Tech News Updates

Oh, sure — a few people have called Google’s Nexus One a “superphone,” but suddenly, that nickname has taken on a whole new level of meaning. A team of talent from MIT has put its head down in order to concoct a new Android application that can come darn close to solving complex computational problems in just a fraction of the time that it’d take a bona fide supercomputer . The goal here is to let researchers and scientists convert to Google’s mobile OS, but if you aren’t falling for that one, it’s also designed to “let engineers perform complicated calculations in the field, and to better control systems for vehicles or robotic systems.” Of course, the models that are hosted on the phone do require a supercomputer to create, but once certain formulas are embedded, the app can then compute approximations in mere seconds rather than hours. Best of all, rbAPPmit is available for download as well speak in the source link below, but we’d probably wait for the (presumably thick) user guide to surface before diving in headfirst. [Thanks, Alasdair] MIT app turns your Android phone into a supercomputer… of sorts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Tapani Kaskinen is Nokia’s Senior Comms Manager, so it’s fitting that he’d be the first person from the company to communicate a solid release date for its long-awaited N8 handset. The gent in question told Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti that advance orders of the N8 will “begin shipping 30 September.” Bear in mind we’re chewing through a machine translation here, but that part’s pretty unmistakable. It also meshes perfectly with earlier speculation surrounding Nokia purchasing Google AdWords — that indicated a one-week exclusive starting on September 23rd for Nokia’s UK online store, which, if you do the math, again points to a wide release at the end of the month. We asked Nokia about it ourselves and they’re remaining mum on the matter, but chances are looking pretty good that October will start with the N8 finally in eager users’ hands. Nokia N8 launches September 30, says senior manager originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the new fourth-generation iPod touch : it’s so much like an iPhone that it has a Phone app (wait, what?). Better yet, if you do a Spotlight search on it, it’ll return results from a messaging app it’s not supposed to have. How’s that for value? This would all be a great big enigmatic mystery if we weren’t ourselves familiar with the practice (and pitfalls) of splicing disparate images into unholy creations . Well, at least now Microsoft isn’t alone in making self-published Photoshop gaffes . P.S. — There’s one more misplaced app on this magical device, but we’ll let you figure it out for yourself! [Thanks, Michael] Continue reading Apple sucks at Photoshop too Apple sucks at Photoshop too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

You may not want to be seen rocking one of these at your next gig, but if you’ve been trying to juggle your phone and guitar while using some of the endless number of apps out there, you might just want to consider this so-called Guitar Sidekick from Castiv. As you can see, there’s not a whole lot to it — just a bracket that attaches to the neck of your guitar, and an adjustable mechanism that will accommodate just about any smartphone (or even a PSP). No word on an iPad version just yet, but you can grab this one right now for $30. Guitar Sidekick brings your phone to your guitar, while your guitar gently weeps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

T-Mobile is calling it “the fastest smartphone experience in America,” but as it turns out, its Qualcomm Scorpion CPU is actually relatively slow — the cellular carrier’s insider newsletter T-Mobile Scoop says the phone’s MSM7×30 chip will be clocked at 800MHz, rather than the 1GHz we’d hoped for. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that T-Mobile lying about speed, as anyone who’s upgraded from Droid to Droid 2 very well knows — bloatware can easily clog the pipes even on phones running Froyo , and we’ve heard that this particular HTC device is running a pure vanilla Android build . Speaking of delectable operating system revisions, T-Mobile confirms you’ll indeed find Android 2.2 under the hood accompanied by Flash Player 10.1, as well as “one-touch quick keys” the carrier claims provide Speedy Gonzales-like access to apps and shortcuts. Still waiting to be confirmed: a $200 subsidized price , and the day we’ll see it in stores. [Thanks, james_of_the_jungle] Confirmed: T-Mobile G2 will have Android 2.2, Flash and 800MHz CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Current iPod touch wasn’t thin enough for you? Look no further than… well, the new iPod touch just announced today. Naturally, Apple has re-upped its “iPhone without the phone” to include the Retina Display from the iPhone 4, an Apple A4 core, 3-axis gyroscope, Game Center , and FaceTime support thanks to the addition of a front cam. Oh, and speaking of cams, it’s also got a rear cam capable of HD video — but you’ll be paying a bit more than you will for that cute little nano: $229 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB (yep, 16GB and 128GB are both no-shows). Check out our full live coverage here ! Gallery: iPod touch gets revamped iPod touch gets revamped: retina display, FaceTime, HD video recording originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Good news for UK mobile addicts: Orange’s long-anticipated HD Voice service has officially made it to the Land of Hope and Glory. Starting today, British customers can pick up a HD Voice-enabled handset — including the Nokia 5230 , X6 , E5 and Samsung Omnia Pro at launch — from Orange, and start buttering their ears with “crystal clear” phone calls while within the carrier’s 3G coverage. Prior to the launch, we were fortunate enough to try out the new service on a couple of Nokia E5 prototypes, and boy, that was some pretty impressive stuff there — the wider speech bandwidth really added a lot of clarity to the caller’s voice, and additionally, the noisy traffic from the caller’s end was well suppressed at where it’d otherwise crackle over a normal call. Perhaps the easiest way to put it is that this is much like jumping from a bad FM radio broadcast to some sweet CD audio, thus making conversations a lot easier to interpret, even if the recipient is in a noisy environment or has hearing problem (as proven by Orange’s public trial). As always, hearing is believing, so do check out our sample audio clips after the break. While Orange remains a dominant driving force behind this mobile revolution, the carrier assured us that it expects other companies to pick up this open standard. That said, it’s rather disappointing that current owners of the aforementioned handsets won’t be getitng a software patch for the HD upgrade (we were told that no extra hardware is involved), but we can understand — the manufacturers do need to sell new phones to stay alive in this rapidly changing market. Anyhow, here’s hoping that the forthcoming flagship Android and Windows Phone 7 devices will also get a taste of this crystal clear call quality. Continue reading Orange HD Voice service and handsets go live in the UK, we go ears-on (video) Orange HD Voice service and handsets go live in the UK, we go ears-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Even without yesterday’s premature video promo , you had to know Motorola wouldn’t leave its international audience without a successor to the Milestone, so today — surprise, surprise — we’re being treated to the Milestone 2’s launch. The first thing to be said here is that if you’ve handled a Droid 2 , you’ve also handled a Milestone 2 — the new phone follows Moto’s tradition of being a simple rebadge away from the Verizon-friendly Droid naming scheme, which means it retains the same 1GHz OMAP SOC, 512MB of RAM, 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of integrated storage, and Android 2.2 as the default, albeit Motoblured , OS. Also, we got this straight from the Motohorse’s mouth: Motoblur’s not going anywhere, it’s the company’s “Android solution” and is here to stay. One advantage over the Droid 2 here is the addition of 720p video recording. It’s still the exact same imager as on the back of the first Milestone, but now you can catch moving visuals in HD resolution. Moto were keen to point out the 5-device hotspot capabilities (courtesy of Froyo) on the Milestone 2, but they showed it off using a wired connection since the demo handset’s O2 SIM card wouldn’t permit wireless tethering. Well, that was a grand demonstration of how vulnerable our Android 2.2 goodness will be to the whims of mobile carriers. The Milestone 2’s expected to launch around Europe in Q4, with carrier-dependent pricing as per usual. Gallery: Motorola Milestone 2 hands-on Gallery: Motorola Milestone 2 press pics Continue reading Motorola Milestone 2 arrives, 720p HD video, Android 2.2, and Motoblur Enhanced in tow Motorola Milestone 2 arrives, 720p HD video, Android 2.2, and Motoblur Enhanced in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Remeber the Motorola i1 ? Moto has just added its second rugged(ish) Android handset in the 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass -fronted Defy. It’s dust-, scratch-, impact-, and water-resistant. Matching up to the IP67 durability spec means it’s expected to resist being submersed in up to a meter of water for up to half an hour — making it a pretty awesome option for taking your Android to the beach, 854 x 480 is your screen resolution, backed up by an OMAP 3610 chip running at 800MHz (there had to be some tradeoffs, right?). Android 2.1 is another slight disappointment, we’re not clear on why Froyo had to be left off the table, but at least Motorola has bundled Swype as the default input mechanism. Should be a boon for some, we suppose. The Defy is expected to launch across Europe in Q4 2010. Gallery: Motorola Defy hands-on Motorola Defy: Android 2.1 goes rugged with water, dust and scratch resistance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

It’s been known for some time that Twitter would be moving away from basic authentication to OAuth for third-party apps; in fact, they’d already officially pushed back the drop-dead switchover date once to mid-August before finally pulling the plug this week. Be that as it may, it makes sense that a bunch of lesser-known, less-maintained apps would fall by the wayside once the old security mechanism got shut down — but HTC’s Peep? Really ? Sure enough, we’ve been able to confirm on our own Desire that the Twitter app HTC bundles with its Sense UI for Android is no longer working this morning, giving users an “incorrect username or password” error when they try to connect. We’re not sure if they’ll be able to fix this with a Market update across the board or if it’ll take a bunch of firmware updates to get everyone back on the up and up, but either way, something tells us Twitter isn’t going to flip the switch back on for these guys. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] HTC Peep cooked, served a l’orange by Twitter’s new authentication scheme originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink