British man's prosthetic arm doubles as Nokia C7 dock

Smartphones have changed our lives, sure, but for those with only one arm, the touchscreen-centric devices can be a downright nuisance. Trevor Prideaux of Somerset, England has worked out of a solution, with help from Nokia and some folks in the medical community. A prosthetist built the 50-year-old catering manager a limb with a cradle for his Nokia C7, allowing Prideaux to operate the phone with a single hand. Prideaux told The Telegraph that he'd initially approached Apple for assistance with the project, eventually settling on Nokia after the Finnish handset maker agreed to help out.

[Image source: The Telegraph]

British man's prosthetic arm doubles as Nokia C7 dock originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insert Coin: Ray solar charger adheres to your window, basks in the sunlight

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

The most frustrating products are the ones that have such simple ideas, you're upset that it hasn't been done before -- or that you weren't the one that came up with it. No idea is so simple as the brilliant Ray solar charger. A mobile phone juicer that comes with a kickstand and built-in suction cup so that it's nearly always pointed right at the sun. If you think that sounds like simple madness or genius, click past the break to find out why it could be worth your investment.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Ray solar charger adheres to your window, basks in the sunlight

Insert Coin: Ray solar charger adheres to your window, basks in the sunlight originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC releases Q3 earnings report: profit up by 68 percent, shipments soar by 93 percent

It's been another stellar quarter for the folks over at HTC. According to the company's Q3 earnings report, released today, net income rose to NT$18.68 billion (about $624.6 million) this quarter -- a 68 percent increase over Q3 2010 and a seven percent bump over last quarter, when HTC reported record profits. Revenue, meanwhile, rose by 79 percent on the year to NT$135.8 billion (around $4.54 billion), which the manufacturer attributed to "strong brand recognition, leading product portfolio and expanded distribution channels." On a regional level, HTC saw the strongest growth in China, where sales increased by a factor of nine over the past year. This undoubtedly helped the company boost handset shipments, which increased by a whopping 93 percent over the year, to 13.2 million units. For more details and crunchy numbers, hit up the source links, below.

HTC releases Q3 earnings report: profit up by 68 percent, shipments soar by 93 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia World 2011 wrap-up

Nokia had something to prove at its annual event, and an eight-month turnaround of its smartphone arm is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. While Nokia's first Windows Phone devices were undoubtably the stars of the two-day expo, there was plenty more to investigate -- Nokia's legion of development labs certainly didn't let us down. Check out a veritable world of coverage neatly arranged below the break for everything Nokia World had to show us, and few more tidbits we found for ourselves.

Gallery: Nokia World 2011 wrap-up gallery

Continue reading Nokia World 2011 wrap-up

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia World 2011 wrap-up originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo's upcoming LePhone S2 seen running Android as well as Windows Phone, looks confused

We're not quite sure what's going on here: you see, Lenovo's been cosying up to Android for its smartphones and tablets all this time, so we were a bit surprised when one of its product managers posted some photos of a Windows Phone-powered handset (even Engadget makes an appearance). More interestingly, this mysterious phone looks identical to the upcoming Lenovo LePhone S2, which features a heavily customized Android 2.3.4, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chip, 480 x 800 display, eight-megapixel camera (with 720p recording) and a smaller plus lighter body than its predecessor. PCPOP's done a brief preview of the S2 Android if you're curious.

But the bigger story here is that if Lenovo is indeed developing a Windows Phone Mango device for the Chinese market (and remember that Lenovo has yet to market its smartphones outside China), then this S2 variant could be the first of its kind that gets the blessing from the Chinese authorities. Right now Windows Phone has a tight Facebook and Twitter integration, both of which are unfortunately banned by the Great Firewall; and additionally, even the Windows Phone Marketplace had fallen victim to the system for unknown reasons back in August. Of course, Windows Phone's China penetration could be just a matter of time anyway, but it'll be interesting to see what compromises Microsoft will have made to keep the authorities happy -- Nokia will surely need this to keep a good shape in China.

On the other hand, given the common hardware compatibility between the two mobile OSes, there's also a good chance that this strange device is merely the work of some curious engineers at Lenovo -- you know, much like the Android-powered Nokia prototype spotted in June. If this is indeed the truth then let our bubbles burst.

Gallery: Lenovo's upcoming LePhone S2 seen running Android as well as Windows Phone, looks confused

Lenovo's upcoming LePhone S2 seen running Android as well as Windows Phone, looks confused originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siri port now talking to Apple servers, avoiding Cydia

A little cajoling from a clever developer got Siri talking to the iPhone 4 and the iPad, but Apple's tight-lipped servers kept the conversation effectively one-sided. The last-gen port was still missing something, and developer Steven Troughton-Smith knew where to find it: a jailbroken iPhone 4S. In an interview with 9to5Mac, Troughton-Smith said that getting Siri to talk to Cupertino's data servers only took ten minutes after he had all of the pieces in place. Ready for your personal assistant port? Hold the phone, the process is a bit dodgy -- our hacking hero said that getting Siri on the older device is a 20-step process, and it requires files from the iPhone 4S that he says aren't his to distribute. When asked about distributing the hack over Cydia, Troughton-Smith said it was something he couldn't be a part of. On Twitter he suggested that a release would "anger the hive," but promised to post detailed notes on the hack after a iPhone 4S jailbreak drops.

Filed under: Cellphones

Siri port now talking to Apple servers, avoiding Cydia originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung to offer flexible displays in 2012, challenges Nokia to a twist contest

Flexible displays? Samsung's got 'em, too. A few days after Nokia showed off its Kinetic Device prototype under the blue lights of Nokia World, Samsung made mention of its own plans to unleash some bendy mobile devices on the world. A spokesperson for the company was scarce on details, but noted that the flexible displays are targeted for 2012. The technology, which was showcased at this year's CES, will initially be incorporated into handsets, with tablets following down the road.

Continue reading Samsung to offer flexible displays in 2012, challenges Nokia to a twist contest

Samsung to offer flexible displays in 2012, challenges Nokia to a twist contest originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: The clamshell mystique

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

In 2009, Switched On discussed the potential of Android on netbooks, finding an uneasy match between what was then high-flying hardware and still nascent software. More than two years later, though, the tables have turned in terms of momentum. As netbooks have settled into a relatively small part of the overall PC market, Android is leaping beyond the smartphone. In doing so, though, it is focused on tablets, not clamshells,

There are a few ways today to get Android on a diminutive notebook, but all have major flaws. On eBay, for example, you can buy cheaply made 7-inch Android netbooks for about $100. These are little more than novelties with poor ergonomics and battery life. Or one can download the Android x86 distribution and fire it up on an Asus Eee or other netbooks, but this is a hobbyist pursuit.

Continue reading Switched On: The clamshell mystique

Switched On: The clamshell mystique originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9930?

There's no QNX (or BBX, we should say) here, but the Bold 9930 is still taking baby steps towards the future with BlackBerry OS 7. Now that you've had a few months to tinker with your latest and greatest, we're interested to hear how you'd tweak things if given the keys to Waterloo. Would you make it look a bit more like this? Change up the screen? Toss that chrome ring around the edge? Chunk it to another carrier? Go on and get creative in comments below, but keep it civil, cool?

How would you change RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9930? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer's first venture into Windows Phone arrives in France as the Allegro

Remember the Acer W4? After seeing it at IFA 2011, it seems that it's finally ready to make some first impressions, and its blind date is with France. Known officially as the Allegro, Acer's inaugural Windows Phone isn't going over the top in the spec department: it has a 3.6-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, 1GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU, 8GB internal storage, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a 1,300mAh battery. However, a unique addition to this €299 ($425) device is a feature called Fast Charge, which allows the Allegro to get juiced up to 2.5 times faster than the rest of the company's lineup. Expect the device to land in France in mid-November with two color options -- white and dark blue iceberg. Just make sure, Acer, to walk your date all the way back home from dinner.

Acer's first venture into Windows Phone arrives in France as the Allegro originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's N9 gets its tap-to-pair on with the Play 360 Bluetooth speaker (video)

Oh, Meego, we barely knew ye. Yet, the Finnish OS that could continues to shower us with glimpses of what might've been... more widespread, that is. At least we have the consolation prize of seeing your host hardware, the N9, effortlessly display its untapped powers of NFC. Shown off here in a demo taken at the just wrapped Nokia World, that tap-to-pair functionality we'd previously seen in HP's webOS devices and, more recently as ICS' Android Beam, bridges the blue polycarbonate slab to a Play 360 speaker by a mere gentle swipe. That's all it takes to send tracks from Nokia's Music app direct to the Bluetooth peripheral's curvature continuous form. Like what you see? Then hopefully these tricked out features will make their way to identical twin Lumia's Mango-fied line. Full video awaits you just after the break.

Continue reading Nokia's N9 gets its tap-to-pair on with the Play 360 Bluetooth speaker (video)

Nokia's N9 gets its tap-to-pair on with the Play 360 Bluetooth speaker (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Note review

Remember the display on your first mobile phone? If you've been chatting on the go for as long as we have, it was probably barely big enough to fit a complete telephone number -- let alone a contact name or text message. And your first smartphone? Even displaying scaled-down, WAP versions of web pages was asking a lot. Now, those mobile devices we couldn't live without have screens that are much, much larger. Sometimes, though, we secretly wish they were even bigger still.

Samsung's new GT-N7000 Galaxy Note is the handset those dreams are made of -- if you happen to share that dream about obnoxiously large smartphones, that is. It's as thin as a Galaxy S II, lightning fast and its 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display is as gorgeous as it is enormous; the 1280 x 800 pixels you once could only get with a full-size laptop (or in the Galaxy Tab 10.1) can now slide comfortably into your front pocket. Its jumbo display makes it the perfect candidate for a notepad replacement and, with the included S Pen stylus, you'll have no problem jotting notes on the fly, marking up screenshots or signing documents electronically. But, is that massive display too much of a good thing? You'll need to jump past the break to find out.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Note review

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Note vs. Galaxy S II

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note review

Samsung Galaxy Note review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ITG xpPhone 2 to get some Windows 8 love, starts living large in January

Let's be honest: with the size of a brick and a relatively short battery life, it's no surprise that ITG's xpPhone hasn't quite dominated the smartphone market since its launch back in November. In fact, we haven't even seen one in the wild, and we certainly wouldn't have missed it if there ever was one on the street. That said, ITG hasn't given up, as the company's just announced its second-generation Windows-powered smartphone. The reason? Well, interestingly enough, ITG prefers Windows' greater range of compatible software compared to those of mobile OSes, namely Android and iOS. Let's just leave it at that for now.

Simply dubbed the xpPhone 2, this beast of a QWERTY slider packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 chip, along with 2GB RAM, up to 112GB of SSD storage, 4.3-inch display and compatibility with both Windows 7 and Windows 8 -- obviously the latter OS will depend on its final release date. Not only has battery life been bumped up to around 18 hours of call time or 46 days on standby, but the phone's also been slimmed down to 140mm x 73mm x 17.5mm, which is a huge improvement compared to its bulky predecessor. With the touch-friendly Windows 8 on board along with a non-underclocked CPU, we have a feeling that the xpPhone 2 will at least fare much better than Fujitsu's F-07C; as for the rest, we shall see when it comes out in January next year. And no, it probably won't run Crysis.

Update: Looks like we were misled by the company's other promotional photos and thus mistakenly thought the xpPhone 2 will have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This would explain the slimmer body then.

Gallery: ITG xpPhone 2

ITG xpPhone 2 to get some Windows 8 love, starts living large in January originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Escort's SmartCord Live brings radar detection, KRS-One to your smartphone (video)

Evading the long arm of the law, as we all know, is infinitely easier with a radar detector onboard -- and even easier if said detector is hooked up to a cloud. That's the idea behind the SmartCord Live, a new power cord from the eagle-eyed folks at Escort. Once connected to your car's radar detector and lighter socket, this Bluetooth-enabled bundle will communicate with your iPhone or Android handset through a specialized app. Once that's taken care of, you'll be hooked up to Escort Live -- a so-called "social network for the road." There, you'll find access to Escort's Defender database, full of real-time geographic information on verified speed traps, red light cameras and other roadway surveillance systems. Once your detector picks up a threat, you can press a "report" button on the cord or app to instantly send out a big "five-oh" to all other Escort users in the area, while boosting your Karma quotient, in the process. Find out more about the cord and its corollary system, after the break.

Continue reading Escort's SmartCord Live brings radar detection, KRS-One to your smartphone (video)

Escort's SmartCord Live brings radar detection, KRS-One to your smartphone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget Distro Issue 10: It's alive! And ready for download

They're creepy, they're kooky, they're your favorite Frankengadgets and they've invaded the latest issue of Engadget Distro. But fear not, this edition of our fine weekly isn't all about chopping and screwing the devices you love, we've got plenty of other real-life gadgets on hand as well. See that tiny silver sliver on the cover? That's ASUS' Zenbook UX31, perhaps the most viable candidate for the Ultrabook throne. It may not be as thin and light, but we're also bringing you a review of Dell's lightweight XPS 14z, an ergonomically sound laptop with a sizable asking price. On the mobile front, Myriam Joire says hello and goodbye to Nokia's N9 MeeGo phone and Zach Honig gets his hands on its brother from another operating system, the Lumia 800. Nokia's claiming its latest is the "first real Windows Phone," but Sharif Sakr's review of the HTC Titan might just prove otherwise. We'll also bring you a look into Tech News Today host Iyaz Akhtar's geeky upbringing, our latest installation of In Real Life and an exclusive comic from Ed Piskor. So what are you waiting for? Hop on that iPad or hit the PDF download link below, and soak up all that Distro goodness.

Distro Issue 10 PDF

Distro on the iTunes App Store

Like Distro on Facebook

Follow Distro on Twitter

Engadget Distro Issue 10: It's alive! And ready for download originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AUO's flexible e-paper to take on Stretch Armstrong in battle of the bendiest

There's nothing better than unplugging on a Sunday afternoon with a newspaper and a cup of Joe, which is exactly what AU Optronics hopes to facilitate with its 6-inch Rollable Organic TFT E-paper. We've heard rumblings about the foldable photovoltaic device before, but the company has finally delivered a working prototype that is completely solar powered and elastic enough to make even Gumby jealous. Made of organic TFTs, the SVGA e-paper has an amorphous silicon PV battery, which turns natural or indoor light into solar energy without requiring a power plug. The only downside? Unlike the dead tree variety, wrapping presents in this stuff is a no-go. Check out the extended PR after the break.

Continue reading AUO's flexible e-paper to take on Stretch Armstrong in battle of the bendiest

AUO's flexible e-paper to take on Stretch Armstrong in battle of the bendiest originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox Companion app for WP7 shown off at Nokia World, leaks Vudu integration (video)

Even if you're not planning on picking up one of Espoo's latest handsets, Microsoft is also on the scene at Nokia World 2011 giving live demos of the upcoming Xbox Companion remote app for Windows Phone 7. It allows for simple remote control of video playback on one's console, plus content browsing / search with Bing and other metadata display, as seen in two demo videos from the show floor embedded after the break. Also seen in both of the demo videos? An orange tile suspiciously labeled Vudu Movies, despite the lack of any official announcement that the (currently PS3 exclusive) Wal-mart owned service is coming to Xbox Live. A third demo shows off gaming integration with Kinectimals that lets animals jump back and forth from console to phone. Now that the Xbox 360 will integrate search and playback from more video services than ever after the fall update, we'll see if the remote app draws Xbox fans to Microsoft's phone platform.

[Thanks, @AttilaG]

Continue reading Xbox Companion app for WP7 shown off at Nokia World, leaks Vudu integration (video)

Xbox Companion app for WP7 shown off at Nokia World, leaks Vudu integration (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Galaxy Note appears, developers wanted to pen third-party apps for its stylus

We've already inspected every inch of Samsung's big bad phone-tablet hybrid, but a soupçon of extra news has trickled out from the Galaxy Note's bombastic launch event in London yesterday. Those looking for brighter color scheme to match the striking glow of its HD Super AMOLED display are in luck, as the Galaxy Note looks set to arrive in white; the ethereal ying to its companion's midnight blue yang. Sammy added that the Galaxy Note's S-Pen SDK will be available to third-party developers starting December, hopefully bringing more uses for that slide-out stick. And that's despite the latest Android OS offering native stylus support -- the Galaxy Note remains a Gingerbread affair. The current smartphone king was unable to confirm if the UK would be getting the white model on the November 3rd launch day, or ever. Similarly, we're still waiting on Samsung to put S-Pen to paper on pricing and any possible US launch details.

White Galaxy Note appears, developers wanted to pen third-party apps for its stylus originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apogee Jam guitar adapter review

Musicians have long needed ways to catalog ideas and capture rough recordings of new material without the anchor that is a full-fledged recording setup. Apogee offers just that with its Jam guitar adapter for the iPad, iPhone and Mac, which allows you to strum your way to a record deal via an iOS device. Whether you're on the road or in your living room, the ability to connect a Les Paul to a mobile device and crank out the demo for your next hit is super helpful. But, is it worth the $100 investment to have recording-on-the-go at your fingertips? Read on to see what we discovered.

Gallery: Apogee Jam guitar adapter review

Continue reading Apogee Jam guitar adapter review

Apogee Jam guitar adapter review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did the Nokia Lumia 710 pass through the FCC?

Lookee here, it's the other new Windows Phone-packing Nokia handset. No, not that one, this is the Lumia 710 -- you know, the budget phone with the 3.7-inch LCD and those colorful backplates. The Mangoriffic phone appears to have made its way through the FCC, with the ID on the filing matching up with listings on the Finnish phonemaker's site. Don't get too excited, however -- while this and the product page are certainly enough to get some stateside Nokia fanatics' blood pumping, the company has given us word that the Lumia is not destined for our shores, sadly -- at least not in any official capacity.

Update: We just received word from Nokia that, contrary to earlier information, Lumia devices will in fact be arriving in the States. As far as what those specific products will be, however, the company isn't quite ready to talk just yet.

Did the Nokia Lumia 710 pass through the FCC? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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