Remember that Google was going to be very strict over what type of hardware was going to run the forthcoming Chrome OS? Put away the rumors that it was going to to be pricey, we have the data.According to Gizmodo, the netbook is rumored to sport a chip set of the Tegra stripe with an ARM processor. The Zune HD also runs on Tegra, but expect this netbook to be on a faster set of chips.It should have a multi-touch 10.1 inch screen, a 64 gb SSD, and two gigabytes of ram.Of course, the netbook will be baked with all sorts of Google-goodness, given that Chrome OS is a Google driven project, open source or not.Best part: this netbook is supposed to be subsidized by Google, bringing the price to, get this, $300. Quite the sweet deal, right? Google will be selling them directly. In some places, they will bundled with wireless carriers, to have built in connectivity everywhere.Of course, we have no firm confirmation at this point, but if this turns out to be true, who is going to be mooning over the loss of the Crunchpad? This is much better.
Via:Thenextweb
Hot on the heels of both Goo.gl and Fb.me, there’s now a Youtu.be! Its sole purpose: shorter Youtube links. There isn’t really a lot more to this one, other than a brief explanation of how they work:
• Take the ‘key’ from the end of a YouTube video URL — The key, in the URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0 would be ‘oHg5SJYRHA0′
• Stick it on the end of YouTu.be — and… voila! http://youtu.be/oHg5SJYRHA0 The thing is, it’s not really all that short. The only real advantage, over something like Bit.ly, is that you now know it’s a video and not some stupid meme or phishing attempt. Also, as the YouTube Blog suggests,web developers can use the video key to bring up thumbnails, or embed videos directly. It’s also great with YouTube’s fairly-new AutoShare option: publish your youtu.be links straight to Twitter! Woo!I know what you’re all thinking.
Via:DownloadSqaud
Future, meet your past. The fine lads at xda-developers forums have ported the Android 2.1 ROM — you know, the updated OS from Nexus One that everyone’s been talking about lately — all the way to the original G1. Right now it’s being dubbed version 0.9999 since it’s still lacking A2SD, CompCache, and SWAP… and if you’re feeling confused by the terminology, it might be best to not try this at home just yet. Creator Teh Dust has also removed a few things for the sake of making it more lightweight, including Car Home, Live Boot, and high resolution wallpapers / apps that don’t jive with the G1 anyway. Willing, curious, and wanting to impress your Droid-carrying friends? File’s hiding in plain sight, waiting for you.
Update: Quoth the raven, ’twas a hoax and nothing more.
So Google have written a blog post confirming a Google Phone is in existence. Before you get excited though, read the blog post:
At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from “eating your own dogfood”). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.
We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.
Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.
You should have noticed the device is not built by Google but by a partner – reportedly HTC – who build a number of devices for a number of manufacturers. As Mashable discusses, the device sounds like the HTC Passion, which is scheduled for an early 2010 launch. Does it still make it a Google Phone? Is it a “Google Phone” if it has the Google branding (which we don’t know yet) but another identical phone exists without the Google branding but say, Motorola’s? I’d argue yes, but lets be blunt about it, it’s no iPhone.
Via:Thenextweb
Windows Mobile and Symbian users don’t ever have to worry about getting lost or having to remember their favorite places again. Google recently announced that Google Maps has been upgraded to version 3.3 for Windows Mobile and Symbian. The upgrade now allows you mark your favorite items with a star and keep those synced between your computer and phone. As soon as you upgrade on your WinMo or Symbian device, Google will ask if you want those starred items synchronized between your phone and Google Account. For those of you that rely on starred items in Google Maps, you’ll also be happy to know that you don’t have to go through each favorite spot individually on your phone.
[Via:intomobile]
Thanks to a very generous anonymous tipster, we’ve gotten a number of hands-on pics of Barnes & Noble’s soon to be released (for some) Nook e-reader. The impressions we’ve been given, however, weave a tale of a laggy Android interface, which sounds like what we noticed with the first introduction video. Other fun facts include in-store WiFi browsing coming in 2010, and an important clarification that cover-to-cover book browsing over BN’s network only works for an hour at a time, not unlimited. We’re itching to get our own hands on it, but in the meantime, gloss over these gracious pics. Excerpts from the tipster after the break.
• “The thing lags so much between the e-ink display and the Android touchscreen. All I want to do is use the e-ink display as touchscreen. It’s nice to see the real book art, but its so tiny and laggy that I simply want to leave that screen as soon as I can.”
• “In tiny text in the manual, it states that the in-store WiFi browsing will come in 2010. So your holiday product will work after the holiday. I guess that’s okay for most of the masses because they’ll be getting it in 2010 anyways.”
• “I also can’t remember if this is common knowledge, but you can only browse books cover-to-cover over B&N WiFi for an hour — Not the unlimited that was promised when it launched. I mean, people would just not buy stuff if that was the case, I suppose”
Nestled in the leaked Android 2.1 ROM, 20 new devices are mentioned by name–including those we knew of already (Dragon, Dream, Hero and Passion) but some new friends too, Bahamas, Bravo, DesireC, Espresso, Halo, HeroCT, HeroC, Huangshan, Incredible, Legend, Liberty, Memphis, Paradise, PassionC, Sapphire and Supersonic. Phew. [ AndroidSpin via BGR]
HTC promised the world an Android 2.0-based firmware for its Hero line once it figured out the nitty gritty details of porting Sense to Google’s latest code, leapfrogging Donut altogether — but now, it looks like they’re gonna do one better. Screenshots found today show a Hero running Android 2.1, which would dovetail nicely with the fact that Google had teased a “minor update” to 2.0 before the end of 2009 back when it announced Eclair last month. The interface looks largely untouched from 1.5, proof that HTC was able to bring Sense up to speed with minimum drama; it’s unclear when this’ll all be available, but considering that Sprint’s version
just got a super-minor update, some carrier-branded versions could be in for a wait.
Via:Endgadget
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