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Apple may be a despot of its own walled garden, but that doesn’t mean it’s not benevolent. The iPad’s international launch on May 28 has prompted the company to open Stores an hour early, at 8AM local time, in order to give its devotees a reprieve from hours of queuing outside. Then again, that little asterisk up there points us to an ominous “while supplies last” note at the bottom, which together with current pre-orders being fulfilled at some unidentified point in June, might force the most impatient to just get to the Store even earlier. UK buyers will get an alternative option thanks to Dixons Group stocking Apple’s slate in Currys and PC World outlets, an arrangement that we keep hearing might be exclusive for the first sixty days after launch. Either way, you’ve been warned, don’t be tardy if you wanna be trendy.

P.S. The iBooks app has also made its debut outside of the US today, though at present it’s limited to just freebie titles, and the iBookstore is still described as “US only.”

Update: The latest we’re hearing is that at least some Apple Premium Resellers will also be getting stock of the iPad in the UK — worth checking out if other options sell out.

Apple will open international Stores early for iPad launch this Friday, iBooks app available now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 May 2010 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Been wondering how that LG proto unit debuted on The Engadget Show is doing? Pocket-lint got to see the QWERTY slider up close and personal in London yesterday, and their takeaway from the meetup was that the device and OS are well on their way to stardom. Calling it the LG Panther, they delve into its deep Facebook integration, which throws up status updates when you hit on a contact in your address book, ability to recognize addresses and provide relevant links to Bing maps, as well as its quick and clear Zune media player. The latter was accompanied by confirmation that the Zune Store will be hitting the UK in time for Windows Phone 7’s release, which could happen as early as September — it all depends on who you talk to. Hit the source for more imagery and impressions.

LG’s Windows Phone 7 phone caught in the wild, looking good originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 04:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look at this man. Just look at him. Isn’t it obvious that Boris Johnson gets what Boris Johnson wants? In case you’ve been misinformed about the power this man’s wishes hold, you should know that he’s well on his way to establishing the first muni-fi project to actually work — or so he hopes. By and large, every attempt to sprinkle WiFi onto entire US cities has fallen short in one way or another, but London has a motivator that no American borough ever did: the 2012 Olympics. Boris’ plan is to blanket all of London in WiFi prior to the opening ceremony, with “every lamppost and every bus stop” having a router or repeater in it. The scheme is part of a larger plan to make London the “technology capital of the world,” but unfortunately, your hopes of connecting for free may be dashed. According to the London Evening Standard, “no details of pricing have been given,” and we get the impression that those in charge of the rollout would’ve jumped at the chance to gloat about its free-ness if that were indeed the case. But then again, who are we to question the might of London’s Mayor?

London to become one giant WiFi hotspot by 2012, because Boris says so originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marko Ahtisaari will be a familiar name to Dopplr users, being both the CEO and one of the major investors in the startup’s social networking software. Having been acquired by Nokia in late September 2009, his team now works to help Symbian regain its world-conquering ways while Marko himself has returned to Nokia to helm its Design group — an outfit that, judging by the world’s disappointment with the N97 and other devices, is frankly in need of some fresh ideas. So, when we were invited to meet him this morning for a journalist get-together where Marko hoped to “begin the conversation” about Nokia’s future direction, we grabbed our pen, paper and DSLR and rushed off to go have a listen. The camera came in use when we got to handle a Nokia N8 prototype for the first time, but do join us after the break to see what else we learned.

Continue reading Nokia Head of Design Marko Ahtisaari talks about priorities, competition, and future direction

Nokia Head of Design Marko Ahtisaari talks about priorities, competition, and future direction originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Nokia_N8_Hands_on_PICS’; Good old London, full of little wonders and flagship devices for you to discover. We were at Nokia’s local HQ this morning to talk to the company’s Head of Design Marko Ahtisaari, and the good gent happened to bring with him a prototype N8 for us to play around with. It was stressed to us that it’s a prototype, so small cosmetic changes might still occur, but we are for most part looking at the hardware that will be hitting retail shelves in Q3 of this year. Speaking of Q3, Marko was adamant that that will be when Nokia “turns on” the Symbian^3 housed within the N8, which — disappointingly — meant that we couldn’t get to grips with the new UI experience in person. Ah well, there are plenty of pictures to be devoured in the gallery below, and we can provide you with a few observations of our own to tide you over till then.

The anodized aluminum shell feels very well built and is remarkably light. So much so that our first instinct was to ask whether the battery was inside or this was just a hollow mockup. We’d compare it to the feeling of picking up the Zune HD for the first time, it’s a strikingly light device. Plopping it into our pocket also felt extremely natural, which might be attributable to the particular curvature of the N8’s sides. Attention to detail in the physical design, as Marko said, was of paramount importance to Nokia. That doesn’t come without sacrifices, however, with the user replaceable battery being substituted by an integrated cell, but to quote the man himself, the “overall design concept overruled” such considerations. We found the home button on the front a bit of a pain to press in, but it’s still very early to form conclusions about the experience on this device. For now, just go gawk at it below and look out for the in-depth writeup of our chat with Marko Ahtisaari later today.

Nokia N8 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 07:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New UK Internet Addiction clinic offers in-patient therapy to ’screenagers’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung NaviBot SR8845 / SR8855 vacuum cleaner hands-on

Samsung NaviBot SR8845 / SR8855 vacuum cleaner hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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