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For the industry, the press, and phone geeks alike, the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in the lovely Catalonian capital of Barcelona is the biggest event of the year — and apart from a few unplanned power outages at Engadget’s home base, an average nightly rest hovering around three hours, and unseasonably cold weather, 2010′s gathering didn’t disappoint. Let’s take a quick look back at some of the highlights:

Windows Phone 7 Series coverage
Windows Phone 7 Series: that’s the name
Live from Microsoft’s Windows Phone press event at MWC 2010
Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video)
Editorial: Engadget on Windows Phone 7 Series
Windows Phone 7 Series: everything you ever wanted to know

Liveblogs
Live from Samsung’s 2010 MWC press event
Live from Sony Ericsson’s MWC 2010 press conference
Live from Nokia’s (and Intel’s) MWC 2010 press event
Live from Microsoft’s Windows Phone press event at MWC 2010
Live from HTC’s MWC 2010 press event
Live from Eric Schmidt’s keynote at MWC 2010

Hands-ons
Aava Mobile’s Intel Moorestown prototype hands-on
Acer Liquid e, beTouch E110 / E400, and neoTouch P300 / P400 hands-on
Alcatel OT-980 with Android hands-on, we feel frugal just looking at it
Bug Labs’ BUGbase 2.0 prototype hands-on
Chumby prototype with Marvell innards spotted at MWC 2010
Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on
General Mobile’s Touch Stone: how can something so wrong be so right?
Hands-on with TAT’s dual-screen phone concept and augmented reality app
HTC Desire first hands-on (updated with video)
HTC HD mini hands-on
HTC Legend hands-on (updated with video)
iWonder why the logo is upside down
LG Mini GD880 hands-on
Motorola MOTOROI hands-on with video
Motorola MT710 quick hands-on
Motorola Quench hands-on with video
Myriad Dalvik Turbo hands-on: Android apps just got fast
Notion Ink Adam hands-on (with video) at MWC 2010
Puma Phone hands-on
Sagen Orga shows off pricey SIMfi prototype at MWC
Samsung Wave first hands-on: Bada-packed and super fast (video!)
SK Telecom shoves Android onto a SIM, we check it out
Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro hands-on
Sony Ericsson X10 mini and X10 mini pro hands-on with video
Toshiba K01 hands-on
Toshiba TG02 hands-on
Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video)
ZTE and OKWAP team with Intivation to deliver next generation solar devices

On-site podcasts
Engadget Mobile Podcast 035: MWC Day 1 – 02.16.2010
Engadget Mobile Podcast 036: MWC Day 2 – 02.17.2010

As fantastical as it might sound, mobile trade show season isn’t over just yet — CTIA Wireless and Microsoft’s MIX are on deck for next month, so stay tuned for the kind coverage of those shindigs that only Engadget can offer. See you next year, Espanya!

Adéu, Barcelona: MWC 2010 draws to a close originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when we thought Guitar Hero had removed every shred of dignity from the once proud profession of “rocking out,” along comes Paper Jamz to do away with all pretense. WowWee, known primarily for its creepy robotic toys, has put some of its technical chops into a new musical line of utterly flat instruments. The “paper” guitar and drum sets use capacitive sensors to pick up on touch, and there’s even a fake amp built of cardboard to complete the ensemble.

Surprisingly, it all works. Each $25 guitar is packed with three different songs, and pretend rock stars can strum along in three different modes: a fail-safe mode where all you have to do is keep strumming and you’ll jam out the appropriate guitar part, a rhythm mode where you have to strum at the right intervals, and a freestyle mode. The last of these is where things actually get interesting, since there’s a usable fret board in so-called open E tuning, letting you select actual cords by placing a finger on its respective fret up or down the printed-on fret board. One finger does major, two fingers does minor, and three fingers does a 7th. It’s an approximation, sure, but it actually could teach a kid a lot more about how to play a real guitar than Guitar Hero ever will. Prepare to hear more 12-year-olds playing “Smoke on the Water” than you ever supposed the universe was capable of containing. The modes on drums are similar, and you can pair up drums and guitar to play the same song simultaneously. The $15 amp uses a sonic transducer to vibrate its entire, cheap cardboard mass, and is actually rather loud. The “Series 1″ selection of guitars and drums will be out in early July, and you can check out a video of this stuff in action after the break.

Continue reading WowWee’s Paper Jamz: fake guitars make the jump to 2D, gain some musicality

WowWee’s Paper Jamz: fake guitars make the jump to 2D, gain some musicality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hold onto your butts, kids, we’ve got a doozy of a story. Let’s take this one slow: a class-action lawsuit has been filed in Pennsylvania accusing the Lower Merion school district of “unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation” of webcams in laptops issued to students, without prior knowledge or consent. The tale begins when Assistant Principal Lindy Mastko of Harriton High School informed a student that he was “engaged in improper behavior in his home”; the suit alleges that when pressed for details, Mastko told both the boy and his father that the school district could remotely activate the webcam — a capability that is apparently being used.

The school district has yet to respond to the accusations, so at this point we’ve only got the plaintiff’s side of the story — for all we know this kid took a picture of himself and somehow accidentally uploaded it on the school network. Then again, some purported Lower Merion students just emailed Gizmodo and claimed that their MacBooks’ green webcam lights went on at random times, but they were told by IT support that it was just a technical glitch. Holy alleged invasion of privacy, Batman, this could get mighty interesting. PDF of the complaint available below.

Update: The Lower Merion School District superintendent Christopher McGinley has issued an official response on its website, acknowledging “a
security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops.” Going further, he says the district ”
has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever” but that the matter is “under review.”

[Thanks, Yossi]

School allegedly uses students’ laptop webcams for espionage, lawsuit ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re a fan of entertainment of the digital variety, you’d be a fool to miss the next live taping of The Engadget Show. We’ll be sitting down with Avner Ronen, creator and CEO of Boxee and taking a look at the forthcoming (and very anticipated) Boxee Box. We’ll also be discussing Avner’s strategy for taking on the networks and cable providers, and the best methods of defending oneself from Jeff Zucker. Not only that, but we’ll have a Windows Phone 7 Series device on hand for a demo and discussion, plus the regular kind of Engadget Show zaniness you’ve come to know and love. You can also expect good clean music from Nullsleep, and stunning visuals from Outpt and Paris. If you miss this one, you’ll basically have zero good stories to tell your grand children.

The Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are — as always — free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served… so get there early! Here’s all the info you need:

• There is no admission fee — tickets are completely free
• The event is all ages
• Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:30PM on Saturday, doors will open for seating at 4:30PM, and the show begins at 5PM
• You cannot collect tickets for friends or family — anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
• Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we’re full, we’re full
• The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break)
• The show length is around an hour

If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

Continue reading The Engadget Show returns February 27th with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, Windows Phone 7 Series, and more!

The Engadget Show returns February 27th with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, Windows Phone 7 Series, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Celebrity Eclipse ‘iLounge’ described as an ‘Apple store at sea’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Cruise Notes  |  Celebrity Cruises  | Email this | Comments

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