Nokia will be allowed to customize every part of Windows Phone 7

In a bit of an about-turn, Microsoft will allow Nokia to "customize everything" in Windows Phone 7 in order to both differentiate it from handsets made by current WP7 OEMs, such as HTC and Samsung, and presumably to ensure smooth integration with Nokia's existing services.

Microsoft had, until now, kept a draconian grip on the look and feel of Windows Phone 7. In fact, other than being allowed to customize a couple of tiles on the home screen, OEMs aren't allowed to change anything on WP7! This change not only means that we'll see distinctively unique Nokia-Microsoft phones, but also that Nokia will retain more of its identity than just an embossed logo on its handsets.

The big question, though, is whether this represents an exclusive deal for Nokia, or a complete shift in Microsoft's WP7 strategy. You can be sure, however, that HTC, who was forbidden from installing its Sense UI on its WP7 phones, will be quick to question Microsoft's new stance.

Nokia will be allowed to customize every part of Windows Phone 7 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/11/nokia-will-be-allowed-to-customize-every-part-of-windows-phone-7/

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Samsung Galaxy S II gets very preliminary, expensive UK pricing

Don't go jumping off the Android sailboat just yet, these are very early numbers, but the Samsung Galaxy S II has been priced by a couple of UK retailers and the category they've placed it in is the distinctly high end. Expansys is listing £630 ($1,020) for the Gingerbread-sporting unlocked handset, while Play.com has it at £600 ($971) and is promising a March 31st release date. Even if you're zany enough to put the cash up for a pre-order today, do take note that Play was showing the cost at £650 (with £670 RRP) only yesterday, so pricing still seems to be fluctuating and finding its sweet spot. Whatever happens, with such a high starting point, we doubt the S II's price will be its most attractive attribute at launch.

Samsung Galaxy S II gets very preliminary, expensive UK pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GSM Arena, Phandroid  |  sourcePlay.com, Expansys  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/vzjzDeAQmcs/

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Windows Phone 7 coming to Verizon in March, starting with HTC 7 Trophy?

With Sprint starting up its Windows Phone 7 adventure on March 20th with the HTC Arrive, Verizon is now said to be matching its CDMA competitor with its own offering, the HTC 7 Trophy. We already knew this particular handset would be coming to this particular network in "early 2011," but now WinRumors has narrowed that down to a launch at some point in late March. Verizon's announcement is expected as early as February 28th, this coming Monday, and we're hearing the NoDo update -- the one with copy and paste -- should be preloaded on the device from the start. Should this solid-sounding rumor bear out as foretold, Microsoft should finally be on all US carriers by the start of April.

[Thanks, Mike]

Windows Phone 7 coming to Verizon in March, starting with HTC 7 Trophy? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  sourceWinRumors  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IiqMTPwAc4s/

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A Cheetah-Inspired Robo-Beast and a Headless Terminator [Robots]

Remember Boston Dynamics, the company responsible for the oh-so-creepy BigDog robot? Well they're still at it, except now they're working on a cheetah-like robot (called Cheetah) that can chase us down like prey, and a humanoid, bipedal robot that looks like the Terminator crossed with the Headless Horseman. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/teSMKSdvzMU/our-new-robot-overlords-a-cheetah+inspired-robo+beast-and-a-headless-terminator

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Google makes rich richer, poor poorer in search results

If you've been paying attention to the state of search as of late, you'll know that Google's between a proverbial rock and hard place right now. Some individuals and companies claim Mountain View's beloved search engine is losing to the spammers, squatters, scrapers and content farms by failing to weed them from the system -- though you can now do that on your own -- while others say it's squashing the little guy by unfairly downranking competitors in search results. We're not sure if either is truly the case, the company's made a mildly controversial move this week: it's tweaked the search algorithms to "reduce rankings for low-quality sites," and "provide better rankings for high-quality" ones. As ever, Mountain View's not talking about what that change mathematically entails, though it says about 11.8 percent of queries will be affected as a result. In short: some will be happy, some sad, some angry, and many won't notice at all.

Google makes rich richer, poor poorer in search results originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/25/google-makes-rich-richer-poor-poorer-in-search-results/

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CrunchGear Week in Review: Happy Valentine Edition

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: Powertrekk Fuel Cell Charges USB Powered Devices Hybrid Table-Lamp Is? Practical CrunchGear?s Valentine?s Day Gift Guide: Gifts For Girls Video: Esper Contactless Dominoes ?Reality Touchscreen? Is 10 Meters Long, Accepts 100 Touch Inputs

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/02/14/week-in-review-happy-valentine/

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10 Chrome extensions and Web apps for new users

Chrome extensions logoIt might only be a couple of years old and its extension interface might not be quite as powerful as Firefox's, but in terms of developers, big-name publishers, and sheer numbers, Chrome already has a very healthy ecosystem of add-ons.

When you factor in Chrome's exclusive selection of Web apps, it's even possible to say that Chrome has a wider variety of extensions -- or at least until Mozilla launches its Open Web Apps later in the year.

Still, as always, the problem with add-ons is finding the right ones. You have thousands of add-ons to choose from, and only a handful that are actually worth using. First-time users haven't got a snowball's chance -- unless they read this list of must-have extensions!

But this list of extensions is for converts, too. With massive defections from Internet Explorer and Firefox, Chrome has grown from just a few million users in 2009 to over 120 million at the start of 2011. Firefox users will be especially pleased to find almost every add-on has a comparable extension -- and IE users... well, they'll just be glad to have any extensions at all.

Whether you are looking for helpers or shortcuts, or full-blown Web apps, you will be pleasantly surprised with the variety and power of Chrome's extensions.

Continue reading 10+ Chrome extensions and Web apps for new users

10+ Chrome extensions and Web apps for new users originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/22/10-chrome-extensions-and-web-apps-for-new-users/

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PSP Price Drops To $130 On Sunday [Price Drop]

New PSPs will cost $129.99 starting on Sunday, February 27, according to a Sony press release issued this morning. That cuts $40 from the system's current list price. Considering buying a PSP now? Check out our PSP buyer's guide. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/dTAI01kOqxg/psp-price-drops-to-130-on-sunday

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Firefox 4's best restartless add-ons

Unless you've been sleeping under a rock, or in a tent outside the Googleplex with an "I LOVE SCHMIDT" banner, you hopefully know that Firefox 4 supports restartless add-ons, or in developerese: bootstrapped extensions.

Unfortunately, however, the process of converting an existing add-on into a restartless wonder is far from simple. A few months ago, back when the Firefox 4 beta machine really got into the swing of things, the developer of the world's most popular add-on, Adblock Plus, described his laborious and infuriating attempt at making his add-on restartless -- and today, just a few days away from the final Firefox beta, there still isn't a single big-name restartless add-on to be found.

On the flip side, writing new restartless add-ons is a little easier. Uptake amongst developers still seems to be very slow, though. Add-ons for Firefox (AMO) only has about 80 add-ons tagged with 'restartless', and even less with the restartless add-on's SDK, 'jetpack'.

Then, of course, only a few of those add-ons are actually worth using! Read on for our pick of the best Firefox 4 restartless add-ons.

Continue reading Firefox 4's best restartless add-ons

Firefox 4's best restartless add-ons originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/18/firefox-4-best-restartless-add-ons/

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Firefox 4 beta 5 for mobile released, available on Android, N900, your computer

Tired of using the default browser on your smart phone to browse Engadget? Got a thing for Firefox? Great, 'cause Mozilla just pushed out the fifth beta of Firefox 4 for mobile. You might be familiar with the on-the-go version of Mozilla's creation, but if not, here's your chance to grab the latest (and probably) the most stable build to date. In addition to the Android and Maemo version, the company has released a Fennec build for use on Windows, OS X and Linux.

We tinkered with the OS X build of the browser on our Macbook Pro and although pages appear to render quickly, we can't quite figure out how to navigate backwards. You can pinch-to-zoom with the trackpad and scroll with the d-pad, but once you've loaded a page, it seems you need to be on a mobile device do any further navigation. Of course, as you'll see in the gallery below, the beta comes packed with the usual -- preferences, downloads, add-ons, bookmarks and Firefox Sync. If you want to give the software a whirl, hit the source link to grab the build of your choice.

Firefox 4 beta 5 for mobile released, available on Android, N900, your computer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Download Squad  |  sourceMozilla  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/25/firefox-4-beta-5-for-mobile-released-available-on-android-n900/

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