.::REALITYRECALL::.

Look what we found hanging around the Motorola stand at CES this evening: none other than the just announced Motorola Xoom tablet. While this sleek little device is still running a very early build of Honeycomb, we were able to sneak some peeks at the stuff Google and Motorola don’t actually want you to see just yet. The device was looping demo videos of the Honeycomb UI, but a little investigation on our part revealed a bare bones homescreen. We’re still trying to decipher just what we saw, but for now check out the first hands-on images in the gallery below.

Update: We went back to do a little more investigation, and this thing is most definitely running Honeycomb. We were able to bring up the app pane, and saw the full suite of Google apps within. We also caught a new app switcher, which is invoked by hitting a little icon that resembles a deck of cards. Check out the UI shots in the second gallery.

Update 2: Now with video after the break!

Continue reading Motorola Xoom first hands-on! (update: video!)

Motorola Xoom first hands-on! (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Microsoft’s Surface table computers never quite filled the lobbies of hotels and theme parks like we’d hoped, but the next-gen Surface is totally redesigned: smaller, maybe cheaper, and using a new touch technology that’s pretty gnarly. More »

Hear that thunderous roar off in the distance, growing louder (and more frightening) as it persists? That is the sound of excited Android users emailing us to inform their fave gadget site that Google has just sent users an update to that little embarrassing SMS bug that we reported a while back. There seem to be two distinct issues: users have reported both opening one message to have a completely different message appear, and / or sending an text message to one contact yet having it delivered to another contact entirely. We need only say one word: sexting, to highlight just how dangerous this could be! Google promises us that a fix for these two issues are in the works. In the meanwhile, check out the e-mail below to read their response and work-around.

[Thanks Jon, and thanks to everyone else who sent this in!]

Continue reading Android text messaging bugs acknowledged, fixes detailed

Android text messaging bugs acknowledged, fixes detailed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Google  | Email this | Comments

8 million Kinect sensors sold worldwide in first 60 days — that’s 3 million more than Microsoft had planned. Not bad. Microsoft also announced 30 million Xbox Live members and 50 million units sold worldwide with the Xbox 360 outselling all other consoles for the last 6 months in the US. Not bad at all.

8 million Kinect sensors sold in first 60 days originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Turns out the rumor was true, Avatar Kinect is coming to the Xbox 360 this spring (for Xbox Live Gold members, at least). Details are sparse — a place where you can virtually hang out with your “friends” — but Kinect is shown to now be able to detect facial gestures like eyebrows, smiles, and laughs. Impressive, but after all we’ve seen with the Kinect hacks, can’t say we’re too surprised the camera’s capable of such detection.

Avatar Kinect for Xbox 360 is official, smile like you mean it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Good news, Hulu Plus is finally coming to Xbox 360 this spring. Better news, both Hulu Plus and Netflix will be compatible with Kinect. We imagine it’ll be just like Zune Video’s interface, but there really wasn’t much of a demo during Ballmer’s keynote tonight. Excited? We are.

Netflix and Hulu Plus with Kinect coming this spring to Xbox 360 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The past few weeks have been exciting ones for the Android team: we recently released Nexus S and Android 2.3, Gingerbread, and we’ve even had some of our most popular team members take a trip to space. But we haven’t stopped buzzing with excitement: today at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, we previewed Android 3.0, Honeycomb.

Honeycomb is the next version of the Android platform, designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets. We’ve spent a lot of time refining the user experience in Honeycomb, and we’ve developed a brand new, truly virtual and holographic user interface. Many of Android’s existing features will really shine on Honeycomb: refined multi-tasking, elegant notifications, access to over 100,000 apps on Android Market, home screen customization with a new 3D experience and redesigned widgets that are richer and more interactive. We’ve also made some powerful upgrades to the web browser, including tabbed browsing, form auto-fill, syncing with your Google Chrome bookmarks, and incognito mode for private browsing.

Honeycomb also features the latest Google Mobile innovations including Google Maps 5 with 3D interactions and offline reliability, access to over 3 million Google eBooks, and Google Talk, which now allows you to video and voice chat with any other Google Talk enabled device (PC, tablet, etc).

Please stay tuned for more Honeycomb news from the Android team. For now, you can get a taste of Honeycomb by checking out this video.

Posted by Andy Rubin, VP of Engineering

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have hired Greg Marshall as the Canadian Football League team’s new head coach.

By Ed Oswald, Betanews

Microsoft is taking notice of industry trends, and told attendees Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the next version of Windows would run on ARM chips. The move is an acknowledgement of the changing face of consumer electronics — that smart phones, tablets, and portable devices are indeed the future.

The move is also significant for another reason — up until now, Microsoft on ARM was relegated to the stripped down versions of Windows, either Windows Mobile, CE, or Embedded. Having the capability to run a full version of the operating system natively on these mobile processors opens up more possibilities for manufacturers in developing compact devices, the Redmond company believes.

“We’ve reached a point in technology where everyone really does want everything from their computing experience,” Windows chief Steven Sinfosky said in explaining the decision. “Today’s demonstrations will highlight the work we have done on the architecture of Windows to enable the richness of the Windows platform to run natively on the ARM platform.”

Some manufacturers have already attempted to put Windows 7 on tablet devices, but the fact that the OS itself is still built for an x86 architecture does not make it optimal as it requires more battery life and power than can be fit into the smaller form factors of these devices effectively.

Other considerations are a native touch screen interface — something Windows 7 essentially lacks — and a user interface that works well with that type of input. It was not immediately clear if Microsoft also plans to make these necessary user interface tweaks as part of this new commitment.

Sinofsky was somewhat vague on bringing other critical applications — such as Office — to the ARM platform, only offering that Microsoft was “committed to making sure that Windows on [system-on-a-chip] architectures is a rich Windows experience.”

The Redmond company did not offer any guidance as to when Windows 8 (as it is thought to be called) may release, although it is likely not for another two years. That said, the question now becomes whether that time frame may be too late.

With the ever quicker pace of innovation in mobile computing, in two years ARM may be yesterday’s news, leaving Microsoft scrambling once again to keep pace.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Continue reading Panasonic’s Android-based Viera Tablet unveiled at CES 2011

Panasonic’s Android-based Viera Tablet unveiled at CES 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

quote-book

Details have emerged today about new features that may be found in the next iteration of Microsoft’s operating system, Windows 8.

According to blogger Paul Thurrott, Windows 8 may include an all-new user interface for products such as tablet computers. Dubbed “Mosh”, it’s thought the new UI will be based around…

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Second-generation Intel Core Family processors are here, and laptop manufacturers are wasting no time announcing new models. Samsung has the eye-popper of the Consumer Electronics Show (OK, so far), and it’s sure to make MacBook Air owners whine with envy (that is if they’re between Apple Kool-Aid fixes). Hell, I want one. The Samsung 9 Series packs big performance in a little package.

How little a package? The 9 Series has a “.64-inch profile,” (16.3 mm) according to Samsung. MacBook Air thickness ranges .11-.68 inches (3-17 mm) Both laptops weigh 2.9 pounds (1.73 kg). The two thin-and-lights feature 13.3-inch displays with 1366 x 768 resolution, DDR3 memory and no optical drive. But the 9 is two full Intel processor generations ahead of the Air, with second-generation 1.4GHz i5 Core processor compared to the aged 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

I often harp about the importance of good design and out-of-box experience. Perhaps Samsung gets it. “When designing a premium laptop like the 9 Series, Samsung wanted to offer an unforgettable experience without limitations. The 9 Series laptop successfully combines elegant styling, performance and ease of use in an ultra thin and lightweight package,” Scott Ledterman, Samsung’s director of Enterprise Business Division mobile PC marketing, said in a statement. Look at the photo and dare to disagree. But, first, please, wipe the drool off your existing laptop.

Full specs: 1.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor (2537M), with 3MB cache and turbo boost to 2.3GHz; 13.3-inch backlit-LED display (400 nit); 1366×768 screen resolution; 128GB sold-state drive; 4GB DDR3 memory; Intel HD GT2 integrated graphics; 3 watt (1.5W x 2) stereo speakers with 1.5 watt sub-woofer; USB 3.0; Bluetooth 3.0; 802.11b/g/n; WiMax; Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional (64-bit for both); 6.5 hours claimed battery life.

What will this beauty cost? Gulp, it starts at $1,599 (available in February), and with Samsung listing 128GB SSD storage as “max,” the configuration above will likely cost quite a bit more. There, 13.3-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $1,299, will have price advantage. The higher-end config is $1,599, with twice the storage but half the memory.

Would you buy the Samsung Series 9?

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Now that’s love. Forget a hot dinner – what you’d want after a long day at work is a Nerf fight! – via The Daily What

Now that’s love. Forget a hot dinner – what you’d want after a long day at work is a Nerf fight! – via The Daily What

A study suggests Saskatchewan students’ reading levels are falling, Adam Hunter reports.

North Korea is calling for “unconditional and early” talks with rival South Korea to put an end to months of tensions, but Seoul quickly dismissed the offer as insincere.