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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/motorola-droid-official-on-verizon-199-on-contract-coming-nov/

We knew good and well this thing was coming sometime in November, and now Verizon Wireless has made it official: the Motorola DROID will hit Big Red on November 6th for $199 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate). Naturally, the DROID itself is just the first of what could be many Android-laced phones coming to the carrier, and Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton even stated that the phone "is wide open" -- pretty big words from a company like VZW. Android 2.0 will be front and center, along with Visual Voicemail, a 3.7-inch display (854 x 480 resolution), 5 megapixel camera (with dual-LED flash), a bundled 16GB memory card and a beta version of Google Maps Navigation(!). For those wondering, yeah -- the DROID is the first phone to offer that, which transforms Google Maps into a turn-by-turn routing system that'll have your dedicated TomTom / Garmin trembling in fear. There's also a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3G, WiFi, voice-activated search and over-the-air Amazon MP3 downloads. With all that, who needs the iPhone, right Ivan?

Update: Check on our in-depth hands-on coverage on the DROID, Google Maps Navigation and the accessory dock!

Gallery: Verizon Wireless' DROID by Motorola

Continue reading Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Albatron's 42 inches of optical touch monitor get examined on video

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/albatrons-42-inches-of-optical-touch-monitor-get-examined-on-vi/

While Dell and HP were busy holding a competition to see who could do a worse job of announcing their new optical multitouch displays, Albatron was crafting away a 42-inch monstrosity to completely steal their thunder. The optical part refers to a pair of CMOS sensors embedded in the bezel which are responsible for touch detection, a cheaper alternative to your typical capacitive and resistive tech, which requires an extra USB connection between the monitor and computer. Although some issues were found with Windows 7's multitouch implementation, the promise of recognizing more than two fingers with the proper software support and the general responsiveness of the unit whet our appetite for more. Alas, nobody dares speak of a price, but a 1080p 22-inch model is already available for $450, in case you wanted to add to your touchy-feely shortlist. The video after the break contains the hands-on and a little mystery -- why is there Bulgarian handwriting on the whiteboard in the background?

Continue reading Albatron's 42 inches of optical touch monitor get examined on video

Filed under: Displays

Al batron's 42 inches of optical touch monitor get examined on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo teases new ThinkCentre all-in-one desktop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/lenovo-teases-new-thinkcentre-all-in-one-desktop/

Lenovo isn't offering any more than this picture of its new ThinkCentre all-in-one desktop just yet, but it's already clear that it's not messing around with this one. How can we be so sure? It has a map of the world on it, and maps mean business. It also doesn't look like we have to wait too long to get the full story on it, as Lenovo is promising to make things official at the EDUCAUSE 09 conference early next month.

[Thanks, Tim]

Filed under: Desktops

Lenovo teases new ThinkCentre all-in-one desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghostwire augmented reality game coming to your creepy motel room, DSi in 2010

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/ghostwire-augmented-reality-game-coming-to-your-creepy-motel-r/

Majesco's just announced an augmented reality game for the DSi, Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal. While the Ghostwire title had been previously unveiled, Majesco has apparently just signed on to publish it. The game makes use of the DSi's camera and microphone so the player can hunt for ghosts in their surrounding, actual environment. Once the ghosts are detected, the player will have to track down objects to bribe them into peacefulness. Ghostwire is expected sometime in 2010, but until then, we'll just keep walking with our own ghosts.

Filed under: Gaming

Ghostwire augmented reality game coming to your creepy motel room, DSi in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola DROID first hands-on! (update: video, impressions, more pics)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/motorola-droid-first-hands-on/

We've got the DROID in our hands... and it is sweet. Moto claims that this is the thinnest full QWERTY slider on the market, and we're apt to believe it. The phone is incredibly slick and solid, and we're definitely looking forward to putting it through its paces. We'll have more photos, video, and a full review coming, so stay tuned!

Some quick observations on the phone:

That big screen is killer. Bright, crisp, and tons of room for your icons and widgets.
Speed is noticeably improved -- particularly when moving from app to app. We did notice that some of the home screen scrolling looked laggy.
Android 2.0 is definitely cleaned up -- but it's most definitely still Android
The browser seems significantly improved -- pages now load up in a fully zoomed-out mode, and the load times and scrolling are way snappier.
The keyboard takes some getting used to, and it suffers from a similar hand-position issue as the G1, but it's fairly usable. We think it'll be second nature once we spend some time with it.
Facebook is integrated into accounts, which means some of that BLUR functionality is here (though now it's part of Android 2.0 natively). The good news is that when you add a Facebook account you can choose to pull all Facebook info and contacts, or just info related to your existing contacts -- a real clutter buster.

Update: We've added a new gallery, and video is on the way!

Update 2: Video is up after the break! More coming too...

Update 3: And we've got a browser speed test to round things out.

Update 4: We've added another gallery of the car and home docks, which are pretty neat -- the phone detects the dock magnetically, and switches to the appropriate mode. We're told that there'll also be third-party docks, and that Google's the one behind the different interface modes, so this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Gallery: Motorola DROID first hands-on