UsbOnTheGo
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Xoom gets USB host functionality, no thanks to Motorola or Google
The Xoom may have gotten a slight software update last night to prepare it for its long-awaited Flash playing capabilities, but some of the folks over at SlateDroid have an even more impressive -- though much less official -- update, bringing USB host functionality to Moto's slate. Tinkerer-extraordinaire roebeet is the man to thank, granting Xoom owners the ability to read media from USB drives, essentially giving you a limitless amount of storage -- provided you own the necessary microUSB OTG (on-the-go) cable and a rooted Xoom. If you've safely satisfied the pre-requisites, enabling the new-new is just a few file transfers and command line entries away. Full instructions available at the source link... if you dare.
Nokia N8 review
The first time Nokia's N8-00 popped up on our radar was way back in early February of this year. On that chilly, misty morning, we learned of a mythical being capable of shooting 12 megapixel stills, recording 720p video, outputting via HDMI, and -- most importantly -- ushering in the promised Symbian^3 touch revolution. It's been a long road of leaks, teasers, hands-ons, and previews since then, but at long last, the legend of the N8 has become a purchasable commodity. All the early specs have survived, including the 3.5-inch AMOLED display, but the key question today, as it was at the beginning, relates to that all-new software within: does Symbian^3 succeed in elevating Nokia's touchscreen experience or does it drag down an otherwise stellar combination of high-end parts? For that verdict and much, much more, join us after the break.%Gallery-103738%%Gallery-104212%
Nokia N8's USB On-The-Go support demoed, lesser phones turned into slaves
Among the Nokia N8's neater tricks is its support for USB On-The-Go, which basically lets you connect USB peripherals (flash drives, for example) to the phone and have it act as a host -- a duty usually reserved for heavier-duty devices like PCs. Though the N8 is still a solid month or three away from release, we're getting a nice little video demo on YouTube today of an N8 being walked through the paces of connecting both a plain-vanilla USB drive and another Symbian-based Nokia candybar (brownie points for naming the model in comments, by the way). Basically, you can treat the connected hardware as mass storage and browse it just as you would the N8's internal space, which basically means you've got unlimited music capacity as long as you've got a pocket full of USB sticks and a micro USB-to-USB adapter cord. Follow the break for video. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Meizu Mini Player coming to America
Ask, and ye shall receive. When we mentioned that we'd like to spend some time with Meizu's M6 Mini Player a few months back, we were pretty sure that like most foreign gadgets we feature, this one would always remain just out of reach -- so imagine our surprise when we learned that pre-ordering has already begun to bring the M6 stateside. You'll probably recall that this model, which has the nano squarely in its sights (promotional materials even warn the iPod to "step aside"), comes in either 1GB ($139), 2GB ($159), or 4GB ($220) capacities, and besides supporting the usual assortment of MP3, WMA, WAV, and OGG audio files, does the AVI playback thing on its 2.4-inch QVGA screen as well. Also included are an FM tuner, voice recorder, calendar, stopwatch, USB On The Go support, and a couple of games, which is a lot more features than the nano offers, so it looks like Apple has reason to be mighty worried come July or early August when the first shipments of these arrive. Keep reading for a few more comparison shots that show just how mini this Mini really is...
