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O2 Now Beaming Android 2.1 To Awaiting Dell Streaks

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:27:09 +0000

UK Streaks are about to get a little more awesome. O2 is now sending the neccessary bits for the Donut to Eclair upgrade to all the Dell Streaks on its network. Along with the increase in speed and reliability, 2.1 brings 720p video recording, pinch-to-zoom multitouch, multiple Exchange accounts, and various UI enhancements. But you should have already known that. Users have been rocking 2.1 on their Streaks for sometime now; this is just the OTA method. Owners can search for the updates in the Settings menu under About Phone and then System Updates. Or you can download it and install from an SD card.

IFA 2010 Video: Plex Running On LG TV

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:00:55 +0000

Plex, taking over the world. Only a few days after releasing Plex/Nine and Plex for iOS, the media center announced a partnership with LG to include a version of the software on its Internet-enabled TVs and Blu-ray players. But you knew that already. Wouldn’t you know it, I have here a brief video demo. Who loves ya?

The deal basically means that you’ll soon be able to find the familiar Plex interface, and plug-ins, on LG’s TVs. You can view Internet content right on your TV, using only your TV, or have your TV network with a Plex instance running on your computer.

Droid R2-D2 gets docked — not in a X-Wing

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:55:00 +0000

Verizon's teaser site for the Droid 2 R2-D2 edition has been teasing a series of locked spokes, accessible by all as soon as anyone in the community solves the "puzzle." We don't know exactly what the magic code was, but regardless, thanks to David H. yesterday, we've got a new gallery of devices pics and -- oh, lookie -- a special edition Droid R2-D2 dock. We don't see room for a hyperdrive anywhere, nor wings, photon torpedos, or a cockpit for future Jedis to blast orbital space stations. So, let's just call it a vacation home for astromechs needing a respite.

Gallery: Droid 2 R2-D2 edition dock

Droid R2-D2 gets docked -- not in a X-Wing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Duke Nukem Forever Somewhat Confirmed For PAX (Really)

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:48:57 +0000

OMG. Look at this: Duke Nukem Forever PAX booth material. The rumors were apparently true. Guess it kind of says the game is still in development and news should drop from PAX about its release. Amazing, but let’s try to hold off celebrating until it hits Steam or The Pirate Bay. Until then, the game is still vaporware.

Engadget’s back to school guide: Printers

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got printers in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides.

Even if your textbooks, your movies, your music, and the photographic evidence of your quasi-legal sorority hazing exists purely in the digital domain, you'll have to print out things like term papers and court documents sooner or later. (Thought we forgot about that hazing, didn't you?) We know that's money tight, so we've found something to suit every budget. Now, on to the printers...

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Engadget's back to school guide: Printers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New official MeeGo screenshots show promise, influence

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:09:00 +0000

MeeGo's official user interface guidelines could easily end up determining whether the platform sinks or swims -- no one wants a phone whose UI looks like junk, after all. The minions at Nokia and Intel's little pet project have posted new OS shots as examples of how to properly implement the interface in third-party apps, and we've got to admit -- things are looking a lot cleaner, prettier, and generally more modern than the first round of pictures we saw back in June, thanks in part to a demonstration of the platform's comprehensive theming capability that can totally revamp how UI elements look. We're definitely seeing shades of webOS in the task switcher (pictured above), but then again, Nokia's no stranger to borrowing ideas it likes. That's all well and good as long as it makes for a great platform... and obviously, we'd need some hardware to do that. O N9, where art thou?

New official MeeGo screenshots show promise, influence originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ESPN Thanks Sony For ESPN 3D Help, Says ‘People Who See 3D Can’t Get Enough Of It’

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:00:43 +0000

Without Sony’s support ESPN “probably would not have launched” ESPN 3D. So said Bryan Burns, Vice-President of ESPN, at IFA earlier today. Burns, talking before a reasonably crowded auditorium, reiterated ESPN’s commitment to 3D sports broadcasting while fully recognizing what we’ve all been going on about for months now: nobody’s going to buy an expensive 3D TV—have you seen the unemployment numbers of late?—when there’s nearly zero 3D content to be found.

Burns—and perhaps this is indicative of ESPN as a whole—seemingly forgot he was talking before a primarily European audience, with the 3D sports chosen to highlight including American college football and the Harlem Globetrotters. Pretty sure no one in Europe gives a toss about either of those, so why not take advantage of the fact that you’re in Europe, and show footage of the World Cup? Maybe one or two of the German goals, you know? No, let’s keep showing clips of Some College against Some Other College, that’ll keep the Europeans interested. Perhaps Sky should host a press conference in Iowa and shows scenes of a Liverpool darts competition.

ESPN, Burns noted, launched HDTV service back in 2002, and it wasn’t until enough HD content was available that its viewers began to buy HDTVs. That matters quite a bit because, on the whole, sports fans tend to be, if not the early adopters, then the trend-setters when it comes to home entertainment. Show a person a nature documentary in HD (or 3D) and you might get a polite shrug. Show that same person an NFL game or a World Cup game and they’ll say, “Now that’s awesome~!”

An interesting stat: still only 63 percent of households in the U.S. have an HDTV (and of those, 83 percent watch sports in HD). That leaves 37 percent of the households out there haven’t upgraded from their SDTV to an HDTV—perhaps they’ll skip HDTV and go straight to 3DTV? (Not at these prices, they won’t, the average price of a 3DTV currently projected to be in the $800s by 2015.)

ESPN 3D currently broadcasts to 60 million homes, including the addition of 15 or so million that will now have the channel on Time Warner. “People who have seen 3D can’t get enough of it,” said Burns, no doubt looking forward to next week’s mass in-store demo.

That’s right: next week, more than 1,000 retail stores in the U.S. will show ESPN 3D.

And since ESPN “simply cannot avoid 3D,” they’d better hope people see those 3D images and lose their minds in a giant OMG I NEED THIS flurry of excitement.

Xbox 360′s transforming D-pad controller gets handled on video

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:48:00 +0000

Boy, we've gone from rumor to hands-on experience in just a couple of days with this thing. Microsoft's November 9-bound Xbox 360 controller refresh couldn't escape the clutches of Joystiq, who have put together a neat photo gallery and video overview. That chrometastic new D-pad is clearly the headliner here, and the early feedback is that it works well -- it takes a bit of effort to transform from a flat button to the elevated four-way navigator you see above, but that's apparently a good thing as it means you'll never flip modes by accident in the middle of a hot and heavy gaming session. The analog buttons have also been subjected to some nipping and tucking and there is of course a new desaturated color scheme to explore as well. You'll find a shot of the retail packaging after the break and a lot more at the source.

Continue reading Xbox 360's transforming D-pad controller gets handled on video

Xbox 360's transforming D-pad controller gets handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rydeen hopes to cash in on tablet fever with Android-based, Armada-powered PND

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:25:00 +0000

You may never have heard of auto electronics provider Rydeen Mobile, but it certainly knows of you -- or more specifically, your desire to obtain a slick new tablet PC -- and has thus created an 7-inch Android tablet that integrates the dedicated map functionality of its GPS machines. The "gPad" GCOM701 won't be a terribly high-end device, mind you, with an 800MHz ARMADA 166 SOC, 256MB of RAM, bring-your-own-microSD-storage and what we're led to believe is a resistive touchscreen, but it sounds like at least Rydeen isn't being stingy on the software front. You'll find a full suite of Google Apps, Adobe Flash Lite 4 and AVI support, not to mention 4 million points of interest thanks to the integrated Navteq client. Connectivity include GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, both mini and full-sized USB ports, plus a front-facing camera for video chat, and there's a 2400mAh battery the company claims will provide six hours of solid use. Find it this November at an unspecified price, no doubt alongside the pictured (but not mentioned) car dock.

Continue reading Rydeen hopes to cash in on tablet fever with Android-based, Armada-powered PND

Rydeen hopes to cash in on tablet fever with Android-based, Armada-powered PND originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Jersey transit looks to add WiFi to its rail lines and stations, New Yorkers to pretend they didn’t hear that

Gadgets — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:03:00 +0000

A New Jersey Transit spokesperson has announced that its seeking a company to install WiFi on its rail lines and at its train stations. The installation would make New Jersey one of the few major transit systems in the country to have WiFi on its 165 stations and 12 lines. The spokesperson also said they hope to get the installation under way quickly, and to have the hotspots available to riders by next year.

New Jersey transit looks to add WiFi to its rail lines and stations, New Yorkers to pretend they didn't hear that originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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