You Get The . Info

Whether or not you think the iPad is in and of itself a worthy purchase, let’s not forget the investment doesn’t end at the retail counter or online shopping cart. Two little newsbits have popped up to serve as a helpful reminder to just that effect. The first comes way of verbiage from the iPad end-user licensing agreement dug up by MacRumors; in a nutshell, it suggests that while iPad OS 4.x updates will be provided gratis, subsequent releases (5.x, 6.x, and so on) could be offered at a premium, à la how iPod touch handles firmware. This is far from a confirmation, but it’s well within Apple’s right to do so. The second bit is derived by The Consumerist by way a supposed leaked app store video. Comparing the prices of iPad-optimized software with the iPhone equivalents showed quite a hefty uptick in consumer cost — e.g., $4.99 Flight Control HD vs. $0.99 Flight Control. The pool of eight apps seen in the video would cost $53 in all to purchase, while the same set for the iPhone is $27. That screen real estate don’t come cheap, y’know — that is, should the prices seen prove legit. At this point we can’t confirm, and more than likely, we won’t know for sure until the eleventh hour.

iPad’s trailing costs: like the iPod touch, only bigger? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Ross Miller

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If Apple had its way, we expect that the iPad would go down in history as the device that nearly single-handedly destroyed Adobe’s empire of Flash. While HTML5 has been in development for years, content providers like the Wall Street Journal, NPR, CBS and more have only begun transitioning video services to the new standard (and subsequently, away from Flash) now that it’s time for Cupertino’s big release. But this week, Adobe has found an ally in Google, which has just announced that the Chrome browser — and more importantly, Chrome OS — will not merely support but natively integrate the technology. In the short run, what this means is that the Chrome browser won’t require you to download Adobe Flash Player or spend time updating it before back-to-back YouTube viewings and marathon Newgrounds sessions. In the long run, Google explains that it intends Flash to become an integral, seamless part of web design up there with HTML and Javascript — and if we extrapolate, an integral part of its new Chrome OS as well. Pardon us for thinking out loud, but it sounds like Google’s found an exclusive feature to highly tout, when it inevitably brings a Chrome OS tablet to market.

[Thanks, Adam]

Chrome brings Flash Player into the fold, trains it to kill iPads? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Sean Hollister

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Monday, March 29 was supposed to be a happy day for Fusion Garage — that’s when the first JooJoo tablet pre-orders were scheduled to greet customers. Unfortunately, it’s looking like Tuesday, March 30 will instead go down as yet another day full of unresolved questions for the fledgling company: not only did the 29th come and go without a peep, a new document from the TechCrunch lawsuit sent to Gizmodo suggests that only 90 total pre-orders were made as of February 11, and that 15 of those orders were canceled. Uh-oh. Now, Fusion Garage tells us that JooJoo units are actually in Los Angeles, where they’ve just been released from a paperwork-related customs delay, and that the “absolute worst case” is that they’ll arrive to customers via overnight shipping on April 2nd, although FG is hoping for the 1st. We’re also told that the 90 preorder number is low and the court documents are inaccurate because the company’s relationship with PayPal was terminated over those issues with the terms of sale — but the JooJoo website still lists PayPal as the only payment option. Right. See what we meant about questions?

Oh, and just in case this whole saga wasn’t sordid enough already, the “leaked document” making all these waves today is actually a statement by TechCrunch’s lawyer made in support of a motion to enjoin Fusion Garage from selling the JooJoo, and it’s been publicly available since February 22, when it was first filed — you can check the whole thing in the PDF below. How or why it’s being dredged up now is somewhat curious, if you’re into that sort of conspiracy vibe, but we’d say the more interesting question is whether Fusion Garage actually gets the JooJoo to customers — and whether or not it’s good enough to erase the uniquely contentious circumstances of its birth.

Update: Fusion Garage just called us to clarify their earlier comments: while the relationship with PayPal is ending in favor of a more traditional payment processor, it’s still in place — so that 90 number certainly seems more meaningful, although it is still over a month old. As for the shipment delays, we were also given a screenshot of the DHL manifest showing the customs delay — check it after the break.

Continue reading More bad juju for JooJoo: shipping delays, pre-sale questions

More bad juju for JooJoo: shipping delays, pre-sale questions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Nilay Patel

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Can’t wait for Windows Phone 7 Series, but can’t hack the emulator, either? Don’t lose hope, Windows junkies — you can still bring some semblance of WP7S order into your life with this Metro UI-inspired desktop HUD. Based on the open-source desktop customization platform Rainmeter, the “Omnimo UI” will overlay your desktop with a minimalist, tiled interface not unlike the one you’ve been drooling over for weeks, with live hooks into many useful services (including Gmail, iTunes, Steam, Twitter and SpeedFan) as well as the usual widgets and a host of program shortcuts. The best news of all? It’s available now for all versions of Windows since XP, completely free of charge; simply follow the source links or flit over to Lifehacker, where good folks will teach you how it’s done.

Omnimo: desktop Windows given fashion makeover with Phone 7 Series flair originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Sean Hollister

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Clearwire has made it crystal clear that it isn’t taking a “WiMAX or die” approach to 4G — and frankly, it couldn’t afford to, considering that the infrastructure suppliers and hardware manufacturers could easily continue their trend toward shunning the next-gen underdog. What’s interesting, though, is that the company now appears to be taking a very active role in developing an LTE-based standard that could supplant WiMAX in its 2.6GHz spectrum should the need arise. Along with Motorola, Huawei, ZTE, Cisco, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, and — surprise, surprise — Clearwire partner Sprint, the company is asking the 3GPP to define a standard for running TD-LTE in the 2.6GHz slot. Unlike the more commonly-used FD-LTE — the standard Verizon is using, among others — TD-LTE operates unpaired, meaning it can operate in slimmer chunks of spectrum than its counterpart. Asking for a standard is clearly a far cry from actually building out a network, but it’s interesting to note that Clearwire and Sprint alike both have their eyes firmly fixed on an LTE-based technology if the WiMAX industry packs it in.

Sprint, Clearwire among companies asking for TD-LTE standard in WiMAX spectrum originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Chris Ziegler

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If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably been keeping pretty close tabs on EATR, the biomass-to-power robot that’s been making people nervous for some time now. Well, EATR’s engine — which is being built by Cyclone Power Technologies — is complete, and the drone is now one giant leap closer to living in actual reality with us. The completed steam engine, called WHE, is a six-cylinder external heat engine which can generate up to 18 horsepower of mechanical power. As previously clarified by EATR’s makers (a project that’s getting help from the University of Maryland and DARPA), the robot will not feed on things like animals… or humans. No, this is no zombified drone — EATR will harvest only plant matter for energy — which, if you ask us, makes the whole thing much more mundane. Regardless, we’ll be keeping our eyes on this project as it moves forward. The full press release is after the break.

Continue reading EATR’s engine officially complete, and this robot’s one step closer to reality

EATR’s engine officially complete, and this robot’s one step closer to reality originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Laura June

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Call it Apple’s populist paradox. The Macintosh’s human-centered design inspired its being called the “computer for the rest of us,” but the Mac also long been associated with exceptional creative individuals, a message Apple has driven home in campaigns ranging from “wheels from the mind” to “think different.” In the early days of the Web, it was said that Web pages were created on Macs and viewed on PCs — and served on Unix workstations.

Should the concepts in a video detailing a new Microsoft-developed device dubbed Courier come to fruition, though, Microsoft and Apple may find themselves on unfamilair sides as an old rivalry turns to the new frontier of convergence tablets, with Apple providing the workaday access product and Microsoft providing a niche but empowering tool aimed at creative professionals.

Continue reading Switched On: Courier courts the creative

Switched On: Courier courts the creative originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Ross Rubin

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Continue reading Battalion Touch CZ-11 multitouch gaming laptop gets Core i7 processor, keeps things classy

Battalion Touch CZ-11 multitouch gaming laptop gets Core i7 processor, keeps things classy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Joseph L. Flatley

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Hot on the heels of a ginormous OS X update comes this, the freshest version of the music management software that everyone loves to hate. iTunes 9.1 is live and available to download, bringing with it support for iPad syncing (you know, that little tablet that arrives on Saturday?) as well as the ability to “organize and sync books you’ve downloaded from iBooks on iPad or added to your iTunes library.” The new version also gives users the ability to rename, rearrange, or remove Genius Mixes, but we’re fairly sure you stopped caring after hearing the first point. It’s weighing in at around 97.3MB (give or take a few KB), so fire up Software Update and get it going… if you dare.

Update: We’re hearing that the new version renames “Applications” to just “Apps” and the Genius Mixes / iPhone / iPod touch sync pages have been retooled. Anything else major? Let us know in comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading iTunes 9.1 now available, brings iPad syncing and iBook support

iTunes 9.1 now available, brings iPad syncing and iBook support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Darren Murph

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Continue reading TomTom rolls out Start 2, XL IQ Routes edition 2 nav units for the UK

TomTom rolls out Start 2, XL IQ Routes edition 2 nav units for the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Donald Melanson

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