Tuesday, February 17, 2009

NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh, booting to Android and pumping out 1080p video

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/nvidias-tegra-in-the-flesh-booting-to-android-and-pumping-out/


NVIDIA really has a technical wonder in the Tegra APX 2600 chipset, and is more than happy to show it off, with a myriad of tech demos on display here at MWC. Some of this they showed off back in June of last year, but it's no less impressive -- there aren't really any mobile devices out there capable of this stuff right now. Still, we're here for the new, and NIVIDA showed up with Android running on one of its proof-of-concept units, and with another unit pumping out 1080p video, with a claimed 10 hours of battery life at that task. NVIDIA says it took them just a few weeks to port Android to the system, and we found it already quite snappy and even usable on the capacitive touchscreen-ed device. We also saw the forthcoming Android-running Yulong N8 and IAC S2 Tegra APX phones, along with an untitled CompalCom set -- they were all in non-working prototype form, but it's clear this chipset isn't just for MIDs. Check it all out in the videos after the break and the gallery below!

Continue reading NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh, booting to Android and pumping out 1080p video

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NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh, booting to Android and pumping out 1080p video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 10:56 AM

Monday, February 16, 2009

SnapMyLifeâs Genius Use of ⦠Humans

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/T7sCTD7H-p4/

This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: SnapMyLife

Quick Pitch: SnapMyLife is a mobile-web community for instantly saving, sharing, and discovering photos around the world with location tagging and maps.

Genius Idea: SnapMyLife offers a familiar method for getting your camera phone pictures onto the Web. After signing up, you get a unique email address. When you send photos to it, that photo becomes part of your gallery and is broadcast to your SnapMyLife friends in a Twitter-like timeline.

What makes SnapMyLife unique is what happens in between. When you send your photos to your unique email address, they are routed through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. From there, Mechanical Turk workers assign tags to your photos.

While you could do this on your own on the site, given SnapMyLife is based mostly on camera phone uploads, having human intelligence do the tagging makes a lot of sense from a usability standpoint, and in terms of getting more tagged content on the site. The result is some great, incredibly accurate tagged photos with beautiful pictures from around the world.

Mechanical Turk isn't free – but in this case, it seems the value that SnapMyLife is getting in terms of content and community makes the expense well worth it.

Sponsored by BizSpark: Featured BizSpark Startup

Lokad ( Company Profile )
Lokad is an online time-series forecasts provider, with clients in the retail and the utilities areas.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:35 PM

Samsung OmniaHD gets exhaustively inspected

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/samsung-omniahd-gets-inspected-pictured-and-critiqued/


Samsung's OmniaHD may have just been announced (and touched), but already it's seeing its first taste of critique. Russian site Mobile-Review had a chance to get said handset underneath its camera, and it also took the opportunity to blast out a few hard-to-interpret first impressions. Judging by images alone, we'd say this beauty has a lot going for it, but we tend to agree with the reviewer here in that Sammy may not move a lot of these to non-cellphone enthusiasts. You can check out a couple of shots after the break, but for a more extensive look at the phone itself, the UI and some machine-translated impressions, you know where to head.

[Via SamsungCentral]

Continue reading Samsung OmniaHD gets exhaustively inspected

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Samsung OmniaHD gets exhaustively inspected originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:10 PM

Sony bringing Gobi WWAN module to VAIO Z, TT and P

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/sony-bringing-gobi-wwan-module-to-vaio-z-tt-and-p/


Hey, you! VAIO P modder! Hold up on that HSDPA hack just a minute -- er, on second thought, you should probably proceed, 'cause Sony isn't about to take back your current machine when this Gobi-equipped model ships. Quite curiously, Sony has announced here in Barcelona that its VAIO Z, VAIO TT and VAIO P laptops will soon be embedded with Qualcomm's Gobi, which provides both EV-DO Rev. A and HSDPA support on a single module. As it stands, Sony's US model VAIO P only supports Verizon Wireless' mobile broadband network, which should leave a pretty bitter taste in the mouths of early adopters. There's no mention at all of when Sony plans to start shipping these oh-so-connected machines (nor if they'll be coming to US shores), but we're hoping it's sooner rather than later.

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Sony bringing Gobi WWAN module to VAIO Z, TT and P originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:09 PM

Huawei's Android touchphone is a mystery wrapped in an enigma

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/huaweis-android-touchphone-is-a-mystery-wrapped-in-an-enigma/


We were really hoping MWC would be Android's coming out party, but while there's a hefty amount of name-dropping at the show, nobody much seems ready to put hardware on the line. And then there's Huawei. We were expecting a handset from them at the show, and they're halfway there, announcing an Android phone, but only bringing a non-working prototype to show for it. The touchphone hardware is decidedly iPhone-esque, and almost seems too button scarce to work with the traditional Android interface, but that's where the rest of the story comes in: Huawei is working with an "established design consultancy" to develop its own custom interface for the device. The as-yet unnamed phone will be coming to market in Q3 of this year, and Huawei is currently in talks with a carrier who will rebrand the device -- the lack of finality there left much of the rest of the info on this phone shrouded. We're looking forward to learning more about this device in the coming months, but for now you can check out the tease of a gallery below, and the even less informative press release at the read link below.

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Huawei's Android touchphone is a mystery wrapped in an enigma originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:09 PM

ARM debuts Sparrow multicore netbook processor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/arm-debuts-sparrow-multicore-netbook-processor/

We've had our eyes peeled for ARM Cortex-based netbook news, and now among the action this week at MWC '09 we're getting our first look at Sparrow, a Cortex A9 processor aimed squarely at netbook manufacturers. This is a multi-core update to the Cortex A8 (processor of choice for the Palm Pre and Pandora), and it's been speculated that this could be the processor for the next generation iPhone, with "at least triple the computing power of the ARM11 processors found in the [current] iPhone and T-Mobile G1." Toshiba, Pegatron and Wistron are all said to be showing demos of their ARM-powered netbooks at the conference this year, with a company spokesman saying that Ubuntu for ARM will go public in April, with Sparrow phones coming to market sometime in 2010. Additionally, companies like Adobe, On2, and Symbian are said to be "tuning their apps to run on the latest cores from ARM" as we speak.

[Via Gadget Mix, Mac Rumors]

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ARM debuts Sparrow multicore netbook processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:09 PM

Sony Ericsson Idou hands-on and video walkthrough

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/sony-ericsson-idou-hands-on-and-video-walkthrough/


Sony Ericsson launched its 12.1 megapixel Idou at Mobile World Congress yesterday evening, and while not a finished device, we checked it out anyway. The Idou will eventually roll with the Symbian Foundation's OS, but the version we're seeing here is somewhere in between. The resistive touchscreen (essentially the same as found on the XpressMusic 5800) is immense, glossy, and already brilliant. The transitions and sweeping gestures (check them in the vid) are really responsive and quick, with no real lag. We checked it against its nearest neighbor in the C905 and it is slim in comparison. Top notch stuff, we are anxiously waiting for more. Video and gallery follow.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Idou hands-on and video walkthrough

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Sony Ericsson Idou hands-on and video walkthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:09 PM

Archos announces new Moorestown-based netbook, 9-inch tablet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/archos-announces-new-moorestown-based-netbook-9-inch-tablet/


We saw the rough'n'ready Archos 10 get reviewed mere days ago, and now the company's back with the Atom-powered Archos 10s, a new 20mm thin netbook with 3.5G functionality, 1GB memory, Windows XP Home and up to 160GB storage. Additionaly, the company has designs on a 17mm-thin, 9-inch tablet based on Intel's Moorestown MID platform, to see the light of day sometime this year. This guy will include the Intel System Controller Hub chipset, up to 160GB storage, VOD and hi-def video playback, and digital TV reception. The Archos 10s should be available sometime in April, at a price to be announced.

[Via UMPC Portal]

Read - "ARCHOS announces new generation innovative MiniPCs based on Intel Atom Processor" (Warning: PDF)

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Archos announces new Moorestown-based netbook, 9-inch tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:09 PM

SmartQ 5 PMP Swallows Several iPhones, Could Take On Cowon P5 With Lower Pricing [PMPs]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4YKJnozcVHQ/smartq-5-pmp-swallows-several-iphones-could-take-on-cowon-p5-with-lower-pricing

Chinese electronics companies taking design cues from Apple is nothing new, so we won't dwell on it here. Instead, the SmartQ 5 could (stress could) match the Cowon P5 with similar features and better pricing.

The only trouble with that is, as the link to the P5 shows, Cowon has had a few months head start. The P5 also has a bigger screen (SmartQ 5 checks in at 4.3 inches—why not 5?), although the two devices share the same 800x480 resolution. Both devices also come standard with wifi, Bluetooth, GPS via USB and all the other little PMP features we expect today, like touchscreens. Oh, the exception is 3G, which is unavailable on both devices. Boo.

So what's the big differentiators here? Well, there's only one we can seen, and it relates to price. PMPtoday speculates the SmartQ 5 will surprise PMP fans with its comparatively lower price point. Is that enough? [zol via PMPToday]



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Posted by Augustine at 10:00 AM

V12 Design Dual-Screen Laptop Gets a Bit More Real With Estari Partnership [Laptops]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8Y16YDj1Ms8/v12-design-dual+screen-laptop-gets-a-bit-more-real-with-estari-partnership

The Canova dual screen LCD laptop from V12 Design we profiled back in July is slowly exiting the concept phase and could actually be headed for the all-important production stage of development.

The boost in street cred is due entirely to the fact that V12 Design has hooked up with an American firm called Estari to help with development. Estari, as you may know, is in the business of developing all sorts of dual screen computer things, including a 2-VU dual screen laptop from way back in 2007.

Today, in 2009, their web page has changed to reflect the news that they've teamed up with V12 Design to make a laptop that looks like what the OLPC XO-2 would look like if it mated with a Lambo.

But will this revolutionize the laptop, as Estari's marketing suggests? Judging by the fact that many of you are probably reading this on a traditional laptop, coupled with the fact that Estari's 2007 effort seems to have been lost sometime in 2007, I'm skeptical, at best.




[Notebook Italia via Engadget, Estari]



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Posted by Augustine at 10:00 AM

Sony Ericsson Idou Arrives In Second Half 2009 With 16:9 Touchscreen, 12MP Camera [Idou]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Vk-uKRGnOaY/sony-ericsson-idou-arrives-in-second-half-2009-with-169-touchscreen-12mp-camera

Sony Ericsson kicked of the MWC show a bit early today with a press conference for a slick new phone: The enigmatically named Idou.

With an OS based on Symbian, the Idou continues the cameraphone megapixel pissing match with an impressive 12 megapixel camera/Xenon flash combo.

Once you snap those gorgeous cellpone photos, they'll be presented to you on a sizable 3.5-inch 16:9 touchscreen that Sony Ericsson claims is capable of "full media consumption" (so it eats all media? Interesting...).

Idou is just a codename for now, Sony claims, but the release window is certain: Second half of 2009. Did I say certain? I mean hazy and ambiguous, like all long-term tech release dates.

[BGR, Sony Ericsson]



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Posted by Augustine at 9:59 AM

Nokia Hybrid Slider E75: For People Who Enjoy Lots of Buttons [Mwc'09]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/miuK4G9cwBQ/nokia-hybrid-slider-e75-for-people-who-enjoy-lots-of-buttons

The long-since-leaked E75 has been announced by Nokia, offering bring a new form-factor to Nokia's smartphone lineup.

We've known about the E75 since November, but here's the rundown: a 2.4in, 240x320 screen, S60 OS, full 3G capabilities (CDMA and GSM), 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB of storage with room for expansion via SD, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Gallery+full spec list below.

Technical Profile
System: WCDMA 850/1900/2100
WCDMA 900/1900/2100
GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
User Interface: S60 platform
Dimensions: 111.8 mm x 50 mm x 14.4 mm
(L x W x H)
Volume: 69 cc
Weight: 139 g
Standby time: Up to 11 days (GSM), 11 days (WCDMA)
Talk time: Up to 5.4hours (GSM), 4.2 hours (WCDMA)
Main display: 2.4" QVGA (320x240), up to 16 million
colors
Battery: BL-4U, 1000 mAh, Li-Po
Memory: Up to 50 MB internal memory, 4 GB card on
board, support for up to 16 GB microSD
memory card
Camera
Image capture: Up to 3.2 megapixels (2048 x 1536 pixels)
Video capture: Video recording in VGA quality
Data Services & Connectivity
•HSDPA class 6 up to 3.6Mbits
•384 kbps uplink
•WLAN (IEEE 802.11b/g)
•EGPRS multislot class 32, max download 296 kbps;
upload 177.6 kbps
•High-Speed micro USB 2.0 which supports charging
•Bluetooth wireless technology 2.0 with
A2DP stereo audio, enhanced data rates (EDR)
•3.5 mm AV connector
Recommended Nokia Original Accessories
Car: Mobile Holder CR-109
Car Kit CK-600
Headsets: Bluetooth Headset BH-904
Data: 16 GB microSD Card MU-44
Power: Extra Power DC-11
Special: Bluetooth DVB-H Module SU-33W
Inbox Colors Silver black, Red and Copper yellow
Key Features
•Design! ed for t he best email experience via pre-
installed email clients and full qwerty keyboard
•Full integration between contacts, email, home
screen and calendar with full synchronization
•Two customizable home screen views for both
business and personal usage supporting several
email accounts
•Ovi Files service for accessing files and documents on
your PC, even if it is offline
•Integrated A-GPS and preloaded maps on memory
card offers you great navigation experience
•3.5 mm standard audio plug
Additional features
•Easy three step email set-up
•3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and
mirror
•Music player, Media player, FM & Internet Radio
•Nokia Maps
•Quick access to applications with one-touch keys
(Home, Calendar, Camera, Email)
•Nokia Eseries optimized Email, Calendar and Contacts
•Intelligent input with auto-completion and
correction, learning capability ensuring fast and
error-free typing
•Built-in mobile VPN for convenient intranet access
•Data encryption for both phone memory and
microSD card
Email
•Nokia Messaging service
•Mail for Exchange (pre-installed)
•IBM Lotus Notes Traveler
•POP/IMAP
•Support for a number of 3rd party email solutions



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Posted by Augustine at 9:58 AM

Samsung OMNIA HD Makes Calls, Shoots 720P Video [Mcw'09]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/K_OYy8jY6Sw/samsung-omnia-hd-makes-calls-shoots-720p-video

Samsung is working hard to up the ante on cellphone camera resolution. But forget digital cameras. With their 8MP Omnia HD (spotted yesterday), Samsung is going after camcorders.

The new Omnia HD features a 3.7-inch (360x640) screen, HSUPA, GPS, Bluetooth and either 8 or 16GB of storage along with an additional MicroSDHC slot. But what's more exciting about this Symbian phone is that it features an 8MP camera (complete with the works like smile detection) and the ability to shoot 1280x720 video at 24fps. You can even do some light editing to the clips before playing them right off the Omnia HD onto your HDTV. The world of independent film just got a whole lot lamer or more awesome. We haven't decided yet.

Samsung OMNIAHD Dazzles at Mobile World Congress with Its HD Brilliance

Barcelona, Spain, February 16, 2009 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveiled its ultimate multimedia powerhouse with HD brilliance. OMNIAHD is Samsung's first Symbian full-touch handset, and features the world's first 720P HD video recording and decoding on mobile, as well as the world's largest AMOLED screen on mobile. Samsung launches OMNIAHD at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, as part of its portfolio of innovative mobile devices that incorporate the latest multimedia features and fastest data communication, to offer a complete media solution for consumers.

Samsung OMNIAHD is the newest, high performance full-touch screen phone that brings together style, multimedia and business performance in one device. The mobile follows on from the phenomenal success and heritage of the OMNIA last year and extends Samsung's mark! et leade rship of all-in-one full-touch phones. Samsung OMNIAHD has a stunning design with a sleek finish and delivers the ultimate in digital entertainment thanks to its HD capability and 3.7" AMOLED screen. The Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) touch screen offers unrivalled sharpness of tone, vivid colours and greater clarity in direct sunlight as well as less power consumption.

"Samsung OMNIAHD is an incredibly exciting product for us as it is a mobile perfectly suited to the needs of today's consumers who want exciting multimedia experiences on the move," said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and head of Mobile Communication division in Samsung Electronics. "OMNIAHDdemonstrates our vision for the Samsung mobile business, which is to provide premium phones for users who desire functionality, style, usability and entertainment in one innovative device. With Samsung Mobile, I believe that our users can enjoy being at the forefront of work and play, staying connected anytime, anywhere."

Brilliant HD

The HD video recording feature enables you to capture precious moments in HD (720p) quality, enjoy HD content on HD TV via DLNA technology and share real-time live video as users shoot it via qik.com. The 16: 9 screen of QHD display with 16M colour and dual stereo speaker reveal a whole new world of mobile multimedia experiences on the move, enabling users to enjoy SD (Standard Definition) /HD (High Definition) videos in cinema-scale quality with caption.

Brilliant Convergence

Allied to the industry-leading 8MP camera which allows you take digital camera-quality photographs on your phone, the Samsung OMNIAHD ensures you capture the best possible photographs of your friends and family.

Users can enjoy super-fast internet access of HSUPA 5.76Mbps and HSDPA 7.2Mbps that enables you to download or upload a 4MB MP3 song in less than 10 seconds and a 40MB movie in 1 minute(※). 3.7" Auto-Rotating Display on the large screen means that you can enjoy PC-like web-s! urfing o n your phone. [※ Based on theoretical values]

GPS with integrated compass makes OMNIAHD suitable for both pedestrians and drivers, and the navigation touch control and voice guidance via dual stereo speaker provide drivers with easy and safe navigation.

The generous internal memory (available in 8GB and 16GB capacity options), with the addition of a 32GB microSD card, allows you to store up to 48GB, which translates to 35 DVD-quality movies or 18,000 8MP photographs.

Brilliant Interaction

With its easy to use and intuitive 3D interface, OMNIAHD offers effortless and convenient viewing, allowing users to move around and multi-task seamlessly. Motion-enabled features including 3D games make it intuitive and exciting to enjoy the best ever mobile multimedia experiences. Moreover, Samsung Mobile Widget delivers up-to-date information of your choice with just one touch, creating a personalized interface with which to access the infinite wealth of web content.

[Samsung]



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Posted by Augustine at 9:58 AM

HP Mini 1000 Mi gets video review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/15/hp-mini-1000-mi-gets-video-review/


HP's Mini 1000 Mi has been up for order since CES, but for those still waiting (and waiting) for a proper overview of the system before buying in can finally say that their patience has paid off. The netbook lovin' crew over at jkOnTheRun has taken the time to showcase the aforementioned machine on video, going over the basics, the not-so-basics and the pros / cons of ownership. We're going to warn you up front, though -- the clip is darn near 20 minutes long, so you'll certainly want to snag some cookies and milk before diving into the read link. That said, you'll be hard pressed to find a better look at the Mi software without actually removing your keister from your chair, so it's probably worth your while.

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HP Mini 1000 Mi gets video review originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:57 AM

Lenovo Constant Connect brings BlackBerry email to ThinkPads automatically

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/lenovo-constant-connect-brings-blackberry-email-to-thinkpads-aut/


After two years in development, Lenovo Constant Connect is finally here. A groundbreaking new tie-up between Lenovo and RIM has led to the creation of a $150 54mm ExpressCard -- which slots into any ThinkPad from around Summer '08 onward -- and automatically pulls down any email sent to your BlackBerry via Bluetooth, even if the laptop is completely powered down. The idea here is to always have your most recent inbox available within eight seconds of opening your machine, and thanks to the card's dedicated Bluetooth radio and 500MB of inbuilt storage, it can pull down and send out emails so long as the card and your 'Berry are within 30 feet or so from one another. Aside from needing an ExpressCard slot, you'll also need a handset with OS 4.2 or higher. It's designed to work with Exchange, Outlook, POP and Gmail, with Lotus Notes support coming in 2H 2009; as for availability, the card will be available through Lenovo and its partners in early Q2 here in America, while those elsewhere in the world will have to wait until the latter half of the year. Full release and demo video is after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo Constant Connect brings BlackBerry email to ThinkPads automatically

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Lenovo Constant Connect brings BlackBerry email to ThinkPads automatically originally appeared on Engadget on M! on, 16 F eb 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:57 AM

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