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Dell Streak Coming to UK through O2 on June 4

eddielumber — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:42:25 +0000

Dell’s daring 5″ tablet/smartphone hybrid will be making its debut in the UK on June 4 through O2 (NYSE: TEF). The Streak, also known as the Mini 5 in the early days, is a beast: 1 Ghz processor, Android 1.6 (to be upgraded to 2.2), Wi-Fi, GPS, 800 x 480 display, 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, plus a forward-facing video VGA video conferencing camera and 512 MB of memory.

Buyers may be somewhat on the fence about this size category – 5″ is barely enough to be mobile, not to mention ridiculous-looking when making a call, so if you’re going to have to get a murse to carry the thing anyway, why not get something bigger like an iPad? It’s a valid argument, but for me, 5″ is just within the outer limits of being practical.

If you’re hoping to pick one up, the Dell Streak is listed at The Carphone Warehouse as free with £25 monthly contract and up, or bought outright for £429. You can check out Carphone Warehouse’s product page here, if you’re thinking of grabbing one. As for those on the U.S. side of the pond, AT&T will be offering the Dell Streak sometime this summer.

[via Carphone Warehouse]

Netflix for iPad hacked and running on iPhone

eddielumber — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:57:09 +0000

How desperate are you to get Netflix running on your iPhone? Desperate enough to jailbreak, grab frameworks from your iPad, and do some plist hacking? If the answer to those questions is “yes,” then the folks at ModMyi have something they’d like to show you. According to the site, a tipster has been able to get the video streaming service up and playing on an iPhone by making what appears to be fairly simple changes to his device; namely, boosting the iPad’s MediaPlayer.framework and altering plist settings once the app was installed on his phone. It’s not all wine and roses, as using Netflix where it’s not supposed to be used causes a massive battery drain (go figure), and there are issues with crashing and 3G playback (two more unsurprising problems). Still, it can be done, and this is just the start — so if you want to get in on the party (and maybe even help out a little bit), hit the read link and see what it’s all about

Psystar founders claim they cracked OS X, hackintosh scene is ‘all wrong’

eddielumber — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:36:20 +0000

Okay, so we’re reading this puff piece in the Miami New Times about would-be Mac cloner Psystar, and while we’re somewhat willing to dismiss author Tim Elfrintz’s various mischaracterizations of the law and what Psystar is actually doing as just laziness and / or ignorance, there’s a quote here from Psystar founder Rudy Pedraza that simply leaps off the page:

Rudy scoffs at the idea he borrowed from the Hackintosh scene. “The first thing you have to do is unlearn everything you’ve read online about how to make this work,” Rudy says, “because it’s all wrong.”

Really? Because we think there’s a very large, very active hacking community out there that would disagree with you, Rudy.

P.S.- A full list of every other mistake in this piece after the break.

[Thanks, Chris]

“Robert cracked the code behind Apple Computer’s elegant operating system, OS X.” Yeah.
“Psystar legally buys the software…” That’s not in question, really. The issue is what happens after Psystar buys OS X, when it modifies and redistributes it. You know, the specific thing Apple’s suing about.
“[Apple] filed a 35-page lawsuit in California claiming Psystar was selling “unauthorized” versions of OS X.” Why is unauthorized in quotes? That’s exactly what Apple claims.
“As with Microsoft, which lost a multimillion-dollar antitrust decision in Europe in 2004, Apple is protecting an illegal monopoly, Psystar claims.” Psystar has already lost this part of its case in California, and in the new Florida case Psystar only claims Apple has a monopoly on “premium personal computers,” which pretty much invalidates the pricing argument and has driven the company to sell more expensive machines.
“Robert says he found his own way around Apple’s built-in security devices. The breakthrough meant that, among other things, the cheap machines were virtually immune to viruses and hackers.” This is simply not true. OS X is vulnerable to hackers in its shipping form, and hacking EFI doesn’t change that.
“Psystar pays full price – $29 – for each copy of OS that it installs on its computers.” $29 is the Snow Leopard upgrade price. The full price is $169 with iLife and iWork.
“What’s more, Apple holds that consumers who purchase an operating system don’t actually own the software…It’s a dubious-sounding arrangement that courts, at least so far, have upheld.” It’s not dubious to the courts, who’ve been upholding EULAs for over a decade across the country. (And striking some down, to be fair.)
“Pretty much anyone with basic computer knowledge can make a cloned Mac for just the cost of a full tank of gas in an SUV.” Actually, anyone can do this for free, without having to pay Psystar.

Now, don’t get us wrong — the personal story of Robert and Rudy Pedraza laid out in the article is moving stuff, but when the chips are down, we’re picking the hacker and enthusiast community over a couple guys trying to make a buck selling unlicensed software, and that Hackintosh quote that struck us as impossibly arrogant and extremely foolish. The OSx86 community is already wary of Psystar, and we’re guessing no one’s going to rush forward the next time these jokers need some help.

How To Hack Google Maps Navigation Onto Your G1

eddielumber — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:49:50 +0000

It’s basically a ritual now: Fresh feature debuts on new Android phone; hack-happy G1 owners see new feature, develop seething jealousy; said owners work tirelessly to steal new feature. Last week, Google Maps Navigation hit the Droid. Today, the G1.

Google Maps Navigation will be part of Android 2.0, and Android 2.0 is expected to come to most—if not all—Android handsets on the market eventually, so given how complicated this hack is (fairly!), and that it requires a rooted phone, it’d be prudent for most folks to just wait this out. That said, there’s no saying how long it’ll be until Eclair seeds out to older handsets, and there’s no guarantee that the G1—and old fart in its little corner of the universe—will ever get it. Anyhow, here’s what you need to do, from XDA:

Download here

Make sure you have CyanogenMod 4.2.3.1, by the way.

1) Unzip zip to desktop
2) Run Part 1.bat
3) When prompted to press any key, do so; the phone will reboot
4) When your phone is running again, run Part 2.bat
5) When prompted to press any key, the installation process is done.
6) Make sure GPS is enabled
7) Open Maps and press OK
Press Menu
9) Press Directions
10) Enter an end point
11) Click Go
12) Just under “Show on map”, click Navigate.
13) When prompted to install the voice codec, do so.

And there you have it: Free, not terrible turn-by-turn navigation for your G1, without Android 2.0. Early reports say it runs well; let us know how it goes for you in the comments.

Video: Nokia’s Vision of 2015: People are unable to connect in real life, so they resort to devices

eddielumber — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:33:34 +0000

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) recently spent an excessive amount of money to produce a 4 minute video showcasing what they think the connected world of 2015 will look like. The first narrative focuses on a French businessman who recently relocated to San Francisco. Apparently he is antisocial because the “closest thing to a boy’s night out” is sitting in front of a television screen, watching a football match, while having a video call with 3 of his friends across the pond. After 2 bottles of wine at home, alone, I bet one of them drops their pants and moons everyone in the room. The next character in this cell shaded investor relations pornography feature film is Maria, a student with an obvious lisp attending her final year at the University of Barcelona, and she is in a club with her friends … but she can’t remember their names. What the hell kind of friend are you Maria? Her boyfriend is based in London, so they have to resort to cyber sex in their “online apartment” using a projected keyboard and display to feel connected.

Finally we have some Indian guy who downloads films to his device, projects them onto a wall so he and his family can watch them, and he sends reports of his fishing trip to a University in America who then deposits money in his Nokia bank account. The video ends with a whole bunch of buzz words flashing on the screen in a seemingly random way that resembles what we all saw in 1999’s hit film “The Matrix”. We can only hope that by 2015 Nokia finally manages to get kinetic scrolling to work without looking jerky, and the Ovi Store to resemble the iPhone App Store of today.

[Via: Nokia Conversations]

Ten Apps All New Android Users Should Check Out

eddielumber — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:55:45 +0000

While the tech-loving world continues to debate the merits of the Droid following its launch on Friday, it’s pretty safe to say that the Android platform has seen a pretty hefty influx of users as of late. In the past two weeks alone, we’ve seen the aforementioned Droid, it’s cheaper, younger sibling, the Droid Eris, and the Sprint Moment all hit the shelves; if any of them sold even reasonably well, there’s a lot of new folk cracking open the Android Market for the first time right now.

Whether you’re an iPhone convert, an ex-Nokian, or just a stranger to smartphones as a whole, the Android Market can be a pretty daunting place. While Android might not have quite as many apps as the leading competition, it still has a bit over 10,000 – and that’s a hell of a lot for any newcomer to weed through.

For the sake of these nascent newbies, we’ve thrown together a list of a handful of apps we think are worth checking out right off the bat. Got a favorite of your own? Throw it into the comments below.

In no particular order:

Twidroid
What is it?: Twitter Client
Price: Free; “Pro” version available for around €3.39 (around $5)
Description: We’re seeing more and more Twitter clients hit the Android Market as of late, but Twidroid still seems to be the crowd favorite. The free version offers up all the basics (Tweeting, mentions, DM, search, image uploading, etc.), while the Pro version adds video, multi-accounts, and theming support.

Qik/Ustream/Bambuser/etc.
What is it? Video Streaming
Price: Free
Description: The plethora of video streaming applications on Android serves as a fantastic example of the strengths of Android’s open market. While such video streaming clients have been floating around in Apple’s moderation queue for over a year now (and are still only available on jailbroken iPhones), they were made available on Android almost immediately after launch. There are a ton of options available here – I’d recommend starting with Qik or Ustream.

Flyscreen
What is it? Lockscreen replacement
Price: Free
Description: You see that lockscreen each and every time you pull your phone out of your pocket – might as well put it to use, right? Flyscreen replaces the default lockscreen with a user-customizable canvas for widgets, with everything from Twitter to TMZ. It’s a wee bit buggy on the Droid, primarily because of its high resolution – but the Flyscreen guys have already confirmed that an update is on the way.

Nesoid
What is it? NES emulator
Price: $1.99, Lite version available
Description: It’s an NES emulator, and it works damn well – do we really need to say anything else? For obvious legal reasons, you’ll need to provide your own ROMs – but once that’s out of the way, it’ll handle just about any popular NES game you can throw at it. We’ve heard mixed reports as to how well this (primarily the Lite version) is working on Android 2.0, but I’m not seeing any issues with the paid version.

Meridian
What is it? Media player
Price: Free
Description: As we mentioned in our Smartphone Showdown, media playback (especially video) on the Android platform is rather lacking. We’ve yet to find any third-party applications that really pull it off well, but the Meridian player is about the best we’ve seen so far. It’ll play back MP3, OGG, MP4, and 3GPP files, and offers up basic playlist and gesture support. It’s pretty dang ugly, but it gets the job done.

Flixster:
What is it? Movie times/trailers/DVD info aggregator
Price: Free
Description: Flixster does one thing, and it does it well: Movies. It keeps you up to date on everything new in the movie world, be it for the box office or the rental store, complete with movie times (by way of GPS), community-driven user reviews, and trailers. Flixster is one of the most well-designed applications I’ve seen on the Android platform, and is one of very few I find myself using regularly.

Barcode Reader:
What is it? Its.. a barcode reader.
Price: Free
Description: Barcode reader is pretty much an Android must-have at this point. Lets say you’re perusing a book store and stumble across a book you’re interested in reading – but is it really worth what the nearest big chain book store wants for it? Scan the tag on the back into Barcode Reader, which will pass the details into Google Product Search for a price comparison. At worst, you’ll find out that you’re getting a deal; at best, you’ll save a ton. I’ve saved a few hundred bucks overall by way of Barcode-based comparison shopping.

TED
What is it? Tons of amazing content, crammed into one app.
Price: Free
Description: This one serves as our reader’s choice app, so to speak. I reached out to my Twitter posse for some insight on their favorite apps, and the TED application was a resoundingly popular result. The Android TED application brings together a huge number of lectures from the annual Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, with talks from the likes of Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Larry Page, and more. Next time you’ve got 10-15 minutes free, why not spend it gettin’ some smarts?

3Banana
What is it? Notes syncing
Price: Free
Description: Sign up for a free account, then punch your credentials into both the Android client and your browser. Bam, note syncing! It’s not a substitute for a full-fledged file syncing service like Dropbox, but 3banana is a drop-dead easy way to keep your notes/images synced between your Android handset and your computer.

Power Manager
What is it? Battery life assistant
Price: $0.99, Lite version available
Description: While it’s getting better over time, the Android platform isn’t exactly known for its killer battery efficiency. Android allows users to run apps in the background – and a running application gobbles up battery, whether it’s visible or not. Power manager helps to improve your device’s battery life through profiles. Running on the battery? Dim the screen. Battery down below 30%? Kill the WiFi and the Bluetooth. The free version comes with 4 profiles (Battery powered, low battery, A/C powered, USB powered), while the 99 cent pro version allows you to build you own.

Know any apps that Android users ought to check out on day one?