All sorts of Android manufacturers have had to answer for the locked bootloaders in their devices, and now we’ve gotten a bit of insight into Verizon’s view of the subject. It seems Big Red has responded to a formal complaint one customer filed with the FCC for the carrier’s policy of allowing handsets with locked bootloaders on its network. Apparently, open bootloaders would allow users to make changes to their phones and use software that “could negatively impact how the phone connects with the network” and “the wireless experience for other customers.” So, there you have it folks, Verizon encourages OEMs to lock down handsets to provide you with a better experience and top-notch customer service. Head on down to the source link to get a gander at the letter, and feel free to sound off on Verizon’s consumer-friendly stance in the comments below.
Verizon lets loose its stance on locked bootloaders in letter to the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A lot of portable PC power cells last for only four or five hours, after which you’ll find yourself chained to a wall socket. Good thing there are external batteries to keep us in current when a plug’s nowhere to be found, and Tom’s Hardware has done some benchmarking on a slew of such devices so you’ll know which one’s suited for you. A Dell Vostro 3300 and an Inspiron Mini 10 running Windows 7 were used to put packs from Amstron, Brunton, Digipower, Electrovaya, Energizer, Lenmar, PowerTraveller and Tekkeon through some real-world paces — we’re talking word processing and web surfing, not fragging and film editing. So if you’re in the market for a mobile power unit, hit the source link and get the down and dirty on which external battery’s best.
External batteries benchmarked, the portable juice is loose originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Layar’s been the go-to platform for augmented reality on Android since 2009, bringing you the useful, the creepy, and the just plain weird — and now it’s unleashing the beast on iOS. The Netherlands-based company just launched Layar Player, a free tool that allows anyone — with a little developer know-how — to create their very own AR iPhone app. Accompanying the announcement are three brand new Layar Player-enabled apps: the Bing-sponsored Snowboard Hero, which incorporates a special AR mode for collecting points; a contractor locator called Layer Trade; and VerbeterdeBuurt, an app that acts as an AR community bulletin board. The company’s press release touts the “democratization of augmented reality,” and while we can get behind their AR-for-alll message, we’ve already seen Layar used in ways that give us the willies. Don’t get us wrong, we’re still excited about the endless AR possibilities, but we’re hoping, at least for now, that iPhone app developers can keep the AR monsters at bay.
Continue reading Layar Player lets AR loose on iPhone apps
Layar Player lets AR loose on iPhone apps originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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…force by me). I see that the black and red wires are still attached, but sound no longer comes to the earpiece (and the left one died off on me a while ago and yet calls come through).
Is there another wire that came loose that I could reattach? Such a shame – I am hating going back to wires. If I can't fix this I guess I'll just wait for the…
gdgt – new in gadgets
Is there any way to keep the current data/music/apps/etc on my AT&T iPhone 3G (8gb) when I hook it up to my new computer through iTunes. I really don’t want to change anything on the phone, I just want to be able to sync, add music etc with out having to start from the group up again.
The whole deal: Recently my motherboard decided to kick the bucket, causing me to have to rebuild my computer. At the time I was running the Win7 RC(7600), and decided to start from scratch with a fresh copy of Win7 Pro. Before I formatted my hard drive and installed win7, I swapped my desktops hard drive into an external and hooked it up to my laptop. Along with all my music, movies, pictures, documents etc, I copied all of the data out of the Program Files > iTunes, as well as all of the iTunes information in my users AppData folder and just about every other iTunes file I could find.
Am I doomed to starting my iPhone fresh again, or is there a way to “pick up” where i left off by restoring some of the files? I have yet to connect it to the computer, I don’t want to take the risk.
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Despite Motorola’s best intentions to the contrary, the Droid X has been making steady progress toward viable custom ROMs, first with root access, then with a recovery method… and now, at long last, we’re starting to get the first few glimpses at legit cooked firmware. The two options we’re seeing so far are Sapphire — originally designed for the Droid of old — and a so-called “FlyX” ROM from longtime contributor Birdman. In both cases, the benefits of eschewing Motorola’s standard builds are pretty obvious: you get Froyo, root, and a host of apps and capabilities preferred by the superuser crowd like surcharge-free mobile hotspot access. The process is a little involved to get these bad boys installed at this point, but with time, we’re willing to bet it becomes a pretty painless endeavor. Follow the break for a quick video of Sapphire booting into stock Froyo on the X — a tantalizing sight, indeed.
[Thanks, Clift]
Continue reading Custom Droid X ROMs starting to break loose, eFuse be damned
Custom Droid X ROMs starting to break loose, eFuse be damned originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Props to Engadget
Related Posts:…plugged in to the bottom of the Nook? (This is my first device with a micro-USB connector, so perhaps this is just how it's supposed to fit.)
The cable works when plugged in, of course. It just wiggles.
Props to gdgt – new in gadgets
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We’re big Viliv fans here and are glad to see the companies first PMP hit the market. They are one of the few companies that out nearly identical products in the states as Korea. The don’t dumb-down its products for the American consumer. Nope, we get all the fun stuff, too. Like the HD5 PMP. Now, we just need a valid reason to need a PMP in 2010.
We first got to play with the HD5 back at CES and it’s a fun little device. The 5-inch WVGA LCD screen is about the right size, nearly big enough to justify carrying this along with a smartphone, but not too large where it doesn’t fit in a pocket. The battery should hold up to 13 hours of video playback and 47 hours for audio. There’s even an SDHC slot if the internal storage of 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB isn’t enough.
A custom skin running on top of Windows CE 6.0 powers the device but is said to be able to playback 1080p MKV files. Hopefully there is still plan on releasing the device here in the states. Most smartphones can preform the same tasks, but the larger screen and killer battery life makes quite a case for owning both. [AVing via UberGizmo]
Props to CrunchGear
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