Engadget Podcast 145 - 05.08.2009
By Trent Wolbe 
posted May 8th 2009 2:57PM
posted May 8th 2009 2:57PM
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Take On Me
00:01:04 - Amazon Kindle DX announced: $489, ships this summer
00:37:44 - Android 1.5 coming to T-Mobile UK now, USA next week
00:52:00 - Is Dell cooking up an Android-powered netbook?
01:00:20 - HTC working on an Android netbook for T-Mobile?
01:02:50 - Xbox 360 to get motion-sensing add-on with full body game control?
01:13:37 - DJ Hero announced at last, along with Band Hero for the family and Guitar Hero 5 for the face melters
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I love the song haha!
I have the exact same issue. I feel like tossing my iPhone everytime I type "Yo" and it correct it to "To". Huge piss off.
Can I call that number and talk to you guys about gadgets?
Glad to hear about the android update, my G1 is arriving on monday. iPhone keyboard is horrible, i don't think i have big thumbs but when using that keyboard I have problems hitting the corner keys like 'p' or even 'a'.
RE Cupcake's on screen keyboard, clearly you didn't really do a careful review of this if you don't even know it has a landscape and portrait mode. If you give it the same time you gave the iPhone to adapt to how it works, I think you'll find it is very similar in speed and ability. Plus, for me, the android onscreen keyboard is just as easy as my ipod's, but I like the word completion UI a lot more (it shows you 5 possible matches at once in a bar across the screen that you can chose from).
Another notable improvement in Cupcake is the GPS locates you about 5-10 times as fast (10 seconds compared to 2 minutes) as in 1.1. A huge difference that makes the GPS usable to quickly locate yourself on a whim if you have had the GPS off.
Battery life also seems 10-20% improved to me.
Pretty sure I say on the podcast that I hadn't had much time to play with it. Meanwhile -- I've found that a day later I'm having a much easier time with the on-screen keyboard!
Interesting discussion in and around Kindle. I had a first-gen Kindle and will be shortly putting that up on eBay, as I bought a Kindle2 on the first day. My response to your comments and concerns...
1. Kindle2's portability is a big plus for me versus the DX; if both had been offered simultaneously, I think I would have gone with the Kindle2. From a messenger bag/travel standpoint, the DX looks like too much to handle (and too easy to snap in two).
2. Good points on 'filling' the Kindle vs an iPod. However, there is also plenty of free fan fiction out there (check out shadowunit.org), which can be easily uploaded, and other sites like Fictionwise offer cheaper books and short stories in Kindle-compatible formats. In addition, I've used my Kindle @ work; when touring my company's execs through the Detroit Auto Show in January, I put my tour notes on the Kindle instead of carrying around a clipboard.
3. Why didn't you discuss the browser when discussing content? Crude, yes, but perfectly acceptable for mobile versions of the NY Times and Salon, among others, as well as the equally free AvantGo, which formats other sites to be quite readable on the Kindle.