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Posts Tagged ‘Coming Down The Pike’

Spring Design Alex finally up for pre-order, Borders eBook store launching in June

Well it’s about time, Spring Design! After missing its February ship date, the company is finally ready for you to whip out the plastic and pre-order its Alex — that dual-screen, Android-based ereader we liked so much at CES. While you can shell out the $399 today, you’ll still have to wait until mid-April for the mailman to drop off the package. We’d like to say the wait stops there, but we’ve also learned that early buyers won’t have access to the promised Borders eBook store until June. When we chatted with Spring Design CEO Priscilla Lu last week she confirmed that Borders will officially launch its store in the “June time frame,” which will be around the very same time that the 3G version of the Alex will be ready to hit the market — at least there’s access to Google Books and an micro-SD card slot for sideloading in the meantime. With so much coming down the pike it may be worth waiting a bit more time for this one, but our own Alex arrived just last night so no matter what it’d behoove you to wait a few days for our review before you hit the source link to pre-order.

Spring Design Alex finally up for pre-order, Borders eBook store launching in June originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Mini 11 quietly leaks out

We’ve been expecting a Dell Mini 11 to hit eventually, and it looks like the company is gearing up to make it reality: eagle-eyed tipster Bryce just noticed the Dell Mini 10 configuration tool now lists an extra battery for the “Dell Mini 10 and Mini 11.” Sadly that’s all we have to go on at the moment, but we’d bet whatever’s coming down the pike is closely related to that Alienware m11x we just saw at CES — a similar case minus the NVIDIA graphics, perhaps? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Dell Mini 11 quietly leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon asks ‘if the iDoesn’t, what does?’

The “there’s a map for that” ad was a pretty aggressive way to broadside AT&T and the iPhone, but it looks like Verizon’s just getting warmed up. We’re hearing that the carrier will be kicking off a major new campaign this evening during the Yankees-Angels game that’ll feature “a very different look and a whole new attitude,” calling out the “iDevice” (their words, not ours) for all the things it can’t do. That’s a bold offensive for a carrier that historically has lacked breadth and depth in its smartphone lineup, but with the big new Android releases coming down the pike, this might be perfect timing — and a strong implication that we can seriously put those endless Verizon iPhone rumors to bed for a little while.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Verizon asks ‘if the iDoesn’t, what does?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple relents: in-app purchase for free apps allows demo-to-paid

Filed under: App Store, SDK

Big news coming down the pike today for App Store developers. Apple has finally relented on a sticking point in the developer agreement, allowing in-app purchases for free applications. Finally, developers can distribute a free trial version of their applications, unlocking features from directly within the app as users request them (and pay for them). Until now, developers had to deliver two applications, with two unique identities, and no simple way to share data from the trial to the full version. (Yes, you could have used servers and shared keychains, but that’s burdensome and kind of pointless.)

What this news means is that developers can unify into a single application. One project to maintain and support, one place to consolidate reviews, one application sandbox for a single set of application data. Earlier today, Mike S. mentioned Gas Cubby and Gas Cubby Lite — now there could be only one version of the app, with an ‘upsell’ inside to go from the light to full feature set.

Expect to see these free-to-paid apps hit the store within the next few weeks. Apple will likely be deluged with new apps to review based on this news. Visit the App Store Resource Center for more details and check your e-mail account for the developer news that went out to all iPhone devs today.

Q&A: Readers ask: “How will this affect the no reviews situation for free apps.” Good question. Apple is going to need to sort that out. Since in-app purchases are registered to an iTunes account and associated with an application, it shouldn’t take much work to limit reviews to those who have purchased something in a free app.

“How will you deliver binaries?” All the functionality must already be built into the app. StoreKit allows you to unlock those features when users pay a fee. You can download data or extend a web based service but you can’t download additional executable binary components.

“Will I have to buy this twice for myself and other members of my family?” No, not if you both sync to the same iTunes account. It works the same as with applications. One app that has bought an upgrade extends to all apps for that same account. Each time your app launches, developers will check with App Store and restore any purchases that have already been made. So if you buy your upgrade on an iPhone, that upgrade will propagate to your iPod touch when it checks in.

“Will this help in anti-piracy measures?” Definitely. StoreKit allows developers to validate receipts, ensuring that unlock codes are only sent to paying customers. Add a hash-check algorithm for the current device and developers have better control over who gets to use their applications.

TUAWApple relents: in-app purchase for free apps allows demo-to-paid originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exclusive: Dell’s Android Phone Is Coming To the U.S.

Remember the Dell Mini 3i, Dell’s China-only Android phone? Well it’s not China-only anymore.

Rumor has it that Dell will bring the Mini 3i to the U.S. in the next few months to compete with other Android phones coming down the pike from HTC, Samsung, and Motorola.

The phone, presumably still in its Chinese trade dress, felt “cheap and plasticky, like the Pre,” according our tipster. He believes it will be upgraded for the American market.

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