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When it comes to Android tablets, you know there’s more than just the Galaxy Pad and Xoom, right?

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So this is something: according to one of Business Insider’s sources, Barack Obama watched the entire raid of Osama Bin Laden’s compound live via a helmet cam feed. Badass. More »

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, said President Barack Obama in a televised address nearly 10 years after the September 11 attacks.

This morning, RIM finally unveiled its next generation mobile operating system, BlackBerry OS 7. It’s not a giant leap forward, but RIM is detailing a faster and easier-to-use OS that comes with an integrated, voice-enabled Universal Search system.

BlackBerry fans that have been frustrated by the operating system’s chronically sluggish Web experience will be pleased to know that OS 7 offers a “significantly enhanced” browser with HTML5 video support and speed updates.

Interestingly, OS 7 won’t have any legacy support, meaning that even the current generation Bold or Touch that you bought last year will be left behind — you’ll need to have one of RIM’s brand new 9900 or 9930 devices to run it. SlashGear writes that according to RIM, “the reasoning behind the absent upgrades is that the new OS is so dependent on the hardware graphics capabilities of its new handsets.”

RIM’s new BlackBerry Balance application, though, will work on any device running OS 6.0 or later. First detailed in January, Balance is RIM’s solution for combining both your personal and corporate accounts — and all the security requirements that those require — on a single device. For example, you can wipe all of the enterprise data from your phone, while still leaving the personal accounts intact. Or, social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter can be given limited access to anything from your corporate accounts.

BlackBerry OS 7 Features Announced–But It Won’t Run On Older Devices originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 02 May 2011 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who’s going to get the very first “tablet-optimized” Facebook app? Why, it’s RIM and the PlayBook! The Canadian company has today revealed it’s bringing a native Facebook app to its 7-inch, QNX-based slate, which will also be joined by a new Video Chat application. The latter will be available to download on May 3rd, with an over-the-air update dishing it out to current PlayBook owners. Its functionality will be no different from what we’ve come to expect from such clients — both voice and video calls will be available anywhere you can find a WiFi connection. As to the Facebook app, it’s coming some time later in the month, and will let you view and add your friends, share photos and videos “seamlessly,” access Facebook Chat, and view and interact with the news Feed. Both should be getting extensive demos at BlackBerry World, which is taking place this week, and we’ll be sure to have a gander and report our findings. Skip past the break for the full press releases.

Update: Well, that was quick — looks like Facebook for PlayBook is already up for grabs, and Canadian Reviewer has posted several screenshots for your amusement.

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook to get Video Chat and Facebook apps in May (updated)

BlackBerry PlayBook to get Video Chat and Facebook apps in May (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen it photographed, videotaped, and even, briefly, up on RIM’s own website. Now it’s up there to stay, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 (aka the Bold Touch) have been made official as RIM kicks off BlackBerry World in Orlando. As expected, the phone packs a 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor that has only a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen with a 287dpi pixel density to worry about. On the back is a five megapixel camera and inside is 8GB of internal storage (with microSD expansion) and NFC circuitry. At 10.5mm it’s RIM’s thinnest handset yet, featuring a stainless steel circumference and a fiberglass back, while up front of course it makes room for a full QWERTY keyboard. The 9900 supports HSPA+ connectivity to get its 4G on, while the 9930 is the world variant, adding dual-band CDMA and quad-band GSM to the mix, and both do 802.11a/b/g/n along with Bluetooth 2.1. Both, quite naturally, include the new BlackBerry 7 OS, including a faster browser and voice-activated search. Another picture and full specs are listed after the break, which will have to do you until this handset releases sometime in the summer, meaning this could be your next great beach accessory for those working vacations.

Update: Full press release and more images after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 (Bold Touch) official

BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 (Bold Touch) official originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The BB OS 6.1 update that grew too big for its name has just been made official by RIM as BlackBerry 7. Its ambassador into the wide world of smartphones will be the newly minted BlackBerry Bold Touch, which is expected to arrive “this summer.” What can you look forward to? The user experience is promised to be both easier and faster, voice-activated searches are available for content both on your phone and the web, and the browser has been “significantly enhanced” with new features like a JIT (just-in-time) JavaScript compiler and HTML5 Video support. BlackBerry Balance is also part of the new OS, allowing you to compartmentalize your personal and professional lives into neat and separate piles of content. Full PR can be found after the break.

Update: RIM has just noted that there will be “no legacy support” with BB 7, meaning that older devices, even those running version 6 of the OS, won’t be getting any (official) updates to the latest stuff. This has been justified by how tightly integrated the software build is with the underlying graphics hardware in the touch-capable Bold handsets. Basically, the old phones won’t be able to run the new OS. Oh, and in case you were wondering, there’s no trace of QNX in BB 7.

Continue reading RIM announces BlackBerry 7 OS with better browser and BlackBerry Balance, but no legacy support

RIM announces BlackBerry 7 OS with better browser and BlackBerry Balance, but no legacy support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I know. You want to see the bloody bastard dead as much as I do. But this terrible photo of a battered Osama Bin Laden—which is just making the rounds—is not the real thing. It’s just a terrible Photoshop job. More »

Osama bin Laden’s dead. But before we offed him, he was camped out in a Pakistani mansion—and in typical internet fashion, it's already pinpointed on Google. The mapper's anonymous, but they reveal strange things—police station neighbors? More »

While Samsung has yet to announce an actual date for its new Galaxy Players in the US, their international counterparts are already heading towards other parts of the world for a head start. The Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 is said to be debuting in Russia followed by other countries, whereas its 5.0 sibling will be launched in Switzerland. In terms of specs, not much has changed since we last saw these 1GHz, DivX-friendly Android PMPs, and yes, they’ll still be shipped with Froyo “with a possibility to upgrade to 2.3 Gingerbread.” As always, we’ll let you folks know when we eventually find out about the US launch (if ever), though to be frank, we’d rather just go for the beefier Galaxy S II instead.

Continue reading Samsung’s Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 and 5.0 now rolling out to countries far away from you

Samsung’s Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 and 5.0 now rolling out to countries far away from you originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 23:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola’s Atrix 4G laptop dock was a seriously sweet concept, which is why we were so disappointed when it failed to pan out. Sounds like Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha is ready to give it another try, though — on the company’s earnings results call this past week, he told investors that Moto is planning a whole series of Lapdock devices in the second half of the year:

You will see multiple devices from us in the second half launching with these capabilities, and we will expand the range of our Lapdock devices so we cover a broader price point, addressing both the enterprise premium tier as well as more consumer tiers.

“We plan on introducing successive iterations of our Webtop software and accessories that incorporate improved productivity tools and multiple price points,” he also said, echoing previous promises to include Webtop in all high-end smartphones starting this summer. Perhaps those closely spaced I/O ports on the Droid Bionic and Targa won't go to waste after all? If you simply can't wait, Sanjay claims there's also an official price drop inbound for the Atrix 4G — AT&T will offer a bundle with the Lapdock and phone for $400 later this month.

Motorola promises more Atrix-like laptop docks for future phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even a woman with a 40 Gbps internet connection might feel a twinge of jealousy at this news — Japan has successfully tested two separate 100 terabit per second data links that use a single optical fiber to carry their loads. New Scientist reports that NEC scholars stuffed the light from 370 lasers into 165 kilometers of fiber to achieve a speed of 101.7 Tbps, while NICT researchers set a new record of 109 Tbps using a special fiber with seven cores to manage the trick. We imagine that Alcatel-Lucent and NTT aren’t sitting still. Not that we really care who has the fastest fiber… just so long as one end leads to our house.

Researchers create two 100 terabit per second optical connections, dare us to torrent something originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V8 Supercar driver Karl Reindler was forced to run for his life after his Holden Commodore went up in flames at the beginning of a race in Perth, Australia. A rear end collision with fellow driver Steve Owen punctured the car’s fuel cell, causing it to explode in the unbelievable manner you see here. While Reindler’s $600,000 Holden was destroyed beyond repair, both drivers involved in the crash managed to escape with relatively minor injuries. More »

Looks like Gigabyte’s S1080 tablet, which landed in Taiwan earlier this month, is getting ready to hit shelves here in the US. The 10.1-inch Windows 7 slate stopped by the FCC, where it got cracked open and had its silicon-packed innards exposed for the camera. There’s nothing new to glean here — specs are still the same (dual-core Atom, 320GB hard drive, etcetera) and we haven’t heard anything about a much-needed price drop, but if you want a quick peak under the hood, check out the gallery below!

Gigabyte’s S1080 Windows tablet undressed by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just put the Samsung TX100 specs in the database along with an expected launch price of $699. It’s been confirmed today though that the Pc7 series / TX Read more …

iPhones. iPads. Android. And Windows Phone 7! We’ve updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. Be sure to check out all the lists! More »