Nokia outs colorful 603 handset, coupled with NFC-equipped Luna Bluetooth headset

The leaves in your yard may be transitioning to the more subdued hues of autumn, but Nokia's new 603 smartphone certainly isn't. Available in six different back cover colors, this new Symbian Belle handset is powered by a 1GHz processor and boasts a 3.5-inch, capacitive touchscreen with 640 x 360 resolution. It also comes with 2GB of internal memory, a 32GB microSD slot and five megapixel camera, along with full NFC and Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities. Speaking of which, the folks in Espoo have also taken this opportunity to unveil their new Luna Bluetooth headset -- an NFC-enabled, in-ear accessory that delivers up to eight hours of extended talk time, as well as a rainbow of colors (see an image after the break). As far as pricing goes, the 603 will set you back €200 (about $275), with the Luna headset sitting at €70 (around $96). Neither will hit the market until Q4 of this year, but you can find more information in the full PR, looming after the break.

Continue reading Nokia outs colorful 603 handset, coupled with NFC-equipped Luna Bluetooth headset

Nokia outs colorful 603 handset, coupled with NFC-equipped Luna Bluetooth headset originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/13/nokia-outs-colorful-603-handset-coupled-with-nfc-equipped-luna/

Emma Knebel Jason Randow www.if.uj.edu.pl/ZINHAC/ticket/21769">Benjamin Schötz Johannes Liebl

Kickstarter hits a million backers, impoverished design students rejoice

Despite these shaky economic times, people still have the time -- and money -- for modded Arduino kits, iPhone lens and air guitar mods. Kickstarter users have now pledged over $100 million to projects, with the number of backers leaping from around 250,000 in September last year to over one million. The crowd-funding site is marking the occasion with visualizations of its vital statistics, showing, among other things, that one-time backers make up the bulk of investment. With over 13,000 projects green-lighted so far, projects still vying for our investment dollars include a caterpillar-tracked smartphone robot, a bike light that attaches to your spokes generating an 8-bit light show and an energy recovery unit that picks up on heat from a dryer exhaust. If the idea of heat exchanges gets you all hot under the collar, check out Kickstarter to help give the creators a fiscal foothold.

Kickstarter hits a million backers, impoverished design students rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/RFvmrF14mVg/

Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte

Hornettek Vader Aluminum iPhone 4 Case Review

Hornettek’s Vader aluminum case is third in a string of iPhone 4 case reviews that I am in the process of doing. After a near catastrophic mishap my iPhone had a few months ago, I decided it was time to raise the bar on protecting my smartphone. Before that close call, I had been using [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/11/hornettek-vader-aluminum-iphone-4-case-review/

Helmut Hölzer Maurice Giese Frederik Faulhaber Svenja Hoferichter

Sharp, HTC and ZTE learn the NFC Forum secret handshake

The NFC Forum just scored a few high profile allies in the form of Sharp, ZTE and HTC. The handset manufacturers were among a slew of companies to join up as members, with Sharp and ZTE hitting the Associate level and HTC signing on at the Implementer level. Now let the mobile hazing begin!

Continue reading Sharp, HTC and ZTE learn the NFC Forum secret handshake

Sharp, HTC and ZTE learn the NFC Forum secret handshake originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/12/sharp-htc-and-zte-learn-the-nfc-forum-secret-handshake/

Jason Randow Benjamin Schötz Johannes Liebl Arne Koller

Leaked Android Music app images and hands-on review

Android Music player
This morning, an updated version of the stock Android Music app was leaked along with a new version of Android Market. The new Music app, which is labeled 'version 3', is similar to the leaked build from December, but it has received a ton of polish -- and indeed, it looks almost ready for prime time.

If you don't have Android 2.3 -- or don't want to root your phone to install the leaked Music app -- take a look through our gallery, and then read on for our initial hands-on impressions.

Continue reading Leaked Android Music app images and hands-on review

Leaked Android Music app images and hands-on review originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/leaked-android-music-app-hands-on/

Elfriede Oltmanns Janine Hillenbrand Vivien Strupp Elena Lasch

Firefox 4 Mobile officially released for Android and Maemo devices

Firefox 4 MobileMoments ago, Mozilla stripped the release candidate moniker from Firefox 4 Mobile and pronounced it fit for public release. If you have a Nokia N900 phone, or a fairly-modern Android 2.0-or-later device, go ahead and install it from the Market, by using scanning the QR code after the break, or by visiting Firefox.com/m.

Accompanying the release is the launch of Spark, a cute social game that's designed to fuel the adoption of Firefox 4 Mobile, much like last week's use of Glow and Twitter Party during Firefox 4 PC's release.

While the browser still feels a little rough around the edges, it's definitely worth trying out if you're still using Android's stock browser. Its JavaScript performance is significantly better than any other Android browser, and if you use Firefox on your PC, its built-in Sync functionality is awesome.

Over the next few days we'll have plenty of tips and tricks for Firefox 4 Mobile, and a list of the best add-ons available for the new browser.

Continue reading Firefox 4 Mobile officially released for Android and Maemo devices

Firefox 4 Mobile officially released for Android and Maemo devices originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/firefox-4-mobile-officially-released-for-android-and-maemo-devic/

Lennart Tonn Simone Temme Heidemarie Stegmann Annika Schäffer

CyanogenMod for TouchPad alpha released, is surprisingly functional (video)



Tired of seeing TouchPad Android demos that you can't quite get your hands on? Buck up buttercup, CyanogenMod 7.1.0's unique flavor of Gingerbread has finally made its way to HP's disowned slate; but beware -- they're calling this one the "lower your expectations" edition for a reason. A new video and forum update belabors the point that the alpha is an early, buggy build that is not intended for the general public. However, if you're brave enough to install CyanogenMod anyway, you'll wind up with a neat assortment of usable features, including multiboot support, ten-point multitouch, functional WiFi, camera support for video chat, limited GPU acceleration and a ton of other features that are either working now, or are near completion. The team says there are too many nonfunctional features to properly list at the moment, but advise brave testers to expect app incompatibility and poorly optimized power consumption. Ready to throw caution to the wind? Hit the source link below, as it's chock full of cautionary tales, installation instructions, and download links.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

CyanogenMod for TouchPad alpha released, is surprisingly functional (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_vnZ3qMomC0/

Joshua Heinlein Markus Wigger Alexander Berner Oliver Büdenbender

Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs

Firefox slow-addons list
Mozilla, continuing its year-long crusade to speed up Firefox startup and shutdown times, has published a name and shame list of the Firefox's slowest add-ons.

The list is just one part of Mozilla's new efforts to highlight slow add-ons, and to help developers make their add-ons more efficient. Over the next two weeks, 'slow performance warnings' will be introduced in the add-on gallery so that users can see, before installation, which add-ons will slow down their browser. If that isn't enough to spur developers into cleaning up their add-ons, Mozilla has also begun reaching out to developers of slow add-ons with tips on how to improve add-on performance. Finally, add-on developers will soon have the ability to perform 'on-demand performance testing,' so that they can test their add-on before it's deployed publicly.

Mozilla reports that the average Firefox add-on slows down Firefox's start-up time by 10% -- which means, if you install 10 add-ons, you will double your start-up time. On fast desktop PCs that kind of slowdown might be negligible, but on older computers, laptops and smartphones, it could be the difference between a 5 and 10 second startup. Mozilla has obviously realized that while massive performance gains might've been made with Firefox 4, the addition of third-party add-ons can destroy any user-perceived improvements.

In other news, Mozilla says that a future build of Firefox will block the installation of add-ons (such as toolbars) by third-party software. Add-ons and toolbars that are bundled in this way will require explicit approval when you next open up Firefox. Hooray!

Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/mozilla-publishes-name-and-shame-list-of-slow-firefox-add-ons/

Henrik Brenner Karla Reusch Wilhelm Klassen Nathalie Füllgraf

Not Even Google Knows What the Hell Google Is [Google ]

Maybe Google knows it's never going to top Facebook at the social game, because when asked, its description of Google+ makes very little sense! AllThingsD chatted up Google+ exec Bradley Horowitz, and he sounds... confused. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/nRxNdEhF9lU/not-even-google%252B-knows-what-the-hell-google%252B-is

Ingeburg Otte Moritz Beller Gabriela Prell Sylvia Lösche