to monthly charges of $50 for 5GB or $20 for 200MB — with a $0.20 / megabyte overage charge. Fun! Additionally, the kids at Mobile Burn got their hands on a unit for a review and were generally quite impressed with consistent download speeds ranging from 1780Kbps to 2797Kbps “on a couple of [DSLreports.com] East Coast servers.” Hell, after moving to a location with “prime, perfect signal (-51dbm)” things picked up considerably, with, on average, 6480Kbps downloads and 2160Kbps uploads. Not bad, eh? Hit the source link to get into the nitty gritty. PR after the break.

Continue reading T-Mobile webConnect Rocket available March 14, already blowing minds in Philly

T-Mobile webConnect Rocket available March 14, already blowing minds in Philly originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera Mini 5 on Android mini review

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Opera Mini 5 on Android mini review

digg_url = ‘http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/11/opera-mini-5-on-android-mini-review/’; Opera’s Mini 5 beta finally hit Android in the wee hours of this morning and, while writing about what it looks like is nice, we thought a little walk-through to demonstrate the impressive speed of the thing was worthwhile. So we have a short video for you below, with a comparison against the stock Android browser, plus some impressions of just how it is to use. So, click on through, won’t you?

Continue reading Opera Mini 5 on Android mini review

Opera Mini 5 on Android mini review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Touch Pro2 gets a new lease of Android life, loves it (video)

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Android for Windows phones — simple concept, simple enough installation, but awesome results. The good people behind the XDAndroid project have been working hard to allow you to get your Google juices flowing nice and freely on your WinMo device and the latest build looks to have all but completed the task. Demonstrated on a Touch Pro2 — a phone that recently got itself Ubuntu-ized — the Android installation experiences no difficulty in making calls, sending SMS or email missives, or browsing the web. There are still limitations, mind you, with GPS, Bluetooth and “other key functions” not yet available, but for the most part you’re looking at the full Android experience on devices that weren’t initially meant for it. Check it out on video after the break or hit the source link for detailed instructions on how to load this up on your own phone.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Seems the Touch Pro2’s keyboardless cousin has no intention of getting left out of the party — m8cool has a little exposé on HTC’s Touch Diamond2 dual-booting WinMo with Android. Thanks, stagueve!

Continue reading HTC Touch Pro2 gets a new lease of Android life, loves it (video)

HTC Touch Pro2 gets a new lease of Android life, loves it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PRS Guitarbud jacks your axe, ego into iPhone / iPod touch

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by IBM. 

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Whatever happened to that dreamy Line 6 / Apple tie-up? Who knows, right? While those two sort out their future behind the scenes, Paul Reed Smith Guitars is stepping up to take advantage of an obvious market opportunity. The newly announced Guitarbud is a simplistic accessory that allows axe slingers to jack their guitar into an iPhone or second-generation iPod touch, all while providing a headphone output in order to keep the noise making to yourself. We’re told that the device works with pretty much any recording-supported app (even Apple’s own Voice Memos), though PRS obviously recommends that you check out its JamApp guitar amp simulator / tuner / training tool. Best of all, it’s available today for £29.95 (or $29.95 here in the States), putting you just a few yard mowings away from securing your own personal aural sanctuary. Too bad the reviews from early adopters aren’t so promising…

PRS Guitarbud jacks your axe, ego into iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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