Ubuntu lands on Nexus 7 slates with Canonical's one-click installer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/27/ubuntu-nexus-7-installer/

If you'd rather not let your Nexus 7 live out its life as a Jelly Bean-toting device, Canonical's freshly minted Ubuntu Nexus 7 Desktop Installer can help. Instead of allowing Ubuntu to ride shotgun with Android, the installer requires unlocking the device's bootloader, which wipes the slate clean. Once the Nexus 7 is unlocked, started in fastboot mode and connected to an Ubuntu machine, the one-click installation software takes care of the rest. Roughly 10 to 15 minutes later, your tablet will be running full-blown Ubuntu. Since development is currently focused on getting the core of the desktop OS up and running, there's no tablet-specific Unity UI to see here. However, Raring Ringtail is set to flesh out the mobile experience with an emphasis on sensors, memory footprint and battery life, among other features. Those who regret ousting Google's confection-themed operating system can simply reload their device with stock Android. For the entire walk through, hit the first source link below.

[Thanks, Keith]

Filed under: Tablets, Software, Google

Ubuntu lands on Nexus 7 slates with Canonical's one-click installer originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Lost the Nexus 4 in a Bar

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5955385/google-lost-the-nexus-4-in-a-bar

In a very, heh, familiar story, Google apparently lost the upcoming Nexus 4 in a bar last month. Yes, the LG Nexus phone we expect to be unveiled next week. Yes, the phone that's probably going to take the crown as the best Android phone available when it comes out.

The phone, which was lost at the 500 Club in San Francisco's Mission District, was found by Jamin Barton, the bartender who discovered it. It was locked, had no SIM card and had a Google logo and an explicit 'not for sale' sticker on the back.

When Barton showed the phone to a tech-savvy regular, he immediately knew it was the next Nexus and contacted Google, who promptly freaked out and started an epic chase sequence that seems straight out of the movies. Google dispatched Brian Katz, global investigations and intelligence manager at Google, who's described as "pushy" and "military"-like to retrieve the phone. Wired says:

By the time Katz was speeding north to the Mission District, Barton says, he had already agreed to hand the phone over to Google the next day, at noon, on the sole condition that the guy coming to get it could prove he actually worked for Google. "What was I supposed to do, look for the guy with Google shirt? How did I know this guy didn't work for Apple?"

There was a bit of a cat and mouse game being played, with Barton avoiding Katz (since Katz refused to admit he worked for Google) and a riot thrown in there for good measure but in the end Google got its phone back. Google offered Barton a free phone if he would keep quiet about its embarrassing episode but thankfully he declined, so we have another lost phone at a bar story to laugh at. Read the whole entertaining situation over at Wired. [Wired]

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LG E960 support manuals confirm Nexus 4 name, 8GB and 16GB configurations

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/26/lg-nexus-4-manual-8gb-16gb/

The information leaks ahead Google's Android event next week continue to flow, with the latest thanks to support manuals on LG's Australian and UK websites. While we're already familiar with the phone's hardware thanks to a detailed Belarusian review, the manuals confirm it is going to be called the Nexus 4, and that along with the 8GB version we've seen there will definitely be a 16GB edition available. As you can see above, it also includes an induction coil for wireless charging and excludes any microSD slots for additional storage. This all comes after two separate Nexus 10 leaks earlier today, as well as a report by Wired of a lost Nexus 4 recovered in a San Francisco bar (sound familiar?) last month. Hit the source link below to check out the LG E960 PDF for yourself (you may need to select the "show all" radio button), although there's only a few diagrams and support info waiting within.

[Thanks, Tim aka Zurginator]

Continue reading LG E960 support manuals confirm Nexus 4 name, 8GB and 16GB configurations

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, LG

LG E960 support manuals confirm Nexus 4 name, 8GB and 16GB configurations originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung launches $250 Exynos 5-based Arndale community board for app developers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/26/samsung-launches-arndale-community-board/

If you're looking to create that perfect multi-threaded, NFC, GPS-based OpenCL app (and who isn't?), but found your development board options too limited, Samsung has good news. It's just launched the Arndale community development board around its Exynos 5 Dual SoC, with the ARM Cortex-A15 dual-core CPU and ARM Mali T604 GPU. Those specs give the board "an order of magnitude lift in performance" from the last model and full profile OpenCL capability, according to Samsung, on top of NFC, GPS and camera sensor features. That'll let developers go to town on new games, security and multimedia apps next month for $250 -- if that's you, check the PR after the break or coverage below.

Continue reading Samsung launches $250 Exynos 5-based Arndale community board for app developers

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Samsung

S amsung launches $250 Exynos 5-based Arndale community board for app developers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pi Crust Is a DIY Breakout Board to Expand Interfacing Options on Your Raspberry Pi

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5954810/pi-crust-is-a-diy-breakout-board-to-expand-interfacing-options-on-your-raspberry-pi

The Raspberry Pi is a great little cheap computer, but it doesn't have a lot of interfacing options to connect external peripherals. If you want a low-footprint solution that looks great sitting on the Raspberry Pi itself, DIYer Joe Walnes outlines how to make the "Pi Crust" breakout board.

Walnes' design is pretty simple and sits inside the surface area of the Raspberry Pi itself. It adds a wide variety of i/o options provided you're willing to do a little soldering. You order a custom PCB (which Walnes provides the layout file for), and a few other parts amounting to less than $20. Once you've got it running, the Pi Crust works with any low-level peripheral, which means you can expand your DIY electronics projects beyond the standard i/o of the Raspberry Pi. Head over to the Pi Crust main page for a list of parts and directions.

Pi Crust | via Hacker News

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