Looking for a new Android form factor on AT&T and don’t mind a bit of BLUR? Motorola’s got you covered, with the mid-range Bravo, low-end Flipside and budget Flipout you see immediately above. We spotted the trio of Android 2.1 devices at CTIA 2010 and had to give them a try, and though none really impressed they’ve got some interesting designs. You won’t hear us clapping for the $129 Bravo, as it’s basically a pared-down Defy — the same 3.7-inch WVGA slatephone, but with a fixed-focus three megapixel camera and without the ruggedized outsides.

Meanwhile, surfers, skaters and virtual keyboard haters could possibly enjoy the $80 Flipout and $100 Flipside. The former’s got the same sort of irresistible, pocketable style that made Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance SP an instant hit half a decade back, arguably even more so than its inspiration, though as you’d imagine the 2.8-inch QVGA screen and other Charm features leave much to be desired — it’s a painfully slow, low-res experience for those used to serious smartphones — and though the Flipside throws in a decent landscape keyboard and an HVGA screen, they don’t help much when it’s got the exact same silicon and yet another iffy three megapixel shooter inside. Still, the wonderful thing about the internet is that you can look before you buy, so feast your eyes in galleries below and videos after the break!

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading Motorola Bravo, Flipout and Flipside hands-on: hastily handled and summarily shot (video)

Motorola Bravo, Flipout and Flipside hands-on: hastily handled and summarily shot (video) originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps the worst, and least repairable, shortcoming of touchscreens is their failure to act as viable game controllers. Keyboard-equipped smartphones alleviate that pain a little (particularly if you pair them with a Game Gripper), but ultimately we’d all prefer real controllers for our real games. Such was clearly the thinking behind the homebrewed setup here, which combines an HTC EVO 4G — with Android and an NES emulator inside — with an Arduino board, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, and a classic NES control pad. The result might look like a mess of wires, but who cares when you can rock Super Mario 3 the way Nintendo surely intended?

Continue reading NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen enough home theater 3D already to be well and sick of it, but mobile 3D is still an upcoming sector, one which Sharp seems to be making a bid for. It’s showing off a mobile device prototype (it looks like it could be your friendly neighborhood carrier’s next Android handset) with a glasses-free 3D parallax screen (akin to the tech used in the Nintendo 3DS), a 3D camera around back, and 3D output over HDMI. The result isn’t stellar — just because a mobile device is shooting grainy, color-bleeding footage in 3D doesn’t make the footage stop being grainy and color-bleeding — but it most certainly works, as we witnessed both on the device’s own screen and on a regular glasses-required 3D TV the prototype was outputting to over HDMI. The 3.7-inch LCD rocks a 800 x 480 resolution in 2D mode, which gets halved to 400 x 480 in 3D, and Sharp is also showing of a 10-inch glasses free LCD that didn’t come off as so impressive somehow.

Sharp shows off mobile prototype with 3D screen, 3D camera, and 3D output originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Sony takes aim at iPhone gaming in new PSP ad

Sony takes aim at iPhone gaming in new PSP ad originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re sorry, but the Palm Pixi’s rendition of Need for Speed no longer impresses us — we’ve just seen John Carmack show off Rage for iPhone. While of course it looks nothing like the PC graphical monstrosity that swept the E3 Games Critics Awards, it’s safe to say the 60 frame-per-second tech demo at QuakeCon 2010 shoves the cell phone gaming envelope through a Juggernaut-class brick wall. Where Carmack originally called the iPhone “more powerful than a Nintendo DS and PSP combined,” the id Software co-founder is now aiming squarely at the likes of PS2 and Xbox with iPhone 4 hardware. Not impressive enough? He says it still “runs great on an original 2G iPhone” as well. VG247, who liveblogged the event, reports the title will be available in the App Store later this year for a relatively inexpensive price, with a second game available in time for the PC game’s 2011 launch. Sadly, there’s as of yet no plans for Android owners to get the same megatexturing goodness. Don’t miss the video after the break, because this screenshot doesn’t do it justice.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Carmack blows minds with id Software’s Rage, running on iPhone at 60fps with ‘megatextured’ graphics (video)

Carmack blows minds with id Software’s Rage, running on iPhone at 60fps with ‘megatextured’ graphics (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NTT DoCoMo looks to sell handheld game manufacturers on 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you don’t know the names yongzh and ZodTTD, you can certainly be forgiven, but they’re basically the cell phone emulation dream team — where the former has been cranking out high-quality Nintendo and Sega emulators for Android, the latter is the one who brought PSX to iPhone, iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre. Today, we hear they’re collaborating on a PSX emulator for Android that’s running faster than the 3GS version — before Froyo’s even factored into the equation — and that when his domination over the PSX is complete, ZodTTD intends to begin work on an Nintendo 64 emulator for Android, and then VLC. Without letting our enthusiasm get the better of us, let’s just say it’s an exciting time to be an Android owner, to say the least.

PlayStation emulator coming to Android, courtesy of yongzh and ZodTTD originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Thanks, Jonathan]

Wii Controller Demo brings your Wiimote and Android phone 2gether, 4ever originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last night’s bombshell news that Palm is allegedly looking for a buyer immediately got us thinking — who should it be? There are more than a few companies out there who’ve been caught up in the rumor mill over the years, so let’s take a look at a few of the big players, where they stand right now, and how they might benefit (if at all) from scooping up Sunnyvale’s finest. Read on!

Update: You wanted a poll, you got one.

View Poll

Continue reading Who should buy Palm?

Who should buy Palm? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no secret that Palm’s Hail Mary of 2009 — webOS and the launch of the Pre — hasn’t been the rousing success that the company so desperately needed. Profitability is a distant dream, Verizon isn’t giving the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus the marketing support they need to rise to the top, some analysts suggest that the cash in the bank is only enough to last for another year or so, and the choice of Sprint as a long-term exclusive launch partner continues to be a pesky monkey on the back. All of these realities have led Palm to become a near-constant source of takeover speculation in recent months. Name a company — any company — and odds are they’ve been caught up in a rumor at one point or another: Nokia, Dell, RIM, Microsoft, Google, Nintendo (yes, Nintendo), the list goes on. Of course, not all of these deals would make much strategic sense, and only one — if any — will ultimately happen.

For its part, Palm boss Jon Rubinstein is as adamant as ever that the company intends to remain independent and swing to profitability, and as best as we can tell, he’s still got financier Elevation Partners’ support in that quest. But let’s suspend reality for a moment and assume an acquisition does happen; who’d be the best fit? We like HTC — we like HTC a lot, in fact. Let’s take a look at why.

Continue reading Editorial: HTC and Palm should get hitched and make beautiful babies

Editorial: HTC and Palm should get hitched and make beautiful babies originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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