RIM may have recently opened a facility in Bochum, but that apparently wasn’t enough Bavarian love to save it from being canned as the German government’s platform of choice for its high-security needs. Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems has been selected to lead up an effort to procure “several thousand” customized handsets with mega-uncrackable encryption, winning the deal over the old BlackBerry standby thanks to concerns that state secrets are being transmitted overseas — to Canada, specifically. Canada has always struck us as a pretty trustworthy bunch of good, hard-workingfolks, but then again, it’s all fun and games until Canadian Motor Works, Canadawagen, Canada-Benz, and Canadorsche all come out of nowhere.

[Thanks, Toby]

Germany ousts BlackBerry for government VIPs originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Though it’s relented on MMS and copy / paste, Apple has stubbornly, steadfastly continued to hold the line on the multitasking issue throughout the iPhone’s two and a half-year career. Though it has a point about traditional multitasking burning through power, competing smartphone platforms — scratch that, every competing platform — has proven that it’s still plenty possible to get a full days’ life out of a battery while running a full host of apps in the background. Of course, the jailbroken iPhone community knows this full well, which is why there are a number of utilities available for backgrounding apps, but maybe none quite as slick as the just-released multifl0w. Taking a cue from the Pre, multifl0w adds backgrounded apps to a horizontally-scrollable gallery of cards; the only thing it’s missing is a swipe gesture for quitting, but it’s a minor point. Apple, we know you’re seeing how good this is — is there a defensible reason for why we still have to h4x0r our handsets to get this?

[Thanks, Jai]

Continue reading Multifl0w project teaches Apple a thing or two about iPhone multitasking

Multifl0w project teaches Apple a thing or two about iPhone multitasking originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

We’ve already seen that the Droid is perfectly capable of implementing multitouch gestures in third-party apps, and the most high-profile (if not the most important, period) implementation of that is in a good web browser where non-stop zooming is a way of life — especially when browsing sites designed for desktops. Dolphin — which has been kicking around for a couple months in the Market — has just added multitouch support on the Droid, which automatically makes it an interesting alternative to Android’s mediocre (well, mediocre by WebKit standards, anyhow) built-in fare. Follow the break for a video overview — or better yet, if you’re running Android and you’ve got a couple fingers to spare, just check it out yourself.

Continue reading Dolphin browser for Android adds multitouch support on Droid

Dolphin browser for Android adds multitouch support on Droid originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

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.

HTC Hero caught running Android 2.1? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

File this under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature” if true. According to Guyver at the maemo.org forums, some glitch in the OS caused his Nokia N900 to switch into portrait mode for everything, not just dialer and photo apps as previously allowed. We’d love to eliminate the need for two hands to run our favorite chunks of mobile software, but so far we haven’t been able to recreate his trick. Try it at home if you’d like by tilting the device to launch the phone app, then sliding up the screen and closing the app. Perhaps the gang at Espoo can turn this into a legit update — if they’re awesome people, of course. Video after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N900 glitch leads to useful portrait mode, caught on video

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N900 glitch leads to useful portrait mode, caught on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Ross Miller

O iPhone3,1, where art thou? Last time we spotted that signature, it was buried in lines of code as part of a beta OS 3.0 firmware build. Now according to data from analytics software inside iBART, the San Francisco-centric transportation app has been host to a new visitor with the aforementioned device identification number. As MacRumors points out, iPhone2,1 was originally spotted in October 2008 and later became the iPhone 3GS about eight months later. Not that it’s necessarily the case Apple will keep to the same schedule — nor should it come as a surprise that the company’s maybe-kinda-sorta looking into a successor to its prized moneymaker — but if you happen to be in the Bay Area and see someone quietly pulling out a sleek touchscreen, it might be in your best interest to make friends.

Filed under: Cellphones

Mysterious iPhone model found in app usage records? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Ross Miller

Whoever it was at Sony HQ that decided to pursue “military contracts” as a revenue source, kudos! Mere days after the US Air Force expressed interest in expanding its PS3 supercomputer, we’re hearing glorious Britannia’s Royal Navy has conscripted 230 PSPs into duty as revision aids for its trainee sailors. Loaded with maths and physics materials, the PSPs can be used in a bunk, have familiar controls for the young and mostly male recruits, and are considered pretty tough to break. The underlying reason for this move though is cost cutting: by making the training course more intensive, the Navy is saving on teaching time. Given that the UMD drive won’t come disabled — which is hoped to encourage the sailors to take better care of the device — the future this paints is of marines who’ve spent more time with a freebie handheld console than with a pro instructor. At least they’ll have a great stable of captured monsters to show for it.

[Thanks, pankomputerek]

Sony PSPs enlisted as study aids by the Royal Navy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Vladislav Savov

Continue reading Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXLIV: Zoho’s E72 is made in China, has Finland doing a double-take

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXLIV: Zoho’s E72 is made in China, has Finland doing a double-take originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley