We admit, we were pretty stoked when we first saw the Acer Aspire One AOD250 running Android in dual-boot mode. What could possibly be bad about it? Fast start-up, Google apps… other good things that aren’t coming to mind at the moment… what could go wrong? Turns out, just about everything

Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday , where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema. On our last visit, we examined the computer hacking fantasies of 1980′s adolescents in Weird Science . Skipping on from software-engineered babes to a bio-engineered society, this week we investigate the gadgets in the human-clone-saturated cities of Code 46 . Though most of the futuristic technology in this 2003 film is in the form of mind-altering viruses, the everyday devices used by Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton slightly stretch today’s technical specs in true sci-fi form. Memory Videobook Preventing scrapbooks from being left behind as primitive forms of experience archiving, this gadget combines the cheap plastic form of photo-books with a relatively thin interactive screen. The device captures first-person memories from a user in the form of lossy video (alas, the specs behind memory capturing have yet to be released, much to our irritation). Playback and fast-forward/rewind are enabled through basic scrolling gestures on either the corner of the video or the opposing soft-acrylic, touch-sensitive finger pad

This video was an interview done with the Motorola press rep at the fall 2009 CTIA show in San Diego. The video goes over the feature of the phones briefly as everyone at the Motorola booth was extremely busy. After this video was shot, Ricky and I, got some hands on time with the

We got an in depth look at Samsung’s first Android device, the Samsung Moment. First things first, we have to give it up for the AMOLED screen as well as the 800MHz processor, making it one of the fastest if not fastest Android handset on the market.

Apple’s just posted up iPhone OS 3.1.2, which purports to fix some of iPhone OS 3.1′s Greatest Bug Hits , including: Don’t Wake (From Sleep), Lost Network Access, and everyone’s all-time favorite, Video Stream Crash Dance. We’re updating now, let us know how it goes for you in comments — and there’s an iPod touch update too, we’re sure it’s just as fun. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Filed under: Cellphones iPhone OS 3.1.2 update now live, fixes sleep, network issues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

International musician and man-about-town Richie Hawtin has a track record of collaborating with Native Instruments on its DJ products, frequently putting stuff through its paces well before it’s made available to the public at large — and once again, the dude’s been caught using some unknown gear at a show in Berlin. Seems like pretty much everyone and their mother has made a controller compatible with the company’s Traktor line of software at this point save for Native Instruments itself, and that’s where this new hotness comes into play — check out the video after the break starting around 19 seconds, where you can clearly make out a couple NI-branded boxes allegedly designed to control two decks at a time (so a grand total of two, like Hawtin has here, would be enough to control a four-deck Traktor setup). We’ve heard rumors from inside the company that it’ll be available for around $200, which would be extremely competitive for a pro-level box that’s specifically matched to Traktor’s capabilities. Even if you don’t have the slightest urge to get on the decks at any point in your life, the lights sure are pretty, aren’t they? [Via Engadget German and De:Bug ] Continue reading Native Instruments working on a $200-ish Traktor controller, blinkenlights guaranteed Filed under: Misc. Gadgets Native Instruments working on a $200-ish Traktor controller, blinkenlights guaranteed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:51:00 EST.

Filed under: Software Let’s face it, data sync is the real Big Bag of Hurt in our brave, digital world. But since I started using BusySync over a year ago, much of my calendar sync issues have dissolved away. BusyCal , the successor to BusySync, was recently released and it is just as amazing as BusySync at keeping your iCal and Google Calendar data in sync. In fact, it is much, much better than BusySync because it is an iCal replacement.

Mmm, real time dynamic maps of the Earth. It seems nowadays that supervillainy just isn’t as hard as it used to be. Back in the days of Hugo Drax, you had to be a filthy rich eccentric to ever get to spy on the whole world, whereas today all you need is Google Earth and some Georgia Institute of Technology students. Using motion capture data and the veritable litany of CCTV cameras people have surrounded themselves with, the team have succeeded in mapping and animating the real time movements of cars, people and clouds. A proper unveiling is coming up at a symposium next month, by which point they might have added weather patterns, birds and river motions to that list, but for now you can enjoy the video demo after the break. [Via Engadget Polish ] Continue reading Video: Google Earth animated with real time human and vehicular traffic Filed under: Software Video: Google Earth animated with real time human and vehicular traffic originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:29:00 EST

The HTC Leo is shaping up to be a pretty monumental Windows Mobile launch, and not just because of that high-res capacitive touchscreen and 1GHz Snapdragon processor — it’s also running a nicely refreshed version of TouchFLO 3D. The cats at PocketNow managed to grab an early ROM and install it on a Touch Diamond2, check the video after the break to see the new icons, dynamic background wallpaper, and much, much more. [Via MobileTechWorld ; thanks Mistyk] Continue reading HTC Leo’s TouchFLO 3D build demoed on video Filed under: Cellphones HTC Leo’s TouchFLO 3D build demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Yet another CEDIA has come and gone, and while some of our greatest hopes for Media Center came true ( CableCard is no longer OEM onl y, Switched Digital Video support for the tuning adapter is coming) several more did not (Zune HD integration and any new CableCard announcements from ATI.) Peep the recap post on Engadget HD for the full rundown on what did and didn’t happen in Media Center news from Atlanta, and what Microsoft’s next plans for Windows Media Center could (& should) be. Filed under: HDTV , Home Entertainment Engadget HD reviews what’s new in Windows Media Center after CEDIA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Filed under: Accessories , Hardware , Peripherals , Odds and ends , iPhone The TomTom navigation app [iTunes link] for iPhone has been available since August of this year, but many TUAW readers have told us they’re holding off on a purchasing decision until they can see how the announced iPhone car kit enhances the use of the app. The car kit, which includes a secondary GPS receiver and speaker as well as a mount for holding the iPhone, is scheduled to ship in the U.S. in October. TomTom International B.V. has announced the pricing for the mount, which has a suggested retail price of US$119.95 or €99.95. Several GPS blogs are already questioning the pricing, noting that the total price for the kit and app will be US$219.94, more than some much more capable personal navigation devices. On the other hand, the car kit isn’t patented, so other companies may come out with less expensive options in short order

We’ve spotted an early prototype of an upcoming MID from Mitac powered by Tegra and running Windows CE, and we like where it’s headed. There are actually a lot of similarities to Mobinnova’s smartbook , though we suppose it’s more of a Tegra thing: CE with a custom interface on top, emphasis on 720p media playback and output (there’s an HDMI jack and TV tuner) and what promises to be an uber-competitive price and good battery life for the form factor. Mitac also plans on selling the thing with a fold-out case / keyboard combo to sweeten the deal. The unnamed device is quite thin, but unfortunately the unit we saw was out of battery — though NVIDIA assured us it was “really cool” while it worked. Sure guys, sure. Gallery: Mitac takes Tegra to MID-land Filed under: Handhelds , Portable Audio , Portable Video Mitac takes Tegra to MID-land originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:28:00 EST

Zacks Investment Research is reporting in a matter-of-fact tone that AT&T’s long-rumored, long-desired 3G Microcell femtocell will be hitting some markets “in the next week.” The full list of initial launch areas hasn’t been disclosed, but Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle and North Carolina are all specifically mentioned; as you might recall, Sprint restricted the launch of its Airave for some time, too, so limited availability out of the gate wouldn’t really come as a surprise. AT&T had no comment when asked about the report, so it’s a wait-and-see game — but if you’re clinging to one bar of service, have hope that help is on the way. Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless AT&T launching 3G Microcell in some markets in the next few days? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

Add Fox 5 New York’s Ernie Anastos to a long list of newscasters with on-air slip ups that will live in YouTube lore. Unlike Bill O’Reilly’s “ we’ll do it live! ” tirade or Sue Simmons’ outburst at her co-anchor, it doesn’t appear Anastos was intentionally profane on Wednesday night’s newscast (the shock and horror of his co-anchor is priceless), but the result of his attempt to say “keep clucking that chicken” is now a viral hit. According to Visible Measures, the video has already been viewed more than 800,000 times across the Web. Not surprisingly, the “engagement curve” for the video shows that users are continually rewinding the video to hear the word that rhymes with “clucking” over and over and over again.