The guys and girls at engadget got their hands on the lates firmware upgrade from Barnes & Noble on their Nook. Read on their first impressions from the upgraded device:

Playing some Sudoku and reading Engadget on our Nook? Yeah, we are! Obviously, after hearing about the Nook 1.3 firmware update this morning, us bookworms nabbed the latest software to check out the added features. The over-the-air update took about a total of ten minutes from start to finish, and when the e-reader had restarted the new Games, Wi-Fi, Audio, and Web shortcuts were more than obvious on the main menu.

The browsing experience, which is clearly marked beta, is very similar to that on the Spring Design Alex — you input the address on the touchscreen and an expanded view of whatever site you’re visiting appears on the E-Ink display. You can use the LCD to navigate the page, though the physical page turn buttons work as well, which is actually a nice trick. It isn’t the fastest browsing experience, but it’ll definitely be useful for quickly reading some news or checking the weather when you are near a WiFi network – we got a page not found message over 3G.

Visit engadget’s photo gallery of the all new device Nook 1.3 browser and games hands-on

Is this the iPhone 4G (or iPhone HD)? There’s no way to tell for sure, but these photos which made their way into our hands certainly do a convincing job of making us think that’s very much the case. Apparently the phone was found on the floor of a San Jose bar inside of an iPhone 3G case. Right now we don’t have a ton of info on the device in question, but we can tell you that it apparently has a front facing camera (!), 80GB of storage (weird, right?), and isn’t booting at this point (though it was previously, and running an OS that was decidedly new). It’s not clear if this is definitely a production model, or just a prototype that found its way into the world, but it’s certainly a compelling design, no matter how you look at it.

There may be a chance to get some more face-time with the handset, but we wanted to get these photos to you guys ASAP. Stay tuned, we’re working on more details as we type — for now, enjoy the gallery below!

Update: As a number of observant commenters and tipsters pointed out, this looks almost exactly like a Twitpic posted by TUDream on February 20th, which we’re throwing after the break if for whatever reason the source link goes down. It’s low-res, shows an indiscriminate bit of the inside, and some mysterious button / possible SIM slot in the middle of the other side. The mic holes on this pic seems to be larger, too.

iPhone 4G hands-on

Steve Jobs is never one to mince words when taking questions from the press, and he just made it very clear how he feels about other platforms during the iPhone OS 4 event when asked about task management:

Q: How do you close applications when multitasking?
A: (Scott Forstall) You don’t have to. The user just uses things and doesn’t ever have to worry about it.
A: (Steve Jobs) It’s like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it. In multitasking, if you see a task manager… they blew it. Users shouldn’t ever have to think about it.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Apple Way, but hey — tell us how you really feel, Steve.

You heard that right, people — iPhone OS 4 just brought multitasking to the platform! Apple says they’ve figured out how to implement third party multitasking without hurting performance or battery life, and they’re demoing it now — you just double click the home button and see a list of your apps, and you can just tap to switch between apps. The system actually runs the services apps need in the background — the apps don’t need to do them individually, so it’s not a “true” multitasking system, but it seems plenty effective. There are seven services: background audio, which allows you to use the standard pop-over iPod controls, Voice over IP, which can receive calls in the background, location services for GPS and social networking (there’s an indicator if any service is tracking you), updated push notifications with local notifications, task completion so you can finish things like uploads in the background, and fast app switching, which lets apps sleep and resume instantly. Notably missing? Anything for managing a conversation, like IM or Twitter, which is a big omission. Win some, lose some, we suppose.

Update: Here’s a big “lose some” — only the iPhone 3GS and 3rd generation (late 2009) iPod touch will support multitasking. The iPhone 3G and below won’t — Steve says the hardware doesn’t support it. Sad face.

Multitasking comes to iPhone OS 4.0!

Developing…
Make sure to check out the ongoing iPhone OS 4.0 liveblog!

It was three months ago, in the midst of the most tablet-centric CES in recent memory, that we first laid our hands on Notion Ink’s impressive Adam prototype. Since then, we’ve been on the lookout for signs that the small Indian startup will actually deliver on the tablet’s lofty promises, and while that still seems to be on track, the latest update from the company’s founder is casting doubt on the originally planned June release date. Stressing the need to agree subsidization deals with telecoms for the 3G-equipped device, Rohan Shravan explains that “some want to give you Adam for Thanksgiving, some for summer holidays.” Add in his resolute commitment to only going ahead with the tablet when it’s fully capable of running Flash (seriously Adobe, the thing can do 1080p video, but Flash makes it wince?), and you have a significantly more elastic release window than we were originally led to believe. All the same, Rohan couldn’t leave us without some titillation, and he also promises “amazing freedom” on the email front and a number of content collaborations that he’s not yet allowed to announce. If you ask us, we just want something — anything — with a Pixel Qi display; we’ll make up our own content, just give us the hardware already.

[Thanks, Srikanth]

Lenovo has announced another new netbook with the IdeaPad S10-3s. It is pretty much identical to the current IdeaPad S10-3 model except the S10-3s has the option for an Atom N470 processor, SSDs and higher resolution 1280 x 720 display on the hardware side and a few tweaks on the cosmetic side of things – rounder curves on the lid and newly designed buttons on the screen bezel (round instead of square). We’re back to 100% glossy here and it looks cheaper than the S10-3 (check photos from my IdeaPad S10-3 review).

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3s Specs

• 10.1” 1024 x 600 or 1280 x 720 display
• Intel Atom N450 or N470 processor
• 1 / 2 GB RAM
• 160 / 250 / 320 GB HDD
• 16 / 32GB SSD
• Dolby Headphone
• APS protection
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• WWAN / 3G
• Windows 7 Starter
• Quick Start (Instant On OS)
• 3 or 6-Cell Battery
• 2.76 pounds (6-cell battery)

The IdeaPad S10-3s will start shipping in mid-April with prices starting at $379.99. It’ll be available in black, white or “spring flowers”.

Press shots below:

Source: Engadget, Liliputing

Apple announced Monday that on April 8 it will give the public a sneak peek at its iPhone 4.0 operating system. The news comes as Apple buzz is at a fevered pitch with the successful launch of itsiPad tablet computer on Saturday.

“Get a sneak peek into the future of iPhone OS,” the event invitation reads. With no further explanation provided, here’s my best guess at what to expect from Apple’s event:

Likely: Multitasking

If you follow Apple news and rumors, you’ve likely heard that multitasking is finally coming to the iPhone, according to AppleInsider’s anonymous sources. The interface will reportedly resemble the Expose feature in Mac OS, with all open programs revealed when the user double-clicks the iPhone’s Home button. Multitasking always seems to have a place on iPhone OS wish lists, and if the rumors are true, Apple’s finally found a method it’s comfortable with. The rising popularity of multitask-friendly Android phones only makes this feature more likely for the iPhone OS this time around.

Somewhat Likely: Global Mailbox and Home Screen Contacts

Also according to AppleInsider’s report, pre-release builds of iPhone OS 4.0 show a global inbox that merges multiple e-mail accounts into a unified view, plus the ability to add specific contact names as icons on the iPhone’s home screen. There’s a chance these features could be scrapped before Apple’s event, but they seem like solid minor additions to pad out the big announcements.

Definitely Possible: GPS Navigation

With Google adding free, turn-by-turn, voice-guided GPS navigation to its Android phones, andNokia doing the same for several of its handsets, the pressure’s on Apple to offer something similar. Apple acquired mapping company Placebase last summer, and also posted a job adlast November seeking an engineer to help overhaul the iPhone’s Maps app. The stage is set for big changes to iPhone Maps, and hopefully GPS Navigation is among them.

Highly Unlikely: Verizon iPhone, 4G iPhone

It’s worth pointing out that Apple’s event is aimed at the iPhone’s operating system, not hardware. Don’t expect to hear anything about Verizon iPhones or next-generation iPhones. Just as Apple announced the 3.0 OS in March 2009, and the iPhone 3GS in June, any news on the hardware front is probably a few months away.

Pure Speculation: E-mail Attachments, Contact and SMS Groups, Rotation Lock

These were among the lists of gripes I compiled last year as a fairly new iPhone owner. I hate that you can’t attach files within the e-mail app (you can only send them from outside apps), and the inability to create groups for contacts or text messages is a pain. And with the iPad getting its own handy rotation lock switch, it’s time Apple built a solution into the iPhone OS as well. It’s all wishful thinking, but these aren’t impractical or controversial improvements.