Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Cellphones

Well, it’s not quite as big as that gigantic promo Bold, but dummies of the Blackberry Storm have started appearing in Verizon stores, and it’s looking a lot, uh, more robust than we remember from all those leaks. Specs include an appropriately multicultural photo of happy people, non-functioning buttons, and a list of Verizon talking points. Still no hard release date, but we’re guessing something this big can’t be contained for much longer.

[Via Blackberry News]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Cellphones

Okay, so first we heard that Nokia’s Comes with Music service would be good and ready by October 2nd. Then we heard October 17th. Now, a certain “anonymous industry source” has revealed that the long-awaited XpressMusic 5800 (or the Tube, as it were) will be launching on the 2nd of next month. With so much conflicting evidence out and about, we′re firmly in “wait and see″ mode at this point, and considering that “launch″ gives no indication of a ship date, we reckon you’re better off doing the same.

[Thanks, Mikkel]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

A recent Reuters article doesn’t mention a specific model (although we have our hunches), but one thing’s for sure: some kind of Comes with Music handset is launching on October 17th. We had previously assumed that October 2nd would be the go-live date for the intriguing music bundle, but retailer Carphone Warehouse has now made clear that Britain won’t be able to buy in until a few weeks later. As predicted, a Nokia spokesman declined to comment, so we’d go ahead and pencil (key word: pencil) this one into your increasingly crowded datebook.

[Via MobileBurn]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

When Canon answered the rumor calls with its official unveiling of the 15.1-megapixel EOS 50D, it failed to nail down an exact release date. Thankfully, Circuit City has informed us that “October″ really means “October 6th,” and the beastly DSLR is up for pre-order right now for $1,399.99 (body only) / $1,599.99 (kit with EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens). Just over a fortnight to wait — surely you can twiddle your thumbs until then, yeah?

[Thanks, sds24]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Transportation

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/EXO_Wing_world_s_smallest_jet_worn_like_a_backpack′; Oh daddy, would you look at that. Forget jetpacks, we’ve got a deep ache in our G-Jetson-loin for this, Atair Aerospace’s EXO-Wing, the world’s smallest human-piloted jet. Smaller even, than the Gryphon parachute. It’s on display right now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of its Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy collection. The only thing we know about the EXO-Wing is that the twin micro-turbine-powered contraption is light enough to be worn as a backpack. Hell, we don’t even know if it really works. Regardless, we’ve got our weekend booked… up, up and away!

P.S. The webbed creature below the EXO-Wing is sporting an Aerosuit for skydivers and Aquaman wannabes with a thing for Tom Jones.

Read — Atair’s EXO-Wing
Read — Super Heroes, Fashion and Fantasy exhibit

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Cellphones

Those crafty kids on the iPhone Dev Team have already hacked the 2.0 firmware, but now they′re getting ready to release the oh-so-creatively-named PWNED tool, which takes iPhone hacking to the next level by patching the bootloader to let you load any firmware image you want — even images not signed by Apple. That means custom patched firmware can now be loaded directly from iTunes, which simplifies the jailbreaking / unlocking process tremendously, and also means that a patched version of the 2.0 firmware is coming soon. We’re putting the tool through its paces right now and we’ll have a hands-on with it (and the Dev Team’s patched 2.0 firmware) as soon as we get it all working, but check out some highlights after the break, and hit the read link for more info.

Continue reading Video of the iPhone Pwned project in action

 

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Cellphones

This is just getting silly, don′t you think? The iPhone Dev Team has once again proven their totally gnarly talents by freeing up the latest firmware before it’s even the latest firmware. Apple, here’s our suggestion — just let people do what they want with your devices, since they’re clearly going to do it anyway. That way, instead of making enemies, you’re making lifelong buddies. Reasonable, right? Steve, give us a call, we’re more than happy to riff on some ideas for playing nice with the end-user.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Handhelds

You know, the Kindle runs Linux, has USB, uses all standard processors and chipsets, even comes with free built-in EV-DO — you’d kind of think that stuff (and all the rest) would make it about as high a profile target for hardware modders and hackers as there are. So what gives, why hasn′t the hacker community glommed onto this thing? Hit the poll: anyone can answer, but we really want to hear from the über-geeks in the house why the call to Kindle has gone unheeded.

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Handhelds

It’s likely that the Kindle’s popularity is going to spawn a whole slew of e-books vying for the eyes of readers. A concept from a student named Nedzad Mujcinovic at Monash University could very well stoke the fires of competition if his Livre ever makes it to store shelves. The system uses an e-ink screen overlaid with a touch surface, thus forgoing the multitudinous buttons of the Kindle for an ultra-simple, gesture-based input scheme. Pages can be turned by sliding your finger from corner to corner, though double- and triple-finger gestures will advance the book by ten and 50 pages, respectively. Most notable for real book fans is the inclusion of a leather stitched cover, meant to evoke the look and feel of the device’s analog counterpart. Amazon’s designers would be wise to, uh… take a page from Nedzad’s book for the Kindle 2.

[Thanks, Nick B.]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Laptops

You must doing something right to capture the attention of third party accessory makers. Meet Brando’s $18 Car and $23 Travel Chargers. Of course, ASUS already sells an official travel charger so really, only the Car Charger is likely to garner any interest. Still, ot does makes us wonder if a “Made for Eee” logo and licensing tithes are just around the corner?

Read — Car Charger
Read — Travel Charger

 

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

We’re not sure that you’d want to do it, but it’s nice to know that you can do it. If you’re really sick of the native OS that came with your Eee — or you’re trying to feel out what a Cloudbook would be like if you could buy one — you can now install Everex’s Google-centric gOS onto your system with little-to-no effort, simply by following this ten point breakdown. You’ll need an external optical drive, a wired internet connection, and probably an hour or so, but once all is said and done, you can break free of Xandros and roll deep with the Ubuntu-based gOS. How the software performs on the miniscule laptop we couldn’t say, but at least now you can show your friends how truly unique you are.

[Thanks, Tom]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Desktops, Home Entertainment, Laptops

Just as we feared, Asus is getting ready to dilute their Eee branding until it’s RAZRed down to a hint of its former panache. The new family of low-cost, Eee products will include the E-DT (desktop), E-TV, and E-Monitor. The $200 - $300 E-DT will initially sport a Celeron processor when it ships without a monitor sometime in April or May. The E-Monitor is more than just a display — it’s a 19- to 21-inch all-in-one PC with built-in TV tuner and a remarkable $499 price tag. It’ll be based on Intel’s Shelton platform when the AIO launches in September. The 42-inch E-TV will also launch in September and feature a Linux PC integrated into the LCD. It’s expected to list for a $200 premium over the low-cost 42-inch sets it will compete with. Just don’t get too hung up on those prices, kid. The Eee PC was only supposed to cost $200 when it was announced.

Now for the bad news. ASUS will not be offering a touch-panel in their next generation Eee PC after all — their market research shows limited demand. Not avid Engadget readers, are we ASUS?

 

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Desktops, Home Entertainment, Laptops

Just as we feared, Asus is getting ready to dilute their Eee branding until it’s RAZRed down to a hint of its former panache. The new family of low-cost, Eee products will include the E-DT (desktop), E-TV, and E-Monitor. The $200 - $300 E-DT will initially sport a Celeron processor when it ships without a monitor sometime in April or May. The E-Monitor is more than just a display — it’s a 19- to 21-inch all-in-one PC with built-in TV tuner and a remarkable $499 price tag. It’ll be based on Intel’s Shelton platform when the AIO launches in September. The 42-inch E-TV will also launch in September and feature a Linux PC integrated into the LCD. It’s expected to list for a $200 premium over the low-cost 42-inch sets it will compete with. Just don’t get too hung up on those prices, kid. The Eee PC was only supposed to cost $200 when it was announced.

Now for the bad news. ASUS will not be offering a touch-panel in their next generation Eee PC after all — their market research shows limited demand. Not avid Engadget readers, are we ASUS?

 

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

We’re short on specifics, but MSI looks to be getting behind Intel’s upcoming 45nm Diamondville processor in a big way — a totally unsurprising turn of events. Diamondville is pretty much built from the ground up for powering low-cost ultraportables of the Eee PC’s ilk, so we’re sure to be seeing it in all sorts of cheap computers in the coming year or so, but MSI is one of the first to announce a budget laptop built around the platform. The chip is due to be formally unveiled in April, and MSI says the “when Diamondville is ready, our project will be ready.” That should be around July or August, and we can’t wait to see those design chops (pictured above) put to good use.

 

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

It’s taken a while, but it looks like folks in Japan can now finally get their hands on Asus’s diminutive and eminently-hackable Eee PC, although not exactly the same models we have ’round these parts. Dubbed the Eee PC 4G-X, the Japan-centric laptop is apparently identical to the regular 4G model, with the notable exception that it now comes pre-loaded with Windows XP Home Edition as standard instead of the usual Linux OS. That, of course, takes up a hefty chunk of the 4GB of internal storage, so Asus has thoughtfully 4GB SDHC card with the laptop as well. Look for it to be available in your choice of black or white for ¥50,000 (or about $468), with free access to NTT’s WiFine hotspot network thrown in for good measure.

 

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Original post by Donald Melanson