Reality Bites
Oh Sony, if only you had chosen to deal with the growing user data breach swiftly and forthrightly. Then you could have spared yourselves a gallon of Fail-juice and the enmity of citizens and senators alike. Lucky for us, they decided to play the David Caruso card instead, and now we all get to giggle at this pitch perfect parody of PlayStation’s “it only does everything” campaign.
Enjoy:
CrackBerry has just dropped word via “numerous sources” that RIM will be revealing the next iteration of its mobile OS at the fast approaching BlackBerry World conference — and no, it’s still not QNX. Despite consistent rumblings that upcoming devices like the Bold Touch, and Monaco would be launching with OS 6.1, it seems that RIM has decided to re-brand the update completely as BlackBerry 7, perhaps to increase the value proposition and differentiate new devices being announced along with it. However, the site also speculates that current phones running BB6 may not get any BB7 action right off the bat — which could make sense, given that new features like NFC are only present in upcoming devices. All this is naturally unconfirmed, but if this is indeed yet another version of the BlackBerry OS, well, that certainly won’t help the platform get any more developer love.
RIM to launch 6.1 update as BlackBerry 7 OS at BlackBerry World next week? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
“What did it feel like, I wondered, to love someone that much? So much that you couldn’t even…
Rogers has announced it’s lighting up 150Mbps LTE in four Canadian cities this year. Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are setting the stage for an additional 21 market rollout in 2012. Sure, that theoretical 150Mbps — with an announced upstream of 70Mbps — may shift a whole lot when this all gets real, but seriously, compared to HSPA+ those speeds are astounding. Canadians eager to get a bit more info can take a peek at Roger’s new LTE site (link below) and cast a vote for your hometown to be part of the 2012 expansion. Rogers hasn’t mentioned a date just yet — or if they plan on all four areas going live at once — but you can be sure that we’ll be keeping close tabs on all the details and grabbing some hands-on experiences with launch devices as soon as we can.
Rogers announces 150Mbps LTE launch in four Canadian cities this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple fans like to tout just how many apps there in the Appstore–OK, OK, there’s quite a few–but Android completely dominates when it comes to the percentage of free applications.
By what margin does it dominate? Over half the applications in the Android Marketplace are free compared to less than a third of the iOS applications. What’s interesting about the numbers is how close the raw number of free applications is. Both the Appstore and the Market have roughly 130,000 free applications available for download with Android in the lead; the Appstore has 121,845 apps and the Marketplace has 134,342. What is significant is how Android has pulled ahead and how the large portion of the total available apps are free on the Android Market and how that reflects the greater Android culture.
Interested in more stats about the two? Hit up the link below for more infographics covering the changes in iPad app development and popularity as well as the overall shift in the mobile app ecosystem.
There Are Now More Free Apps for the Android Than For the iOS Platform [TechCrunch]
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Firefox 4? Too furry. Internet Explorer 9? Too blue. Google’s Chrome? Just the right amount of shine — or is it? The company introduced a flat new logo for the browser and now that logo is gracing the software’s latest stable release. Chrome 11 is now available, the biggest changes being a number of security and bug fixes, some of which “may be kept private until a majority of our users are up to date with the fix.” The new version also delivers speech-to-text and, perhaps more importantly, text-to-speech. There are other enhancements too, but really you’ve probably already left us to update. Are you still there? Hello?
[Thanks, noob]
Google launches Chrome 11, flat icon is here to stay originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
(Cross posted on the Google Docs Blog, and Google Enterprise Blog)
Increasingly, people are using mobile phones to access information — from email to web browsing to editing documents. Part of getting work done on the go is being able to easily access, edit and share content, which is why we’re happy to announce the new Google Docs app for Android.
With this new app it’s easy to filter and search for your content across any Google account, then jump straight into editing docs using the online mobile editors. The app also allows you to easily share items with contacts on your phone, right from within the app.
And my favorite feature: Using the app and your phone’s camera, you can turn photos with text into editable Google documents with the power of optical character recognition (OCR). Just create a new ‘Document from Photo’ or select the camera icon from the widget, and your converted document will appear in your documents list shortly after you snap the picture. You can also convert photos already stored on your phone by sharing them with the Google Docs app. OCR does a pretty good job capturing unformatted text in English but won’t recognize handwriting or some fonts – stay tuned, it will get better over time!
The Google Docs app is currently available in English and works on Android 2.1+ phones. Try it out by scanning the QR code below or by visiting Android Market.
Let us know what you think of the new Google Docs Android app in our forum.
Posted by Reuben Kan, Software Engineer
If you missed the opportunity to get your hands on Fring’s limited Group Video beta, fret not, because the free service has just gone live for everyone on this planet. What this means is that all Fringsters on compatible iOS 4.x and Android 1.5+ devices (1GHz and above recommended) can now have up to three friends on one video call, and as before, you can do so over either WiFi, 3G, or 4G. Hit your nearest app market for the software update to join the fun, and head past the break to see how Group Video works.
Continue reading Fring Group Video goes live, enables four-way mobile video calls for free
Fring Group Video goes live, enables four-way mobile video calls for free originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The BlackBerry PlayBook may be noticeably lacking a calendar app of its own (at least for now), but it looks like RIM could soon have more scheduling options than ever — it’s just acquired fellow Canadian company Tungle, which specializes in syncing your calendar across platforms. At the moment, that’s done with either the company’s web application, or its iOS or BlackBerry app (an Android version has also been promised), which also let you share your calendar with folks inside or outside your company and, of course, tie it into your various social networks — so you can learn about the person you’re having a meeting with, for instance. As you might expect, however, RIM is staying mum on exactly what it has in mind for the company, and it also isn’t divulging any specific terms of the acquisition. Head on past the break for a video demonstrating how the current service works.
Continue reading RIM acquires Tungle, might soon bridge your calendar across platforms
RIM acquires Tungle, might soon bridge your calendar across platforms originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
More proof that a real Terminator is hard to kill! Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on to be in the fifth Terminator flick being directed by Fast Five’s Justin Lin. Can this new film wipe Terminator Salvation from our memories forever? More »
1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?
Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.
The big hubbub that arose last week around location tracking within the iPhone has now received its due response from Apple itself. Firstly, the Cupertino company claims it does not, and has no plans to, track users’ iPhones. What it’s actually doing is “maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location,” which are then used to provide speedier calculation of your position when you want to use the device’s maps or other location-based services. The data collection that was recently brought to the public attention represents, according to Apple, the location of WiFi hotspots and cell towers around you, not your actual iPhone. Still, the fact iPhones have been shown to store as much as a year's worth of data is considered a bug by Apple, who plans to limit that period to a week in a future software update. The additional issue of data being collected after users turned off Location Services is also a bug, also to be fixed by Apple in that upcoming update. Left unanswered, however, are the questions of when Apple "uncovered" these bugs, as it claims, and why the fix for them is only coming now. Specialists have known about this behavior since at least September of last year. Either way, the software remedy is promised over the next few weeks, while the next major iteration of iOS should encrypt the cache file that's been the subject of all the scrutiny. You'll find the full Q&A after the break.
P.S. — One of Apple’s answers seems to disclose an extra bit of new information: “Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.”
Continue reading Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn’t do it
Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn’t do it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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China’s been making its mark on the world for years, but there’s still one massive piece of real estate where the country’s citizens haven’t hung their ubiquitous red flag: space. The China Manned Space Engineering Office hopes to change that within the next decade, however, unveiling a model of its first space station on Monday. The station’s current moniker is Tiangong (Chinese for “heavenly palace”) but the space agency is asking the public to suggest alternatives at kongjianzhan@vip.qq.com through July 25th. At 60 tons, the complete facility is significantly smaller than the 419-ton International Space Station, so residents should probably keep the man cave tidy in case Chinese astronauts need some room to stretch out while not connecting to the PlayStation Network. We’re working on our own list of names for little Tiangong here, but feel free to share your submissions after the break.
China unveils space station, launching by 2020 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re still waiting for Microsoft to blow us away with its strategy for tablet domination but, thanks to the latest build of Windows 8 to drip through onto the internets, we have yet another indicator that the company’s hopes rely on that OS. Of course we already know that it’ll run on ARM processors, and now we have a look at a set of settings that have strong tablet implications. On display in the video below (and the picture above) are toggles for mobile broadband, Bluetooth, and GPS. Sure, laptops have those too, but here it’s all presented with a Metro flair that, frankly, looks like a real chore to manage with a mouse. (Just look at those scrollbars!) But, with a 16:9 screen and gesture swiping, maybe it’ll all come together. Meanwhile, WinRumors is reporting that there will be six separate flavors of Windows 8 and that tablets are actually quite far along, again pointing to a Q1 2012 release at the latest. Yes, we’re already looking forward to next year’s CES, aren’t you?
Windows 8 settings page suggests tablet compatibility, embraces Metro scrollbars (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EVO and MyTouch 4G owners have been able to enjoy the virtues of video calling via Qik for some time, but Skype’s latest acquisition is finally letting a few more phones in on the action. Qik Video Connect now works with some devices running Android 2.1 and up, iPhones, iPad 2s and any iPod Touch with a camera — letting Apple fanboys and Android apologists speak face to face over 3G, 4G, and WiFi with the device of their choosing. It’s not the first app to do cross-platform video calling, but it is the only one with Qik’s video mail and video sharing services. The catch? It’s only currently available on ten Android handsets, though dev teams are “busy getting Video Chat ready on additional phones.” Let’s hope they work quickly.
Qik Video Connect gets Android and Apple users seeing eye-to-eye originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
We’re not sure how this slipped past us at the Sony Android tablet event, but turns out the electronics giant also teased a couple of interesting VAIO laptops. First up is a “Freestyle Hybrid PC” that slides between tablet mode and laptop mode — very much like the Samsung Sliding PC, but with a seemingly slimmer bottom-half sans trackpad (though we can just about spot a pointing stick on the keyboard). No word on specs, prices, or availability here, but you may recall our proven tipster mentioning a 9.4-inch screen and a $799 launch in the fall. Could this be it? We shall see.
Also shown alongside is a swanky “Ultimate Mobile PC” — pictured after the break — with a hint of USB 3.0 and HDMI on a slim body, but again, there’s not much else to go with this slide. Hey, at least we now know it’s time to start saving up for these bad boys.
Continue reading Sony teases ‘Freestyle Hybrid PC’ tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop
Sony teases ‘Freestyle Hybrid PC’ tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Dropbox sure has been in the news a lot lately. Two weeks ago Neowin reported that a major security flaw in the service can expose customer files to anyone on the Internet. Now it appears that the company has been trying to shutdown an open source project called Dropship, a…
Here’s something to ponder — will Hulu Plus launch on the Xbox 360 before or after we can sign back into the PSN and change our passwords try out the PS3’s latest version? Sony better hurry, since copies of the June issue of OXM have been spotted that claim the service will launch April 29th, kicking off a month-long giveaway of items including vacations, game systems and Hulu Plus subscriptions to random users. Joystiq confirmed with OXM that the date is actually in the magazine so all that’s left now is the official word, a new app on our dashboards and plenty of gesture and voice controlled madness.
Hulu Plus comes to Xbox 360 April 29th according to OXM originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re taking this with a grain of salt, since it applies only to users of the cross-platform Appcelerator Titanium development environment, but it appears that Windows Phone 7 is facing an increasingly uphill battle for mobile mind-share. At this point it should go without saying that a platform lives and dies by its developers and, according to Appcelerator, they’re growing less and less interested in creating apps for Microsoft’s smartphone OS. Only 29-percent of devs responded to the company’s quarterly survey that they were “very interested” in putting their wares on WP7, a fall of 7 points from last quarter and far less than market leaders Android and iOS. News is even worse for RIM, which saw a fall of 11-points in developer interest for BlackBerry, and now trails the folks from Redmond. Again, this survey is based only on the responses of 2,760 developers using a particular product, so we’d refrain from calling the results incontrovertible. Still, it reinforces something that even a casual observer could discern: BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 have a tough row to hoe. Two more charts after the break.
Continue reading Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention
Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
There are some pretty good sub-$100 Android phones out there on the market, but they require a bit of compromise when it comes to performance and software updates. Here’s why you’re probably better off ignoring them. More »
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If I saw one of these I don’t think I’d find these all that cute.