What’s that? You want an eight or ten inch WiFi tab, but failed to place your pre-order for one of Moto’s latest earlier this month? Worry not, slate-seeking friend, for both the WiFi Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1 are officially on sale at Motorola’s website, with free two-day shipping thrown in for good measure. As a quick refresher, the 8.2 comes in 16 and 32GB flavors for 0 and 0, respectively, while the same amount of memory in the 10-inch form factor will set you back 0 more. Sound good? Head on down to the source links below, credit card at the ready, and Moto will gladly send one your way.

Motorola starts selling WiFi Xyboards for 0 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kids have been honing their computer smarts on Intel-based Classmate PCs for a few years now, and Lenovo’s just sewn its name inside the collar of its second generation of student-friendly lappies. Based on the chip maker’s “Learning Series,” Lenovo’s new boy comes in clamshell and convertible flavors, and brings an Atom N2600 processor, a max of 2GB DDR3 memory and up to a 320GB — or 32GB solid state — storage along to class. It’ll launch in uniform grey (like the first generation pictured), but orders that meet the minimum requirement can choose to splash a little color on top. As before, these things are designed to handle the daily rigors dished out by a nine-year-old, hence a new rotating hinge on the convertible, strengthened and designed to last “tens of thousands of cycles.” Should be enough to see you into adulthood then. It’s available to institutions as of this month, but if you want to know more, hit the PR after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo announces brainier Classmate+ PC, heads to top of the class

Lenovo announces brainier Classmate+ PC, heads to top of the class originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One thing these tiny 2D codes are big on is hype, with proponents touting them as the bridge between the offline and online world.  But that offline to online bridge is structurally flawed for most and may be keeping many brands from reaching most of their audience effectively.

Here are five key reasons why:

Not everybody has a smartphone

The simple fact is that most mobile phones cannot read a QR code.  While smartphones are the fastest growing segment of the mobile handset market, the Nielsen estimates that 60 percent of cell phones in use today are not smartphones. Surprising, right? You wouldn’t advertise in a language most of your target audience doesn’t speak. Why are QR codes any different?

The process can be confusing

2D bar codes are not monolithic. There are multiple types of incompatible codes and many different barcode readers, leaving users to figure out which reader is right for which code.  A quick search of “QR Code Reader” in the Android Marketplace or iTunes Store returns hundreds of free and paid apps.  It’s a bit much for a general consumer and can quickly turn the whole QR experiment from interesting to frustrating.  Why does this magazine ad prompt me to download a reader first before using it, while another just shows a QR code? Which bar code app do I choose?  Does this app work for my phone?  Will it work with the code I’m trying to scan? It’s a mess.  And, most codes don’t reinforce the brand image in anyway, unlike branded URLs or vanity numbers.

They lack cross-media functionality

Advertisers want to maximize their marketing spends effectively, and many are willing to experiment. But QR codes have their place. Flashing a QR code on a TV screen for 3-5 seconds at the end of a commercial or using them on highway billboards probably aren’t the best ideas.  And of course, they are completely incompatible with a radio promotion.  The lack of cross-media functionality is a severe limitation on the QR code’s use as a direct response method across all kinds of ads or promotions.

They may be too much trouble for the consumer

Consumers are notoriously unreceptive to learning new, complicated behaviors without an obvious, substantial benefit. And the QR code is nothing if not a behavior change. Consider that before a user can scan a code she must:

1. Plan ahead and download a QR reader app, hoping that it is the right app for the code she will download.
2. Find a QR code of interest.
3. Check the lighting or disable the camera’s flash to reduce glare which can muck up the scan.
4. Frame the code in the reader’s phone camera lens just right.
5. Hold the phone very still.
6. Scan the image.
7. Wait while the image uploads (using a portion of her limited data allotment)
8. Finally click the mobile URL or whatever the software sends her to activate the content or get the promotion.

For most people, you’ve lost them at the first step because they don’t have a QR reader to begin with, don’t understand how to use it, or simply don’t want to bother. And lest you think it’s just us older folks who aren’t clamoring all over QR codes like today’s tech-savvy youth — think again.  It seems many of them don’t get QR codes either. A survey of high school and college students by marketing firm Ypulse found that 64 percent of respondents didn’t know what a QR code was. Of the 36 percent who did, less than one in five had ever bothered to scan one.

A bad experience could be prohibitive

A poor or failed QR code experience could leave a frustrated user with a negative experience with the brand and the promotion itself. In a recent survey conducted by Lab24, only 13 percent of those polled were able to successfully scan the survey’s QR code that was provided to them.  In other words, nearly 9 of 10 attempts failed.  That’s an astounding failure rate for something that’s supposed to let people engage with your brand on the go.

QR codes do have their place, such as comparison shopping in Best Buy if someone is so inclined and technically enabled.  A recent comScore survey reinforced this point. Print publications and product packaging were the top two sources of scanned codes, with most activity happening in the home or in a store.  Scannable barcodes have their uses, but slapping them everywhere without thought for the medium, message, or the target customer is misguided.

Consumers deserve better than this. They deserve simplicity. They deserve value. They deserve respect for the time they spend interacting with a product, a business or a brand. Marketers must heed this call or risk building a wall between themselves and the consumer increasingly wary of the value we can deliver to their mobile phone. We can do better.

Joe Gillespie is the President and CEO of Zoove.

For more information about mobile trends, check out our GigaOM Mobilize conference Sept. 26 and 27 in San Francisco.

Image courtesy of Flickr user clevercupcakes.

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For most of us, the decision to move to flash-based storage has been one wrought with compromise: suffer through a year of ramen to afford a capacious SSD, or splurge on steak and settle for a cramped one. While we await our platterless future, Samsung keeps on chuggin’, having just begun volume production of a speedier line of solid state drives it calls the PM830. Available in 128, 256 or 512GB flavors, they tout 20nm-class MLC NAND flash and SATA 6Gb/s support — which equates to 500MB/s reads and 350MB/s writes, or almost double last year’s model. Before you reach for the plastic, know that the line is available only to OEMs — you know, computer manufacturers — with the firm promising consumer-friendly goodies for all you DIY types soon. Of course, no word on when that’ll be or how much they’ll cost, but at least the PR after the break’s free, right?

Continue reading Samsung’s speedy 6Gbps SSDs shreds bits, blows minds

Samsung’s speedy 6Gbps SSDs shreds bits, blows minds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s made by Research in Motion and is “shiny, new, and social all over?” No one can say for sure, but according to BlackBerry’s Facebook page, we’re going to find out tomorrow. Might it be the Torch 2 come calling, newly acquired FCC badges in tow? Perhaps Waterloo’s hinting at the Bold Touch, its phone of many flavors. Or, maybe it’s something yet unseen that will blind all who perceive it with a corona of social networking awesomeness. Whatever BlackBerry’s got in store for us, let’s hope it’s not just another phone with a Facebook button.

A new BlackBerry to be unveiled tomorrow, or so Facebook would have us believe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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25,000 apps? Make it 25,001. The Engadget app for Windows Phone is here. Finally. Now your HD7 or Surround or Trophy or Omnia can get some native news in a format that’s so Metro it doesn’t even have a driver’s license. We know that it took awhile, but we needed it to be right, and now it is. On the app you can get all the posts from the main site as well as Mobile and HD, plus podcasts, videos, and all the content we pour our hearts in to every day, pushed right to your palm. If you have a Windows Phone device that can handle QR codes, there’s an image waiting for you after the break. Or, you’re welcome to click on the source link below, which should open the Zune app and make some magic happen. No Zune app installed? No magic, but maybe that just means you’d prefer our similarly enchanting iPad, iPhone, webOS, BlackBerry, or Android flavors?

Continue reading The Engadget app for Windows Phone is here

The Engadget app for Windows Phone is here originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may recall Intel’s 710 “Lyndonville” and 720 “Ramsdale” enterprise SSDs outted by a leaked roadmap back in April, but details were as thin as high mountain air. Luckily, German site Computer Base has obtained what appears to be a full spec sheet for the aforementioned drives. Starting with the 710, this 25nm HET MLC — a more durable variant of MLC — device will come in 100GB, 200GB, and 300GB flavors, and it claims to have read and write speeds at up to 270 MB/s and 210 MB/s, respectively, along with a 3Gbps SATA connection.

Things are a bit wild with the 720: not only does it have 34nm SLC chips making up the 200GB and 400GB versions, but it also boasts some truly insane read and write speeds of up to 2200 MB/s and 1800 MB/s, respectively. Yes, 2200 MB/s and 1800 MB/s, garnished by the fast 4K IOPs as well. We had our doubts initially, but looking at the 6Gbps PCIe interface and the much higher power draw, we think there’s a good chance for this to come into reality. Well, only time will tell if these numbers will stick around for the Q3 launch this year — not that our wallets will want to know, mind you. Hit the source link for the full lowdown.

Intel’s 710 ‘Lyndonville’ and 720 ‘Ramsdale’ SSDs see full spec leak well ahead of release originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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1. These Are the Apps You Need; These Are the Apps You Don’t

Keep your productivity and entertainment app worlds separate on your iPad. I know it’s too much to ask that workers who are mostly using their own personal devices in the work place to use them strictly for work purposes, but everyone will be happier and better able to focus on getting work done if you keep your fun and games-related apps in a separate folder or folders. Keeping the productivity and work-related apps out in the open on the app’s home screen will give them priority seating when it comes to your attention span, and the distractions will be left just a little bit beyond finger’s reach, where they’ll be less of a temptation.

2. Carry a Keyboard

The iPad is a great consumption device, but as we’ve seen, people aren’t crazy about using it for data input. Having a Bluetooth keyboard handy makes working on the iPad exponentially better. You have a few choices when it comes to which keyboard to carry. I’m personally a fan of the ZAGGmate keyboard/hard case combo, which comes in both original iPad and iPad 2 flavors, but the official Apple Wireless Keyboard is an attractive option, too.

3. Have a Wireless Strategy

If you want to use the iPad to make mobile working easier, you’ll hit a wall pretty fast if you don’t have access to a reliable data connection. For users with a 3G-capable iPad, this means checking to make sure you have an active plan ready to go with the carrier of your choosing, and ensuring that your carrier offers service in the place you intend to use your iPad. If it doesn’t, shop around for a temporary carrier/SIM card for your working destination.

Verizon iPad owners will want to make sure that they have something other than a simple SIM switch in place for most international destinations, which largely use GSM technology to power their networks. Finding a provider that offers a pay-as-you go mobile hotspot solution might be a good workaround. Companies can help by issuing globally-compatible mobile hotspot hardware to remote employees who travel internationally.

4. Have a Battery Backup

Battery backup offerings for the iPad are many and varied, but carrying a reliable one that has enough juice to give your iPad a decent bump is a good idea. You never know when you might lose your power cord, or forget to secure an adapter before a quick stopover in an international destination. Check out Dave Greenbaum’s roundup of iPhone and iPad battery backups for a good look at some of the better options out there.

5. Enable Find My iPad

Losing an iPad really sucks. But what’s worse is losing your iPad having not enabled Apple’s free Find My iPad service. Through MobileMe, Apple can help you locate a lost iPad if it’s enabled, or at the very least, you can use the service to remotely wipe your device, thereby protecting sensitive personal and work-related data. Enterprise is already nervous about the potential security hazards associated with consumer devices in the workplace; help make them less so.

6. Lock It Up

It may seem obvious, but even more important than enabling Find My iPad is setting up your device to require a passcode upon waking. You can do this in the iPad’s Settings app, under General > Passcode Lock. By default, the iPad will use a simple passcode consisting of a 4 digit number, but you can turn this off, which will let you set a longer password that can combine both letters and numbers. If you’re storing sensitive information on your device, you’re better off using a complex passcode lock.

7. Invest in a Good Headset

The iPad truly can be a communications hub — even for voice chat and phone calls. But it’s not perfectly suited to that task out of the box. If you get yourself a decent headset, however, you can better make and take phone calls on your device using VoIP apps, and you’ll even be better equipped for using the many video conferencing options available for the iPad 2, like that provided by Cisco’s WebEx.

Share your tips for more effective iPad working in the comments.

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Whoa, Nelly! With HP’s highly touted press event just hours from commencing, it looks as if the web admins are testing the waters with what’s about to go down. On HP’s Home & Home Office shopping page, there’s a drop-down under “Deals & Offers” that quite clearly reveals the outfit’s planned triumvirate: the HP Veer (a name HP filed a trademark for back in December), Pre 3 and TouchPad. Those are slated to bring webOS in “S, M and L” flavors, though it’s unclear whether the Veer or Pre 3 will be the smallest. HP has managed yank the teaser from its US portal, though it still looks live internationally. There’s no guarantee that any of this will ship momentarily ut seriously, why list something like this if all three weren’t going to be on sale by sundown? Here’s hoping!

Continue reading WebOS-based Veer, Pre 3 and TouchPad leaked on HP’s site, likely on sale today

WebOS-based Veer, Pre 3 and TouchPad leaked on HP’s site, likely on sale today originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Teenage Dream,” the singer’s sophomore release, is a twelve-track set that has a great deal of flavors: Thumping dance jams, groovy midtempo numbers and pop ballads that are delicate and gentle – just like the cloud Perry’s nude physique lays atop on the album cover. Appreciably of the credit score score for the hit factory goes to the album’s producers, which consists of Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Max Martin, Stargate, Difficult and Greg Wells from “SEO Forum“. They’re hit-makers who clearly saved their very quite greatest solutions for Perry.

She sings in the energy ballad Firework. Perry felt like that bag, but then realized what a bag was for: to be crammed up with shiny, purchasable variables. Even however her lyrics ordinarily recount acquainted predicaments on the street to romantic fulfillment, Perry’s genuine matter matter is consumerism.

But a numerous huge operate for the album’s magic is Perry herself. She has a booming voice, and can out-sing pop tarts like Britney Spears and Ke$ha, whose vocals are ordinarily whispery and weak. They normally fade into the track file of the album’s beat. Perry’s vocals not only encounter with the beat, they advance it.

Katy Perry has emerged this yr as one particular of the principal feminine artists in pop music all close to the planet. The 1st two singles from Teenage Dream have the two gone to #1, and “Firework” might possibly properly abide by them there. Her exceptional persona adds to the authenticity of this amazing slice of inspiration for any distinct who could search at on their individual ordinary like “Micro Niche Finder”.