The pool of choices for WiMAX hotspots continues to expand, and thanks to the FCC, we now know of another up-and-comer. The Rover Puck — trademarked by Clearwire and previously unheard of — joins the ranks Sprint’s Overdrive and its various rebrandings by providing pocketable 4G WiFi service. Unlike its predecessors, however, we finally have a new, more aerodynamic form factor. There isn’t much to the glean from the user manual at this point, and the oft-referenced Rover website still isn’t live — a WHOIS lookup reveals it was last updated via GoDaddy on July 2008 with no other details disclosed. So, until we get some word from the official news pipelines, a plethora of external / internal photos and user manual screenshots are only a mouseclick away.

Rover Puck WiMAX hotspot gets FCC’d, traction on ice subject of fierce debate originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/rover-puck-wimax-hotspot-gets-fccd-traction-on-ice-subject-of/

A trio of Apple filings seek to patent mobile-application “systems and methods” for travel and online shopping — and to move us three steps closer to a Google-free world.…

Full published article at: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/31/apple_mobile_patents/

Microsoft is so committed to the cloud that it’s throwing everything at rivals like Google to crack open the door on sales and gain momentum online.…

Full published article at: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/31/microsoft_gmail_kill_bonus/

It’s taken quite a bit of chasing (and Kmart stalking) this week to score Augen’s $150 Gentouch Android tablet, but lo’ and behold, the gadget is now in its rightful home… our home! We don’t need to tell you that we ferociously ripped open the box to finally see how the Android 2.1 tablet performs, test out its touchscreen and see if it actually has access to app stores (unlike Augen’s smartbook which we toyed with earlier this week). We’re assuming you’re just as eager to find out the answers to those questions, so hit that read more button for some early impressions as well as a hands-on video.

Continue reading Augen Gentouch 78 preview

Augen Gentouch 78 preview originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/augen-gentouch-78-preview/

Apple’s Magic Trackpad isn’t the first of its kind — in fact, Wacom has been playing this game for awhile — but it’s the first of its kind from the cats in Cupertino, so obviously people take notice. The premise of such a device is stupidly simple: it’s a laptop trackpad that lives on your desktop. Over the past few years, there have been rumors that Steve Jobs has his sights set on eliminating buttons from Apple products altogether, and this certainly feels like the next step in the plan. But does it make sense? Is this an improvement over standard input devices like a mouse or trackball? More importantly, in the age of iPads and netbooks, does anyone even need an external input device like this? We’re going to try and answer those questions (and more), so read on for our full review!

Continue reading Magic Trackpad review

Magic Trackpad review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/apple-magic-trackpad-review/

Like we said, you don’t have to wait until August 3rd to get your Android 2.2 Froyo update for the EVO 4G. You can grab the update file right now from HTC’s servers (via source link). All you gotta do then is move the file to the root directory of your SD card, boot the phone into recovery mode (hold the “up” button while the phone is turning on), and select apply update from the associated .zip file — you might also have to rename the file “update.zip” and expect a few other variations in the instructions, user depending. Too much thought process for Friday evening? Feel free to take a crack at it tomorrow, or simply wait for Sprint to give your phone the head’s up next week.

Update: HTC just shot us a message to clarify that this is not the final ROM version and that the company is strongly recommending not to install this. Additionally, a request has been put in to remove the file from the server, so if you still want to try at your own risk, better download now while it’s still available.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

EVO 4G’s Froyo firmware now available for download, manual installation (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/evo-4gs-froyo-firmware-now-available-for-download-manual-insta/

Like we said, you don’t have to wait until August 3rd to get your Android 2.2 Froyo update for the EVO 4G. You can grab the update file right now from HTC’s servers (via source link). All you gotta do then is move the file to the root directory of your SD card, boot the phone into recovery mode (hold the “up” button while the phone is turning on), and select apply update from the associated .zip file. Too much thought process for Friday evening? Feel free to take a crack at it tomorrow, or simply wait for Sprint to give your phone the head’s up next week.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

EVO 4G’s Froyo firmware now available for download, manual installation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/evo-4gs-froyo-firmware-now-available-for-download-manual-insta/

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is preparing to launch an iPad competitor in November, and it will be called the BlackPad, according to a report citing two people familiar with the company’s plans.…

Full published article at: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/30/rim_blackpad/

We tend to go into full-on conjecture mode when we see an interesting FCC filing, but our instincts haven’t let us down in the past, so allow us to throw something out on the table. A new Motorola just hit the feds with 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA on the 850 and 1900MHz bands, quadband EDGE, WiFi, Bluetooth, AGPS, and a digital compass. In other words, this is definitely an Android set, and it could definitely work on AT&T. The Backflip’s already looking plenty long in the tooth, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Moto fire its second Google-powered volley on AT&T before too long — it’s certainly been doing its duties on Verizon (and to a lesser extent, T-Mobile) after all. Any thoughts on what wild form factor this one might be?

Motorola Sage: AT&T’s next Android phone? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/motorola-sage-atandts-next-android-phone/

We’ve just been dropped a brief note from Verizon that the original Droid will be getting the full Froyo treatment at some point next week. Considering the brevity of the announcement, it’s entirely possible that this was thrown together in response to Sprint’s EVO news — but who cares? The more Android 2.2, the better, right? No official word on other Droid variants — most of which are likely going to see Froyo updates soon — but we’ll be keeping our ears firmly planted to the ground.

Motorola Droid getting Android 2.2 next week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full published article at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/motorola-droid-getting-android-2-2-next-week/