Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Switched On: How Motorola's Cliq could start to drag

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/switched-on-how-motorolas-cliq-could-start-to-drag/

Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

For many celebrities, 2009 continues to be a year of endings, but at least two handset pioneers have pinned their hopes on rebirths this year. Following Palm's return to its roots with a homegrown operating system earlier this year, Motorola has committed to a new smartphone direction with Android and its Blur social contact architecture. Motorola's first announced Android device, the Cliq, is less distinctive than Palm's Pre or Pixi, but advances the horizontal keyboard slider form factor that provided a successful launchpad for the T-Mobile G1. With high-volume competitors Samsung and LG also planning to release Android devices and HTC marrying Android to its Sense user interface, though, Motorola has incentive to differentiate with software.

All smartphones must decide where they want to integrate and where they want to provide a platform for innovation. RIM, for example, has integrated what is still the best e-mail management application into the BlackBerry (although its lack of HTML email and IMAP support are real drawbacks these days) and Apple has integrated both its own Safari browser as well as services such as Google Maps. But now companies such as Palm and Motorola are integrating social networks, and that could have some downsides.

Continue reading Switched On: How Motorola's Cliq could start to drag

Filed under: Cellphones

Switched On: How Motorola's Cliq could start to drag originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Monday, September 14, 2009

Swiveling Touchscreen Viliv S7 Spotted With Lofty Asking Price [NetBooks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/blZQjX0Lsjo/swiveling-touchscreen-viliv-s7-spotted-with-lofty-asking-price

The Viliv S7, that hot little number we spec'd for you in January, is all but out and about today with one little caveat: Its not so little asking price is pegged between $630 to $800, depending on options.

If that drew a bit of a dubious whistle out of you, you're not alone. Comments over at CrunchGear echo the sentiment, and cast just the slightest bit of uncertainty over this impressive little rig's shiny sheen.

A recap, if you please:

There's a substantial seven hours of video playback on a swiveling 1024x600 7-inch touchscreen, thanks in part to the energy-sipping internals. An impressively sized keyboard sits on top of standard netbook specs, including an Atom processor (up to 1.86 GHz), 1 GB memory, 60 GB HDD/16 GB SSD, and Windows XP.

Not bad, but the price is pushing it, if ever so slightly. Or maybe you disagree. Thoughts before the inevitably soonish release? [Dynamism via CrunchGear]

Volution Bluetooth Headset Concept Almost Makes Headsets Cool— Almost [Headsets]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/AXCv-Ln881k/volution-bluetooth-headset-concept-almost-makes-headsets-coolalmost

Bluetooth headsets suck, mostly due to the fact that they're butt ugly and turn users into talking-to-themselves crazy people. But this latest design takes care of the first issue—so long as you're a lady (says designer Fandi Meng).

As you can see, the headset is more earring than funky robotic ear leech, and it actually looks kind of nice in a futuristic fashionista kind of way.

Like a traditional headset, you tap the sensor to answer an incoming call, and talk into the air like a idiot as normal. But you look good, especially if you happen to be a model. [Fandi Meng via Design Blog]

MIT Students Explain How to Photograph Space for $150 [Photography]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Fm0DljhtLvY/mit-students-explain-how-to-photograph-space-for-150

On September 2, Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh successfully took these images of Earth's curvature and the blackness of space using only a weather balloon and off-the-shelf components—without complicated hacks. Total cost: $148. Here's how they did it.

First up, their rig used a Canon A470 camera with 8GB SD card that they bought used on Amazon. And instead of the expensive GPS radios commonly used by weather balloons, they used a prepaid Motorola i290 GPS cell phone to receive location text messages.

The Earth's stratosphere can get as cold as -67 degrees fahrenheit (-55 Celsius), but they couldn't afford expensive temperature-resistant housing. The solution: a styrofoam beer cooler, and an instant hand warmer. Awesome.

Their low-cost balloon-launch platform reached 17.5 miles high, into near-space. Using the GPS phone to track its location, they found the rig 20 miles away from the launch site about 5 hours later.

Total weight was 800g (about 28 ounces). Apparently FAA regulations only apply to balloons with payloads over four pounds. If you want all the details—including a full parts list—check our their site below.

While groups like EOSS (Edge of Space Sciences) have done things like this in the past, I've never seen it done so cheaply. High school science teachers, please take note! [L337arts via Slashdot]

GW620: LG's First Android Phone Gets Official [Cell Phones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Jhwbwb8N3Ls/gw620-lgs-first-android-phone-gets-official

LG may have over 10 WinMo phones planned for the next year, but that hasn't stopped it testing out the Android waters. This QWERTY-slider (previously known as "Etna") has a 3-inch touchscreen, 5-megapixel autofocus camera, Wi-Fi and GPS.

LG says its first Android phone is about catering to diverse preferences, but beyond confirming a European release later this year, hasn't yet said if the GW620 will reach the U.S. [LG via KoreaNewsWire]