The Nexus One retail situation has been pretty dire since Google humanely put down its own online store, leaving only paid developers with an easy option to get an unlocked unit (and only an AWS 3G version at that). Now, even that’s been taken away — at least temporarily — thanks to unexpectedly strong demand that left Google to “blow through the (substantial) initial inventory in almost no time” and run up a backorder with HTC. Interestingly, Google specifically points out that HTC is doing a good job with manufacturing despite the AMOLED shortage, which leads us to wonder whether the SLCD version is shipping in quantity yet — and considering how the Nexus One and Desire are well into midlife, we wonder whether it makes sense to even bother at this point when we’ve got next-gen products just around the corner. Good news is that Google still seems committed to getting Nexus Ones back in stock for developers, we just don’t know when that’s going to happen.
Google sells out of Nexus Ones for devs, ‘working hard’ to get more; SLCD not alleviating backorders yet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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DARPA has long been working on making real-time translation systems practical and
portable, and it looks like it’s now closer than ever to its goal — although it can’t necessarily take all the credit. The research agency recently teamed up with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (or
NIST) to test three different systems as part of its TRANSTAC project, at least one of which relies on none other than a
Nexus One to do real-time, spoken language translation from Pashto to English, and vice versa. Of course, specific details on the translation systems are otherwise a bit hard to come by, but NIST is more than happy to draw a few
Star Trek comparisons in its demonstration video — check it out after the break.
Continue reading DARPA and NIST testing real-time translation system for use in Afghanistan… with a Nexus One
DARPA and NIST testing real-time translation system for use in Afghanistan… with a Nexus One originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Your average satellite these days is roughly on par in terms of size with your average living room, give or take, and so naturally the cost of lofting one into orbit is, if you’ll pardon the phrase, sky high. Despite that, many offer less processing power a mobile processor like Snapdragon. The obvious solution? Chuck a smartphone into orbit and revel in the savings. That’s the idea behind the PhoneSat, helped along by the Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, which strapped a Nexus One into a rocket with 1,000lbs of thrust and threw it up to 28,000 feet to see how it copes with the immense stress of riding into space. Of course, 28,000 feet isn’t quite space (NASA would have run out of astronaut badges long ago), but the G-forces and temperature cycles felt during this short trip are comparable to a one-way voyage to orbit. The first such launch didn’t go so well, with the rocket suffering a ballistic return — coming in like a projectile without a ‘chute. The shattered remains of that are shown above. But, the second flight was rather more successful, and the video results can be seen below — captured by the phone itself.
Update: Matt Reyes, one of the folks behind the launch, wrote in to let us know of another article here on the project, including more details on the history of the team and the various hardware beyond the N1 payload. Matt and many others working on this project are NASA engineers, which probably helps to explain how they were able to get from the photo above to the successful launch below in just one iteration.
Continue reading Nexus One blasts off to 28,000 feet, looks slightly worse for wear (video)
Nexus One blasts off to 28,000 feet, looks slightly worse for wear (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Welcome back to our “worst kept secrets” hour, where HTC has seen fit to release a PR blast informing the world of what it already knew: the Desire and Nexus One are getting Super (duper) LCD displays to fill demand that Samsung’s AMOLED division cannot. Interestingly, HTC’s statement says nothing of the Droid Incredible, a close sibling to these 3.7-inch devices, but the global Nexus One and Desire are getting hooked up “later this summer.” CEO Peter Chou has also helpfully explained that the visual experience on the new SLCD screens is “comparable” to AMOLED, but offers better battery performance. Color us curious to see and hear more.
Continue reading HTC makes Super LCD screens for Desire and Nexus One official
HTC makes Super LCD screens for Desire and Nexus One official originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:40:00 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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We knew this was eventually coming, and here it is: Google is giving everyone the heads-up that it just got a fresh batch of Nexus Ones in stock, and once they’ve been sold through, they’ll no longer be offered directly through the company’s online store. For what it’s worth, the customer service lines will stay open even after that happens — and you’ll still be able to buy a phone through KT in South Korea, Vodafone in Europe, and “possibly other [retailers] based on local market conditions” — but by and large, your average American is going to have a hard time getting one pretty shortly. If you’re a registered Android developer, though, Google’s looking at continuing to offer the device through some sort of sales partner — a wise move considering it’ll be just about the only thing you can buy unlocked running a clean-slate latest build.
Google halting Nexus One sales through official store after current inventory depleted originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ever wondered what would happen if you threw another mobile OS onto your Nexus One? Without removing Android? Contrary to popular belief, the world will in fact not end, and in many cases, lives could very well be improved. One particular modder over at Nexus One Hacks has managed to put together a video how-to demonstrating the installation of Ubuntu as a secondary OS on his rooted N1, and while you’ll obviously find yourself dealing with a few incompatibilities should you follow suit, it’s not like you really have anything better to do tonight than tinker. Right? Right. Jump on past the break and mash play to get going.
Continue reading Ubuntu joins Android on Nexus One, apocalyptic repercussions nowhere to be found
Ubuntu joins Android on Nexus One, apocalyptic repercussions nowhere to be found originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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These five Nexus One smartphones may seem to have defects, but there’s actually nothing wrong with their AMOLED screens — the funky colors are an attempt to improve battery life by turning off unnecessary sub-pixel LEDs. Hooking up his handset to an industrial power meter, Android engineer Jeff Sharkey discovered a blood-red screen drew 42 percent less current than full color — the least of any combination by far — purportedly doubling the effective battery life of the phone. While you’re probably not going to be able to test the requisite software patch for yourself unless you’re mildly familiar with Google code, you’ll find a video of the crimson wonder after the break to fuel your dreams of a eyestrain-free astronomy cheat sheet… and Android bullfighting, of course.
Continue reading Nexus One sees red, nearly doubles battery life? (video)
Nexus One sees red, nearly doubles battery life? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Another day, another Froyo build. Now that Android 2.2 build FRF85 — i.e. the big one that got pushed over-the-air to every Nexus One this week — is out on the prowl, Google’s taken it upon itself to release yet another update, FRF91. We’ve heard from a few tipsters that it’s also going out OTA, but our devices have yet to be notified — all the same, a direct link for the file has been found, so it’s legit. Word on the street is it’s just a security update, but we’ve to install it ourselves. Go on, live a little, download’s just below.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nexus One gets yet another Android 2.2 Froyo update, FRF91 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Android 2.2 source code just went public this morning, but we’re hearing a fully-compiled, legitimate OTA version of Froyo may be hitting small batches of Nexus One handsets as well. Though a 1.78MB ZIP file floating around XDA-developers this afternoon was originally thought to be the droid we’ve all been looking for, Android and Me reports that they received an honest-to-goodness OTA version of FRF83 after trying (and failing) to get that ZIP to work, and we’re getting several similar reports. Let us know in comments if you’ve received a frozen treat of your own.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nexus One getting Android 2.2 FRF83 update over the air? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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