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This will require fast, cheap and energy efficient cpus, and if well could not be netbooks, ARM and other non-intel (i.e. TI's OMAP4) cpus should have a good portion of the market in that scenario,and probably a lot will be somewhat linux based (android, moblin, maemo,etc)

http://gizmodo.com/5302097/giz-bill-nye-explains-the-iphone-3gss-oleophobic-screen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleophobic
According to Bill Nye, the iphone 3GS has already has a special Oleophobic polymer that does just what you want, but the older iphone 3G doesn't.

As it is, it's the best phone on the market except for the application support; I'm still hoping that comes good

Are you nuts?
Go to http://maemo.org/downloads/Maemo5/.
Presently there are 149 applications for the n900 and a few via the OVI store.

BTW:
There is an effort to port Android to the n900: http://gizmodo.com/5455495/watch-a-nokia-n900-dual+boot-maemo-and-android

If you want android then buy a google phone!!!!

You are border-line trolling!

Regardless, the two devices are not the same *now*

I think you're making the false assumption that people will find the iPad so hideously unusable as an ebook reader that it will outweigh the other things it can do.

apple could correct this by putting eInk on the bottom of the tablet and using the tilt sensor to determine whether to use "handy-web" mode or "power-saving book-reader" mode.

Please feel free to glue your Kindle to the back of your iPad, but here's a hint: don't apply for a job in Apple's design department :-)

Seriously, apart from the extra cost; the ergonomic problems of having a delicate display on both sides of the device; the need for a different user interface (and probably a whole new API and display manager) in ebook mode ("multitouch" depends on a responsive display) you're talking about investing R&D in a technology which will almost certainly be obsolete or confined to a niche with in a year or two.

My prediction: as soon as a "best of both worlds" display technology comes along that's up to Apple's standards, they'll use it. Sounds like the transflective display doesn't quite cut the image quality mustard yet, but its not vapour.

I really don't understand why people keep trying to shoehorn epaper and netbooks into the same category.

The fact that Apple are launching their iBooks service along with the iPad may have something to do with that. There's also a Kindle app for the iPhone, which presumably will work on the iPad.

At the moment, epaper displays are optimal for ebook readers, but virtually useless for general use (because of their glacial refresh rate) while LCD/OLED displays produce excellent colour and smooth video but are unpleasant for sustained reading and power hungry (because they emit light or need a backlight).

Long term these will inevitably converge - and by "long term" we're talking small integer numbers of years. The idea that you should need one device for reading web-based magazines (which increasingly include video and/or are designed for scrolling displays which current epaper can't hack) and another for reading novels isn't sustainable.

There's already Transflective LCDs in the Real Soon Now category and, maybe a bit further off, fast-response, colour e-ink (I can't find the response time claim in that link but ISTR they were claiming it).

The only long-term future I see for dedicated ebook-only readers is if the technology can become so cheap that it would be feasible to have half a dozen on the go (one for your bedside book, a couple by your computer with documentation, a greaseproof one by the dining table) etc. A bit like they treat the PADDs on Star Trek...

"just hope these don't turn out to be vaporware"

Hivision's last laptop turned out to be vapoware so I don't expect to see this one either.

The $98 Hivision Mini Note never materialized, despite tons of press. It's been almost 18 months since the supposed release date and they still don't even exist on ebay.

Also, I should point out that Android seems to have all of the disadvantages of a closed system, and all of the disadvantages of an open system at the same time. For example, app developers on Android can publish without approval, but so can malware developers. There has already been one app pulled because it was a phishing app.

Thank goodness there hasn't been any malware on iPhone, eh? Oh, wait, never mind.

Apple's control over iPhone apps isn't to protect the user or the network; it's to protect Apple's revenue stream. They're a phone and fart app company that also makes computers.

I love my Mini 10... There are others coming down the pipe though... http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet http://www.androidcentral.com/vega-android-tablet-runs-android-20-looks-great

Really? Take a look at this article from a week ago which pretty much describes the interface that the iPad has. I'm excited about the idea of a locked-down device. Why? Because I like my iPhone. It does everything I want it to do and nothing that I don't want it to do. It's never crashed. I'm not tempted to fill it with junk. I would love an iPad but can't afford it at the moment. I would love the ebook reader and being able to browse from the couch without my MacBook burning a hole in my legs. I would love to be able to hand it to our teenage cousins and know that they can't break it on the software side, again unlike my MacBook.

Yes, for the time being this is a different class of device, and people shouldn't expect it to be a general-purpose PC. The aim doesn't seem to be aimed at replacing your desktop or laptop, but functioning more as a Kindle/Internet appliance thingamabob.

On the other hand, there's actually a fair amount of potential to this thing. In addition to the keyboard dock (and maybe the option to use a bluetooth keyboard?), some sites are reporting that the SDK indicates you have the ability to support an external display through the dock. What I would *love* to see is to Apple make use of a patent they hold for a docking station for the iPad, allowing you to plug this thing in and end up with a full desktop configuration.

Theoretically, that would seem like an extremely elegant solution, if you could have the iPad/iPhone UI on the pad itself, but have it present a full desktop UI when you dock it and have a large screen, keyboard, and mouse to work with. Or in a similar way, perhaps they could even have an small portable keyboard accessory that would allow the iPad to be turned into a netbook.

Of course, there are problems with this idea, and I don't know if Apple is thinking along these lines at all.

Exactly. Apparently this one costs $499. And it doesn't even have 3G (afraid of Nokia's patents?). Thats a major letdown for me, as I have cheap unlimited 3g and it would be perfect with a thing like this.

And the device is completely closed down like iPhone - if you want apps, you need to buy them from App Store.

I was waiting for the announcement, but meh. Not for me. I'll just wait for Courier.

The quote itself is referencing third-party apps. Try comparing Adium to Pidgin, or TextMate to pretty much any other GUI text editor, or iWork to OpenOffice (not really a third-party app, but you get the picture). As a general rule of thumb, apps written for the Mac are better thought-out visually, are more consistent both with themselves and with the rest of the system, and often manage to do this without sacrificing power or features.

Hell, even Microsoft is susceptible to this: just look at their Bing iPhone app, and compare it to their own WinMo equivalent. It's like night and day.

remember dragon naturally speaking? remember the apple newton? bill gates was hyping tablets in 2001

tablets are just not going to happen, like speech recognition is not going to happen

both are eternally just beyond the horizon and somehow superior... except they are not

sound recognition seems like it superior to keyboards, and yet its not

likewise, scribbling on a pad seems superior to keyboards, and yet its not

here, don't take my word for it, take bill gates circa 2001 hyping how we're going to be using tablets by now:

http://gizmodo.com/5324866/vintage-bill-gates-predicts-tablets-to-be-the-most-popular-form-of-pc-sold-in-america

But were you factoring in the amazing new underwater space cannon launching system?

http://gizmodo.com/5449133/jules-verne-was-almost-right

World hunger will be solved by Product Y, which will also be able to read Excel spreadsheets and shoot deadly laser bolts from its nipples.

You can say that again. (NSFW)

Why does Steve Jobs hate netbooks? This article seems to indicate he is open to the idea.

In other news, my 1-year-old child has gained massive weight and height, while I, unfortunately, have not gotten even a millimeter taller.

Google is the established leader, with a massive market share that is unlikely to grow much further. Bing is the new kid on the block, starting at zero. Of course Bing is going to grow. There is nothing else for it to do. Even if it's lousy, it is impossible for it to not gain share. This is like comparing the Zune marketshare with the iPod.

Or like comparing Linux marketshare with Windows? Oh wait, around here that means the underdog's growth is significant...

In other news, my 1-year-old child has gained massive weight and height, while I, unfortunately, have not gotten even a millimeter taller.

Google is the established leader, with a massive market share that is unlikely to grow much further. Bing is the new kid on the block, starting at zero. Of course Bing is going to grow. There is nothing else for it to do. Even if it's lousy, it is impossible for it to not gain share. This is like comparing the Zune marketshare with the iPod.

This was mentioned in another article I read earlier today on Gizmodo. They also mentioned that Kodak has successfully sued Sun over Java implementing some of the same patent technology. Also, many other phone and camera manufacturers are already paying a licensing to Kodak for the patent. Apple and RIM just could come to agreements with Kodak over it and it is now going to court.

I suspect that this type of technology will mitigate almost all anti-ship weaponry including the ballistic missile threat before too long:

http://gizmodo.com/351467/navy-rail-gun-test-destroys-everything-it-touches-at-5640-mph

Laser weaponry is also a possibility, but that seems to be struggling to be turned into truly deployable weaponry right now due to the logistics of powering them. The rail gun option seems viable in the very near future.

Seriously, I wouldn't consider it indestructible at least until you can try to nail it to the wall WITH a hammer and nail - and it still works.
Sounds like you need a Jesus Phone.

This is the google support forum discussion that has earned all this bad press.

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=0bd8ccd4799040c2&hl=en&fid=0bd8ccd4799040c200047c99c44ddfe6

By 6pm today I read most of these posts. There are several squeaky wheels that are posting over and over but there are also dozens of individuals that are all telling the same story. These people are in areas with good 3g reception (as confirmed by the coverage map or by another 3g t-mobile phone in the same place at the same time. They report that their N1 continually switches between edge and g3. Their data download rates are about 1/10th what they should be. Many have reported that the constant switching between networks is draining their battery within a few hours. When they call HTC for support, HTC blames T-mobile's network. T-mobile blames HTC and claims that they have not been given any support documentation on the N1 from Google or HTC. The complainers are in a wide variety of locations throughout the country.

Gizmodo reports on the story and claims that their phones have poor 3g reception as well:

http://gizmodo.com/5443123/does-the-nexus-one-have-3g-problems

The same problem crops up in the comments after this story at tmonews

http://www.tmonews.com/2010/01/nexus-one-incurring-3g-problems/

Lots of people are reporting the same problems here on the androidforums

http://androidforums.com/nexus-one/34321-nexus-one-3g-problems.html

So I really don't think this is due to ignorant customers. There is a real problem with at least some of these phones. It may be there is a batch out there with bad antennas, or there could be a software glitch. If it's software then one would hope a patch is coming from Google asap. Regardless of what the problem is, Google has made a terrible mistake in ignoring this for almost 2 days now. Even if they had replied in their own support forums just once saying "sorry we're on it get back to you soon." They might not look so bad. Personally I think Google's experience with leaving their "products" in beta for years on end has finally bitten them on the ass.

Why stop there, why not have 5 button mice as standard? It's because the concept of right and left click, and the subtle distinctions in use and result between them, make for a confusing user interface, which Apple chose to eschew in favour of something simpler.

A five button mouse would be too complicated because you'd have to find five, natural seeming categories to divide menus into on all the different applications you use a mouse with. But waying "why not have a five button mouse" is no argument. Between too complex and too simple, there lies the right balance. Now you may consider a two button mouse to make "a confusing interface" but clearly much of the world deals with it without problem and finds the limitations of a single-button mouse annoying. Trying to argue we're wrong by saying two-buttons is closer to five buttons than one button and is therefore worse, is no more logical than saying being in a warm room is closer to burning to death than being in a cold room, therefore a warm room is worse than a cold room.

Personally, I'm waiting to see what the Microsoft Courier is going to be like. Two screens in a book format with a stylus. If it's light enough and cheap enough, I think it'll probably make the Apple tablet look like an oversize, unwieldy beast indeed.

It's the MPAA/RIAA/FBI "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" law--the same one they've used to imprison, sue, and fine thousands of people in recent years (including some that didn't even own a computer)

The clue is in the part of your own post starting "because" - even then, its debatable as to whether that trademark would apply to anything other than plush R2D2 toys.

R2D2 Novelty Phone This looks like a trademark application for something very close to the devices in the article.

Yeah just according to the article, which is silly because this device clearly is not the highlight of CES. There are quite a few candidates for that title, and I'm not sure anyone would put this device on the list.

http://gizmodo.com/5441762/the-best-of-ces?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+gizmodo/full+(Gizmodo)

Also of interest is how Apple handles unauthorized leaks from its employees. Apparently, they lock down buildings and inspect employees' personal communication devices to hunt down the perpetrator.

Well, the light output of an LCD is naturally polarised, so an LCD using polarised glasses is actually far easier to make than a temporal interlacing design (using shutter glasses). Also, shutter glasses require ridicorously high refresh rates and still cause eye strain, not to mention the glasses are powered and thus are heavier and can run out of batteries.

One thing I think will be interesting is whether there will be enough time for the fixed-perspective "3D" to really take off before "true" 3D becomes practical (using screens whose pixels can emit different light colours in different directions, a la HoloVizio). Generating a display like this is tractable (I presume they're using a lenticular sheet system with multiple columns of pixels behind each lenticular strip) but capturing live video in such a manner will prove an interesting challenge.

You can use an SD card to store apps on, as stated by gizmodo http://gizmodo.com/5440694/google-nexus-one-everything-you-need-to-know?skyline=true&s=i

Next time I travel I'm bringing my gieger counter.

Safety equipment in Carry-On??? You will get stopped searched, strip searched, arrested, interrogated, re-arrested, re-interrogated, and charged with mentioning something you shouldn't at an airport.

Parachutes are banned from flights, and I think life preservers are too. Tools are also banned, stuff like screw drivers, allen keys and multi-meters. This is what happened when an MIT student showed up at the airport terminal with a circuit on her shirt. This is what happened when a traveller dropped an iPod into an airplane toilet.

Good luck with a Gieger Counter. It will start a minor terrorist incident.

Something a little like this: http://gizmodo.com/299435/camouflaged-fridge-chills-hides-beer-at-the-office ?

Agreed. I think a lot of this hype will pass by the wayside. Early reviews indicate this will mostly just eat it's own. Another good phone, but not an iPhone killer.

Here's a rather lengthy review that talks about it's pros and cons at great length.

Personally, I think it will be a good smartphone, but it still lacks polish, and has some glaring missing features like basic sync capabilities if this review is accurate. Can someone verify the accuracy of this review? It's not a very kind review in some key areas:

http://gizmodo.com/5395801/android-20-review-almost-human

Maybe Apple will pull a coup this time around and offer a large tablet interface that's easily dockable.

Maybe making use of something like this patent?

I've thought for a while that it could be pretty neat to have something like an iPhone/PDA with a stripped down portable interface, but when linked to a dock, it becomes a fully capable desktop machine.

Third party applications can extend or replace included applications (like the dialer or address book) it is possible that an unstable 3rd party app can make things less stable. That's the price you pay for having an open platform, and well worth it based on the functionality that I have on my phone that you can never, ever have with an iPhone

You'd take another third party "phone.app" that has extra speed dial slots over stability? Really?

Open Source doesnt have to be unstable, I dabble from time to time with Linux and rather enjoy it. Still havnt made the big switch, but I do appreciate Open Source software. If thats what you mean by Open Platform. If it give me stability on a "mission critical" device like a phone, I'd take a closed source device. Also, what about OS updates, they kinda suck on Android, you have to wait for your carrier to give it to you? Or not... Thats ridiculous. When an update comes out, I download it on iTunes, no different than a podcast, plug in my phone and BOOM, I'm running it. (I also jailbreak)

Anyway, if I have to defend myself about "what I've heard", its basically that Android is "a close second", check any of the big Gadget sites, Endgadget, Gizmodo etc. They all say "if you dont get an iPhone, the Droid is the second best..." Oh here, this is actual evidence of what I've been saying, "It's this simple: If you don't buy an iPhone, buy a Droid. It's the best phone on Verizon, and with Android 2.0, the second best smartphone you can buy, period. It's flawed, deeply in some ways. But it's the second best phone around, on the best network around."

So, these reviewers were all so jacked up about the Droid, and now it seems to be "not as good as the Nexus One", which has all the hype. Check any review of the Nexus One and you will notice those comments, "the Droid felt slow, this is faster" etc etc etc.

I dont have much hands on experience with an Android phone, they are not really sold in New Zealand. From the people I know who have one, they say its not as "polished" as an iPhone. I'm sorry I havnt recorded every conversation I've had with my friends for you!

I hope I can play around with the Nexus One soon.

"It sounds to me like Google lost alot of good will with such a high unsubsidized price."

They lost me. After many, many stories about free google cell phones supported by ads how can anyone not be disappointed by the $500 price?

I really don't see how Google thinks they'll sell any. $500+ is a huge bite, and $180 puts it in competition with $199 iPhone 3GS, so if you're deciding between the iPhone and Nexus price really isn't a factor. Couple that with 126,000+ iPhone apps vs 20,000 Android apps and the fact many Android apps don't run on lower-end Android phones doesn't inspire someone to purchase a Android phone.

Google seems to be shooting themselves in the foot, it would take a phone with lots of developer support to topple the iPhone. Only way to get developers is to show them the $$$$ like the iPhone does. Google needs to get the developers paid and make them millionaires like the iPhone does

Au contraire! We had some near-perfect mockups of the iPhone months before it was announced:
http://gizmodo.com/201329/rumor-touchscreen-ipod-before-christmas
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/touchscreen-ipod-due-this-november-says-our-secret-source-192158.php

Au contraire! We had some near-perfect mockups of the iPhone months before it was announced:
http://gizmodo.com/201329/rumor-touchscreen-ipod-before-christmas
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/touchscreen-ipod-due-this-november-says-our-secret-source-192158.php

According to the Anandtech article, only the pretty much end-of-life Windows XP is out of luck. Linux, OS X and modern Windows versions all work ... Non news?

According to many estimates that is 3 out of 5 computer users have XP as their OS. That is pretty big. The lowest estimate that I have seen is that XP is only running on 1 out 5 daily use computers. Another way of looking at it is that there more XP users than there are, Unix, Linux, Mac OS (any version) and any other non-Windows OS combined.

Sources: (62.2%): http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

(69.05%): http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10

(48.47%): http://gs.statcounter.com/press/encouraging-start-for-windows-7

(70.48%): http://gizmodo.com/5398689/reality-check

Also the expected end of life is no earlier than April 8, 2014, four years from now...

There's been a lot of coverage indicating problems with iPhones in New York, including one Gizmodo piece saying a 30% dropped call rate is apparently normal.

I work in New York, live in New Jersey.
AT&T is definitely spotty in New York. I sit in an innercore office of a large office building and I get zero service.
When I go outside, service sometimes will work, sometimes drops my calls. I have also experienced dropped calls in cabs in New York.

Verizon seems to have no problem here. AT&T needs to do something...

Can we stop saying things like 'the most popular handset?' When we're talking about a market where no single handset has more than about 1-2% market share, saying 'the most popular' is entirely meaningless.

Assuming the figures are correct, the link in the summary states that the top four have more than 2% each and the iPhone is #1. I think that qualifies as "the most popular," even if it doesn't have a majority on marketshare.

There's been a lot of coverage indicating problems with iPhones in New York, including one Gizmodo piece saying a 30% dropped call rate is apparently normal.

I dunno, my anecdotal data point is that I've had a couple of dropped calls in NYC but not really that many. I'd say about 3 or 4 dropped calls out of a couple of dozen that I've made across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx. The calls tended to drop while I was traveling in my car, my iPhone automatically re-dialed for me and the call continued just fine.

I wouldn't really say it was much of a problem. Yes it is a bit higher of a rate of dropped calls in NYC than in the neighboring, more rural areas but certainly nothing that really affected my ability to use the cell phone. If AT&T really is saying they'd rather not sell the iPhone in the NYC area it might just be a preventative measure to avoid adding more iPhones into an area that is close to capacity. That's just spitballing though, I think it's more likely to be a miscommunication.

There's been a lot of coverage indicating problems with iPhones in New York, including one Gizmodo piece saying a 30% dropped call rate is apparently normal.

It could work. If someone with vision produced a competent educational suite, designed to help these kids actually learn and succeed in life, it could make a huge difference. There is no reason software couldn't be written to take kids all the way through high school (and give them tools they need to expand their own knowledge base afterwards). To pass the high school level all you really need is basic algebra and reasonable reading skills. After that, they could fill in the gaps with interesting topics like basic mechanical projects or fashion tutorials (anyone kid should be capable of matching the colors of their clothes even if they are poor) or music lessons or programming or any number of interesting things. If they are in really poor areas, they could introduce things like rabbit raising that will make a difference in their lives immediately. The kids don't have to do all of them, they can choose from a few. If someone with vision and drive were doing it, then it could be great.

Nicholas Negroponte, the head of OLPC, has shown that he is not that man. He has floated around from OS to OS, failed to deliver what was needed, failed to show he even understands what is needed, failed to develop any kind of reasonable software to do anything (sugar is an ok start, but......it's still just a start). I wish he were more competent because it could be a great project. What a shame.

It's fairly well known, in fact. It's called "tactile feedback", and it helps tremendously in doing things by muscle memory rather than conscious thought.

Ask, and maybe you shall receive.

AT&T is reserving the 700mhz spectrum it won in the auction and purchased from Aloha Wireless Partners exclusively for their 4G LTE network. You won't see it up and running until about 2011, which is not a bad turnaround time to basically build an entire network overlay with new spectrum, radios, etc.

Look at this ugly crap. The tables are JPEG images. Isn't gizmodo a technology website? Shouldn't they know what they're doing? For computer generated art (i.e., anything that's not a photograph) JPEG's are ugly and full of artifacts. PNG's use lossless compression, have no artifacts, and are usually smaller.

It seems to vary, like the throughput does, and roughly correlated with it. For example, AT&T latency seems better at all the locations in Atlanta. It does have some absolutely terrible ones in some cities, though (700ms+ latencies).

I can't wait for a phone with SiRF Star IV. I love my Star III, USB, but it'd never make it in a cell phone for power reasons.

Anyone know if an android phone is expected to get them anytime soon?

First of all, these two statements are completely incompatible

Not necessarily. Best example: The xbox 360 is an awesome gaming console, but the older versions still had horrendous reliability. Hence, it did its job as a gaming console well, but that doesn't make it a well designed piece of hardware.

Second, what are the iPhone's glaringly bad issues?

To name a few of the more obvious ones...

Sync issues (admittedly, this is more due to iTunes being bad software rather than the iPhone being bad hardware, but still...), problems with many new firmware rollouts (for example the random shutdowns and decreased battery life of 3.1), no MMS until just a couple of short months ago, Appstore approval inconsistencies (again, not an issue with the phone itself, but I doubt you could convince anyone the iPhone would be the success it is without the Appstore)...oh, and that little problem with randomly catching fire.

From the Fake Steve website : "On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees." Also every other site has managed to correctly report the date. You might want to check little facts like that before assigning blame.