While we've seen no shortage of smartphone-powered robots in the past, the Nokia camp has been sadly under-represented. But, there's a new one coming to balance things out, a machine called Niko that has Lego Mindstorm NXT 2.0 components for a body and an N900 for a brain. The bot has been under construction for a few weeks but it has just made its YouTube debut with the short video posted after the break, showing it roving around and taking a photo whenever it bumps into something. When all systems are go and the machine is set free Niko will be posting messages and pictures to Twitter describing its every move in thrilling detail. We can't wait for it to start picking fights with @CourtneyLoveUK.

Continue reading Niko, the N900-powered Lego robot, looks poised to take over Twitter (video)

Niko, the N900-powered Lego robot, looks poised to take over Twitter (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's community blog has opened up the crowdsourcing floodgates, at least in theory. For "Design by Community," users will be able to vote on smartphone features via a series of sliders, although within an arbitrary point allotment system. A new poll opens next week for size and shape, followed by materials, operating system (Symbian or MeeGo being the only choices, unsurprisingly), and so on in the weeks that follow, with the last poll starting April 26th. After that, a concept sketch will be voted on and later rendered -- but no plans to ever have it made into an actual retail product (boo). We can't exactly say we understand all the selections here: why is a touchscreen keyboard less ambitious than T9 text entry? Does saying capacitive is more ambitious than resistive serve as a subtle hint of trends to come? What in the world is the difference between hot key and one touch? It's interesting to see how X6, N900, N97 all come out as a Perfect Mixes, while last year's E75 and the more recent C5 all straddle the "less than ambitious" line. Oh, and just so we're clear... a 5-inch, 21:9 ratio display without touchscreen but with a touchscreen keyboard is a perfect mix. Go figure.

[Thanks, Pratik V]

Nokia's Design by Community makes smartphone concepting a multiplayer game, with limits originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm gave us a heads-up back in late February that its upcoming earnings report wouldn't exactly be cause for celebration, and today the news has become official: the outfit recorded a net loss of $22 million during its fiscal Q3, which still looks rosy compared to the $98 million loss it suffered this quarter a year ago. All told, the firm shipped 960,000 smartphones in the period, which represents a 23 percent uptick from Q2 2010 and a nearly 300 percent increase compared to this quarter in 2009. Unfortunately, sell-through wasn't exactly stellar, with just 408,000 units changing hands -- that's a 29 percent decline from last quarter and a 15 percent drop year-over-year. We get the impression that it's waiting for carriers to get down to replenishment levels, but it's hard to say when that'll happen. Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman and CEO, was obviously not thrilled about the news, but he's mirroring statements made to employees just over a fortnight ago with this quote:

"Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we're doing to improve sales is having an impact, we're making great progress on future products, and we're looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable - and growing - advantage as we move forward."

We're listening into the earnings call right now, and so far we've heard a few choice quotes. Jon mentioned that Palm has "aggressive roadmaps on the software front that we're working on," and that there were "no changes to our planned carrier launches." We'll let you know if he introduces the Pixi 2 or anything.

Update: The call's over. PreCentral points out a choice quote from Rubinstein:

We had an arrangement with Sprint that when we launched with Sprint that they would invest in marketing and carry the product and for that they would get an exclusive for a period of time. That really determined when we could do our launch at Verizon. I agree with your premise that if we could have launched at Verizon earlier, prior to Droid, that we would have gotten the attention that the Droid got and since I believe that we have a better product, I think we would have even done better.

In other words, Palm -- regardless of Verizon's positioning -- feels like the Pre Plus could've been a legitimate contender as a halo phone for the carrier had it been able to launch sooner, though that opportunity has obviously long since passed. We're not so sure we agree that the Droid and the Pre Plus play in quite the same space, but if nothing else, we like the chutzpah -- now it's time to deliver some new hardware.

Palm posts $22m Q3 loss, says it liked its chances against Droid had Verizon launch been sooner originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, bollocks! After hearing for days that Verizon Wireless would be pushing out the highly anticipated Android 2.1 update to its stable of Droid users, along comes this. Internal company documentation clearly states that the aforementioned update won't be going down today, and there's no clear indication of when it will. To quote:

• "The OTA software update for the Droid by Motorola is TBD. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible.
  
• The 3/18 OTA software update will not happen as planned. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible."

We knew things were just too quiet after the noon hour, and now we know why. An impromptu support group meeting has been scheduled for 1:30PM ET, though we're hearing the location is still being decided...

Verizon delays Android 2.1 rollout to Motorola Droid, new date is TBD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've held no punches in sharing our thoughts on Palm's recent ad campaigns, but the one spot that was actually not heinous has seemingly served as the basis for one of Microsoft's first-ever WP7S commercials. Debuting here at the tail-end of MIX, the ad spotlights Anna -- a fictitious gal we've certainly heard of before -- using her new smartphone to share photos with her dear lover Miles. It also features Luca, a kid with an undying love for playing Xbox LIVE titles, who seems to be caught somewhere in between the world of nature and nurture. At any rate, it's worth your while to give the new Microsoft commercial and the Palm ad which it has oh-so-much in common with right after the break.

Oh, and Palm -- we guess "Windows Phone 7 Series was your idea," right?

Update: Yes, that definitely looks like an HTC HD2 at the 0:43 mark, but you can rest assured WP7S won't ever come to that gem in native fashion.

[Thanks, Sean]

Continue reading Microsoft takes a note from Palm in new Windows Phone 7 Series ad

Microsoft takes a note from Palm in new Windows Phone 7 Series ad originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back when the iPhone first launched in 2007 RIM thought it would get into the touchscreen smartphone action with the Storm, which turned out to pretty much suck. Many rumors are floating around that are pointing to new RIM devices and Engadget reckons some of the rumors all point to the same device.

There have been rumors circulating that have RIM getting a new slider device ready and other rumors point to a device called the “T” or Talladega. The scuttlebutt now has these devices being the same thing. A bit of weight has been put on the rumors with a loose-lipped CEO of a RIM parts supplier letting details slip.

The CEO of Woojeon & Handan told Join.com that a brand new Blackberry device called the “T” was launching next month. Supposedly the “T” will be a new flagship device designed to combat the iPhone and it will launch in the US and Europe. I hope it does better against the iPhone than the Storm if the rumors prove true.

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Making the rounds, are we Google? Just over 24 hours after we saw an AT&T-friendly Nexus One go on sale, along come Sprint yelling "me too!" at the top of its lungs. Today marks the day that Google's first-ever smartphone now has at least a holding place on all four of the major US carriers, with T-Mobile nabbing it first and Verizon users still waiting for that vague "spring release." Unfortunately, Sprint's making us wait when it comes to finding out an exact price and release date, but at least we're assured that both are coming "soon."

Make it four: Google's Nexus One coming to Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There's hardly anything here that we didn't already know, but an unveiling date of "next week" sure catches our eye. A new report over at The Wall Street Journal confirms earlier details that were fed to us over Sprint's first-ever WiMAX smartphone, and now we're learning that the HTC Supersonic will be officially revealed to the world at CTIA next week. We've heard before that the carrier anticipates selling a 4G phone "this summer," but you can bet we'll be digging for a hard ship date and price tag when we hit the scene in Las Vegas in just five short days.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

WiMAX-enabled HTC Supersonic rumored to debut on Sprint at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC’s WiMAX-packing Supersonic has been something of a regular when it comes to the rumor-mill over the past few months, and it seems Sprint may be ramping up to an announcement next week.  According to the WSJ’s “people familiar with the matter”, the Supersonic – expected to be an Android 2.1 device with a 4.3-inch display – will make its debut at CTIA 2010.

Sprint and HTC aren’t saying anything, but the Supersonic is expected to take the stand on Tuesday as part of the carrier’s CTIA keynote.  The company had previously only committed to a launch sometime in the first half of this year.

At the time, the carrier’s business market’s president Paget Alves suggested that the Sprint 4G phone would be targeted at government and industrial clients rather than solely at consumers.  However the WSJ also suggests that Sprint have recently changed their short-term incentive plan for employees, making signing up new contract customers to the WiMAX service a priority.

[via Android Community]

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Here's another thing the Desire has that the Nexus One doesn't: a second color option. We're told our Dutch buddies will soon be able to skip the default gunmetal paintjob that's shared by HTC's twin brothers and opt into the silvery casing you see above. The pictures are captioned with a note saying the silver Desire will be exclusive to BelCompany in the Netherlands, but we've found a few other retailers claiming their own exclusief. Either way, we still don't know how things will shake out elsewhere, but at least there won't be too long to wait. We've got video of the very slightly altered handset after the break.

[Thanks, Miguel]

Continue reading HTC Desire shows up in slinky silver (video)

HTC Desire shows up in slinky silver (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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