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I can't confirm that Google has released OTA updates for the Nexus One anywhere.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/01/nexus-one-android-2-3-3-update-arrives-ota-breaks-google-voice/
Confirmed.

Google is actually better at storing email for me than my PC's hard drive - even with this failure. At least with Google they'll have the restore process going right now (I assume).

And you have assumed correctly!

Update 3: "One-third of users have now had their account access restored, according to Google"

"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."

-- Steve Jobs

Maybe this is what Mr. Jobs was thinking of?

It was announced that LightPeak will use a compatible connector with, I suppose, a fiber connection embedded in it somewhere. But otherwise the connector is the same

Apparently, the plan is to stick with the electrical-only Display Port connector and embed optical transceivers into each end of the optical cable. It looks like the main advantage of fibre is going to be long (>3m) cable runs, so maybe that's not such a silly idea.

TB is crying out for some nice "docking stations" for laptops - which previously have relied on proprietary connectors. I mostly use my laptop "docked" and it would be great to have ethernet, firewire, video and multiple USB all hanging off one connector. Presumably we'll see future (reassuringly expensive) Apple Cinema Displays that use TB instead of the current DisplayPort + USB combo.

So - is there actually an optical link hiding inside the socket on the new Macs?

Ah - apparently, the sockets are electrical-only, but the forthcoming optical cables will have a transceiver built in to the plug. How very 1980s Ethernet.... :-)

I've had one since launch, been repaired twice under warranty. Xbox Live has been the best online experience for a long time and it's where most of my friends play.

It's also largely for Medica Center. Engadget recently said it's probably the best DVR experience available.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/05/tivo-premiere-vs-windows-7-media-center/

So yeah, quality.

The real problem I have with the Xoom is that you have to sign up for the cellular data plan in order for the tablet to enable WiFi. No Verizon data plan? No WiFi for you, either. Sure, you can cancel after the WiFi's been activated, with a minimum of one month data service... but still, that's just outright extortion. And there's no release date on the WiFi-only Xoom yet, so it's the cellular-enabled Xoom or nothing.

Looks like it'll be a US-only thing, same as with the iphone. The rest of the world should be just fine.

The real problem I have with the Xoom is that you have to sign up for the cellular data plan in order for the tablet to enable WiFi. No Verizon data plan? No WiFi for you, either. Sure, you can cancel after the WiFi's been activated, with a minimum of one month data service... but still, that's just outright extortion. And there's no release date on the WiFi-only Xoom yet, so it's the cellular-enabled Xoom or nothing.

Sony of Slashdot?

Engadget covered this almost a month ago.

Woz hasn't been part of Apple since 1987.

Not true. Woz said just a couple weeks ago that he still gets a small paycheck and has a key card. Sounds like an employee to me.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/31/the-engadget-show-017-steve-wozniak-sony-ngp-playstation-ph/

With MeeGo they have the device in the works ready within short, who knows it might even be ready as promised since November last year and Elop delayed it for tactical reasons to make his switch to WP7 seem even more justified.

Not according to Engadget which actually played with a Meego tablet as opposed to breathlessly copying the press releases. Looks pre beta to me, not something ready to jump out the door.... Yeah, that's a tablet but I haven't seen an Meego phones in the wild. I guess there are some early prototypes available but no one has actually used one and lived to tell about it.

This is a fascinating idea: while I like the idea of running an always-on server for teh freedomz, I don't have a clear idea of what that entails (freenet? gnutella? anyone still using these?) or how many bytes of data / "bad things" being passed through my node would just get me disconnected by my ISP under a "no servers" clause or RIAA paranoia (neither us nor you knows how many naughty files are passing over your 4096-bit AES freedomware, but your $29 a month ain't worth the liability, click...). Just as importantly, the power consumption of an always-on server that may or may not even be being used is hard to justify. A more 'standardized' software suite and micropowered "plug in and forget" computer goes a long way. As for that last part...

Ultimately this thing would have to take its activities off the ISP-dependent internet, full stop. To really be feasible, these freedomboxen would need to be coupled with inexpensive p2p (mesh networking) *hardware* as well. There are a few possible, if not ideal solutions:

Unlicensed Wifi and wifi-alikes (microwave links), as others have pointed out. Typical ranges from 10s of meters (omni wifi indoors) to hundreds of km for the suitably dedicated (highly directional point-to-point antenna links). Several existing implementations and choices of ad-hoc routing protocols (AODV, etc.).

Freespace optical links. Have a look at RONJA for a low-cost, open-source transceiver that provides 10Mbps duplex links over a km or more. Advantages: highly directional; more resistant to regulatory attack (no RF), high resistance to congestion even in extremely dense deployments. Disadvantages: Point-to-point only; more likely useful for backhaul between local onmidirectional meshes.

WiMAX: High speed, long range, but license requirement and the cost of equipment ($thousands) mostly defeats the purpose.

Kinky Stuff: HAMs and similar have successfully bounced signals off clouds/etc. using banks of IR LEDS, alongside plenty of RF-based solutions. How long until well-heeled geeks loft "low-cost" cubesats for emergency internet comms?

Mr. Elop was talking about value being in billions. He never said Microsoft is paying Nokia. engadget interview

which is why the Android model of open source is fundamentally broken, imho. But then it was never about the customer.

This is such a stupid fucking argument.

"Oh my god they released in December and it takes months for manufacturers to port to their devices! Android is broken!"

You don't realize it, but this is the right way to do it. How would you expect it to work?

Like iOS?

Apple says "oh hey new version of iOS is out and you can instantly get it for any iOS phone that's been out the past 2 or 3 years with a simple update"

Takes months for manufacturers, maybe, if they actually were trying. They could have been experimenting with the beta version of Gingerbread and have it working by the time it was officially released. Hell what about all those Android phones still on 2.1, or worse, 1.6?

Wow, you really don't get it. Apple tests iOS with every device they release it for, because, uh, there's only like 10 of them, and they created them all.

And actually, I checked and what you said isn't even fucking true. iOS 4 came out last summer for phones and ipod touches, but not until fall for iPads. And it wasn't compatible with anything made before the iPhone 3GS - so, half of the iPhone models got left behind. So you're full of shit.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/iphone-os-4-0-unveiled-shipping-this-summer/

And yes, the nice thing about apple controlling every piece of hardware is that they can release for many devices at once, but that's not how Android works and I hardly consider that broken. If you want to work with multiple manufacturers using open source code, you have to accept that not everyone will jump on a release immediately. I'd much rather have many manufacturers than one, so like I said, I hardly consider it broken.
-Taylor

Elop told Engadget today that that wasn't true.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/15/debunk-elop-never-said-microsoft-is-paying-nokia-billions-of-do/

There are other models of super thin, lightweight 13" laptops.

Check your facts. There has not been a license fee for Flash for a few years now, though that used to be the case. http://mobile.engadget.com/2008/05/06/adobe-kills-license-fees-for-flash-on-devices/

Not successfully, but the Moorestown atoms were targeted for smart phones and tablets.

OK, after watching this movie that others have linked to, I stand by my original answer. On the questions it is certain of, it answers really fast. In the first category, it wins on speed 4 out of 5 times. Check out the frustration from Ken on the left. If I were playing I would counter this by answering slightly before the end of the question.

That said, on it's test run http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/13/ibms-watson-supercomputer-destroys-all-humans-in-jeopardy-pract/ it doesn't reply unless it's highly certain, but even in such situations it's top ranking answer is right more times that not.

Just unplug and replug the damn router.

For now, however, Nokia's cheap & ubiquitous approach has served them very well indeed.

That was a great strategy in 2002 - 2007. But it's all over now.

Let's not forget about the low-end price range. In 2008, MediaTek supplied complete reference designs for phone chipsets, which enabled manufacturers in the Shenzhen region of China to produce phones at an unbelievable pace. By some accounts, this ecosystem now produces more than one third of the phones sold globally - taking share from us in emerging markets.

That's a direct quote from the Nokia CEO in his "burning platform" memo. China now owns "cheap & ubiquitous." Apple and Android now own smartphones. And Android just beat up Symbian at recess on the school playground and took its middle-of-the-line market share. Nokia has no strategy, very little future, and it really doesn't matter if you look at it from an American or European perspective. The only thing missing is Netcraft confirming it.

At one stage I was a Nokia user, then went over to Sony-E and am wondering about Blackberry, not liking the idea of a phone in my iPod, Windows in a mobile or the stuff that Sony-E is now coming out with.

As far as the numbers of cheap phones goes, it turns out the Nokia CEO agrees with you. His "burning platform" memo http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/08/nokia-ceo-stephen-elop-rallies-troops-in-brutally-honest-burnin/ is an excellent prequel to their impending demise.

At the lower-end price range, Chinese OEMs are cranking out a device much faster than, as one Nokia employee said only partially in jest, "the time that it takes us to polish a PowerPoint presentation." They are fast, they are cheap, and they are challenging us.

What's happened is that Nokia's "strategy" was to coast. They didn't maintain the high end once Apple entered the market, and are now years behind. Android is beating them both in the high and now the mid price range phones, utterly destroying their now-stale Symbian OS. And in the low end, the Chinese have been shipping a chipset available for dirt cheap that lets any manufacturer knock out a phone at a cost far below the cost of producing anything at Nokia. So Nokia is now pretty much just another maker of expensive versions of cheap phones, and that's not a winning strategy, either.

I don't know if Windows Phone 7 will be able to save them, but it's certainly no worse than the crap they sell now.

The article is wrong. The pictures of the Galaxy S II shows a microusb charging port in the same spot as on the original.

If this quote is accurate...

Android's going places because the OS is usable and free.

have you even used WP7? , its both faster and more usable then android

If this quote is accurate...

Elop doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. He needs to steer the company back towards growth and away from the rocky shoals of loss.

Taking on Android is like trying to stop a train by standing on the tracks and putting your hands out and asking nicely to stop. Android's going places because the OS is usable and free.

yet - http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/12/nokia-usa-president-is-out-replaced-by-microsoft-vet-chris-webe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fengadget+(Engadget)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/12/nokias-marginalization-of-meego-came-as-a-surprise-to-intel/

I wonder whether there is any point in continuing on with QT? I mean it's awesome and all *now*, but will still be awesome after one year of neglect?

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/08/myriad-alien-dalvik-runs-android-apps-on-any-phone-starting/

This is completely not true. Nokia failed to persuade themselves that they should completely invest in Linux and drop Symbian. They don't even have a MeeGo product in the market to persuade people to buy. Also, the N900 sold 100k units in the first 5 weeks (when the price was insanely high), and the head of Nokia's solutions business said at the time that "Sales have substantially exceeded expectations."

For anyone looking for it, this is the (no Qt for WP7) link:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/11/nokia-notifies-developers-that-qt-is-out-for-windows-phone-devel/

Call me a cynic at this point, but I don't believe the US government any more when they claim they are trying to "help" people. It's all about the money lebowski.

The money trail -

Step 1: Find the biggest companies who have the most (or at least most potential for) money : Google + Verizon Android Deal (Basically - plans to get android on a bunch of verizon phones to tap into the iphone / apple market)

Step 2: Figure out how the government can step in to get paid while still looking good: Google + Verizon Net Neutrality Deal (Basically - WIRED stays net neutral (government looks good) ... while WIRELESS doesn't get net neutrality ... )

Step 3: Show public support for a bill that will help the big companies.. err I mean the people - "YAY! Interwebs for Allz!!"

Step 4: Avoid the headache that is the current wired infrastructure...

Step 5: $ Profit $

... Well.. except of course the people who are being forced into these crap agreements and who's money is being handed out like candy ...

The slides show a die-out strategy for Symbian: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/11/rip-symbian/

Of course Qt still has a right to existance as a kick-ass crossplatform framework, but for Nokia, who owns it, it's just a liability, and that can't be good.

Actually they will gradually shutdown Symbian. As for MeeGo, they will release a N900-esque one off device this year at MWC, but just like it's predecessor, expect it to starve off due to neglect.

Wonder what Nokia will do with Qt? It has no use in WP7, and the few measly MeeGo phones they provide will not support the continued expense of maintaining Trolltech.

To me, it's a massive loss for Open source.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/11/rip-symbian/

Is it a loss to open source? I think that anyone can fork the GPL or LGPL versions. It would be more of a loss for commercial Qt users. Interestingly I think that you could develop commercial applications for the LGPL version, as long as you released the source to any changes to the Qt code.

No.
You can read more on the benefits for each company here. I personally think this is great news for Nokia, I've been watching them down with a bit of sadness during the last year, that said I wouldn't have touched an E71 or an E72 with a ten-foot pole. I hate to say it but Windows Phone 7 is great (unlike prior versions), and this is something I think can turn the ship around and actually save Nokia.

Actually they will gradually shutdown Symbian. As for MeeGo, they will release a N900-esque one off device this year at MWC, but just like it's predecessor, expect it to starve off due to neglect.

Wonder what Nokia will do with Qt? It has no use in WP7, and the few measly MeeGo phones they provide will not support the continued expense of maintaining Trolltech.

To me, it's a massive loss for Open source.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/11/rip-symbian/

While they make awesome hardware Nokia has got to get their act together wrt getting R & D to deliver: they spend almost 3 times as its peers

Innovate or die.

And according to these charts, they are starting to innovate by cutting R&D spending.

Nokia, you've come a long way from rubber boots and bicycle tyres to mobile phones. But I fear this is where the story starts to end.

The aforementioned charts

That's a bit just, yet a bit unfair at the same time. There's was a major change half way through where the music stopped being .... crap and started being recorded from the original tapes making it sound genuine. It was a leap forward for Guitar Hero In some cases like Metallica Guitar Hero actually had the best mastered version of a Metallica song around. Much better than the raped CD release which was compressed to the point of distortion and just gave people listening brain damage. That said after their move to real music they milked it to death. I mean an entire Guitar Hero dedicated just to Metallica, and entire one dedicated just to Van Halen, and one for the Beatles too? I prefer some variety when I play.

As for the next cool design epiphany. I'm eagerly waiting for the Guitar Pro from Harmonix. Your choice of either a 102 button Fender Mustang replica controller, or an actual Fender Stratocaster that plugs into the console and allows you to play properly.

... this sequence actually refers to the USB dongle ID generator key, also used for PS3 security circumvention

Mark my words, in a few years you'll see something like 256/81 screens.

We're halfway there, Philips makes a 21:9 television-- 189:81, in your parlance.

Hmm, looks like Sony already tried something similar but screwed it up. Google for "Sony fresh start" and you'll see a bunch of headlines from 2008 about a feature Sony introduced that allowed you to buy a PC without bloatware. But unfortunately, it came off as "Pay $50 to remove bloatware". Further headlines say, Sony shamed into making FreshStart free. So it looks like a bit of a PR fiasco -- they were forced to keep the lower price, but not get the bloatware subsidy. As there are no results after July 2008 (two months after it was first introduced), I can only assume that they got rid of the option as soon as they possibly could.

So to answer the original question: At the moment, there is absolutely no advantage for not installing bloatware. If you don't include it, people get pissed at you for charging more. So you're in a real no-win situation.

I still think the "CleanBoot certified" is a good idea, but it would take some care to make sure it was positioned properly.

You forget about this: http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/01/19/2322215/Motorola-Sticks-To-Guns-On-Locking-Down-Android

Think again - Motorola said that post was basically BS, and they are working to possibly make installing custom roms easier.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/motorola-ready-to-make-sweet-love-to-rom-devs-and-rooters/
-Taylor

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/03/samsung-refutes-high-galaxy-tab-returns-says-rate-is-below-2-p/

Engadget has a much better and more detailed review of the device. They disliked the poor screen resolution and really dinged it for the abysmal battery life. The most they could get out of it was 6 hours if their usage was light.

Battery life with screen at 65% brightness, WiFi on, playing standard definition video.

Dell Streak 7: 3:26
Archos 70: 6:00
Samsung Galaxy Tab: 6:09
Archos 101: 7:20
Apple iPad : 9:33

The Galaxy Tab outclasses this thing in just about any conceivable manner.

I'm still holding out on Toshiba's still unnamed offering. That thing is going to be the IPad killer if anything will be. But what's up with the thing still not having a brand name?

linky: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/toshiba-launches-flashy-tablet-teaser-site-still-doesnt-have-a/

Ask the people who own a Motorola CLIQ XT. Stuck forever at Android 1.5.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/03/cliq-xt-wont-get-android-2-1-upgrade-motorolas-word-as-good-a/

Indeed. These stories are probably apocryphal.

Indeed. These stories are probably apocryphal.