January 3rd, 2010 — Gadgets
When we first laid eyes on the SmartQ V5, we were pretty underwhelmed… yet another resistive touchscreen MID? We’re beginning to long for those halcyon days of late 2009 when an Android handheld was a thing of awe and wonder. Just a refresher: this guy features a 4.3-inch display, 600MHz ARM11 processor (which the brave among us can overclock to 800MHz), 256MB RAM, HDMI out, and more. Of some interest to the jaded gadget-head, this guy ships with Android, Ubuntu, and Windows CE 6.0 pre-installed — not a bad feature, if that’s your thing. If you poke around the Internets you should be able to find this bad boy for near $180.
SmartQ V5 MID available now to a world that’s just stopped caring originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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January 3rd, 2010 — Gadgets
While everyone’s gearing up to celebrate New Year’s Eve, it seems that
Motorola’s busy squeezing out the last bit of rumor juice of 2009. We’re looking at what’s purported to be Motorola’s ‘Shadow’ (not ‘Mirage’ as
Google Translate unhelpfully suggests) — a phone with 9mm thickness, 4.3-inch 850×484 screen (larger than the devices on the
leaked roadmap), HDMI port and 8-megapixel
camera capable of 1080p
video recording. Not much else came out of the “tight-lipped” tipster who might’ve inverted the picture’s colors — see above for our fix — but an educated guess should point to that
friendly green robot (though that battery icon certainly isn’t part of
Android’s game). Any brave souls dare to guess otherwise?
Picture of Motorola ‘Shadow’ leaked, inverted on Taiwanese forum originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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January 3rd, 2010 — Gadgets
Pre homebrew has certainly come a long way in its short but happy life — and now it’s just gotten another little notch in its belt. Apparently, with the release of webOS 1.3.5, Palm has included a software library called SDL (or Simple Directmedia Layer) which allows developers low-level hardware access — like the kind needed to tap into accelerated 3D graphics. With a little bit of elbow grease, webOS hacker extraordinaire zsoc was able to put together a port of Doom which can be run within a card in the OS, and completely functions (including keyboard controls). You’ve got to get your hands a little dirty with the Terminal app to make things happen right now if you want to try it for yourself, though the experimenters promise an easier solution in the coming days. Exciting stuff for webOS users hungry for a little more horsepower… now let’s see if Palm puts this into play come CES.
Update: PreCentral has a video of the app in action — check it out after the break!
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading Hardware accelerated ‘Doom’ comes to the Pre
Hardware accelerated ‘Doom’ comes to the Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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January 3rd, 2010 — Gadgets
We’ve had some indication that Orange planned to expand its “HD Voice” technology beyond the hot testbed of Moldova sometime in the coming year, and it looks like the carrier is now starting to get a bit more specific about when the UK will finally have an alternative to standard definition calls. Apparently, Orange will begin trials of the new and improved, 3G-facilitated service early in the new year, and fully roll it out along with a “range of handsets” before the end of the year. Just what can you expect from HD voice? Why, it will make it “sound as if callers are actually in the same room,” according to Orange UK chief executive Tom Alexander, who further added that “HD voice really does inject a level of innovation into mobile phone calls,” and that “once people have tried it, they won’t want to go back.”
Update: Orange has now pushed out a press release further confirming that trials will begin in the UK early in the new year, with a nationwide rollout due “later in 2010.” In related news, DigiTimes is reporting that Foxconn has landed large orders for Android-powered handsets from Orange, although Foxconn itself has issued something of a denial on the matter.
Orange plans to bring ‘HD Voice’ calls to UK next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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January 3rd, 2010 — Gadgets
The previously phased out 11.1-inch Sony Vaio T has shown back up over at Sony Style Japan. The good news is that this time, it’s a Windows 7 CULV on the inside, even if it looks the same on the outside. The new Vaio Ts come with processor options including a dual core 1.2GHz Celeron SU2300, a 1.4GHz dual core Core 2 Duo SU9400, or a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600, and they boast Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, plus 4GB or 8GB of RAM, an up to 512GB SSD or 500GBhard drive. There’s also optional extras like Blu Ray, 802.11n WiFi, a fingerprint scanner, and digital TV tuner. The laptop’s life is rated at about 11 hours when equipped with the standard battery, or 17 with the large capacity. So far, we’ve only seen these bad boys in Japan, where they’re retailing for ¥129,800 (that’s around $1400).
Sony Vaio T makes a comeback, and this time it’s a CULV with major battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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