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So they are saying they've "innovated" the mobile device sector for inventing handhelds with rounded corners and big screens. Well, how does that hold up to their first iPhone looking strikingly similar to Nokia's MID (at that time already being their third generation handheld none the less!)?

Apple is not that innovative, they just have better marketing - which they now can leverage for sueing their competition (I'm sure every judge has heard of the iPhone, I doubt the same is true for Nokia's Maemo devices)

FWIW : http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/19/the-engadget-interview-hps-stephen-dewitt-discusses-the-state/

Microsoft certainly has that luxury. They only charge OEM manufacturers $50 on a $1000 PC. As of late 2009, 80% of Windows license revenue came from OEM. That's about $2 BILLION in OEM sales alone.

Microsoft is in no danger if they dropped Windows license prices further. Hell, they could afford to give away end-user licenses for free if they wanted to (in reality the OEMs and Microsoft's shareholders would scream bloody murder).

Took a while but I found the contradicting statements (I'm sure there are plenty more). I quit AT&T U-verse because of the data caps. I was happy with the service and didn't mind paying a bit more for stability versus cable. And yet every time I read about their shenanigans, I get that much more fired up!

So what do customers like again AT&T? Or is the next infallible survey going to be that we would prefer to sign over all bank accounts, stock, and even our first born to you as well? Mark my words AT&T, your time of corruption is coming to a close. Someone will leap frog you before you know it... and I will be first in line to greet them with open arms. In the meantime, raise some hell and file a complaint with the FCC.

Unlimited texts
AT&T: "The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers," AT&T said in a statement today as explanation.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219298/AT_T_to_kill_10_month_texting_plan?taxonomyId=75

Broadband caps
AT&T: Our new plan addresses another concern: customers strongly believe that only those who use the most bandwidth should pay more than those who don't use as much.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/13/atandt-will-cap-dsl-u-verse-internet-and-impose-overage-fees/

Right. Because so many consumers, schools and businesses are buying Android tablets. [Nope. Not even close.

Meanwhile, the equally clueless marked your comment as insightful.

In fact they hold the same sort of registration at the USPTO:

http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/10/apples-patented-the-tablet-mac/

Google is providing incentives to handset manufacturers to get clearance with Google with regards to what they're allowed to do in order to install some Google apps like the Market and Navigation. So it's not entirely a "do whatever with it for free" situation.

If you want to see Google going shady, how about the Motorola/Skyhook deal?
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/internal-emails-reveal-googles-desperation-over-skyhooks-andro/

Jesus, you're fucking stupid...

Facebook admits hiring PR firm to smear Google

It seems like the ongoing rivalry between Facebook and Google has taken a turn for the subversive. Last night, a spokesman for the social network confirmed to the Daily Beast that Facebook paid a top PR firm to spread anti-Google stories across the media and to encourage various outlets to examine allegations that the Mountain View company was violating user privacy. The PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, even offered to help blogger Chris Soghoian write a critical op-ed piece about Social Circle -- a service that allows Gmail users to access information on so-called "secondary connections," or friends of their friends.

and that's from the very first Google hit, dumbass.

http://www.google.com/search?q=facebook+pr+firm+smear+google

Apple did it first.

Incorrect, all of Windows smartphones is around 9-10%, it is projected that the WP7 portion is around 2%.

From July 28th, 2011, showing all Windows Mobile + WP7 = 9% of smartphone market share
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/28/nielsen-android-leads-us-smartphone-market-with-39-percent-shar/

From March 2011 showing all Windows Mobile + WP7 = 10% of smartphone market share
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/visualized-us-smartphone-market-share-by-manufacturer-and-plat/

Incorrect, all of Windows smartphones is around 9-10%, it is projected that the WP7 portion is around 2%.

From July 28th, 2011, showing all Windows Mobile + WP7 = 9% of smartphone market share
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/28/nielsen-android-leads-us-smartphone-market-with-39-percent-shar/

From March 2011 showing all Windows Mobile + WP7 = 10% of smartphone market share
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/visualized-us-smartphone-market-share-by-manufacturer-and-plat/

They also made the surround on the Tab darker to make it look more like the iPad. Submitting photoshoped images to the court should cost them their case.

Not to mention that the "evidence" shows the Galaxy Tab in a vertical position when the default/intended usage is in a horizontal position.

Exhibit A: Samsungs Galaxy Tab 1.0 microsite: http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab/10.1/index.html

Exhibit B: Endgadget Galaxy Tab 1.0 review : http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/samsung-galaxy-tab-10-1-review/

Exhibit C: CNet's review : http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/samsung-galaxy-tab-10/4505-3126_7-34505347.html

... and so on and so on. In fact, IIRC, its predecessors have always been marketed in a default horizontal position, and that's how I've always seen it display at Costco and at tmobile (my cell phone provider).

Call me conspiracy theorist, but this cannot be by accident. Morphed dimensions by itself an accident? Maybe (and that's pushing it). Shown in a vertical position as opposed to the horizontal position it is shown everywhere else as an accident? Maybe. But both, as legal evidence? Got to have been done on purpose.

Supposedly the Photon 4G comes with an unlocked bootloader, and I suppose it's well known that Motorola already promised that their future phones would be unlocked. So, yeah. It'll be interesting to wait and see.

The facts looks a bit different than the story you're telling:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/internal-emails-reveal-googles-desperation-over-skyhooks-andro/

If you're still not feeling sorry for Skyhook, then note that last month Google called this "a baseless complaint" and a "thinly veiled fishing expedition" for internal Google documents and emails. Funnily enough, one email quotes an Android manager saying it was obvious to phone manufacturers that "we are using compatibility as a club to make them do things we want."

So you want complete smartphone hardware (PLUS an extra power system for the secondary battery) with a special OS midway between smartphones and feature phones?

And for that, you're willing to pay a WHOPPING $150, except you expect to sign a two-year contract and have someone hand it to you for free or $50? When similar, but simpler, hardware running a commodity OS costs about $300?

Are you trolling, or just delusional? ...wait, aren't you the same guy who told me my U820 is a smartphone? Sorry, I guess you said it's "an smartphone"!
Which still doesn't answer whether you're trolling or insane, but whichever, you've definitely taken it to 11.

Engadget. They reliably stay current on all new tech, review newly released portables (and sometimes before release), and filter out the crazy rumors that other sites seem to thrive on. They have a specifically mobile site as well: http://mobile.engadget.com/

They have RSS, and RSS via tag, I use google reader to capture everything android. Subscribe to: http://www.engadget.com/tag/android/rss.xml ... and this is available for any tag on the site. I believe you can filter tags out of the main site as well, handy for those Apple keynote days if you're not interested.

Engadget. They reliably stay current on all new tech, review newly released portables (and sometimes before release), and filter out the crazy rumors that other sites seem to thrive on. They have a specifically mobile site as well: http://mobile.engadget.com/

They have RSS, and RSS via tag, I use google reader to capture everything android. Subscribe to: http://www.engadget.com/tag/android/rss.xml ... and this is available for any tag on the site. I believe you can filter tags out of the main site as well, handy for those Apple keynote days if you're not interested.

Boy Genius Report and/or Engadget.

First of all that's worldwide (my figures were for the U.S. only). Secondly, most of that is MMO subscriptions, not software purchases. WoW subscriptions alone account for $1 billion of that. But if you want to argue that subscriptions should count, would you like me to add in all the Xbox Live subscribers to that? There are about 12 million Xbox Live Gold subscribers worldwide. Multiply that by $60 a year and that's $700 million just there.

Here is an excellent article on the subject (one that isn't from the biased spin doctors of the "PC Gaming Alliance"). Relevant quote:

Between just 1998 and 2006 console software sales more than doubled, from $2.5 billion to $6.7 billion, while PC game sales dropped from $1.8 billion to $970 million.

Thanks for mentioning "the most toxic way possible". There are no MACHINES involved at in the disassembling. So... who "absorbs" all the bad stuff? (and guys, there's plenty of metal burning involved)

As usual, even the local authorities frown on getting taped. That usually means trouble is willingly overlooked. One can watch the first 4 minutes of this documentary at engadget (total of 25 minutes) to get an idea of what mass waste looks like in front of people's houses (Play the second one, as their first embedded one seems to fail.)

LG and Samsung had phones that "looked like the iPhone" before the iPhone existed. http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/29/apple-iphone-vs-lg-prada-separated-at-birth-part-2/ http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Samsungvs.Apple_-550x391.jpg

Just look at what Android phones looked like before and after the iPhone was released in 2007.

Well yeah, if you limit your sample to phones which didn't look like an iPhone before the iPhone was released, of course it's going to look like they copied the iPhone. As it turns out LG announced this phone to the public with pics 3 weeks before the iPhone. Black, touchscreen covering nearly the entire front surface, rectangular, rounded corners, and icons arranged in a grid. So if we were to take your argument at face value, LG deserves credit for the current form factor of smartphones, Apple just happened to make the most successful copy, and Apple fans are deliberately ignoring history to spread misguided claims that Apple invented it all and others are copying from Apple.

The reality is that the current form factor is just the natural evolution of the smartphone due to a variety of factors, none of which has to do with a distinctive design that others are copying from LG (or Apple). You need to maximize screen size to comfortably browse the web on something the size of a phone, so the screen will cover almost the entire front surface. The screen needs to be black to maximize the contrast ratio - if you use a white screen you have to turn off the lights to maximize contrast. Capacitive touchscreens (which had just reached commercial critical mass, and the LG had before the iPhone) were responsive enough that they could replace trackballs or directional navigation keys. Rounded corners prevent it from poking you while in your pocket. And icons in a grid have been around since the Xerox Star IS in 1981; even earlier if you look outside computers. All of this is stuff which would be obvious to someone working in the field, and thus not worthy of patent protection.

These "diamond-hard stone" discs can withstand "temperatures extending up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit as well as UV rays that would destroy conventional DVD discs."

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/14/cranberry-diamondisc-the-35-dvd-thatll-last-longer-than-your/

Well poor is subjective. According to Engadget the battery life is about 1 hr shorter than the original iPad whereas other reviewers found that it was less than that. While none of these are definitive on how bad the battery life is, the fact is that it is not as good as last year's iPad.

B.S. journalist doesn't know anything, just repeating what other journalists say. Every user I know spends 99.99% of their time in safari, mail, facebook app, or the video/music player.

While I don't disagree with how people spend their time on the tablets, you missed the point. People will use the availability of apps as a factor in purchasing said tablet. That translates into sales. Especially if the app is being purchased for a specific purpose beyond the obvious ones.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1:
Dimensions: 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm
Size: 800 x 1280 pixels, 10.1 inches
Battery: around 10 hours
Price: $499
So for the same price, and the expectation that the software catalog is going to expand, you get a better hardware, with an OS designed from the ground up for tablets, with tablet-only semantics. Personally, as a dev, I can't wait to get my hand in one of these.

The phone does not use Google as its default search. And it doesn't utilize Yahoo! either. No, the Fascinate search engine defaults to Bing. Bing is used for the homescreen widget. It is defaulted to in the browser. It is present across the device... and there's no way to choose a different search engine. Like, you know -- Google. When we pressed Verizon reps about this, they let us know in no uncertain terms that the stock engine is Bing without a second choice.

If only there were a way to search the world for information about such things...

You, 6 digits id dare to tell a 5 digit id about google? :-p

None of the devices in these links is compatible with my smart meter.

Here is a device that is compatible with my smart meter (uses ZigBee) but nobody is selling it yet :-s

I should also add that I found a more recent article which seems to suggest the situation is getting even worse for PC games sales. Though mobile gaming seems to be gaining on both of them.

Samsung F700 (2006) vs iPhone (2007). LG Prada (2006) vs iPhone (2007) Engadget titled that article "Apple iPhone vs LG Prada: separated at birth?" because the phones are so similar.

All of the phone manufacturers have experimented with different case designs and UIs. It is disingenuous for Apple to pretend that they have innovated more than, say, Nokia. If Nokia had filed for patents in the 1970s and 1980s that were as broad as Apple's are now then they'd have patented the dialler, the idea of having a graphical display, the idea of attaching it to a battery for mobile comms etc, and the result would've been only one single cellphone manufacturer, instead of the competitive market that's benefited us all over the last two decades.

Patents are a government granted right to be the only producer of a single item. Patents were designed to destroy the competitiveness of the free market. The only other system where governments gave individual companies the right to be the sole manufacturer of an item was under communism, where factories would be allocated as an "item X supplier" regardless of whether they were the best or most productive. When the government grants a sole supplier the right to sell an item to the nation, whether via mandate or patent, then the effect is the same - the people lose their right to freely choose which companies they do business with.

Patents erode your freedom. They remove your freedom to create and sell items, and they remove your freedom to choose who you do business with.

That's strange as according to this review, the xoom gets 8 hours and 20 minutes on a charge. I usually go a couple of days on a charge using it on and off.

What browser supports the pigeon protocol?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/10/south-african-pigeon-transmits-data-faster-than-local-dsl/

Dude, I work for Google and still I think IBM is one of the most innovative companies in existence.

They do great work on fundamental electronics. Modern hard drive densities might not exist without IBM. They're working on transistors using different materials to get past the impending physical limits of silicon. One example:
    http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/08/ibm-shows-off-155ghz-graphene-transistor-in-the-name-of-darpa-re/

With various companies patenting 1-click interactions and UI elements, Google unfortunately needs to play in that game to protect itself. That doesn't diminish the quality work that IBM is doing however.

Recently, Western Digital stepped out and announced their new 1TB 9.5mm Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch notebook drive. The announcement was significant in that it's the first drive of this capacity to squeeze that many bits into an industry standard 9.5mm, 2.5" SATA form-factor.

Samsung announced theirs back in early June. It's been coming in and out of stock since then. I last saw it on Newegg a couple weeks ago, though curiously it's now marked as deactivated.

The next logical step is a higher frame rate. 24FPS for movies is way too slow. ... Movies should be at least 48FPS, and maybe 72FPS.

The Hobbit is being "filmed" at 48fps. http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/04/12/the-hobbit-48-frames-peter-jackson/
With the 5K RED Epic. http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/28/peter-jackson-nabs-thirty-red-epic-cameras-to-film-the-hobbit-t/

This looks like exactly what you want. It warns that its in beta, though, so I'm not sure how well I would trust it. Seems like better than nothing.Says it does full encryption of the entire system, optionally your SD card, as well as optional firewall for your phone. Wouldn't rely on it without backups, but it should work. Also, you could look at a system that keeps passwords off your actual phone, like LastPass does. Not sure how well it works with Android, but I'd look into it.

Also, Honeycomb supposedly offers device-level encryption link), so if you can wait for that on phones, that'd work too.

Yeah.... still not true: Either way, it looks like this Android 2.2 player (it's upgradable to 2.3, by the way) with full Market access will be headed stateside sometime soon.

Call me when it's released.

It's long since been known Samsung has planned this, lots of nice press releases but no product. I'd bet on it being released with the next version of Android.

It isn't exactly obscure information that Google is limiting the market app to devices linked to a cellular plan.

Not obscure, perhaps, but false nonetheless. My Galaxy Tab 10.1 uses the Android Market, and it's Wi-Fi only.

That's a feature specific to Honeycomb. Whilst there is not as much demand for an Android powered media player as the whingers would make out, Google honestly did not anticipate any demand for one what so ever. Google thought most people would just use their phone for media purposes and for the most part they are right, however there is a small demand for them. In any case, except that particular Honeycomb feature to make it's way to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Yeah.... still not true: Either way, it looks like this Android 2.2 player (it's upgradable to 2.3, by the way) with full Market access will be headed stateside sometime soon.

I like WebOS better, and I think Android could learn a lot from it.

Google appears to agree with you, since last year they hired Matias Duarte, Palm's lead designer, to head up the Android User Experience team.

>Yeah, ok, I' know could just hop on over to google.

No problem, I'm not one of those obnoxious twits that post a link to lmgtfy.com in response to a question.

The fact is, I don't think us geeks will ever have it as good as with the N900. The stuff I listed above is just things that would be appealing for a N900 alternative in a Microsoftized Nokia world.

And I hate the fact that we lost a great Debian-based platform with Maemo (Meego is RPM-based).

Btw, somebody got Xorg and OpenOffice to run on Pre.

The article says:

Given the number of people who prefer a multi-monitor setup, surely someone can come up with a lighter, less cumbersome, and cheaper design?"

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/27/kohjinshas-dual-sceen-dz-series-laptop-now-for-sale/

geekstuff4u.com had it available for sale at one time, but it's currently listed as out of stock. That model is almost 2 years old now, and I don't see any indication that they plan to update it.

Clearly the ThinkPad Tablet must have some sort of docking port, since TFA mentions a clamshell keyboard case that docks with it. Does anyone know what this is?

I believe the full-size USB port IS the docking port for the keyboard folio case.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/20/lenovo-thinkpad-tablet-and-keyboard-folio-case-hands-on-video

There's a video demoing it, along with the keyboard folio case. The stylus pretty cool to me. http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/20/lenovo-thinkpad-tablet-and-keyboard-folio-case-hands-on-video/

I've got two issues with your comment.

One: the GPPP(whatever) was comparing the entire ChromeOS with and iOS app. It was ridiculous to begin with.

Two: I was exactly in the same situation as the author of the article - how to do a screen shot. For me it was on my iPod Touch. How the hell do you do that? I had to Google it to discover that Home button + Sleep Button will put a picture in the photos app. Not the most intuitive combo and there's no way you would figure that out without help or documentation.

And when iOS added "multitasking", I double-pressed the home button expecting to see the music player controls pop up. But I see this row of icons appear beneath the dock. What the hell was that? Some googling gave me the answer. Turns out it was the Task Manager.

The fact that the user base of the iOS is orders of magnitude larger than ChromeOS might account for the dearth of documentation. Word just gets around on how to do certain things in the iOS. But it's certainly not because it isn't needed.

The device sounds great for travelling with its light weight and long battery life.

It's still half again the weight of a Sony Vaio X + extra battery, which could last almost 10 hours.

Why don't they make them anymore? I was looking for a replacement for my Eee PC 901 (1.1 kg); the 2009-vintage Vaio X sounded great (0.7 kg, or 1 kg with the larger battery), but the best I found currently on the market was the MacBook Air (1 kg, half the battery life, not worth the change).

it was already covered...a bit over a month ago on engadget and wired

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/10/japanese-ball-drone-knows-how-to-make-an-entrance-video/

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-06/10/japan-drone

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2011/06/09/jsdf-spherical-drone-we-bought-most-of-the-parts-in-akiba/

Although the original video that Wired and Engadget used is gone...there are others on youtube such as:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQa4K-tstTg

or just use this search:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E7%90%83%E5%BD%A2%E9%A3%9B%E8%A1%8C%E4%BD%93&aq=f

either way...reminds me of those hovering/flying razor blades from Half-life 2

but you're still the one operating the car and presumably won't follow instructions to drive into another car.

You have a lot more faith in drivers than I have...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/swiss-van-driver-gets-stuck-up-a-glorified-goat-track-blames/
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20101006/gps-swamp-101006/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/03/nb-gps-driver-speaks.html
http://www.switched.com/2009/02/27/gps-Lihttp://www.switched.com/2009/02/27/gps-leads-truck-to-impassable-road-for-5-days/?icid=200100397x1219177496x1201334806

You are misunderstanding the point the poster was trying to make. This is what he meant:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/23/dell-xps-15z-review/

Look at what the review says about build quality and aesthetics. You may not value unibody, but lots of people do.

Have a look at some of the patents they're using against HTC. Yes, some of them are broad enough that pretty much all modern OSes probably infringe...

Apple's customer base is relatively fixed, and that means that when the cheap-end of the PC market falters, their "percentage" of the market grows without needing any sales growth.

I'm pretty sure all those college kids with their MacBooks weren't using macs 10 years ago. Those are all switchers. Most Apple users I know are switchers (as am I.)

In addition, Apple released a major refresh on their most popular models this quarter (something folks have been waiting on after years of Core 2), so they were able to satisfy a lot of pent-up demand.

While that's true what we're seeing isn't a one time peak. Mac sales have been steadily climbing year after year.

So, this is not some "amazing" milestone, nor is it an indicator of impressive growth for Apple in the PC market. Instead, Apple merely traded places with Acer, and pumped their share a little due to the largest lineup refresh in over a year.

I'd say they traded places with the likes of HP and Sony on the premium end of the market which Apple completely owns. PC makers have basically given up on the high end. Most high end laptops for example are trying to copy Apple, some more blatantly than others.

To do so only download from your operating systems repository or app store. If you OS doesn't have one, find one that does.

...because there has never been malware on the Android Market.

and the Amazon App Store has an inherent risk