Gadget Reviews

Filed under: Cellphones

Facebook app developer rejects App Store, irony ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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British satellite TV purveyor Sky has been pushing hard lately to expand into new spheres, a desire marked most clearly by its Sky Player integration with the Xbox 360 Dashboard. Now the company is keeping momentum going with the Sky Mobile TV app for the iPhone. The app itself will come free, but live streaming access to the full selection of Sky news and sports (ESPN included) channels will set you back £6 ($10) a month. That’s pretty reasonable value if you’re into live Premier League matches, which are typically the highest ticket item on a British TV subscription bill. O2 has sweetened that deal even further by offering a full quarter of a year’s worth of free access — a clear response to Orange’s infraction on its iPhone turf. You can only stream via WiFi for now, but you have to agree that, at this price point, it’s a definite step in the right direction.

[Via Daily Telegraph]

Read – Sky Mobile TV launches on App Store
Read – O2 Sky Mobile TV 3 months free offer

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

iPhone gets live Sky Mobile TV, O2 offering 3 months’ free access originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Up until now, there have been just two ways to get HD Radio in a portable, handheld solution: buy a Zune HD, or opt for Insignia’s NS-HD01. As of today, Gigaware is changing all that, and it’s hoping to give HD Radio a kick in the pants by opening it up to every single iPod touch and iPhone user in the US. iBiquity’s own HD Radio module has been tucked neatly inside the clickwheel in-line adapter you see above, giving any iPhone / iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0 (or greater) the ability to listen to HD Radio and FM stations in their area. The (now available) adapter itself sells for $79.99 exclusively at RadioShack, while the accompanying app — which sports a manual tune wheel or auto-seek option, social network integration, bookmarks and iTunes Tagging — is available to download free of charge. It’s a novel idea, sure, but something tells us the limited availability and lofty price tag will keep it from selling like gangbusters.

Continue reading Gigaware adapter brings HD Radio to iPod touch and iPhone for $80

Filed under: Portable Audio

Gigaware adapter brings HD Radio to iPod touch and iPhone for $80 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Noticing a “Policy Requirement” error when trying to use your Microsoft Exchange account after upgrading to OS 3.1? Then there’s a good chance you’re not using an iPhone 3GS, as Apple has just confirmed via a support page that the upgrade can now enforce the Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policy requiring encryption on the device, which just so happens to only be supported by the 3GS (guess that “S” stands for more than just speed). Not surprisingly, the only solution for non-3GS users is to contact their Exchange Server administrator and hope that they’re willing to change the policy to no longer require device encryption.

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone OS 3.1 enforcing Exchange device encryption, only supported by iPhone 3GS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Need to catch up on today’s Apple news? Well, you can either fire up iTunes and download Apple’s video podcast of the event, or you can skip the endless game demos and marketing chit-chat and just peruse the links below. The executive summary? iTunes 9’s new app management, Home Sharing, and iTunes LP features are really nice, but it’s almost impossible to understand why Apple added a camera to the iPod nano and not the iPod touch, no matter what Steve says. Oh — and don’t forget the Palm Pixi!

Live from Apple’s ‘It’s only rock and roll’ event
Video: Steve Jobs returns to the Apple stage

iPods

iPod nano unboxed, camera gets tested against the mean streets of Manhattan
iPod touch 3rd gen hands-on and video
iPod nano 5G with camera first hands-on!
Apple announces cheaper, more colorful iPod shuffle, new Special Edition
Apple updates iPod touch line, drops prices, adds top-end 64GB model
Apple adds video camera, larger screen to new 5G iPod nano
iPod classic bumped to 160GB, price stays the same at $249
iPhone OS 3.1 is official, available today
iPhone / iPod touch OS 3.1.1 is live!
iPod shuffle 2g is no more

iTunes

iTunes 9 bringing iTunes LP functionality, ‘beautiful new look’
iTunes 9 breaks Pre media sync… what did you expect?
Video: iTunes 9 Home Sharing and iPhone app management

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Apple releases video podcast of Rock and Roll event, we’ve got you covered with the highlights originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wondering why Apple chose to add a camera to the iPod nano, but not the revised iPod touch? You’re not alone, but one Mr. Steven P. Jobs has an answer for you: it’s because the touch is a game machine, you see. Seriously — that’s what El Steve told the inimitable David Pogue today after the Rock and Roll event. According to Steve, Apple wasn’t “exactly sure how to market the touch” at first, but once they listened to their customers and started to focus on gaming, “it just took off.” That certainly explains the “funnest iPod ever” tagline, but still, why no cam? “We don’t need to add new stuff — we need to get the price down to where everyone can afford it.” And… that’s all he said about it, and Poguey didn’t pursue the blindingly obvious followup: that’s great for the $199 8GB model, but does Apple really think customers paying $299 and $399 for the larger editions would be turned off by paying slightly more for a camera sensor? Something tell us we won’t hear Jobs say one more word about it until he’s ready to actually unveil a touch with a camera — at which point it will be a revolution.

P.S.- Make sure to hit the read link for the full interview — it’s short, but it’s full of Steve saying things like “You notice Amazon never says how [many Kindles] they sell; usually if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.”

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Steve Jobs says iPod touch didn’t get a camera because “it’s a great game machine” originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s confusing now that we have an iPod touch 3G, right? We just got done handling the new model, and really, there’s not much to say. It’s a little snappier, but we didn’t do any heavy game playing, and otherwise it’s exactly the same. We thought it seemed thinner, but the cold hard specs stopped that idea in its tracks. Want to see more? Check out the gallery and video below!

Continue reading iPod touch 3rd gen hands-on and video

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

iPod touch 3rd gen hands-on and video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That’s right, gang — OS 3.1.1 for iPhone and iPod touch is alive and well and we’re installing it as we speak! We’re looking forward to digging into all those Genius mixes, syncing options and, most importantly, a reasonable way to manage apps. Stay tuned!

Update: Yes, managing apps from iTunes is every bit as magical as we expected. The update is free to iPhone users and iPod touch users who’ve already shelled out the big bucks for OS 3. If you own a touch and you’ve held off, however, your patience has paid off — the upgrade now only costs you $4.95. Huzzah!

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

iPhone / iPod touch OS 3.1.1 is live! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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8:53AM Well… we’re here. It’s still pretty early (just before 9AM here on the west coast), but we wanted to make sure no one snaked our sweet spot at Yerba Buena. We’re holding tight in line right now, but we’ll keep you updated on this breathtaking event as it happens. Stay tuned!

Continue reading Live from Apple’s ‘It’s only rock and roll’ event

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Live from Apple’s ‘It’s only rock and roll’ event originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Couldn’t see this one coming, right? Apple just announced an update to the iPod touch line. It’s not exactly a major overhaul to the player, but prices have fallen, and it appears that the new models use the same CPU as the iPhone 3GS, since they can run OpenGL 2.0. The big news is actually no news, however: there doesn’t appear to be a camera, contrary to all the rumors. You’ll just have to make do with 8GB of storage for $199, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for a whopping $399.

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Apple updates iPod touch line, drops prices, adds top-end 64GB model originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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