Switched On: Android’s tablet traversal

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. At AsiaD this week, Google’s Andy Rubin noted that there were at least six million Android tablets in use. That number included only those running Google services. One could question whether the briskly selling Nook Color — which is not open to Android apps at large — is relevant to that tally, at least from a developer perspective. It will certainly be the case, though, that the Kindle Fire — also expected to be a hot seller — will be an important addition to the number moving forward. Still, Rubin conceded, it was a tally far behind that of the 30 million cumulative units of the iPad, which broke open the modern-day tablet category, extended its lead with the iPad 2, and will likely see another revision this coming spring. When Apple introduced its tablet device, it set a precedent for third-party developers by rewriting core applications to take advantage of the iPad’s larger display with “HD” versions. And while there are still far fewer native iPad apps than iPhone apps, Apple is far ahead in the race for native tablet software.

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Switched On: Android’s tablet traversal

Engadget Mobile Podcast 109 – 10.23.2011

We get excited. More specifically, we get excited about phones. Most specifically, we get excited about dead mobile phone platforms and the hardware they inhabit. Does that make us weird? We would say yes, but combine that with the fact that we also get excited about very alive, very dessert-influenced mobile platforms and you’ll have us giving ourselves a “5″ on the scale of totally weird to not weird at all. As usual, we’re a 10 on the exciting/excitement scale, so check it out: the 109th edition of the Engadget Mobile Podcast. Host: Myriam Joire ( tnkgrl ), Brad Molen Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Daestro – Light Powered ( Ghostly International ) 00:01:30 – Nokia N9 review 00:09:45 – Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich roundup: specs, details and insight, oh my! 00:18:20 – Samsung Galaxy Nexus camera and 1080p video samples 00:28:25 – Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore 00:33:24 – HTC: We’re reviewing Ice Cream Sandwich and determining our plans 00:48:42 – Motorola Droid RAZR unveiled: LTE, 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, available November for $299 00:50:00 – Motorola RAZR to get updated to Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012 01:00:30 – RIM announces PlayBook 2.0 Developer Beta and Runtime, marries Android to BlackBerry 01:04:45 – Research in Motion announces BBX, ‘combines the best of BlackBerry and QNX’ 01:07:05 – iPhone 4S review 01:08:30 – HTC Titan review 01:10:05 – HTC Amaze 4G review 01:14:15 – HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio review 01:19:10 – Is C-Spire getting the iPhone 4S? Its website says so (Update: confirmed) 01:22:34 – LG DoublePlay makes its official intro on T-Mobile, offers dual-screens and split keyboard 01:29:30 – Motorola Admiral to directly connect with Sprint on October 23rd for $100 01:31:03 – Sprint unleashes the HTC EVO Design 4G, available October 23rd for $100 01:34:25 – Microsoft doles out the dough to Nokia and Samsung, plans Mango marketing bonanza for year’s end 01:35:15 – Microsoft’s Andy Lees shows off Titan, Focus S, and Focus Flash Hear the podcast Subscribe to the podcast [ iTunes ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes [ RSS MP3 ] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically [ RSS AAC ] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator [ Zune ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) Contact the podcast podcast (at) engadgetmobile (dot) com.

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 109 – 10.23.2011

U.S. Army urges vets to get outta their dreams and into the virtual world

You’ve heard of power walking, but ” power dreaming ?” That practice’s usually the stuff of Buddhism, and now, could go a long way towards mending the psychic wounds of our nation’s bravest. With about 52% of PTSD-affected veterans reported as having disturbing nightmares, the U.S. Army’s working towards a virtual solution that’d marry the design of Second Life with laptop-displayed or 3D head-mounted, physio-emotional healing. The project, a form of biofeedback therapy which would create custom, stress-alleviating imagery for traumatized vets, is currently in the planning stage with Washington State’s Naval Hospital serving as its experimental base. Over half a million in funding’s already been put towards the effort which is expected to launch in full next year. And when it does, we’re hoping the tech resembles a certain Strange Days SQUID recorder — with happy thoughts, o’course.

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U.S. Army urges vets to get outta their dreams and into the virtual world

Scientists capture birth of new planet on camera, mother and child doing just fine

After all the pushing, squeezing and screaming, the universe has finally given birth to a new planet , in an eruption that two scientists managed to capture on film. The newborn pile of planetary pudge, named LkCa 15 b, was discovered by Drs. Michael Ireland and Adam Kraus, who, over the course of 12 months, successfully documented the event using Keck telescopes and a technique called aperture mask interferometry. Their findings, published in Astrophysical Journal describe a Jupiter-like gaseous planet that likely began forming some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. Located about 450 light years from Earth, it’s also the youngest planet ever observed, having dethroned the previous record-holder, which was about five times older. According to Ireland and Kraus, the LkCa 15 b is still being formed out of a circle of dust and gas (pictured above) surrounding a 2-million-year-old star.

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Scientists capture birth of new planet on camera, mother and child doing just fine

Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on

Microsoft’s next Xbox 360 Dashboard update may be packing enough deep Kinect integration to make your inner Anderton tingle with glee, but it won’t do you much good if you live in a shoebox apartment, cramped dorm, or happen to own a couch. For all of its fun tricks, the Xbox’s stereoscopic sensor is woefully farsighted, and doesn’t play nice if you stand too close. What’s a motion loving, spatiality challenged gamer to do? Well, we’ve heard of one option. Nyko announced the Zoom for Kinect quite some time ago, making lofty promises of reducing the sensor’s minimum required play distance by up to 40 percent. It performed notably well when we gave it a whirl at E3, but with Redmond’s Kinect heavy Dashboard redesign just around the corner , we thought we’d give it a second look. Gallery: Nyko Zoom for Kinect: hands-on Continue reading Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds

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Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on

Motorola Admiral to directly connect with Sprint on October 23rd for $100

We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time — that, of course, is the Motorola Admiral that Sprint sure had a difficult time keeping a secret . But no matter now, as the fleet captain is ready to hook you up with the Now Network’s CDMA-based Direct Connect service online starting October 23rd (November 13th for all sales channels) for $100 on a two-year commitment and after a $50 mail-in rebate. Summing up the specs: the Admiral features a 1.2GHz CPU, 5MP rear camera with 720p HD video capture, rugged 810G mil-spec design, 3G Mobile Hotspot for up to five devices at the same time, a 3.1-inch VGA display and Android 2.3. For a smartphone that you can kick the trash out of, that’s not too shabby. Check out the full press release below. Continue reading Motorola Admiral to directly connect with Sprint on October 23rd for $100 Motorola Admiral to directly connect with Sprint on October 23rd for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:20:00 EDT.

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Motorola Admiral to directly connect with Sprint on October 23rd for $100

Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets handled on video

We’re still a few hours away from Samsung’s big Ice Cream Sandwich event , but it looks like the company just can’t keep the Galaxy Nexus under wraps. First it showed up on the company’s site, and now here it is getting man-handled by Mr. Blurrycam. The footage is a little dark and hard to see, but that certainly looks like an ice cream sandwich running on there — and crashing from time to time. The video popped up on YouTube and was promptly pulled — but don’t worry, we kept a copy. Enjoy that after the break, and swing on back by here in a few hours for the liveblog . Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets handled on video Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:53:00 EDT.

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets handled on video

Verizon looking at November 10th launch for Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound?

Could it be that a trio of LTE-powered Superfriends are ready for a throwdown on the same exact day at your local Verizon outlet? According to a leaked internal doc courtesy of Droid-Life , signs point to November 10th as a probable launch date for what could be this year’s top three holiday gadget gifts: the Samsung Galaxy Nexus , Motorola Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound (formerly known as the Vigor). We’re a tad confused, however, because Motorola’s hero device is referred to as the Droid HD — which, as we’ve recently discovered, is certainly not the phone’s real name. Also interesting to note is the introduction of a “SMS Sync for Tablets” feature on November 13th, which may refer to some type of cloud backup service or a bridge between your tablet and phone. Either way, color us intrigued. Let’s cross our fingers that we’ll have a few more details to lean on tonight . Continue reading Verizon looking at November 10th launch for Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound? Verizon looking at November 10th launch for Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound?

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Verizon looking at November 10th launch for Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound?

RIM offers free apps to make up for that whole BlackBerry outage thing

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has already apologized for last week’s widespread BlackBerry outage , but apparently, that wasn’t enough. Today, the manufacturer announced that it’s offering customers a full slate of “premium apps” for free, in the hopes of earning back some of the goodwill it lost following that mysterious blackout. In a statement, the company said the gesture is “an expression of appreciation” for the patience that many BlackBerry users demonstrated during the incident, with Lazaridis adding that his company remains “committed to providing the high standard of reliability” that consumers have come to expect. For now, the company’s offering a total of 12 apps (collectively valued at around $100), including SIMS 3, iSpeech Translator Pro and Shazam Encore among others, though more will be added at a later date. The offer kicks off on Wednesday and will last for a month, so head past the break to see which goodies are up for grabs. Continue reading RIM offers free apps to make up for that whole BlackBerry outage thing RIM offers free apps to make up for that whole BlackBerry outage thing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Crestron debuts free, paid mobile apps for Android devices

It’s taken some time, but Crestron has finally rolled out an official version of its home automation remote control software for Android. Crestron’s iOS efforts have been around and there was also an unofficial solution available from former Sling founder Blake Krikorian, but now users can choose between the free Crestron Mobile app and $100 Crestron Mobile Pro app. Judging by its iOS counterpart, the Pro version adds a number of control options including pre-set scenes and more. Of course, if you’re rocking one of the company’s setups then we figure you pay someone to explain this stuff to you who can probably break it down in more detail. Hit the link below to download or check out the press release after the break. Continue reading Crestron debuts free, paid mobile apps for Android devices Crestron debuts free, paid mobile apps for Android devices originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

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