Archive for November 29th, 2009

File this under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature” if true. According to Guyver at the maemo.org forums, some glitch in the OS caused his Nokia N900 to switch into portrait mode for everything, not just dialer and photo apps as previously allowed. We’d love to eliminate the need for two hands to run our favorite chunks of mobile software, but so far we haven’t been able to recreate his trick. Try it at home if you’d like by tilting the device to launch the phone app, then sliding up the screen and closing the app. Perhaps the gang at Espoo can turn this into a legit update — if they’re awesome people, of course. Video after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N900 glitch leads to useful portrait mode, caught on video

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N900 glitch leads to useful portrait mode, caught on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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O iPhone3,1, where art thou? Last time we spotted that signature, it was buried in lines of code as part of a beta OS 3.0 firmware build. Now according to data from analytics software inside iBART, the San Francisco-centric transportation app has been host to a new visitor with the aforementioned device identification number. As MacRumors points out, iPhone2,1 was originally spotted in October 2008 and later became the iPhone 3GS about eight months later. Not that it’s necessarily the case Apple will keep to the same schedule — nor should it come as a surprise that the company’s maybe-kinda-sorta looking into a successor to its prized moneymaker — but if you happen to be in the Bay Area and see someone quietly pulling out a sleek touchscreen, it might be in your best interest to make friends.

Filed under: Cellphones

Mysterious iPhone model found in app usage records? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Other than delightful-looking keyboard, it’s a little tough to tell what sets the iriver Story apart from its E Ink brethren (other than its complete lack of wireless), but the little issue of a $400 US pricetag for import versions doesn’t give us much reason to find out. Meanwhile, in the UK the somewhat more reasonable £230 tag has been affixed to the now-shipping e-reader, and while that’s still a tad bit more than just shipping a Kindle to the UK, if you’re still interested you can feel free to check out a few videos after the break that do a mild job of explaining the device to a rollicking soundtrack of Taylor Swift.

Continue reading iriver Story up for sale in the UK, can be imported to the US for contrarian amount

iriver Story up for sale in the UK, can be imported to the US for contrarian amount originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not going to chalk this one up to Japanese culture, the child rearing techniques of show-biz-addled parents, or the craze-inducing effects that come from the integration of a pico projector within a digital camera — this video is too big to have such trite little lines drawn around it. Basically it answers the age-old question of what would happen if you strapped a couple dozen Nikon Coolpix S1000pj cameras to two excitable children and had them work through an incredibly awkward choreography in front of hundreds of their astonished peers. Video is after the break.

Continue reading Japan’s ‘Helicopter Boyz’ turn the Nikon S1000pj into something much more disturbing

Japan’s ‘Helicopter Boyz’ turn the Nikon S1000pj into something much more disturbing originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when you thought you had enough gigahertz in your life, along come the folks at Impress to blow the doors off Intel’s upcoming crop of desktop processors. In the highly detailed charts there’s wild talk of a low-powered “S” version of Core i5 that lowers the chip from 95W to 82W, a new Core i3 line that strips out the Turbo Boost technology and dips into budget-priced territory, and word that at the time of this roadmap at least the Core i9 “Gulftown” chip isn’t slated for until Q2 of next year. We could probably bore you all day with the details, so hit up the source link for all the sordid details before we get ourselves too worked up.

Intel’s desktop roadmap leaked, with faster i5 and i7, introduction of i3 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Somehow or another, we’ve figured out how to send mere mortals to the moon, create (and mass produce) a laptop thin enough to floss with and add multitouch capabilities to a mouse. But for whatever reason, we’re still stuck using AA batteries that last approximately one-fifth as long as you need them to. Outside of a few breakthroughs here and there, the battery industry at large has found a holding pattern that digs at consumers and likely fattens the wallets of those in charge. Thanks to new research surrounding the use of Cladophora (green algae) in a flexible, ultrathin alternative, it looks as if we may finally be onto something good. Researchers purport that these super skinny cells could be placed in areas where batteries are currently unable to go — think of perpetually charged wall sensors, energized clothing or even light-up wrapping paper. Better still, prototypes have shown the ability to hold a significant charge, but unfortunately for us all, no specific production date has been pegged. A boy can dream though, yeah?

Ultrathin, algae-based batteries could charge things you never thought possible originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since it’s not a phone and transgresses in all sorts of other Google-pleasing areas, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet hasn’t had a full shot at Android thus far, being relegated to merely the open source aspects of the OS. However, with phones like the Droid out and about and making high-resolution compatibility a must for Android developers, not to mention some diligent work from the hacking community, there are now downloadable versions of Android Market, Gmail, Maps and some other Google-specific Android goodies for the Archos 5. Use them at your own risk, of course, but it’s not like the Archos 5 is a testament to stability in its current incarnation anyway.

Archos 5 gets Android Market, Gmail and Maps for that Google-blessed experience originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whoever it was at Sony HQ that decided to pursue “military contracts” as a revenue source, kudos! Mere days after the US Air Force expressed interest in expanding its PS3 supercomputer, we’re hearing glorious Britannia’s Royal Navy has conscripted 230 PSPs into duty as revision aids for its trainee sailors. Loaded with maths and physics materials, the PSPs can be used in a bunk, have familiar controls for the young and mostly male recruits, and are considered pretty tough to break. The underlying reason for this move though is cost cutting: by making the training course more intensive, the Navy is saving on teaching time. Given that the UMD drive won’t come disabled — which is hoped to encourage the sailors to take better care of the device — the future this paints is of marines who’ve spent more time with a freebie handheld console than with a pro instructor, but have a great stable of captured monsters to show for it.

[Thanks, pankomputerek]

Sony PSPs enlisted as study aids by the Royal Navy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not enough variety in your Zune HD color palette? How about a friendly dab of magenta and purple to mix up the proceedings? Microsoft’s Zune Store is now showing some grayed out selectors for purple and magenta color options for the player, which will apparently be available on December 1st – just in time for something or other. No word on whether these will be available for both 16GB and 32GB versions, but pink already representing on the 32 gigger, we’d really hope Microsoft would spread the love down to the cash strapped.

[Thanks, Jerel]

Zune HD getting magenta and purple flavors on December 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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