iPhone watch

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

ARM promises dual-core Cortex A9-based smartphones next year

The world's two most visually engaging smartphones -- the iPhone and the Pre -- share very similar cores based on ARM's Cortex A8 architecture, and with the newer, more advanced Cortex A9 in the pipeline, you can't help but let your mind wander a bit as you envision what twice as much computational power could bring to a handset. The A9 employs more advanced instruction pipelining than its predecessor, but the biggest news has to be the fact that it can pack two or more cores -- and ARM fully expects dual-core A9-based phones to hit in 2010. Of course, power consumption is the biggest constraint when it comes to this category of device, and while the company says that peak drain will exceed that on today's crop of devices, average consumption will actually drop thanks largely to a move from 65nm to 45nm manufacturing processes. Add in 1080p video promised by TI's next-gen OMAP4 silicon wrapped around an A9 core, and you've basically got a home theater in your pocket that's ready to rock for a few hours on a charge. That and Snoop Dogg, of course.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

ARM promises dual-core Cortex A9-based smartphones next year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: iPhone watch

Monday, 15 June 2009

Push notifications go live on iPhone courtesy of Tap Tap Revenge

iPhone OS 3.0 may not be available to the masses for a couple days yet, but that's not stopping Tapulous (nor Apple's App Store overlords, apparently) from rolling out a new version of its ridiculously popular Tap Tap Revenge that's fully ready to take advantage of push notifications right here and right now. We've taken the new build for a spin, and in brief, it works as designed -- notification times ranged from near instantaneous to just under a minute. One of our editors here was testing on a cellular connection and the other was on a SIM-less iPhone 3G running just WiFi, so it looks like this setup will work pretty seamlessly regardless of what kind of connection you happen to be enjoying / tolerating / loathing at the moment. Follow the break for a quick video demo.

[Thanks, Brandon]

Continue reading Push notifications go live on iPhone courtesy of Tap Tap Revenge

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Push notifications go live on iPhone courtesy of Tap Tap Revenge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: iPhone watch

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Probably-fake video roundup: 24-inch iPhone OS, PS1 emulation on the Pre

This video of iPhone OS 2.x running on a 24-inch multitouch monitor from Swedish design firm Dreamfield is almost certainly fake, but hey -- it's Sunday night, nothing's going on, and we were thinking about how well touch-specific systems would work on a larger screen after seeing those CrunchPad videos anyway, so we thought we'd get some conversation going. We'd be willing to bet that a future Apple tablet has more in common with the experience shown in this video than with what we currently think of as OS X, but we're not so certain we're seeing anything here that makes us want to throw our mouse or keyboard away -- or spend the entire day with gorilla arm. So -- artfully mocked-up glimpse of the future, or just a pipe dream?

Keeping with the likely-fake theme, there's also a probably-fake video of SNES and PS1 emulators running on the Pre, controlled by a Bluetooth gamepad. Yes, it's incredibly awesome -- and undoubtedly possible -- but until we see some evidence of how things are loaded up and connected with the gamepad we're sticking it in the fake category as well.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Probably-fake video roundup: 24-inch iPhone OS, PS1 emulation on the Pre

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Probably-fake video roundup: 24-inch iPhone OS, PS1 emulation on the Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: iPhone watch

Pioneer explodes your dashboard with new AVIC U, X and Z-series in-dash navigation systems

Pioneer isn't going for subtle here: the company just unleashed a flurry of in-dash navigators, with a considerable amount of accoutrements on display. The units range through the flagship AVIC-Z110BT (pictured), "midrange" AVIC-X710BT and X910BT, and the AVIC-U310BT for rich people on a budget. Seriously, with a starting price of $599, none of this is suited for the cheap-and-simple set, but at least Pioneer backs up those pricetags with serious functionality. In the high end, the Z110BT includes an tilt-out XGA 7-inch touchscreen, MSN Direct tuner (for traffic and other live info), 4GB of internal storage, CD and DVD playback, and Bluetooth. Comforts include both voice recognition ("Find the nearest Starbucks") and text-to-speech ("I wouldn't do that, Dave"), along with iPod control and support for optional rear seat monitors and wireless headphones. Of course, all those perks aren't cheap: the device retails for $1,600. The other units include smaller screens and subsets of the specs, on down to the 4.3-inch U310BT.

Gallery: Pioneer explodes your dashboard with new AVIC U, X and Z-series in-dash navigation systems

Read - AVIC-Z110BT
Read - AVIC-X710BT and AVIC-X910BT
Read - AVIC-U310BT

Filed under: GPS

Pioneer explodes your dashboard with new AVIC U, X and Z-series in-dash navigation systems originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: iPhone watch

Saturday, 13 June 2009

AT&T's iPhone 3G S launch day pre-orders already sold out

Bad news for folks hoping a pre-order would save them from that yearly camp out in front of their local Apple Store: iPhone 3G S pre-orders have sold out, and folks who are making new pre-orders are being told that they'll have to wait up to two weeks to get a phone. AT&T customers who do already have pre-orders in still have to line up at 7AM to nab a phone, but at least they've got a guaranteed slot if they show up, while the rest of the world will have to battle over remaining stock when Apple Stores open at 8AM and AT&T stores open to general customers at the same time. Looks like we might get a good riot or two out of this.

Update: AT&T just pinged us to clarify that it's still accepting pre-orders, but not for delivery on the 19th, and online pre-orders will be shipped directly to your home, so you actually don't have to hit up a store at all. But what fun is that?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

AT&T's iPhone 3G S launch day pre-orders already sold out originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: iPhone watch

Sonoro Eklipse clock radio / iPod dock gets official, priced

This one's been making the rounds in Europe for some time now, and finally passed through the FCC late last year, but it looks like Sonoro's Eklipse iPod dock / CD player / clock radio has only just recently gotten fully official in the US, and given a price. Unfortunately, while it has dropped a bit compared to the Euro conversion, it is still a fairly hefty $550, which will buy you 7.5W of power output, a nice little OLED display, a compact remote, and an auxiliary jack in case the iPod dock and slot-load CD player aren't enough options for you. There's still no official word on a release date, however, but it looks like at least one retailer is now taking pre-orders for it.

[Via OhGizmo!]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Sonoro Eklipse clock radio / iPod dock gets official, priced originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: iPhone watch

Friday, 12 June 2009

The Daily Roundup: here's what you might've missed


	Video: Archos 9 pctablet resistive touchscreen impresses Honestly, that resistive touch-screen looks pretty damn impressive to finger taps.		Palm Pre runs Doom, smartphone-loving space marines rejoice If you were holding off on buying a Pre until it had some great games, start warming up that credit card.
	Johnny Chung Lee joins Project Natal team, puts Wii hacking experience to good use In this time of economic hardship, it warms the heart just to hear that someone's found any job.	Other news of import Jon Rubinstein's new salary: $850,000 per year, Pre-tax Atom N270 / N280-based netbooks may be stuck at Windows XP Kindle DX sold out, but not for long
	Digital TV transition: 12 hours in, how are things going? The day is finally here, after the pushback and staggered changeover, analog television broadcasts across the country are giving way to a future of digital TV and making room for new services to take over the airwaves soon.		Nokia N97 NAM preorders shipping in both colors We've received confirmation from Nokia that preorders of the beastly N97 have now started shipping to American customers in both available colors, black and white.
Blu-ray gets Managed Copy next year, requires new hardware Transformers Blu-ray owners get an early peek at the sequel via BD-Live		Sprint confirms direct HTC Snap sales for June 21 MMS and tethering functional on some AT&T iPhone 3Gs running 3.0?