Monday, September 28, 2009

Apple and Microsoft Tablets: Hardware Keyboard or Software Keyboard? [Question Of The Day]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/w5x-blaE1D0/apple-and-microsoft-tablets-hardware-keyboard-or-software-keyboard

Whether it's the Microsoft Courier or upcoming Apple Tablet that launches first, the point is clear: tablet are coming. The only question left is how you're going to interact with them.

From the concept shots and information leaks, both Microsoft and Apple's feature on-screen inputs for doing a lot of things, but they don't talk about text input. Is it going to be a virtual keyboard? Probably. But that doesn't preclude a USB port for a physical keyboard.

What would you use? Obviously, if you need to take this around town, on the train or in the car, you'd need to use the onscreen keyboard. But what about at home and at work? Which would you prefer to use? And why?




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Posted by Augustine at 8:42 PM

Ping is Like a Free SMS Client For iPhone and iPod Touch Users [IPhone Apps]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/WC91I6pTBOM/ping-is-like-a-free-sms-client-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch-users

This Ping app by the guy who made PushGmail is a mix between text messaging and instant messaging. What you need to know is that it's free and it's fast.

Ping is designed to look like the SMS app, and behaves much the same way. The messages you send arrive at the recipient's screen instantly—similar to IMs—but also pop up with a Push Notification if you're not actively using the phone.

It's basically free SMS for you to everyone who has an iPhone or iPod Touch (over Wi-Fi) as long as you can convince them to sign up for Ping. Even if you can't, the ones you do switch over might be enough for you to downgrade your SMS plan one notch to save some money.

In the end, this may either be a really useful SMS alternative for iPhones, or a service that's not different enough from SMS or IM that people will use it. It's too early to say. [Ping on iTunes via Gear Live]




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Posted by Augustine at 8:41 PM

Airis Praxis Slim Air is one-inch thick, KIRFtastic

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/airis-praxis-slim-air-is-one-inch-thick-kirftastic/

Airis is no stranger to the fine art of imitating without getting sued out of existence, and its latest effort -- the shamelessly titled Praxis Slim Air -- is no exception. It sports a 12-inch display spanning 1366 x 768 pixels, a gig of memory and a 160GB hard drive, and if you think this is the usual prelude to a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, well, you'd be spot on. To be fair, with two USB ports, WiFi, HDMI, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and a choice of Windows XP, Vista, 7 or Linux, this isn't a terrible proposition in its own right. The big downfall comes with a rated battery runtime of just three hours, but if you're unfazed by the tethered life, you can grab one in Europe for €399 ($586) this October. Full frontal picture after the break.

Continue reading Airis Praxis Slim Air is one-inch thick, KIRFtastic

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Airis Praxis Slim Air is one-inch thick, KIRFtastic originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:39 PM

Samsung's SCH-W880 12 megapixel phonecamera with 3x optical zoom

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/samsungs-sch-w880-12-megapixel-phonecamera-with-3x-optical-zoom/

In a welcome reversal of trends, Samsung just stuffed a 3G cellphone into a 12 megapixel camera making this M8920 / SCH-W880 more of a camera than most 12 megapixel cameraphones can claim. While this presumed follow-up to Samsung's Pixon 12 (M8910) isn't official, the announcement looks imminent based on the leaked collateral above and the spyshots that emerged over the weekend. What's impressive here is that extending 3x optical zoom -- something carried over from the SCH-B600 -- and dedicated camera controls like a mode dial, shutter and zoom, and big 3.3-inch WVGA AMOLED display. Rounding out the specs are HD (720p presumably) video, HSDPA data, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and DMB mobile television; that latter spec making this Korea-only whenever it does launch. See her in the wild after the break.

[Via HDBlog.IT]

Continue reading Samsung's SCH-W880 12 megapixel phonecamera with 3x optical zoom

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Samsung's SCH-W880 12 megapixel phonecamera with 3x optical zoom originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:38 PM

$38 Zipit Wireless Messenger receives Linux injection, becomes $38 netbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/38-zipit-wireless-messenger-receives-linux-injection-becomes/

$38 Zipit Wireless Messenger receives Linux injection, becomes $38 netbook
Poor Zipit. As a $149.99 instant messenger client nobody got particularly excited about you. Even now, as a $38 IM client you aren't exactly in high demand -- but as a $38 portable Linux machine, well, that's another story altogether. The machines have been tweaked before, but the latest and greatest is this hack from Hunter Davis, who can turn a virgin Zipit Z2 into a full-featured Linux machine in under five minutes, as shown in the video below. To do the same all you need is Hunter's hacked firmware and a microSD card to throw it onto. Once completely tweaked you'll get full mouse support, WiFi connectivity, and even audio output so that you can rock some tunes on the go -- though the command-line interface won't make it the most compelling PMP ever. With only a 300MHz processor and 32MB of RAM we wouldn't go compiling our COMP-SCI 101 homework on here, but this little firmware refresh certainly makes for a tastier experience than before.

[Via lilputing]

Continue reading $38 Zipit Wireless Messenger receives Linux injection, becomes $38 netbook

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$38 Zipit Wireless Messenger receives Linux injection, becomes $38 netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:37 PM

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