| Blue Droid RAZR heading to Verizon on May 17th, Ice Cream Sandwich nowhere to be found May 10th 2012, 16:51  Blue your favorite color? Have a thing for 7.1mm thin slabs? Then today's your lucky day. Verizon just announced an azure flavor of its exquisite Droid RAZR is set to hit its physical and virtual shelves next week -- though, it could show up at brick and mortar shops a wee bit earlier than that. Aside from the most recent paint job, this Droid RAZR isn't changing much, meaning you'll still get that admirable 4.3-inch, qHD display, a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU and Android 2.3 on board (worry not, ICS should be coming soon). For now, gather up your cash and pay your nearest Big Red store a visit -- who knows, you might just get lucky. Blue Droid RAZR heading to Verizon on May 17th, Ice Cream Sandwich nowhere to be found originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Phone Scoop |  Verizon | Email this | Comments | | Editorial: Facebook's my digital scrapbook first, social network second May 10th 2012, 16:30  I never wanted to join Facebook. I never wanted to join anything online, really. I was coerced into creating a Xanga at some point, and eventually -- when Facebook opened up to NC State email addresses -- I begrudgingly created an account there, too. I had a "thing" about opening my life up to the internet. I knew already that prospective employers would inevitably go digging through shots of me celebrating at an NCSU basketball game and spike my resume in the trash can beside his or her UNC degree. More than anything, though, I just didn't care what anyone else was doing. I kept a handful of comrades close to my chest, and everyone else was a mere acquaintance. At the time, I blamed it on the 21 hours of courses I was taking entirely on Tuesdays and Thursdays -- who has time for online networking when you're in an educational torture chamber? -- but now I realize the truth: I never wanted Facebook to be a social network. Continue reading Editorial: Facebook's my digital scrapbook first, social network second Editorial: Facebook's my digital scrapbook first, social network second originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Does Samsung's point-and-shoot departure mark an industry-wide shift to mobile? May 10th 2012, 15:47  Samsung's CES camera lineup had a single focus across the range: wireless connectivity. The company's flagship point-and-shoot, the 14-megapixel WB150F, boasts built-in WiFi at the very top of its feature shortlist. In fact, until you make your way to the third (and only) capture-related detail (an 18x optical zoom lens), you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish the dedicated device from some of Samsung's other camera-equipped offerings. With its latest generation of "Smart Cameras," the company moved to further bridge the gap between its gamut of portable devices, by bringing key smartphone features to its digital imaging line. As it turns out, the move was simply a crutch -- an opportunity to refresh models with technologies in which the company has already made significant investments. And it appears to have resulted in only a slight delay of the inevitable. We now know what to expect for Samsung's point-and-shoots -- pocketable models will step aside to make room for NX-series interchangeable lens cameras, and compact fans will continue to turn to Galaxy all-on-ones for their on-the-go shooting needs. Join us past the break for a closer look at how the move could impact the industry, and what the future may hold for the (formerly) beloved point-and-shoot. Continue reading Does Samsung's point-and-shoot departure mark an industry-wide shift to mobile? Does Samsung's point-and-shoot departure mark an industry-wide shift to mobile? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Samsung WB150F, Samsung Smart Cameras, WSJ | Email this | Comments | | Apple to pitch in on costs for improving Foxconn factory conditions May 10th 2012, 15:29  Apple and Foxconn had already promised to improve working conditions at mainland Chinese factories, and Foxconn CEO Terry Gou has just revealed that the cooperation will be about more than just tightening up standards -- it'll be financial, too. The two companies plan to share the costs of making workers' day-to-day experiences more tolerable, although neither side is forthcoming with how much of the cost it plans to shoulder. Both Foxconn and likely Apple saw the better conditions as a "competitive strength," according to Gou, who implied that any costs would be paid back in goodwill and happier staff. Although it remains to be seen how much impact the cost sharing will have on Foxconn's ability to make its July 2013 target, that one of the contractor's many clients has actively volunteered cash to upgrade conditions is, as far as we can tell, a first. Apple to pitch in on costs for improving Foxconn factory conditions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Reuters | Email this | Comments | |
