Is This Yet Another HTC Android Phone? [Rumor]

Since we’re just working with couple of photos here, it’s hard to say for sure, but the buttons match HTC’s design style as of late, and the shape is clearly reminiscent of the company’s older handsets. So, what is this?

French website PointGPhone, who first got the pics, says it’s the HTC Click, an entry-level Android phone not unlike what the Motorola Morrison is rumored to be. It doesn’t appear to have a keyboard, and it’s shed the trackball—a consistent feature in HTC’s Google-d phones up until now. HTC branding is absent, but something is obscured above the control area—most likely a sensitive carrier name. So who knows! UPDATE: Measured against the ruling standard notebook paper, the phone features a 2.8-inch screen. So hey, there’s one spec for you.

I said it before and it bears repeating: Android needs some budget handsets; or maybe more accurately, budget handsets need Android. It’s a free OS, and not nearly as scarily shitty “businesslike” as Windows Mobile 6.1—basically, it deserves to fill the low-end smartphone niche, and it’s running late in doing so. Should Android go downmarket, HTC wouldn’t be a bad chaperon. [PointGPhone]

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After risking life and limb to show off Panasonic’s double-As in a harrowing climb up the Grand Canyon, EVOLTA is back for more record setting hijinks. This time, however, he’s been tasked to pedal his adorable little heart out on a miniature tricycle. The plan is to take this year’s Le Mans race by storm and break some sort of world record for distance traveled by a robot — though we’re not sure how exactly that’s defined, since EVOLTA isn’t exactly a speed demon. This new version of the bot has been completely revamped to ride a bike and follow an infrared path blazed by his superiors. A couple of videos are after the break.

[Thanks, Alex]

Continue reading Panasonic’s EVOLTA bot sets his doe-eyed sights on new endurance record

Filed under: Robots

Panasonic’s EVOLTA bot sets his doe-eyed sights on new endurance record originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via [Engadget]

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Oddly humble Negroponte lists OLPC’s failures, calls Sugar a ‘mistake’

The noble goal of a $100 laptop for developing nations has come to fruition — but of course at a higher cost and later date than expected. One Laptop Per Child has succeeded in delivering 900,000 XO laptops into the hands of kids, but that’s a far cry from the many millions expected and Chairman Nicholas Negroponte is pulling no punches in describing what went wrong. He’s still bitter at Intel, claiming it worked to “spoil the market,” and angry about many nations cutting back on large deals. But, he isn’t just lashing outwardly, calling the custom Linux-based operating system that runs the XO, a “mistake,” saying “Sugar should have been an application” of the sort it has now morphed to be with Sugar on a Stick. Too little too late? OLPC has already made massive staff cuts and sales from the Give One, Get One program dropped 90 percent last year. With machines like the EduBook selling for $160 to institutions and able to run common operating systems, we’re not seeing the future get any more bright for this little green guy.

[Via Slashdot]

Filed under: Laptops

Oddly humble Negroponte lists OLPC’s failures, calls Sugar a ‘mistake’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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August 11 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update Bringing Full Game Downloads, Other Features [Xbox 360]

The previously announced Xbox 360 dashboard update is coming on August 11, bringing with it Games on Demand, Netflix party support and the new Avatar marketplace. Twitter, Facebook and Last.FM integration are coming this fall, along with 1080p streaming. [Kotaku]

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Garmin vs HTC on the Roads of France [Bicyles]

Handset maker HTC and GPS giant Garmin have found themselves in the middle of an ugly war. This time the fight it isn’t in courts over patents or trademarks—instead the battle is on the roads of the Tour de France.

HTC and Garmin are both the title sponsors of two American based squads, but any hope of the two teams working together evaporated last Saturday. HTC’s George Hincapie, notable for being Lance Armstrong’s lieutenant during each of his seven Tour crowns, was able to join a 13-man breakaway and cross the finish line with the race lead—barring any odd developments in the chasing pack he would end the day atop the podium in yellow. Unfortunately for George, not only were the developments strange, but they were also dirty and unsportsmanlike. With nothing to gain, Garmin-Slipstream charged to the front and promptly set a quick pace for the pack; when the main field of riders crossed the line, Hincapie had lost out on the yellow jersey by a mere five seconds.

We can only guess what Garmin-Slipstream’s motivations were, but the general consensus is that the team’s leaders—owner Doug Ellis and team director Jonathan Vaughters (not the riders)—simply didn’t want a fellow American to have the opportunity to wear yellow. The end result was that one of the nicest and most hard working guys in all of cycling was robbed. This is unfortunate for Garmin, they can’t really be held responsible for the actions of a cycling team they sponsor—but there are ramifications to putting a company badge on something, cycling fans will think twice before buying a Garmin product. For all we know, it might have been those jerks from Chipotle (one of Garmin-Slipstream’s main sponsors); if they can’t make a decent burrito for under a thousand calories, how are they going to manage a cycling team?

Quotes from Lance and former USPS/Discovery and current Team Astana Director Johan Bruyneel:

Armstrong: “It’s a shame for George. He deserved it… I’m really upset about the confusion, but more importantly, I’m upset for George.”

Bruyneel: “Obviously it was clear [Garmin-Chipotle] didn’t want to see him in the jersey. If you start to race like that, to go against the success of other people, ultimately it comes back, and I think that is what is going to happen… It’s a battle of not wanting somebody else to be in the spotlight. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like what I saw. I know George has a lot of friends on Garmin. I don’t know if they wanted to do what they did.” [Velo News and ESPN]

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Oddly humble Negroponte lists OLPC’s failures, calls Sugar a ‘mistake’

The noble goal of a $100 laptop for developing nations has come to fruition — but of course at a higher cost and later date than expected. One Laptop Per Child has succeeded in delivering 900,000 XO laptops into the hands of kids, but that’s a far cry from the many millions expected and Chairman Nicholas Negroponte is pulling no punches in describing what went wrong. He’s still bitter at Intel, claiming it worked to “spoil the market,” and angry about many nations cutting back on large deals. But, he isn’t just lashing outwardly, calling the custom Linux-based operating system that runs the XO, a “mistake,” saying “Sugar should have been an application” of the sort it has now morphed to be with Sugar on a Stick. Too little too late? OLPC has already made massive staff cuts and sales from the Give One, Get One program dropped 90 percent last year. With machines like the EduBook selling for $160 to institutions and able to run common operating systems, we’re not seeing the future get any more bright for this little green guy.

[Via Slashdot]

Filed under: Laptops

Oddly humble Negroponte lists OLPC’s failures, calls Sugar a ‘mistake’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 Poses Coyly For More Glamor Shots [Sony Ericsson]

Maybe hinting at an impending announcement, or possibly in a fit of Rachael-inspired jealousy, the Xperia X2 has exposed itself again, this time from all angles, giving us closer looks at its new body, curious keyboard and bulky profile.

The X2 is expected to get a hefty, if not groundshaking, guts upgrade from the X1, with a 3.5-inch WVGA screen, 512MB of RAM, a faster processor, an 8.1-megapixel camera and, for god’s sake, finally, Windows Mobile 6.5. Spec updates like this are always welcome, but I’m not so sure about the new styling: Sleek lines and a deceptively thin-looking angular design were strong points for the X1, so it’s disconcerting to see a blobbier, altogether fatter-looking X2. Of course, none of these things will matter if Sony Ericsson continues to blindly price this line into oblivion. No word on that front, unfortunately.

UPDATE: Oh, wow: Here are some shots of the alleged Android Xperia X3. If these are real, the X2 could well be obsolete, at least in consumers’ eyes, before it even comes out. Sad. Also: dumb. [XDA via BGR]

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If you’re one of those nerds, you’re probably quite stoked at the prospect of a real, honest-to-goodness Doraemon in your living room. And even if not, surely we can all agree that this guy is pretty damn cute, right? This ear-less, time travelin’ cat features motion, light, heat, and sound sensors that let it react to its environment with a whole slew of facial features and vocal mannerisms that mean nothing to us, seeing as how it’s communicating in Japanese. This guy is available from Bandai, starting September 3rd — in the meantime, check out a few pics snapped at the Tokyo Toy Show below.

Gallery: Robot Doraemon travels back in time to shame Japanese children to success

[Via Tokyo Mango]

Filed under: Robots

Robot Doraemon travels back in time to shame Japanese children to success originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via [Engadget]

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Asus First To Feature USB 3.0 With P6X58 Motherboard [USB]

Asus is set to release the P6X58 Premium motherboard which features two USB 3.0 “SuperSpeed” ports. The board also supports a Core i7 processor, six DDR-3 slots, 3 PCI-Express slots, and a SATA 3.0 interface capable of 6Gb/sec transfer speeds.

Asus has yet to announce pricing and release date information, and no benchmarks have been carried out. Early adopters are going to be disappointed with the lack of available hardware capable of harnessing USB 3.0’s super speeds—but they can take solace in the sweet blue color scheme of the new ports while looking down at the masses’ blah gray connectors.

[via Everything USB and XFastest]

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