Motorola Droid’s next update to be Android 2.1, includes multitouch browser
We’ve just gotten the inside line on the next Droid update that’s making the rounds through Verizon’s testing department from one of our trusted sources, and overall, it looks like this should take users 95 percent of the way to curing pangs of Nexus One envy. Here’s what we’ve got:
- It’s based on Android 2.1. The build currently being circulated is identified as 2.1 version 1, mirroring the update just pushed to the Nexus One last week.
- Google Goggles is now pre-installed (no matter how unhelpful it may be).
- The browser’s now multitouch enabled, just like Google Maps 3.4. Huzzah! No Flash, but then again, we weren’t really expecting that.
- Interestingly, the home screen’s still got the same look as 2.0.1, meaning it doesn’t adopt the Nexus One’s rotating 3D grid of app icons — it’s still got the pull-up drawer tab at the bottom.
- No active wallpapers. Bummer!
- The news and weather widgets introduced on the Nexus One are included. Maybe certain capabilities of 2.1 are going to be restricted to devices with minimum performance benchmarks?
There’s no word on timing, and for all our source knows, this build could still very well fail testing — goodness knows it’s happened with plenty of pre-production firmwares in Verizon’s past. We’ll keep our ear to the ground and you do the same.
Motorola Droid’s next update to be Android 2.1, includes multitouch browser originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sharp and Samsung settle LCD patent cases, end legal dispute
After three years of spent treasure, Sharp and Samsung have finally settled their LCD patent fight. Although the terms of the agreement won’t be made public, a Sharp spokesman was caught boasting about conditions that “will be in favor of Sharp” — the company that kicked off the battle back in 2007. As a recap, the disputed patents covered LCD TVs, monitors, and mobile phones in lawsuits filed in the US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. After a string of defeats in the US and Europe resulted in an import ban on its panels, Samsung, it seems, was left with little choice but to settle on Sharp’s terms.
Sharp and Samsung settle LCD patent cases, end legal dispute originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony develops 11Gbps short-range wireless intra-connection
Before you get too excited about the bandwidth number, you should know that Sony’s latest wireless innovation works at a range of up to 14 millimeters. So no, it won’t be replacing your WiFi antenna anytime soon, but it may well be showing up in your next television set or other bit of Sony-branded gadgetry. Working in the 30GHz to 300GHz frequency range, this is designed to replace wired communication channels inside electronic devices, with Sony claiming it will deliver “advantages such as size and cost-reduction and enhanced reliability of the final product.” Basically, erecting 1mm antennae that can beam information at each other at a rate of 11Gbps turns out to be simpler and more reliable than printing ever wider data lanes into the circuit board. Makes sense to us. Full PR after the break.
Continue reading Sony develops 11Gbps short-range wireless intra-connection
Sony develops 11Gbps short-range wireless intra-connection originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VIZIO Super Bowl ad pushes internet connected HDTVs in a big way
We weren’t sure exactly what Beyonce, David Goes to the Dentist and Chocolate Rain all had in common, but VIZIO squeezed them all into its Super Bowl ad. Still striving to remake its reputation from being merely a cheap HDTV manufacturer to a premium one offering lots of features, the ad (embedded after the break) shows how it’s bringing “the best of the internet” with VIZIO Internet Apps. We still need to see if its picture quality will measure up and whether the widget experience has gotten any better (read: faster) in 2010 to be truly convinced, but a slick ad never hurt.
Continue reading VIZIO Super Bowl ad pushes internet connected HDTVs in a big way
VIZIO Super Bowl ad pushes internet connected HDTVs in a big way originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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