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Dell Mini 5: we have it (update: new pics and video!)
That's right! After all those quick and dirty appearances, we've finally got our own Dell Mini 5 (aka "Streak" or "M01M") prototype for a more in-depth look. Got a question about this mysterious beast? Drop us a line here and we'll try to answer all your queries in our forthcoming impressions post. Update: We've just added a bunch of new pics! Update 2: And now we have a quick video after the break. You're welcome. Update 3: Our review is up!%Gallery-85233% %Gallery-85249%
Mac OS X 10.3 installed on Nokia N900 via PearPC, barely usable for impatient geeks
Curious folks around the world enjoy a bit of hackintosh every now and then (although once is enough for many), but no geek has successfully ventured as far as Toni Nikkanen of Finland, who became the first person to run OS X on a phone -- the Nokia N900. As you can see in the video after the break, Toni's hack relies on PearPC -- a PowerPC emulator -- to install good ol' OS X 10.3 (Panther), but the mammoth sluggishness means it's far from usable. Still, if you can spare 90 minutes for each boot-up plus plenty more for the snail-paced cursor, then head to the source to learn from Herra Nikkanen. [Thanks, Matija]
Motorola Milestone gets Android 2.0.1 update in France and Italy, rest of Europe to follow
Looks like Motorola kept its promise after all. Well, part of it anyway. Some Milestone owners in France have reported that they've received the Android 2.0.1 update which improves the camera (autofocus and speed), Microsoft Exchange support, touch gestures, three-way call connectivity and in-call audio quality. As a bonus, Motorola's added an equalizer and a 3D landscape viewing mode for the photo gallery and music player. Not bad for a minor update, huh? According to Motorola Europe's Facebook page, Italy should also be getting this update right now, while "Germany and the UK will follow shortly" and it'll soon have a date. If you're one of these lucky folks, do let us know how it went, m'kay?
Dell Mini 5 teardown reveals Snapdragon guts and 3G SIM (video)
As long as Dell chooses to be stingy with the details of its upcoming 5-inch Mini 5 (codenamed Streak) MID we'll just have to suss out the specs from more nefarious sources. And who better to fill in the blanks than the kids over at Tinhte -- the original source of the leaked Android handheld that got official at CES? The Vietnamese site did the world a solid today by tearing into a Mini 5 sample revealing a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, two microSD slots, and a bigger 1,530mAh battery than the original 1,300mAh baby we saw back in October. The site also confirms the SIM slot with 3G radio and taste for faux 80s metal. See what we mean in the video (and bonus pic) after the break. [Thanks, Tran Manh K.]
Sony Ericsson Xperia X2a appears on US site screaming 'I'm coming!'
Whoa! After two months of delay Sony Ericsson's finally done something with the Xperia X2 -- giving it an extra 'a' (for North America) instead of pushing it out to us mere mortals. Mind you, the number of times we've seen this thing -- even as a KIRF -- may fool you into thinking it's been out forever, but the reality is it's slowly morphing into a unicorn. You know what though? If we wait for another two months, the X2 / X2a might even get a piece of that Windows Mobile 7 action. Or Windows Mobile 8, when SE's eventually done with its siesta.
Nokia Twist 7505 spotted paying homage to Verizon, and then disappeared
Recognize? This white cousin of the Nokia Twist 7705 briefly showed up on Bluetooth SIG's website as the Twist 7505, but now the picture's been eaten by a sad black square, and the description text taken over by some copy-and-paste disaster -- probably the panicked work of some shaking webmaster after a phone call from Verizon or Finland. Apart from the obvious replacement of touch-activated buttons with physical ones below the screen, the camera's apparently 1.3 megapixel instead of 7705's 3 megapixel. There's a chance that the hole at the bottom right of the screen has been patched up by a concave button as well, but we can't tell from this low-res pic; at any rate, though, it's certainly not the phone in Verizon's lineup that we would've expected to be re-released as a slightly lower-end model.
Meizu CEO: M8 3G launch pushed, original M8 getting Windows Phone apps (maybe)
In his latest routine forum visit, Meizu CEO Jack Wong dropped a couple of teasers about what's coming up in his fancy Zhuhai-based factory. First is that the M8 3G will need at least another six months to brew, which is slightly off the March release date we last heard. Initial versions will pack W-CDMA (aka, UMTS) and China's own TD-SCDMA radios, then maybe a CDMA version whenever Jack's ready to pay "premium license fees" to enter the "narrow international market [of EV-DO]." Next up is word that apparently the infamous Windows CE-based M8 may get a dose of Windows Phone apps in a future firmware update, courtesy of "a project that Microsoft is working on." Sure, it all sounds great, but given Meizu's record of underestimating the complexities of manufacturing mobile phones, we'll believe it when we see it.
Ask Engadget: Best Skype phone for Europe?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Roland, who can't wait to get his recently relocated sister some sort of phone with Skype capabilities. "My sister recently moved to Belgium. She has access to WiFi at home, so I'd like to send her a mobile phone that can run a Skype client. Requirements are WiFi, can work on Belgian / European carriers, runs Skype, and has excellent battery life. Anyone have any suggestions?" There's nothing worse than not being able to communicate with someone when you desperately need to, so we're hoping that our readers across the pond will be able to chime in here with a little advice. If you've got something productive to add, drop it down in comments below!
Picture of Motorola 'Shadow' leaked, inverted on Taiwanese forum
While everyone's gearing up to celebrate New Year's Eve, it seems that Motorola's busy squeezing out the last bit of rumor juice of 2009. We're looking at what's purported to be Motorola's 'Shadow' (not 'Mirage' as Google Translate unhelpfully suggests) -- a phone with 9mm thickness, 4.3-inch 850x484 screen (larger than the devices on the leaked roadmap), HDMI port and 8-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video recording. Not much else came out of the "tight-lipped" tipster who might've inverted the picture's colors -- see above for our fix -- but an educated guess should point to that friendly green robot (though that battery icon certainly isn't part of Android's game). Any brave souls dare to guess otherwise?
LG GW300 impressions
LG's kept our thumbs busy over the last few days with its GW300 -- a 2G featurephone with a portrait QWERTY keyboard, a first from LG that joins the likes of Samsung's CorbyTXT and Freeform along with INQ's Chat 3G. O2 UK offers this phone with just a standalone price of £78.29 ($129) with a minimum £10 ($16.50) initial top-up, but little is known about US availability for now. Either way, there's no harm in pointing your sexy eyes to our review just in case something happens tomorrow. Go ahead -- you know where to click. %Gallery-83323%
iPhone, iPod touch leading product search for Christmas
This is an interesting little statistic, but it could be very telling about what's going on in terms of sales this holiday season. 9to5Mac says that over in the UK, the iPhone and the iPod touch are the current most searched-for products this holiday. iPhone made up 1.75 percent of all product searches last week, and 14% of mobile phone product searches. Meanwhile, the iPod touch was in second place at 1.29 percent, and the iPod nano was actually third, at .5 percent. Over three percent, then, of all product searches in the UK were for Apple's handhelds. Of course, just because one in 34 people are searching for an iPhone or iPod doesn't mean that they'll be huge gifts necessarily -- maybe the searching just means that they want one, not that they'll be getting one. But there's no question that as big as Apple's 4th quarter has been so far, it's going to get even bigger, in the UK and probably everywhere else as well.
Dell Mini 3i unboxed in China, capacitive stylus included
One lucky Chinese blogger was kind enough to share his Dell Mini 3i unboxing experience beyond the Great Firewall, just a tad before Dell officially announced their first-ever smartphone. What's interesting is that the China Mobile version comes with a special stylus for the capacitive touchscreen -- a very handy tool for writing Chinese -- but there's been no mention of this accessory for the Brazilian 3iX. Dell's also bundled a 3.5mm adapter for the mini-USB port in case their handsfree isn't good enough for your audiophilic ears. Yeah, too bad about the missing headphone jack, but don't let this deter you from checking out the Mini 3i's full glory after the break.
The Daily Grind: uGame on your iPhone?
Many games are now coming out with iPhone extensions, breaking down the lines between being in-game and being out of game. Now you can check your character's skills in EVE, or go sell some things on the Fallen Earth auction house, or have a shoot out with your homies in CrimeCraft all thanks to specialized apps for your iPhone. What's next, a Snowboarding Conan mini-game?Well, today's question is all about how much you guys play your MMOs with your phones. Are you the "true addict?" The person who uses his phone to stay connected to your game of choice even if you're nowhere near your PC? Or are you the person who'd rather have developers working on the game and not on their iPhone extension programs.Secondary question for super-awesome bonus points: How many people could Conan kill while on a snowboard? Eleven or Eleventybillion?Compile those comments in your head, and then throw them into our comment box and submit to your heart's content.
Voice on the Go makes your cellphone safer in the car
Voice on the Go has been out for quite a long time, and I'm surprised we never reviewed it. Imagine getting your emails and texts read to you while you drive, and creating and sending emails and texts while never touching your cellphone. Recently a friend suggested I give it a try, so I did and found there was actually a new iPhone app [iTunes link] that supported it. Here's what Voice on the Go is all about. You sign up, choose a local number to connect to them, and assign yourself a 4 digit password. If you live in a smaller town and there isn't a number for Voice on the Go you can call any of the numbers. If you're on a national cell plan there won't be any extra cost. You then go to the Voice on the Go website and put in your email details, and you can upload a CSV file that contains your contacts. This is much easier if you have an iPhone, so more on that later. Once you are set up and in the car, you can call Voice on the Go, and an automated attendant will ask for your passcode. You'll then be told if you have any emails or SMS messages. You can listen to them, skip them, delete them, or the really nice feature, you can respond to them. You do it all by voice, with simple and obvious commands. You dictate your mail, and the Voice on the Go software turns it into text and sends it off to the proper destination. As an added feature, your email gets an audio attachment so the person can listen to what you said. How accurate is the transcription? Very. I sent about a dozen emails and every word was correct. That was calling from a noisy moving car using the Bluetooth speakerphone. A couple of times, when I was on a rough patch of road and issued a command, the attendant would ask me to repeat something, but the system always got it on the second try.
Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony align on Mobile High-Definition Link
Say it with us now: "Yippee!" Why such joviality? We'll tell you why. Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony and Silicon Image have all teamed up to create yet another new connector, with this one hoping to forever harmonize the strained relationship between mobile phones / PMPs and high-def displays. The so-called Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group is seeking to create a new "industry standard" for connecting handsets and other portable consumer electronics to HDTVs and displays, though we're still wondering why exactly we need a replacement for HDMI, DisplayLink and the forthcoming Light Peak so soon. As with most of these things, details about the actual product(s) are slim, but trust us, they're working on it. And they're working hard.
DigiCube unveils newest MID, doubles as a giant cellphone
Jkkmobile's gotten a hold of DigiCube's just unveiled MIDPhone-50 at Computex, and we have to say that from the looks of it, it's quite a wild affair. The MIDPhone-50 is a Windows XP, full QWERTY-boasting, touchscreen mid, and a 3.5G mobile phone to boot. The tilting, 800 x 480 touchscreen is 4.5-inches, with mini-USB, standard USB, and microSD slots, plus a docking station with VGA output. Specwise, the phone / MID has an Intel Atom Z-series CPU with up to 1GB of RAM, with Bluetooth and WiFi. The battery supposedly gets a quite sad two hours of life. There's no word on price or availability yet, but there is a video after the break. [Via Jkkmobile, Slashgear]
THQ mobile shake up leaves 100 staffers without jobs
True to its word, THQ downsized its wireless division. According to THQ's Brian Farrell, the realignment will see the company "focus only on games for high-end handheld devices," sending around a hundred of its mobile phone staff to the unemployment line.The company stated plans to "restructure" its European wireless subsidiary earlier this week, though Moconews reports that THQ has also shuttered is San Diego mobile studio in addition to its wireless offices in both the UK and Germany. For now, the company's Universomo studio in Finland will be the hub for THQ's wireless efforts, promising that iPhone users will have all the Worms they can handle for the foreseeable future.[Via VG247]
Fantasia enters Korean closed beta ... on cell phone
This might just be the beginning of the end for MMO fanatics. Sure, it's possible to whip out a laptop to play your favorite online game on the move, but with the upcoming Korean MMO Fantasia, it will be as simple as pulling your cell phone out of your pocket. Imagine your most boring work meeting, school lecture, or family gathering, then think about how much better it would be to discreetly farm for items under the table or desk -- just don't include the resulting termination/expulsion/disowning in your little fantasy.Fantasia has just entered the closed beta phase of its testing in Korea, and developer Lemon Co. hopes to release it in the second half of 2009. Whether this will be limited to the Korean market or not is up in the air at this point. The game is said to feature detailed 2D graphics, a large world map, item trading, a mail system, and even an arena for PvP. On top of this, Lemon is working on cell phone specific features, like a system that sends a text message when an item you're looking for shows up, even if you're not logged in. The bar has been set -- now we wait and see if Lemon can deliver a quality product, and also, if other developers are keen to enter the mix.
Video Bulletin Board enables mobile-to-Blu-ray player interaction
After seeing what we saw at CEDIA this year, we knew this innovation was only a hop, skip and a jump away. RCDb and Nortel have teamed up to showcase what they're calling the Video Bulletin Board, which is an interactive application that enables cellphones and Blu-ray players to communicate like never before. With it, you can "send a photo or video from your mobile phone to your own or a friend's BD Live-enabled Blu-ray deck and then, using the remote, activate a click-to-call feature that would automatically have your phone call back the mobile user who sent you the photo." It won't be long before you're ordering pizza from your Blu-ray player and watching outtakes on your handset -- at least, we hope.[Image courtesy of Blu-ray.com]
LG's concept phone contest winners should please art house gadgetphiles
When we see alluring phone concepts that'll never leave the lab, we end up wishing there was a little more innovation in the handsets out in the wild. There was a wealth of eyebrow-raising examples of that principle when LG Japan exhibited top entries to its Mobile Design Contest last weekend. We're keen on the fbt, a phone designed for braille text messaging, and the Tap, which is shaped like a light switch and functions like one too -- when you tap it, the phone turns off so you can live once again in peace. The winner, though, was the above-pictured Planet Phone, the surface of which is dotted with LEDs representing your friends; if you don't talk to someone for a while, their light gradually moves out to the edge. It's supposed to remind you to keep in touch, but it has darker connotations -- if you become angry with someone, you can revel in the pleasure of watching them slowly tick away into oblivion. That's absolutely a feature we want to see added to the Storm.[Via Hallyu Tech]
