Engadget Podcast 182 - 02.07.2010
By Trent Wolbe 
posted February 7th 2010 1:07PM
posted February 7th 2010 1:07PM
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Disco Rehab - Kids
Hear the podcast
01:22 - Nexus One gets a software update, enables multitouch (updated with video!)
05:00 - Motorola Droid gets official multitouch support -- in Google Maps, anyway
14:34 - Nook firmware 1.2 ready for download now (Update: video!)
20:05 - Joojoo tablet now in production, will support full Flash at launch
30:15 - Acer not making a tablet, will focus on ultra-thin laptops
42:20 - Former Microsoft VP Dick Brass weighs in on why Microsoft 'no longer brings us the future'
45:00 - Microsoft responds to Dick Brass: 'We measure our work by its broad impact'
48:20 - Steve Jobs compares iPad battery life to Kindle's: 'You're not going to read for 10 hours' (video)
48:30 - Hachette Book Group also pulls away from Amazon
48:35 - Amazon pulled Macmillan titles due to price conflict -- confirmed (update: they're back!)
51:45 - Verizon advertising says Droid is for men, Pre is for women (video)
58:09 - We're turning comments off for a bit
59:00 - Commenting on Engadget: a human's guide
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Contact the podcast
1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Since when did you change your name to Engadagt?
@Dogcowsaysmoof
lol someone was chocked while writing the title xD
Skype sound was amazing and the silence afterwards was even better :D
Implement some random sounds into the podcast, it's an awesome prank.
@hl2run I defiantly looked at my skype cause I thought someone IMed me.
@extemper that's wham I'm talkin bout, it's awesome :D
@hl2run
I was staring at my Skype waiting for something to happen.
Finally!
Am glad to see that Trent used the 8-bit cover of Kids that I suggested to him for this week's podcast. Oh my, the wonders of Twitter!
ok so iv wanted to know how this works for a very long time are you all in the same room for this? It sounds like you are but i know while Josh and Paul live in NY Nilay lives in Chicago, so that seems unreasonable. So then do you stream the cast to each other? But there is none of that "news channel-ish voice lag, talking over each other" effect. By what which craft do you make this podcast?
@ryn456
By witchcraft.
@DanMan hmm thats some hell of a typo i made, anyway HOW?!
@ryn456 Skype, my good man
Speaking of apps, where's the Engadget Android app?
@Imran excellent question considering i might be getting a Droid soon
@Imran Speaking of Android apps, the podcast feed still seems to be broken for Android podcatchers.
I'm using DoggCatcher and according to their forums Engadget is detecting the feed request is coming from an android phone and sending an invalid address.
Please Justin fix this! This is my favorite podcast and I just can't wait till I get home for my fix!
@Imran Yeah! been waiting forever. I can't believe you guys have a blackberry app before android, that's just redonkulous.
@PrinceAli
Forget Blackberry, there's a ton of BB users, they've got a WebOS version out before Android! How many WebOS users are there compared to Android users?!
On the multitouch issue:
In addition to all the rumors of side-agreements, you guys didn't mention the fact that Google released it 6 months TO THE DAY that Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple. [Non-compete clauses and agreements usually run in 6 month increments]
So, as far as one-handed/two-handed operations, and Andy Rubin's other excuses and reasons, it's not hard to imagine he was left to invent something as a cover-up.
And, I'm also glad that our "long national nightmare is now over". HA!
My itunes feed finally updated. I can stop hyperventilating in anticipation! Don't do this to me again, guys! Great show.
magical podcast guys.
Thanks for the Podcast guys!
Good show, and I liked the bit on comments.
I know you-all are locked into the software the AOL uses, but what do you think of the way stories are linked into the forums at Apple Insider?
Granted, they're a more cohesive group and you don't have the various fanboy wars @ Apple Insider, but I find their setup much more condusive to discussion.
Testing
is it just me or do others have a tiny play icon ...
@to6ko91 Yes the podcast bar is extremely small. Is this some kind of joke?
@valentinb its only on ff ... :(
@Moridin Bah forgive my lack of any grammar in that sentence - was thinking of something else entirely at the time.
Great podcast as always, :D
Hey Engadget.
Could you implement some form of calendar for special events and live podcast times and dates. i always miss the live podcast. and it would be cool i could have a way to forsee when the magic is happening.
Somehow my mobile iTunes doesn't want to import the file in my iPhone. I downloads everything, but then I get an error message. Can delete or download again. Any hints?
It seems the error happens now with all the Podcasts from Engadget (show as well)...Was trying to download directly on my IPhone. Other Podcasts download fine.
Just try to hold you phone in one hand at the grocery store with a 6 pack of beer in the other and use a multitouch zoom implementation. Right, you can't. This is not hard stuff guys.
Come to think of it, where can I read the rules about the comments and all that?
You guys mentioned how the Operating System hasn't been changed in 10 years. OS X and Windows aren't really innovating. Personally I think that it is due to the fact that we still use keyboards, mice, and monitors. the way we input and the way the computer outputs hasn't changed. Granted this is a broad view of things, but devices like the iphone and the pre did a great job of changing the concept of an OS due to the input device. However devices like the iPad and the Slate will struggle because typing is extremely complicated on any device where you are still using some rectangular piece of metal that you have to hold while typing or view at some funny angle. In the end, these new devices are great and the productivity that can be achieved on them will only get better, but until my hat has a projector in it, and I am a walking natal, I think the focus needs to be on synergy between our devices, and not coming up with the next new thing. If I have my iphone on me, I should never need to walk over to my iMac to do something (start a download, or view a doc), or to sync it for that matter. I should be able to do it from my phone. Same if I am holding a slate, or a joojoo, or at my TV. If I'm at home, why cant my pc process flash video and just stream the end result to my phone with little effort. Why does trans-coding need to happen all the time, and always work horrible. The state of software in the world these days is sad, and people blame it on hardware, but its all ... Ok I am tangenting here. ugh..
I really want Nilay and Josh to spend 2 weeks with the Pre before going on another praise-rant about it. Even Paul praises the phone despite the fact that he dumped it for being unusable. I've been using one from launch and it's promising OS running (slowly) on terrible hardware.
I'm not slamming the Pre. I use it every day, but it's simply not a good phone so I'm not sure how the Engadget podcast can speak of it so highly without also bringing up the major faults that keep this from being their "primary phone".
Can somebody point to the Gartenberg editorial that is being referred to @35:15 about the lack of exploration in software (as opposed to hardware)?
I would just like to comment on the discussion about thin convertible notebooks vs dedicated slates/second machines.
I currently have the HP 2730p (and have had the tc1000, tc1100, tc4200, tc4400, and 2710p) I have been using HP's tablets for quite some time (provided from work) and just wanted to say that I think a thin convertible tablet is the way to go. Not only do you not have to worry about switching operating systems (say from windows to iphoneOS/linux), but that means you also don't need to worry about file synchronization and your "tablet" only being able to play flash etc.
The 2730p is a really nice machine (but still not worth the price personally) and the 2740p looks great (with an i5/i7 processor, better GPU, capacitive touch screen, and better speaker placement) but I think I would personally look at the Lonovo x200 as well. The convertible tablets are more expensive than a traditional laptop but when you are looking at a $1000-1500 laptop and a $500-800 slate a $2000 tablet doesn't sound so bad after all.
I read on my current 2730p in portrait mode quite often and flip the screen back when I need to type long comments like this one.
Convertible laptops are much better than notebook/tablet IMO. Especially with 12" display's, i5 processors, and capacitive screens.
Ah yes, I see, say the truth or anything not glowingly positive about the engadget staff's BS and your post gets deleted, yeah that's just great, and there;s a nice short words for it too, points if you can guess what it is.
I accept lameass as a correct answer too.
LOL@Microsoft measuring their success by how broad their market reach is. Hmm, guess what American car company said the same thing about their cars rather than bringing more innovative products that were more fuel efficient and reliable? Too big to fail? Ha! Look at where they are now. They're owned by the taxpayers. Microsoft needs to head the writing on the wall and make a change.
Does Joojoo do Farmville? I know that the iPad doesn't.