Droid’s Android 2.1 Update: Full of Multitouch (and Some Disappointment) [Droid]

Posted by DesignShrineHost in Gadget News on February 8th, 2010

Android 2.1 for the Droid is making its way through the Verizon test gauntlet, and apparently inside is multitouch for the browser (like Maps 3.4), Google Goggles, and fancy news and weather widgets. Not coming over from the Nexus One?

Live backgrounds—those swishy animated wallpapers—and that new 3D grid of app icons aren't part of the package. Instead, the same static backgrounds and the classic Android pop-up app shelf stick around.

Hate to say it, but this feels like even more Android fragmentation. Is anything—even the damn OS—ever gonna be the same between two phones again? Jeez. [Engadget]



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Genie Effect Should be Renamed Ghost Trap Effect [Image Cache]

Posted by DesignShrineHost in Gadget News on February 8th, 2010

Who you gonna call? Steve Jobs, that's who. [Nerdist]



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How Nerdy Is Your City, In Dollars? [Data]

Posted by DesignShrineHost in Gadget News on February 8th, 2010

How much do single mothers in Akron spend on electronics? What about married Chicagoans, without kids, on their phone service? Bachelors, on cable, in New York? If only there was an interactive web app to tell you this stuff!

Bundle, a strange joint venture between Microsoft, Citi and Morningstar, scrapes data from government sources, Citi customers' purchase history, and god knows where else. The important thing is, it's a ton of data, about a ton of subjects: namely, how much different demographics spend on a variety of stuff, from household wares and gadgets to travel and eating out, as well as where they do their spending.

Some of the conclusions—single dudes spend a shit-ton on cable!—are entirely predictable. Others—people who make between $50k and $75k seem to spend more on electronics than people who make from $75k to $100k—don't make much sense at all. I wish the data was a little more granular, because then the cheap jokes about indolent losers spending too much on premium cable TV and too little on, I don't know, "health", would come so much easier, and cut so much deeper.

Oh well! Lazy jokes about cities are among the top 20 best kinds of jokes, so we'll be fine. Fat people who talk on the phone a lot live in place x, and not place y! Now you go. [Bundle via Consumerist]



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World’s Tallest Building Burj Khalifa Gets Shut Down [Buildings]

Posted by DesignShrineHost in Gadget News on February 8th, 2010

Is the new world's tallest building going through some issues? While so far only the observation deck is open, it's been temporarily shut down due to "unexpected high traffic" and "electrical problems." Ruh roh!

Residential and commercial tenants are due to start moving in this month, but it's not clear just what the problems are with the building that's keeping it closed up. Will there be a delay? Will it turn into a big, empty symbol of overdevelopment? Or did something just get screwed up with the elevators that they're now fixing? I don't know, but it all makes me glad I live and work nice and close to the ground. [Houston Chronicle via Fast Company]



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Gmail Is the New TwitFacePlurk [Gmail]

Posted by DesignShrineHost in Gadget News on February 8th, 2010

Facebook might be the new Gmail, but now Gmail is the new Facebook, bitches: They're rolling out an update that makes it "easier and faster to share media and status updates with friends," in a new module that shows a stream of status updates. And it'll integrate YouTube and Picasa, somehow. Say it with me now: FacemailGtwitbook. That is the future. [WSJ]



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