Motorola prepping Palm OS-based Q2 for Sprint?

from Engadget by Chris Ziegler

Palm began life as a software company (anyone remember bailing out their Newton's testy handwriting recognition by installing Graffiti?), and who the heck knows -- perhaps a software company again it will be. Okay, okay, it's way too early to be sounding the death knell on Palm's hardware operations, but let's be honest, wouldn't a Motorola Q9 running Palm OS instead of Windows Mobile make for an absolutely fabulous device (read: Treo / Centro killer) for the Palm OS faithful? We think so, and this Sprint promotional site makes mention of a "Q2" that, by all appearances, seems to be the aforementioned Palm-based Q9. We can't verify the legitimacy of this thing for a couple reasons: one, we've heard nary a peep about a Q2 on Sprint's or Motorola's roadmaps, and two, this same site makes no mention of the Q9c, a device that we do know is coming to Sprint in the next few weeks. Who knows, maybe this is all some well-executed ruse by a Sprint staffer -- but if not, we say kudos to Moto, Sprint, and Palm (and ACCESS, for that matter) for putting together what may be the best Palm handset on the market come the holidays.

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HTC's Touch Cruise with GPS gets official

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

HTC just went live with their Touch Cruise. "Touch" as in that TouchFLO interface, "Cruise" as in GPS-enabled. The third addition to HTC's Touch lineup packs HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 3 megapixel camera, microSD expansion, and a 2.8-inch touch-screen lying on top of a Windows Mobile 6 foundation. Oh, and it's loaded with TomTom Navigator 6 software to make the most of that GPS receiver. Yup, everything mostly what we thought it would be. Available this month from European retailers or SIM-free direct from HTC.

Update: We're still digging but HTC was a bit unkind by not providing specific country launch information or supported radio bands. At the moment, this looks like Europe-only.

Gallery: HTC's Touch Cruise with GPS gets official

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Google gas pumps: the savior of lost men

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

Soon, you will never have to admit that you're lost and suffer the humiliation of asking for directions. Google is expected to announce a partnership today with Gilbarco Veeder-Root, to include Google's mapping service on 3,500 Internet enabled gasoline pumps across the US. The maps will be available on the pump's small screen giving motorists the ability to scroll through local landmarks, hotels, restaurants, and hospitals to the bemusement of the guy waiting behind you. The pump will even print directions. The service is said to be ad-free but will offer coupons -- that sounds a lot like advertising to us. Look for the gPumps to arrive courtesy of that Encore S rig pictured above.

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SlySoft's latest AnyDVD beta cracks BD+

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Regardless of what those oh-so-knowledgeable analysts had to say, we all knew this day was coming. Yep, that highly-touted, totally "impenetrable" copy protection technology known as BD+ has officially been brought to its knees, and it's not at all surprising to hear that we have SlySoft to thank. The AnyDVD 6.1.9.6 beta has quite a comical change log too, and aside from noting that users now have the ability to backup their BD+ movies and watch titles sans the need for HDCP-compliant equipment, it also includes a candid note to Twentieth Century Fox informing the studio that its prior assumptions about BD+'s effectiveness were apparently incorrect. You know the drill, hit the read link below to try 'er out. [Thanks, Aaron]

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Water Pistol Umbrella Makes the Rain a Hell of a Lot More Fun [Brilliance]

from Gizmodo by adam frucci

Holy crap, this is the coolest umbrella I've ever seen. It's got a little funnel at the top that sends rain water down the handle into the water pistol grip at the bottom. It'll keep you dry and give you the opportunity to get others wet at the same time. It appears to be just a concept at the moment, but someone needs to make some phone calls and get it into production right now. I'm not kidding, go. Now. Check a picture of it in action after the jump.

[Product Page via NotCot.org]

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