Magellan’s waterproof Toughcase wraps GPS module, extended battery around your iPhone

There are iPhone cases, and then there’s Magellan ‘s waterproof Toughcase. Priced at $199.99, it’s actually just as expensive as a new iPhone 4 on contract, and double the price of an iPhone 3GS (which it actually houses). So, what does two Benjamins get you? Most would argue “not nearly enough,” but argonauts may beg to differ. The case meets IPX-7 waterproof standards, enabling it to be submerged at a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes, and there’s also an integrated 1,840mAh battery that’s able to “double the life” of your iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS or second / third-generation iPod touch

Microsoft Kin is dead

We’re learning this afternoon that Microsoft’s Kin line, for all practical purposes, is riding off into the sunset just a few short weeks after its release. Sources close to Microsoft tell us that Andy Lees has rolled Kin into the Windows Phone 7 team and has canceled the existing product’s launch later this year in Europe on news that sales weren’t as strong as expected. Speaking of sales, Verizon’s already-launched Kin One and Kin Two are soldiering on for the time being, but for how long is anyone’s guess.

HTC HD2 caught running Android 2.1 and Ubuntu with touchscreen enabled (video)

Still clinging on to your HTC HD2 ? Good on ya, cos this WinMo slate’s about to last you a wee bit longer — team HTC Linux has recently made a breakthrough with getting the touchscreen to talk to the HaRET Linux bootloader. In other words, us mere mortals can finally use Linux variants like Android and Ubuntu on the HD2 the way it’s meant to be, although we’re apparently still a few bugs away from a stable release. Until then, enjoy the techno-fueled video demo after the break.

MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance

As promised , Nokia and Intel have revealed the pre-alpha version of MeeGo for handsets today, supporting the Intel-powered Aava reference phone and the Nokia N900 . What’s most interesting at this early stage is the UI, which appears to have taken a big Nokia-influenced step away from the Intel-designed MeeGo netbook and tablet UI — and we’re definitely detecting some hints of Android and webOS here and there. Seriously, just check out that task switching interface. Of course, MeeGo is open-source, so we’re sure Nokia has some deeper UI customizations in store — like homescreen widgets, which are notably missing here

Gresso gussies up iPhone 4 with rare wooden veneer

From the front it looks like any other iPhone 4 , but flip it around and a glint might catch your eye — that’s the doing of Russian technology tailor Gresso , who’s embedded Swarovski crystals and an 18-karat golden Apple logo in a sheet of African Blackwood attached to the device. As usual, one wonders why anyone would bother, but honestly we can’t complain — the design is worlds more tasteful than the solid gold and diamond-encrusted contraptions we’re used to seeing. Expect the dainty dillantante to arrive in December at a surprisingly reasonable $3,500, or $3,000 for the male-targeted version at right. Of course, if you’ve got that kind of money to spend, you want one now , right? Good news: the iPhone 3GS gets the same luxurious treatment — and price — in July.

iPhone 4′s antenna problem looks worse than it is, but it’s still bad

The iPhone 4 ‘s antenna issues have sparked off a firestorm of debate as to the root cause — Apple says holding the phone differently or buying a case are the best answers, while other are going down a more voodoo path — but our friends at AnandTech have done some more scientific testing of the problem and come up with a few interesting results. Turns out the iPhone 4 actually performs slightly better inside a case than a phone like the Nexus One, which has had similar issues crop up, but it’s slightly worse when held in the hand, reporting an average signal drop of 20dB. Here’s where it gets a little wacky, though: the signal meter in iOS 4 is logarithmic, so that 20dB drop can either leave you looking steady at five bars or drop you all the way to zero, depending on what the actual signal level in the area is like. Take a look at the chart above and you’ll get it: the range of values between one bar and four spans just 23dB, while the range for five bars is 40dB. That means holding the phone in an area with a strong five-bar signal will have no apparent effect — you can lose 20dB at full signal and still see five bars — but holding the phone in an area with weaker coverage will easily drop the meter to one bar, since the 20dB signal drop covers almost the entirety of the remaining 23dB scale

Android 3.0 Gingerbread getting revamped UI, Froyo living on for lower-end phones?

Last we’d heard, the next major release of Android — codename Gingerbread — was scheduled for a fourth-quarter launch , but the always-entertaining Eldar Murtazin has apparently just spilled a few details on what he knows of the release on a Russian podcast. Most notably, the dude says that we can expect an entirely revamped UI — the first that the platform will have undergone since its introduction — and will take cues from the fancy 3D Gallery app launched with Eclair . There’s said to be a new 1280 x 760 resolution available for devices larger than 4 inches, which would dovetail nicely with Verizon’s desire to bring a bunch of Android tablets to market . Like Windows Phone 7, Murtazin claims that Google will be laying down the law with some hardcore hardware specs to run 3.0, demanding a minimum of a 3.5-inch display, a 1GHz processor, and 512MB of RAM — so what about cheaper devices? Well, those will apparently continue to run Android 2.1 or 2.2, which sounds like yet another serious recipe for platform fragmentation from the outset

Do you live in the San Francisco area? Do you want to write for Engadget?

Oh sure, you love gadgets — but do you have the chops to write about them? We’d love to know if you think you do, because we’re looking to actually pay people to do this stuff. Professional writing experience isn’t necessary (though it doesn’t hurt), but what we really care about is that you can write skillfully about gadgets with wit, concision, and authority.

LG Sentio priced, dated for T-Mobile

Actually, T-Mobile will do you one better than merely putting a date on the release of the low-end Sentio touchphone — they’ll just go ahead and release it today to make it the carrier’s first LG phone ever. That’s right: you can now pick up the Sentio in-store and online for $69.99 on contract after $50 mail-in rebate, giving you a trio of threes — 3-inch display, 3 megapixel cam, and 3G data — as long as you’re happy with a soft-touch blue finish, which is the only option at the moment. Until a good Android phone gets this cheap stateside, we suppose this’ll have to do. LG Sentio priced, dated for T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:08:00 EST.

Prompt-It iPhone teleprompter perfect for business meetings, Internet cranks

What did JFK, Obama, and Martin Luther King Jr. all have in common? If you believe the makers of You Prompt-It!, it’s the ability to use a teleprompter . And now you can join the pantheon of important Americans who inspire us regular schlubs to greatness. What does your $130 get you

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