Verizon's Touch Diamond in the wild

"Better late than never," so they say. Perhaps -- but with Sprint's version of this in the rear view mirror for half a year now, just how relevant is a Touch Diamond on Verizon these days? Odds are we'll find out next month -- or, at least, that's where the latest rumors have it lined up for launch -- but in the meantime, we've got one floating around in the wilds looking pretty much like any other Touch Diamond you've seen in the past. Like its Touch Pro, it seems Verizon went ahead and nerfed the Diamond's memory down to 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM (why is anybody's guess), which only serves to reinforce our concerns that this thing is being launched months too late. We love you HTC, seriously -- but with the Omnia at $99 on contract right now, we're not exactly seeing the line starting to form at 8PM the night before release, if you know what we're saying.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Verizon's Touch Diamond in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

[via] Engadget

The Netherlands goes open-source in 2008

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

April 2008. That's the date when the notoriously progressive Dutch government goes open source. The plan was approved unanimously yesterday in a meeting of two parliamentary commissions. The policy dictates that government organizations at the national level must be ready to save documents in the Open Document Format (ODF) by April, and the state and local level by 2009. Use of proprietary software and file formats from the likes of Microsoft will have to be justified under the new policy. The government expects to save $8.8 million a year on city housing registers alone by making the switch. Tough week, eh Microsoft? You'll have to get your OpenDocument plug-ins for MS Office ISO approved on the quick if you want to avoid further trouble.

 

[via] Engadget

DIY hand-based 3D input

Filed under: Peripherals

If you've ever felt the burning desire to give your index finger a little more prominence in your day-to-day computing exercises, here's your chance. A DIY'er has combined an IR-based, homemade tracking system with a piece of software that he's coded which can translate the IR data into 3D navigation. So far, the system can track the movement of two hands using six individual points (we assume one per axis, per hand). Details are scarce on the project right now, but the prospect of manipulating onscreen images or spaces in three dimensions with a cheap and simple solution is definitely enticing. Check the video after the break to see a finger in action.

Continue reading DIY hand-based 3D input

 

[via] Engadget

Quanta shipping only 10,000 OLPC XO's per month? Try 100k

Filed under: Laptops

Something doesn't add up. Either the Economic Daily News has bad manufacturing numbers or OLPC's claims of $2 Million worth of "donations" each day (more than 10,000 XOs per day!) under the $399 G1G1 program are highly exaggerated. The Chinese-language report says that Quanta expects to ship 15,000 XOs in all of December and only around 8-10k units each month into the future. This according to the paper's "component maker" sources. Of course, OLPC could be multi-sourcing laptops from Foxconn, Compal, or some other Guangdong Province factory -- though that would be news to us. Regardless, with 15,000 XOs heading to Alabama, 260,000 heading to Peru, and countless others in the queue from G1G1, well, our children might be waiting a long, long time for delivery.

Update: According to reader Hao, DigiTimes incorrectly translated the production quantity. EDN is reporting 150,000 XOs shipping in December, then 80k to 100k each month thereafter. That certainly sounds more reasonable. Here's the EDN piece. Thanks Hao!

 

[via] Engadget

O'Neill's GPS NavJacket with integrated display and audio

Filed under: GPS, Wearables

Ever get lost in a euphoric off-piste blaze of snow and emotion only to emerge truly lost somewhere on the mountain? Good, the NavJacket is for you. The GPS equipped jacket from O'Neill is the result of a partnership with MyGuide. The Gore-Tex jacket features integrated audio in the hood and a display in the sleeve which shows your speed, updated weather forecasts, and time and distance to après-ski. A "friend finder" function helps track your new "friends" long after the slobbering begins. All the important tech bits about communication, controls, and that flexible display (not to mention the price!) are still missing. No worries, it's not due for another 9 months as part of O'Neill's Fall/Winter 2008/2009 collection. 'Til then you'll have to rely upon your keen sense of gravity to get you to the bottom of the hill.

[Via Pocket-lint]

 

[via] Engadget

Sony Ericsson patent app details LCD watch hands

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables

Considering the hordes of utterly unsightly timepieces that find their way into our browsers, we've got to hand it to Sony Ericsson -- it's done a pretty fine job at keeping its name attached to watches that are, you know, wearable. That being said, we're not surprised to see such an intriguing patent app surface from the aforementioned firm, and honestly, we'd be even less shocked if this thing eventually went beyond the drawing board. As the picture above partially demonstrates, SE has envisioned a watch with LCD hands along with an LCD display resting behind 'em, theoretically enabling the hands to "vanish" while users peek a quick video or read a text message on the screen beneath. Call us crazy, but we're pretty sure even the likes of Bond and Tracy would approve of this.

[Via Cellpassion]

 

[via] Engadget

Sony's Stringer: PS3 games "infinitely more fun" than Wii

Filed under: Gaming

Joystiq just noted a peach of a sound-bite from Sony's quip hero, Sir Howard Stringer. In an interview with The Guardian he started by saying, "I'm happy the Wii seems to be running a bit short of hardware." He then chest-thumped a prediction that the PS3, "will come into its own because its [high-end games] are infinitely more fun, demanding and exciting." A theory to be known henceforth as Stringer's Bloated Hyperbole Postulate.

[Via Joystiq]

 

[via] Engadget