SISAREA

A wordy headline, to be sure, but a pleasing one nonetheless. We came across HTC’s Chinese web portal listing the Desire as coming with Android 2.2 (with Sense!) and simply had to ping the official source for confirmation. It turns out the info up there is no mistake: all HTC Android handsets shipping to China — which includes the Wildfire and Tianyi — will do so with Froyo preloaded, cutting down on your upgrade angst at least until the Gingerbread man comes a’knocking. HTC has also reiterated that a 2.2 update for its phones already on the market will be delivered “very soon,” so if all goes well, we should be looking at a Froyo-dominated August in the land of High Tech Computers.

[Thanks, Christian]

HTC will ship all Android phones in China with Froyo on board, fuels fire for immediate update closer to home originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG’s official Application Store — not to be confused with an App Store, App World, or App Catalog — just went beta is 23 countries with the aim of serving up 4,000 apps to 33 countries (including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) by the end of the year. Sorry US netizens, you’re seemingly out of luck for 2010. It launches with significantly less than 4,000 apps today (about 3,000) targeting LG feature and smartphones in countries that you, dear reader, likely don’t care about. Oh, did we tell you that it’s launching without any Android apps? Those won’t arrive until sometime later this year.

Continue reading LG’s Application Store launches in places you don’t live for devices you don’t care about

LG’s Application Store launches in places you don’t live for devices you don’t care about originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This one’s been kicking around the interwebs for a few weeks now, but it has managed to grow into something of a beast during that period. Frankly, we couldn’t think of less fitting way to send the glorious Nexus One out than to completely deface it and ruin what Google has worked so hard to perfect. But regardless of what we think, that’s exactly what has happened here. One rolle3k over at xda developers clearly has a masochistic gene or two planted inside of his skull, but at least his APK doesn’t require your N1 to be rooted before providing you access to a TouchWiz user interface. Feel free to hit the source if you’re up for seeing what you’ve been missing out on, but only if you literally cannot think of a single better thing to do with your time.

Tweaker ports Samsung’s TouchWIz UI onto non-rooted Nexus One for reasons unknown originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Secunia ranks Apple first in software insecurity, Safari said to have AutoFill vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flipboard is a new, free application for the iPad which has one basic function: to take your social networking tools (read: Facebook and Twitter) and turn them into social “magazines.” As you can see from the screenshots — which are all culled from my Twitter stream — the application is very attractive. Read on for my full impressions.

Continue reading Flipboard for iPad app review

Flipboard for iPad app review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Timely, no? In concert with its HSPA+ expansion, T-Mobile USA has decided to come clean with that webConnect Rocket 2.0 that we peeked a few weeks ago courtesy of a leaked presentation slide. Said device isn’t drastically different than the original, offering a mildly overhauled design and “a new rotating swivel USB form factor.” The bigger news is the expanded platform support, with this bugger now playing nice with Windows 7, XP, Vista and any version of OS X since 10.4. It’s up for grabs right now via the source link if you’re in the mood for those so-called “4G speeds,” with an on-contract stick costing absolutely nothing and a no-strings-attached version running $199.99.

Update: We’ve updated the post with a new image of the actual device, though it’s not quite ready for primetime on T-Mobile’s site just yet. When it hits, it’ll run $49.99 on contract, with the 1.0 version going for zilch on contract.

T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 USB WWAN modem now on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, what do you know? Turns out you don’t actually need to invest in a Nook e-reader to enjoy the experience on your existing smartphone. And considering that the average Android smartphone will boast a display larger than your face within 2 years (if current trends continue, anyway), we’d say we could be onto something good here. At any rate, B&N’s own eBookstore app is now available for Google’s dear mobile OS, landing just weeks after Amazon pushed its Kindle app out into the same marketplace. Of course, B&N’s not shying away from the competition, dubbing its app “the only Android e-reader application to offer eBook lending.” It’s available to download now on devices rocking Android 1.6 or above, and yes, even Android users can pick up on another platform where you leave off on your phone. Fancy.

Continue reading Nook for Android now available to download, offers eBook lending

Nook for Android now available to download, offers eBook lending originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/BlindType_will_correct_all_wrongs_with_your_virtual_keyboard’; Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer gets too fat to be able to dial a number? Well, he wouldn’t have had that problem had BlindType been around. This soft keyboard is described by its makers as being extremely resilient to inaccurate input and looking at the demo video after the break, you kinda have to agree — it seems to have a pretty kickass predictive algorithm. Aside from that, the keyboard also dynamically adjusts to wherever and however you choose to type, meaning its size and orientation track along to your input, which goes some way to justifying the somewhat odd name (it’s meant for blind operation, not blind people). Text can be inserted without the keyboard even being on screen, while spaces are added by swiping to the right. BlindType should be coming to Android and iOS devices some time in the near future.

[Thanks, Fadl]

Update: We asked BlindType’s makers whether implementing their software will require replacing Apple’s default button slate and they’ve confirmed that it would. They’re making and submitting it for iOS use, nonetheless, “to put pressure on Apple to finally allow this kind of thing.”

Continue reading BlindType vows to autocorrect all wrongs with your iPhone or Android virtual keyboard (video)

BlindType vows to autocorrect all wrongs with your iPhone or Android virtual keyboard (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As if waiting around until fall to get iOS 4 weren’t enough of a downer for iPad owners, the latest rumor we’re hearing is that they’ll have to pay a fee in order to do so. That’s right, for the privilege of waiting patiently to get some semblance of multitasking on your slate device, you’ll have to pony up the cash — or so the story goes. Stuff has it on strong authority from app developers in the know that Apple will be asking for a (relatively small) tithe from those wishing to update their iPads when the leaves start turning amber. We’d advise keeping the pitchforks stowed for now — at least until there’s some solid corroboration for this — but then it’s not like Apple hasn’t done this before.

Update: Apple’s iPad licensing docs have been known to carry a provision that the “next major iPad OS software release” will be free, although iOS 4 and the word “free” do not happen to coincide in the same sentence — overall though, that renders this rumor rather less likely to materialize.

Apple to charge upgrade fee for iPads moving to iOS 4? (update: unlikely) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Merely days after iTunes 9.2 hit the pipes in order to enable iPhone 4 syncing, Apple’s software team has pushed out the first “minor” update since with 9.2.1. Truth be told, the list of changes, fixes and tweaks is rather lengthy for a simple point-point update, with this one allowing users to organize apps on the iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes, organize and sync PDF documents as books, etc. As for fixes? For starters, it’ll “disable older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins” (thanks?), while also addressing “minor issues with dragging and dropping items, a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2″ and other general speed issues that users were reporting. As for iBooks 1.1.1, that one still seems to be propagating through the iTunes server factory, promising support for books with audio and video, improvements for PDF documents and other miscellaneous bug fixes. Feel free to toss your impressions of the new builds in comments below, but don’t blame us if your eagerness ends up breaking something you love dearly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Apple releases iTunes 9.2.1 and iBooks 1.1.1, fixes galore promised originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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