Motorola pushes back Android 2.1 update for CLIQ, CLIQ XT

We’ve seen this coming for at least a week or two now, but for what it’s worth, Motorola has now made it official that the CLIQ and CLIQ XT won’t be seeing upgrades to Android 2.1 in the second quarter of the year (which ends today) as had been previously promised. That’s certainly a bummer, especially considering that the devices run Cupcake, which is — at this point, anyway — a truly ancient iteration of the platform that many modern, popular Android apps don’t even support (Donut seems to be a pretty popular cut-off point). So, when is it coming now? Hard to say; all Moto’s saying is that it’ll happen “as soon as possible” and that it’s going to “take more time on the release to optimize the experience in some key areas.” Droid X, anyone?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola pushes back Android 2.1 update for CLIQ, CLIQ XT originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook for iPhone / iPod touch now iOS 4 compatible

We’ll get right to the point: the Facebook app for your iPhone / iPod touch is now drinking the iOS 4 Kool-Aid. Fast app switching, high resolution icons (better than the one seen above, since that’s pre-update), Korean / Russian localizations, and… that’s about it for now. Maybe background image / video uploading is on the list of to-do’s, but at least it won’t look quite as pixel-deficient on the home screen next to Twitter.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Facebook for iPhone / iPod touch now iOS 4 compatible originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Milestone XT720 spec changes again, this time for the worse

Hey, we admit it, as far as Motorola’s concerned hacks like us probably have no business browsing its Motodev pages, but we can’t help but be a little peeved at the freestyle updates the company is making to its Milestone XT720 spec sheet. The processor hasn’t changed — it’s always been a 720MHz-capable TI OMAP3440 — but its speed rating has fluctuated between 550MHz, 720MHz exactly, and now the most enigmatic value yet: “up to” 720MHz. The RAM too has gone on a rollercoaster journey, jumping from 256MB at first, to a tasty 512MB, and now back down to a lean quarter gig. What’s going on over there, too many webmasters spoiling the spec soup?

[Thanks, Marius]

Milestone XT720 spec changes again, this time for the worse originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple patches iOS 4 Exchange issue

It hasn’t gotten quite the attention of the iPhone 4′s antenna problems or its proximity sensor troubles, but iOS 4 has caused some heartbreak for corporate users who connect to Exchange servers — checking mail or syncing contact and calendars can stall out interminably, with no option but to restart and try again. We’ve definitely had this problem ourselves, but happily Apple’s right on the case with this one — iOS 4 users who need to get their Exchange on can download an updated configuration file that seems to make things better. The new settings don’t seem to do much other than increase iOS 4′s idle timeout, but if it works, it works — and in our limited testing things appear to be going swimmingly. Okay, that’s one — now let’s polish up the rest, shall we?

[Thanks, Paul]

Apple patches iOS 4 Exchange issue originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What killed the Kin?

While the news today that Microsoft has killed its troubled Kin line didn’t come as the craziest of surprises, it’s definitely left a lot of lingering questions about just what happened. Now we may have a little insight into what went wrong — and what might be in store down the road — thanks to a reliable source of ours who’s shared some news on Redmond’s inner turmoil.

Apparently, the troubles started long before the swirling Pink phone rumors (and way before the name Kin was ringing in our ears). According to our source, the birth of these devices began with a decision at Microsoft to create a platform agnostic, cloud-centric featurephone. A featurephone that could be had at a relatively low cost, and sold to a burgeoning market of teens and young adults who had little need for a BlackBerry-level device (or pricing). The first step in the project was acquiring Danger to leverage the work it had done with the Sidekick platform, and aligning with Verizon as a launch partner who could offer attractive pricing plans for the devices to a big pool… and here’s where the trouble begins.

Continue reading What killed the Kin?

What killed the Kin? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid X ad pokes fun at iPhone 4 antenna troubles

The world of corporate cheap shots has today been enriched in its number with one supersized ad for one supersized phone. BGR reports that Motorola took out a full-page spread in the New York Times on this final day of June, which was ostensibly dedicated to promoting the positives of its mighty Droid X. But Moto has also followed in the footsteps of Nokia in making a not so subtle jab at the latest king of the smartphone realm. According to the ad, one of the most important things about the Droid X is that:

“It comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls.”

Glad we got that established — next Moto will be telling us the alarm clock on its phones works just fine too. Skip past the break for the untrimmed ad.

Continue reading Droid X ad pokes fun at iPhone 4 antenna troubles

Droid X ad pokes fun at iPhone 4 antenna troubles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin is dead

We’re learning this afternoon that Microsoft’s Kin line, for all practical purposes, is riding off into the sunset just a few short weeks after its release. Sources close to Microsoft tell us that Andy Lees has rolled Kin into the Windows Phone 7 team and has canceled the existing product’s launch later this year in Europe on news that sales weren’t as strong as expected. Speaking of sales, Verizon’s already-launched Kin One and Kin Two are soldiering on for the time being, but for how long is anyone’s guess. Here’s Microsoft’s official statement:

“We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones.”

Interestingly, CNET is reporting that Roz Ho — the exec who masterminded Kin under the codename “Pink” following Microsoft’s acquisition of Danger — will “oversee” her team’s move over to Windows Phone 7 before taking a to-be-determined role elsewhere in the company. For what it’s worth, we didn’t think much of the Kin when we reviewed it — to be fair, we’re not the product’s target demographic, but it certainly seems as though the phones got no love from the tweens, teens, and twentysomethings it sought to win over, either. It’s hard to say how the Kin’s untimely (or is it timely?) death ties into Robbie Bach and J Allard’s departure, but since Lees has his hands more closely wrapped around this project than he had in the past, it stands to reason that there’s a link there. After all, just how bad do sales have to be to kill a project mere weeks into its retail launch? And for NVIDIA, what does it mean that they’ve yet to release even a single blockbuster, wildly successful Tegra device?

Update: What killed the Kin?

Microsoft Kin is dead originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD2 caught running Android 2.1 and Ubuntu with touchscreen enabled (video)

Still clinging on to your HTC HD2? Good on ya, cos this WinMo slate’s about to last you a wee bit longer — team HTC Linux has recently made a breakthrough with getting the touchscreen to talk to the HaRET Linux bootloader. In other words, us mere mortals can finally use Linux variants like Android and Ubuntu on the HD2 the way it’s meant to be, although we’re apparently still a few bugs away from a stable release. Until then, enjoy the techno-fueled video demo after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading HTC HD2 caught running Android 2.1 and Ubuntu with touchscreen enabled (video)

HTC HD2 caught running Android 2.1 and Ubuntu with touchscreen enabled (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance

As promised, Nokia and Intel have revealed the pre-alpha version of MeeGo for handsets today, supporting the Intel-powered Aava reference phone and the Nokia N900. What’s most interesting at this early stage is the UI, which appears to have taken a big Nokia-influenced step away from the Intel-designed MeeGo netbook and tablet UI — and we’re definitely detecting some hints of Android and webOS here and there. Seriously, just check out that task switching interface. Of course, MeeGo is open-source, so we’re sure Nokia has some deeper UI customizations in store — like homescreen widgets, which are notably missing here.

On a deeper level, this build of MeeGo includes the base MeeGo APIs, including Qt and the MeeGo touch frameworks, the Firefox-based browser, a photo viewer, and some basic UI elements like the status bar, app launcher, and virtual keyboard. There are pre-built images for the Atom-based Aava handsets available now, but N900 owners will have to do a little building until someone makes an image available. Be warned, though: there’s a long enough list of known bugs, and while that’s totally fine for pre-alpha code, it might not be too fine for your device. That’s not going to stop us from installing this thing, but you be careful, alright? And let us know how it goes. Video of the UI after the break.

P.S. Given that the N8 is destined to be the last Symbian N Series device, we can’t help but feel it’s being overshadowed by MeeGo before it’s even out. Can we pre-pour one out? Is that a thing? It is now.

Continue reading MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance

MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4′s antenna problem looks worse than it is, but it’s still bad

The iPhone 4‘s antenna issues have sparked off a firestorm of debate as to the root cause — Apple says holding the phone differently or buying a case are the best answers, while other are going down a more voodoo path — but our friends at AnandTech have done some more scientific testing of the problem and come up with a few interesting results. Turns out the iPhone 4 actually performs slightly better inside a case than a phone like the Nexus One, which has had similar issues crop up, but it’s slightly worse when held in the hand, reporting an average signal drop of 20dB. Here’s where it gets a little wacky, though: the signal meter in iOS 4 is logarithmic, so that 20dB drop can either leave you looking steady at five bars or drop you all the way to zero, depending on what the actual signal level in the area is like. Take a look at the chart above and you’ll get it: the range of values between one bar and four spans just 23dB, while the range for five bars is 40dB. That means holding the phone in an area with a strong five-bar signal will have no apparent effect — you can lose 20dB at full signal and still see five bars — but holding the phone in an area with weaker coverage will easily drop the meter to one bar, since the 20dB signal drop covers almost the entirety of the remaining 23dB scale. Oops.

Of course, that’s just the on-screen display, which Apple can and likely will tweak in a future iOS update. The real question is whether the reported signal has anything to do with performance, and Anandtech agrees with our general experience, saying that the iPhone 4′s improved signal to noise ratio means it actually does a better job of hanging onto calls and using data when there’s low signal than the iPhone 3GS. In their words, “this iPhone gets the best cellular reception yet, even though measured signal is lower than the 3GS.” However, there’s no getting around the fact that we’ve definitely dropped a couple calls with the iPhone 4 by holding it the wrong way, and Anandtech says the only real solution to the antenna issue will be for Apple to either subsidize free bumpers or add an insulative coating to the antenna band. We’ll see what happens — we’ve got a feeling an iOS update is on the way, but we’d definitely love to see Apple pursue a more aggressive solution to this problem.

iPhone 4′s antenna problem looks worse than it is, but it’s still bad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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