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BlackBerry PlayBook Update Adds Improved Android Compatibility

Posted: 31 May 2012 05:11 PM PDT

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The RIM PlayBook by just received a developers update that adds some interesting new Android functionality to RIM’s tablet. This new version now supports Android apps running in their own windows, improving compatibility with the general Android app universe.

From Crackberry:

Improved HTML5 support
Portrait support for Email, Calendar and Contacts
Improved folder support including IMAP folder support
Full device encryption is now supported, so that the whole device and personal partition can be secure.
Screenshots are now saved in lossless PNG format.
Each Android app will now run in its own window. This greatly improves the user experience and consistency among the other application runtimes.
Access to the Camera hardware is now supported for Android apps, allowing many more application types to work on the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet.
In-App Payment is now supported through the BlackBerry Payment SDK, so Android applications can include virtual items for sale in their applications.

This version is butting up against the incoming BB10 OS that will soon appear on phones and tablets, but, as the Verge notes, the BB10 PlayBook should be able to run apps written for previous OS versions.

Oddly, this version seems like a bit of a dead end but it’s nice to see Android functionality getting fleshed out more concretely.

via RIM



Fly Or Die: HTC Evo 4G LTE [TCTV]

Posted: 31 May 2012 01:10 PM PDT

Screen shot 2012-05-31 at 4.25.25 PM

I’m smack dab in the middle of my HTC Evo 4G LTE review (the full review will be up tomorrow), but as I judge, I felt the need to bring John Biggs into the mix for a little Fly or Die.

Now, John is notoriously hard on Android phones, namely because they’re all incredibly similar. The Evo 4G LTE is no different. I, on the other hand, think it brings some pretty strong design language to the table, which could be great for someone looking to stand out.

I’m impressed with how comfortable the 4.7-inch 720p display is on the phone — usually that’s much bigger than I like (perfect “that’s what she said” moment, since you can’t say it yourself). But despite the fact that I threw out 25GB of free Dropbox storage, Beats Audio, and HTC’s Sense overlay, John still could not be impressed.

And to be honest with you guys, neither could I. Evo is a huge name to Sprint customers, but the yellow carrier has beefed up its offerings to now include the Galaxy Nexus and the iPhone 4S. Those are major competitors, which should crowd the shelves that the Evo line once dominated.

Dies across the board.

Check out the rest of my HTC Evo 4G LTE review coverage here.

TC/Gadgets Webcast: WWDC Expectations, E3 Excitement, And The Death Of The Spec

Posted: 31 May 2012 11:35 AM PDT

Screen shot 2012-05-31 at 2.52.27 PM

Quite a bit hangs on the horizon in the world of gadgets. E3 is right around the corner, as is WWDC (Apple’s Developer conference), and while hardware gets cooler and cooler, the spec does not.

John, Matt and I discuss this and more in this week’s TC/Gadgets webcast.

As far as WWDC expectations go, the debate currently centers around docks and displays. Matt seems to think that a 4-inch display on a Droid X-sized iPhone is in the works, while I’m hoping against hope that a larger display can fit onto the same size iPhone. John, as usual, doesn’t really care. He’s more interested in the docks — rumors are circulating that suggest a microUSB port on the new iPhone rather than Apple’s standard 30-pin connector.

This would, of course, leave hundreds of speaker and charging docks out in the cold, with the exception that Apple releases John’s suggested $39.99 iDong.

We also discussed what we expect out of E3, which amounts to little more than nothing. No new Xbox, no new PlayStation. Basically, we’re getting our hands on the Wii U, which is exciting, but there’s only so much that can be upgraded in current hardware.

Which leads right into our next point: how important are specs?

Matt wrote a post recently harshing on the Nexus tablet for a lack of wireless connectivity, but more importantly, detailing the insignificance of performance testing and specs. To his first point, John and I both own WiFi-only iPads and are perfectly content, whereas Matt needs data to survive.

As far as specs are concerned, we seem to agree on the idea that specs are important in a few select areas, like camera and display. But without a solid understanding of what they mean, and how they can be unrepresentative, they’re just as worthless as a processor clock speed. For example, Nokia’s 808 Pureview 41-megapixel camera doesn’t take 41-megapixel pictures. It rather captures around 40 megapixels of raw data which is then compressed into an incredibly sharp 8-meagpixel image.

In the same vein, display resolution is only a worth looking at alongside display size. The idea is to have a high resolution on a smaller screen. The bigger the display, the less pixel dense the resolution is.

We spent a good deal of this webcast arguing, so feel free to join the fight in the comments.

Need To Pump Up Your iPhone Voice Recordings? The Pint-Sized iRig MIC Cast Is Now Shipping

Posted: 31 May 2012 09:39 AM PDT

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The microphone in the iPhone 4S is pretty good — I have found it to capture excellent quality on all my consumer-ish recordings and videos. Of course, that is not to say it could not be improved.

When the iRig MIC Cast was announced at CES this year, I was pretty excited. I have gotten a lot of use out of the original iRig MIC and this miniaturized version seemed poised to make my travel recordings an even more portable affair.

Thankfully, it did not disappoint. The mic’s dual gain setting really extended the abilities of my iPhone for my consumer Video/Audio recordings, which is especially impressive considering the microphone is about the size of a half dollar. The new iRig also comes with a desktop stand to prop my phone while I’m recording, and I while didn’t use it too often, it could definitely come in handy for sit-down interviews and the like. Oh, and in case you felt some weird urge to do so, it works just fine when taking phone calls too.

While I am not sure what other non-iOS devices are actually supported, I was able to get it to work with things like the Korg Kaossilator 2 — a nifty bonus for sure.

What can I say, I am a fan of this little gadget in all of it’s portable glory. It’s shipping today and costs $39.99/€29.99. More info at www.irigmiccast.com

It’s A Post-PC World: Amazon Adds Laptops, Netbooks To Trade-In Program

Posted: 31 May 2012 09:12 AM PDT

Amazon-logo

We’re living in a post-PC era, which means you likely have a few laptops/netbooks you’re looking to toss out in exchange for a shiny new mobile device. That said, Amazon’s trade-in program has recently included laptops, notebooks, and netbooks to its eligibility list.

The process is pretty simple.

Head on over to Amazon.com/tradein and do a search for the products you want to get rid of. Once you’ve chosen the correct model, you’re asked to label the condition of the device: like new, good, or acceptable.

From there, you’re given the necessary information to send in the device, and once it’s received by Amazon, you’ll be given the specified amount in store credit, direct to your online account.

Of course, there are plenty of other trade-in programs that will accept your old gadgetry, including Gazelle and BuyMyTronics.com. But for those of us who spend a lot of time shopping on Amazon, this seems like one of the more convenient routes to take.

Click to view slideshow.


Fruit Ninja Tops 300M+ Downloads After Two Years, Now Installed On 1/3 Of All U.S. iPhones

Posted: 31 May 2012 07:55 AM PDT

Screen shot 2012-05-31 at 11.07.08 AM

It feels like it was just yesterday that I was downloading Fruit Ninja on a review unit of the iPad, swiping away at juicy watermelons and nearly-invisible kiwis.

But the app has been around for a while — two years to be exact. And over the span of 24 months, Halfbrick’s deliciously addictive game has become so popular that it is now installed on 1/3 of the iPhones in the United States.

The app has surpassed the 300 million download mark, with 1.5 trillion pieces of fruit sliced. But the crazy stats don’t end there. Every day, the cumulative time we spend playing Fruit Ninja over the course of 24 hours tops 100 years. Who knew slicing flying fruit would be such a sensation?

That said, an update to the app is available now in the App Store, offering a few new features, fruits, and a virtual currency: Starfruit. Gutsu and his merchant cart are now acting as a marketplace, from which you can buy power-ups that let you add time, explode, or swat away bombs in exchange for Starfruit.

In other words, expect to see both scores and in-app purchases go up in Fruit Ninja.

Check out the video introducing Gutsu:



Cricket Will Sell The First Prepaid iPhones In The United States Starting June 22

Posted: 31 May 2012 06:05 AM PDT

cricketphone

The crew of carriers that have been allowed to sell the iPhone has been growing steadily over the past few months, but today’s announcement from Cricket Communications wasn’t one most us expected to see any time soon.

They revealed earlier this morning that they will start selling the iPhone 4 and 4S sans contract starting on June 22, making them the first prepaid carrier in the country to do so.

If you’re not terribly familiar with Cricket or their plans, I can’t blame you — with roughly 7 million users, they’re the seventh largest wireless carrier in the United States behind the Big 4, MetroPCS, and U.S. Cellular. Nevertheless, they hope to rope budget-conscious customers in by offering the iPhones with their $55 Unlimited plan, though there’s a catch. Users will only be able to use 2.3GB of data bandwidth at full speed before getting throttled.

Of course, when it comes to buying prepaid, the hardware is much more expensive since there’s no hefty subsidy to take the sting out of the price tag. In this case, an 8GB iPhone 4 will set customers back $399, while the 16GB iPhone 4S can be had for $499. Sadly, there’s no sign of the 32GB model anywhere, so people who take the plunge may have to be more thoughtful about what they throw on their new device.

Nabbing the iPhone may seem like a coup especially for a carrier like Cricket, but rumors of the iPhone making its way to a prepaid provider have been brewing for years now. The prime suspect for a while was Sprint-owned Virgin Mobile, which makes sense considering the relationship we now know Apple and Sprint had at the time, but Cricket and parent company Leap Wireless seem to have been a more receptive target.

Cookoo: Move Over, Pebble, There’s A New E-Watch In Town

Posted: 31 May 2012 05:24 AM PDT

Icon_Descriptions_2

Although I seriously doubt these things will take off into the stratosphere like the Pebble, the Cookoo watch on Kickstarter has already hit $120,000 on a $150,000 target, placing it up with the big boys in the crowdsourcing race. The Cookoo is essentially an e-ink watch with a few wireless tricks up its sleeve – namely Bluetooth connectivity that will notify you when you have messages, etc.

The watch costs $80 and is far less complex than the Pebble. The watch uses a small CR2032 battery and doesn’t need to be recharged. The best thing? It has a single button on it that can be used to trigger various functions including Facebook checkins, photo taking, and location tagging.

You can also press the Cookoo’s button to find your phone when you’ve lost it.

Now look: I don’t think any of these smart watches are any good, but this one (and the Pebble) look to be the closest to something the general consumer would enjoy using. Wearable tech is hard and getting to work well with everyone’s phone is harder. Time will tell.

Project Page

Sergey Brin Shows Off His Google Glass Prototype

Posted: 31 May 2012 05:15 AM PDT

Screen Shot 2012-05-31 at 8.14.01 AM

I would totally embed this video but WordPress won’t let us, so here it is. It’s essentially a quick run-through of Google Glass thanks to Sergey Brin. He even gave them to California Lieutenant Governer Gavin Newsom who got to try them on.

The verdict? They’re pretty cool and they’ll be available sometime next year. There is apparently a touch sensitive pad on the side. This is part of a longer video that will air on June 1.

I’m really conflicted when it comes to these things. On one hand I’m really excited about usable wearable computing and, on the other hand, I’ve never, ever seen it work well. Here’s hoping Google has the chops to pull it off.

via BGR





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