Gizmodo: onyx

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 (aka Onyx): T-Mobile's First 3G BlackBerry

Danny Allen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:40:00 EDT

Here's the first official shot of the 9700 (codenamed Onyx), T-Mobile's first 3G BlackBerry, which could arrive as early as November. T-Mobile says it'll support UMA Wi-Fi calling (as part of the carrier's HotSpot@Home service), visual voicemail, and corporate email.

T-Mobile also confirmed that it will have TeleNav GPS Navigator and Amazon MP3 store pre-installed. The Bold 9700 still hasn't been made official by RIM, and T-Mobile didn't preview much more info. However, the assumed specs of the much-leaked device are listed below. [CIO]

• New Trackpad
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• UMTS/HSDPA
• 480×360 resolution screen
• Wi-Fi (802.11g)
• OS 5.0
• QWERTY keyboard
• 3.2 megapixel AF camera
• Bluetooth

BlackBerry Onyx Loses a Trackball, Gains a Trackpad

John Herrman — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:41:30 EDT

The leaked-to-all-hell BlackBerry Onyx may have undergone one last change before heading to manufacture: judging by this shot nabbed by BlackBerry Underground, it'll have a Curve 8520-esque optical trackpad—not a trackball.

This feature has been a persistent rumor since the original Onyx shots hit the web, though the fact that it contradicted the actual photos of the device didn't bode well for its credibility.

In the context of early reactions to the Onyx leak, this apparent late change makes a lot of sense: the handset was characterized as a best-of-all-worlds device, keeping all the best features of non-touch BlackBerrys without sacrificing compactness. Grabbing the optical trackpad from the 8520, then, is an obvious move. [BlackBerry Underground via BGR]

BlackBerry Onyx: Closest to BlackBerry Perfection Yet?

matt buchanan — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:10:21 EDT

Here's why you should be excited about the BlackBerry Onyx: It's the first BlackBerry with 3G, Wi-Fi, a 3MP camera, the Bold's awesome keyboard and giant battery in a package the size of the tiny Curve. CrackBerry's actually got one, and they love all over it: [CrackBerry]

BlackBerry Leak Lists Product Code Names: Onyx, Driftwood, Magnum

Jack Loftus — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:25:00 EDT

If you're the kind of BlackBerry gadgetphile who loves product code names, please sit down, because that's what we have here. Three new cologne-sounding code names for BlackBerry products, coming soon: Onyx, Driftwood, Magnum.

The secret list of three was procured by BGR, and is in all actuality a list of three different code names for one product, most likely sold by different carriers

You can see the similarities here, in the spec sheet:

BlackBerry Onyx:

* GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device
* GPS
* Camera
* Wi-Fi (no UMA support)
* QWERTY keyboard
* 480×360 resolution screen
* Confirmed carriers: AT&T

BlackBerry Driftwood:

* GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device
* GPS
* Camera
* Wi-Fi with UMA
* QWERTY keyboard

BlackBerry Magnum:

* GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device
* GPS
* Camera
* Wi-Fi (no UMA support)
* QWERTY keyboard
* 480×360 resolution screen
* Confirmed carriers: AT&T

These are all 9000-series BlackBerry devices, all with 3G. No release dates or other tangibles were given, but like I said, code name-loving folk are consumed with the vapors right about now. [BGR]

Onyx Online Could Turn iPhones Into Nifty Social Gaming Devices

Jack Loftus — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Onyx Online, for the iPhone, is kind of like Xbox Live. Sort of. The ambitious service is the brainchild of Trism developer Steve Demeter, who hopes to add a slew of "social media" features to iPhone games, like leaderboards, achievements, forums, and the like. There's even a pissing contest feature, wherein Onyx-enabled games will allow players to view each other's profiles, scores, challenge friends, and see what games people are playing. Like we said, just add a headset and some 15-year-old boys screaming "your gay" and you have Xbox Live (and no, there's no typo there— even when they scream it, they use the wrong spelling, just like in the forums).

The thing is, Onxy was created more out of a sense of self-preservation amongst developers than it was keeping it real for people who game on the iPhone. As the App Store becomes cluttered with hundreds upon hundreds of throwaway games, Demeter told Wired the indie developer is in danger of being muscled out by big boys like Sega, who have the marketing budget to get their titles (for better or worse) to the top of the heap.

So by making games talk to one another, or by encouraging some competition among the players, a pack mentality begins to take shape with the smaller games. A rising tide raises all boats, or the saying goes.

"Right now games don't introduce the social aspect at all on the iPhone," Demeter told Wired. "If there is a social aspect it's an island. If these users are playing Trism, they're playing Trism; it's an island. How does that tie into other puzzle games? If players are still connected to a larger whole then they're more likely to keep playing other games."

Demter then claimed Onyx will "save" the App Store. For now, we'll agree that it could save something—Demeter's busines—but we'll be watching this one nevertheless. [Wired]

Tracking the iPhone's DNA: Who's its Touchscreen's Daddy?

Brian Lam — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:48:32 EST

myiPhone.com and macrumors are thinking the same thing: Maybe the iPhone's touch tech is licensed from Synaptics, and therefore the same tech demoed in the Onyx concept phone and the touchscreen-tastic LG KE850 above. Family? Maybe. Extensive videos attemping to prove so are worth watching over at myiPhone.com, and I think Macrumors.com has a point when they say that the competition is probably eager to get their hands on the Synaptics tech to help em compete with the Jesus Phone.

Let me respond by saying the Hard Button Will Never Die!–Brian Lam

Onyx Concept Phone gives birth to twins: iPhone and LG KE850 [myiphone.com]

DS Lite Onyx Gallery - 31 Days Left To Buy Your Wii Controller

Jason Chen — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:07:32 EDT

On November 19, exactly one month from today, you'll be able to purchase your own Nintendo Wii. That means you have exactly one month left to get the only Nintendo Wii controller with a screen—the Nintendo DS.

The DS Lite Onyx has been out for a while, but we thought this was a good time to remind you that it does exist and it does work as a controller for the Wii in games like Madden. Why do we love the Onyx version?

1. It matches our Black Pearl.
2. It's newer than the White (Crystal) DS Lite.
3. It matches our future BlackBook.
4. Darth Vader was cooler than Luke.
5. Affirmative Action.

– Jason Chen

Product Page [Amazon]

Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Demoed

Jason Chen — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:05:43 EDT

The Synaptics Mobile concept phone has a whole load of new technology inside, including touch-sensitive capacitors, touchscreen, GPS and a gesture interface.

The UI works as a Flash interface over Windows CE underneath, which lets the user do things like drag and drop, double click, and scroll with just a finger. Still just a prototype, the phone should be even smaller and faster when it's closer to production. – Jason Chen

Bonus video after the jump.

Synaptics Onyx Concept: Live Demo Captured on Video!
feature [Slashgear]

DS Lite Now Rocking In Black and Pink

Brian Lam — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:33:08 EDT

In the US, on September 13th, the Nintendo DS Lite will be available in Black and Pink, officiallly known as Onyx and Coral. If you don't have one, you should get one. I play the DS Lite far more often than I play the Xbox. Here's a picture of the tough, manly, black one, since I know most other blogs are giving you the pretty pink one. No need to thanks, thats just how we roll. More glossy shots of both colors, after the jump.– Brian Lam

Nintendo Launches New DS Lite Colors Amid Record-Breaking Game Sales [Nintendo]

[Last photo from Lik Sang]

Synaptics Mobile Phone Concept

Jason Chen — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:19:50 EDT

The Onyx, a phone concept by Synapics, uses touch-sensitive technology to control the device via its horizontally oriented screen. Though touchs-sensitive control is nothing new in phones—they've been in Windows Mobile 5 phones for a while now—this one recognizes "not only points and taps but also shapes and complex movements, together with multi-point input." Some cool applications of that would be:

a phone call to Onyx can be answered by simply holding it to your cheek, messages sent by swiping them off the screen with the whole finger.

Though this is just a concept, Synaptics says the first phone using this technology will be out sometime this year. Slashgear is taking a wild stab and thinking it may be used in the iPhone, but we'll believe it when we see it. – Jason Chen

Synaptics and Pilotfish Collaborate to Develop Next Generation Mobile Phone Concept [Slashgear]