Wednesday, April 14, 2010

IT News HeadLines (Engadget) 14/04/2010



South Korea seeks to impose gaming curfew, makes computers 'edgy' and 'cool' in the process
Seems like China and the UK aren't the only countries worried about their kid's computing habits. According to the BBC, the South Korean government is currently mulling over plans to regulate just how much time -- and at what time -- kids play video games. It seems that a number of services are ready to follow through with suggestions made by the country's Ministry of Culture, including: Maple Story, Mabinogi (no access granted to school-age gamers between midnight and 8 am) and Dungeon and Fighter (slowing down user's connection after they've been logged in for a certain period of time). Nineteen games are said to be included in total, which is a significant portion of the country's online gaming market. This will inevitably force kids to build their own underground games on disused servers, like Chia and her friends did in William Gibson's Idoru. They'll need to do something with those 1Gbps connections, right?

South Korea seeks to impose gaming curfew, makes computers 'edgy' and 'cool' in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceBBC | Email this | Comments
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MMFixed's Magic Mouse fix hands-on, literally
Apple haters, cherish the moment while you can. The Magic Mouse's odd ergonomics aren't exactly everyone's cup of tea -- including some of us at Engadget -- so we were more than a bit stoked when our silicone lump from MMFixed arrived in post today. Installation was straight-forward and mess-free thanks to the small suction pad underneath, and despite the fairly strong attachment, we were able to easily slide or rotate the soft cushion on the mouse for adjustments. We've had no problems with multitouch input thus far, and the old wristache-after-prolonged-usage seems to now be a thing of the past. So yeah -- it's safe to say that this squidgy fix was well worth the $10 investment (although it has gone up to $12 now, which is hardly the end of the world). You could say that it's rather silly to fix something that's supposedly magical, but we suppose even the best tricks could stand to be improved.

Gallery: Magic Mouse fix hands-on, literally

MMFixed's Magic Mouse fix hands-on, literally originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS U30Jc-1A review
Core i3 laptops with no more than 2.5 hours of battery life... seen 'em. Intel ULV laptops that last for more than 5.5 hours... seem 'em. A Core i3 laptop with NVIDIA's Optimus discrete graphics that boasts 9.5 hours of battery life? Well, now that sounds new, and that's exactly what the 13.3-inch ASUS's U30Jc promises to be - that perfect chocolate vanilla swirl of portability and performance. But like us, you've got to be thinking there's got to be sacrifices here, right? We thought so too, but surprisingly enough they're extremely minimal considering the $900 pricetag. You aren't going to find out what they are up here -- hit that read more link for our full review.

Gallery: ASUS U30Jc-1A review

Continue reading ASUS U30Jc-1A review

ASUS U30Jc-1A review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MacBook Pro Core i7 unboxing and preview
21diggsdigg So we've just gotten our cold, live hands on the new MacBook Pro -- you know, the one with the Core i7 CPU? We're obviously going to be taking this puppy for a spin around the block (a 15-inch version with a 2.66GHz CPU), but we wanted to show you what it looks like (exactly the same as always), and mention a few takeaways from our conversation with Apple about the product. As you already know, the 15- and 17-inch models have a new GPU configuration, utilizing Intel's integrated HD graphics alongside NVIDIA's GeForce GT 330M. What you might not know is that the new laptops have done away with the previous method of switching from integrated to discrete graphics, that is, forcing you to select one or the other and then logging you out and back in for the switch. This process is hugely streamlined in the new versions, providing switching on the fly from integrated to discrete, and requiring zero input from the user (thanks, Optimus). The switches take place on an app-by-app basis judged on what kind of resources that particular application you're opening requires -- so this should be interesting to see when it comes to third-party titles. Apple is also only providing two options here; keep the automatic GPU switching on, or switch to only discrete graphics. So if you're planning on running these babies just in integrated mode, you're out of luck.

Other additions to the laptops include "inertial scrolling" (a la iPhone), which feels like a software change to us, but is apparently related to new trackpads on these models, and new configuration options when buying, such as getting yourself a 1680 x 1050 high res display (yes, please) or opting for a 512GB SSD (clocking in, weirdly, at $1,400 for the 2.4GHz models, but $1,300 for the 2.53GHz and 2.66GHz versions). Speaking of money, you may have noticed that Apple bumped the cost of the base 15-inch MacBook Pro from $1,699 to $1,799 -- not a welcome change in today's bummer of an economy, though they've brought down the entry to the 17-inch to $2,299. At any rate, you can check out some snaps of the new system below, and hang tight for a full review coming soon.

Gallery: MacBook Pro Core i7 unboxing

MacBook Pro Core i7 unboxing and preview originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony produces 7.4-inch OLED display for professionals, prices it accordingly
Sony produces 7.4-inch OLED display for professionals, prices it accordingly
We're still waiting for the OLED revolution to make our monster LCD HDTVs obsolete, but until it finally gets here we're left covering niche devices like this, the 7.4-inch PVM-740 professional monitor from Sony. It has a 960 x 540 resolution, can be connected directly to camera systems, is rack-mountable, and is said to "deliver superb high contrast, high color images, even in ambient light." That we'll believe when we see it, but given the $3,850 MSRP ($1,000 dearer than the consumer-oriented 11-inch XEL-1), we don't expect to ever be seeing one in the wild anyway.

Sony produces 7.4-inch OLED display for professionals, prices it accordingly originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Info.com | sourceSony | Email this | Comments
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GE's LED light bulbs look cool, last forever, cost a lot
GE's LED light bulbs look cool, last forever, cost a lot
Citizens of the Earth, you're looking at the lightbulb of the future. In the coming years and decades our lives won't be illuminated by simple spheres or coils of white. Oh no; future bulbs will have cool fins and flares that make them look almost worth the $40 to $50 we'll pay for the things. That's what GE plans to ask for its Energy Smart LED bulb when it ships sometime in the next 12 months, and while that is a lot compared to the exiting options, look at the benefits: GE's bulbs will last a whopping 17 years when used four hours a day, and they give off light in all directions -- not focused in one spot like previous designs. But, most importantly, they're very efficient, using nine watts to give off the equivalent amount of light of a 40 watt incandescent bulb. That's 10 percent less than a 40 watt equivalent CFL, and there's no mercury or other toxic goop involved here either. It's the future, folks. Start saving.

Gallery: GE Energy Smart LED bulb

GE's LED light bulbs look cool, last forever, cost a lot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceGE Consumer Products | Email this | Comments
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iPhone OS 4.0 paving way for Apple-branded car kit?
iPhone OS 4.0 paving way for Apple-branded car kit?
Apple dropped iPhone OS 4.0 on us last week in a big way, and we spent plenty of time breaking down and exploring the details. But, there are apparently a few gems left to be discovered, like dedicated support for in-car use -- possibly even with an Apple-branded mount of some sort. When put into this mode the iPhone generates a simple menu that's fed over video output (demonstrated after the break) while the handset becomes a remote control... which may or may not be a good idea as more and more states ban cellphone use of any kind while driving. The developer hooks for such functionality appear to be in the iPhone API and, while it's all rumorsville at this point, Apple would be blind to not try and cash in on the auto integration market -- even if it is a little late to the party.

Continue reading iPhone OS 4.0 paving way for Apple-branded car kit?

iPhone OS 4.0 paving way for Apple-branded car kit? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceTUAW | Email this | Comments
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Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors... at long last!

100diggsdigg This transition from the last crop of Core 2 Duo chips (which Apple introduced in June of last year) to Intel's Core 2010 chips has caused quite the unprecedented wait, but at last we're staring down a fresh crop of MacBook Pros and all is right with the world. The 13-inchers are sticking with Core 2 Duo, but the 15.4-inch and 17-inch models are now Core i5 and Core i7 through and through. The higher end models are nabbing NVIDIA's GeForce GT 330M graphics with Optimus switching (though Apple just calls it "automatic graphics switching technology"), while the 13-incher get NVIDIA GeForce 320M scraps. Along with the faster 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz chips in the 13-inch, Apple claims to be able to squeeze 10 hours of battery life from the machine, but the real meat is in the Core i5 2.4GHz (520M), Core i5 2.53GHz (540M), and Core i7 2.66GHz (620M) processors in the larger models. The 330M graphics are twice as fast as the 13's 320M, but thanks to the magic of Optimus, which switches the GPU on and off on the fly based on the needs of the task at hand, Apple still thinks you'll manage 8 to 9 hours of battery life on these big guys.

All machines come with 4GB of RAM, and while hard drives are standard (320GB and 500GB in the higher end), you're free to add a 512GB SSD to your machine if you so choose, for a mere $1,300. Interestingly only the 15-incher is getting that top Core i7 chip, with the sole 17-inch model is consigned to the 2.53GHz Core i5 (though you can choose Core i7 in the build to order options). Prices range from $1,799 on the 15 (up from the last-gen's $1,699 base price!) to $2,299 on the 17, with a $1,199 starting price on the 13. On the 15-inch you can pick between a 1440 x 900 "glossy" display, a 1680 x 1050 glossy display for $100 more, and an anti-glare hi-res display for another $50 on top of that (you 17-inch users are stuck with 1920 x 1200 and glossy). The biggest tweak outside of these beefy internals is "inertial scrolling" support for the trackpads, à la iPhone, though we're not sure why this couldn't have been added with just a software update. Everything's up on the Apple Store right now for your perusal, with the bigger models shipping "within 24 hours" and a 2-4 day delay on the 13-inch.

Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors... at long last! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceApple | Email this | Comments
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Canon 5D Mark II used to shoot entire House season finale, director says it's 'the future'
42diggsdiggMay 17, folks. That's the date when the grumpy doctor you wish you were and the snazzy camera you wish you owned will join forces on American network television. The final episode in this season's run of House has been shot exclusively using Canon's 5D Mark II, and the show's director Greg Yaitanes has been taking questions about the experience on Twitter. PetaPixel have helpfully collated the Q&A session into a coherent pseudo-interview, which you'll be able to find at the source below. The major takeaway is that the crew liked the experience and didn't have to do an overwhelming amount of work to adapt to the different shooting method. Guess after SNL and its own movie, the 5D Mark II just had to go and do a guest appearance on its favorite TV show.

[Thanks, Ben K]

Canon 5D Mark II used to shoot entire House season finale, director says it's 'the future' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Philip Bloom | sourcePetaPixel | Email this | Comments
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Lenovo Skylight also delayed to better compete with iPad?
This isn't the first time we've heard talk of competitors delaying products to see what the boys from Cupertino are up to. Last time, it was HP making some last minute pricing and feature adjustments to its Slate. Now we've got DigiTimes' sources claiming that Lenovo is holding up its Linux-based Skylight smartbook -- pushed from April to July -- for very similar reasons. Specifically, "control is not able to act as smoothly as the iPad." Guess even a 1GHz Snapdragon can't fix a poorly implemented UI.

Lenovo Skylight also delayed to better compete with iPad? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 07:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceDigiTimes | Email this | Comments
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Official: Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus hitting Vodafone and O2 Germany on April 28
Palm's news activity doesn't seem like abating any time soon, as the company has just made the Deutsch arrival date for its Plus-ified phones official as April 28. It matches earlier speculation about late April, but also -- very importantly -- introduces a new carrier options for our Teutonic brethren in the form of Vodafone. Formerly locked in with Telefonica (whose local representative is O2), Palm seems to have finally seen the error of its ways and started offering choice as a side dish to its delectable WebOS main course. So, forget about who's buying the company, will you be buying its phones?

[Thanks, gizmo21]

Official: Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus hitting Vodafone and O2 Germany on April 28 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Golem.de | sourcePalm.de | Email this | Comments
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Apple Store down -- human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together (update: refreshed MacBook Pro?)
Yeah yeah, the Apple Store is down globally, on a Tuesday, and we're sitting on a pile of overdue MacBook Pro and Mac Pro rumors. Next.

Update: AppleInsider has a last minute tip showing refreshed MacBooks Pro across the entire range of 13.3-, 15.4-, and 17-inchers. Each ships with 4GB of memory and new Intel Core processors with clocks ranging from 2.4GHz to 2.66GHz with options for glossy, high resolution glossy, and high resolution glossy with anti-glare displays. Some models are expected to offer a 512GB SSD option as well. See the part listings after the break.

Continue reading Apple Store down -- human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together (update: refreshed MacBook Pro?)

Apple Store down -- human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together (update: refreshed MacBook Pro?) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Multitoe floor shows us the logical next step (video)
If the toe mouse just wasn't grand enough for you, how about an entire floor to practice your foot-based inputs on? Researchers at Potsdam's (that's in Germany, yo) Hasso Plattner Institut have put together a multitouch floor that recognizes individual users by their shoe pattern and responds to such universally familiar actions as stomping your feet and tapping your toes. The so-called multitoe project works on the basis of frustrated total internal reflection, which allows it to ignore inactive users while being precise enough to recognize foot postures. Follow us after the break to see this back-projected proof of concept in action.

[Photo by Kay Herschelmann]

Continue reading Multitoe floor shows us the logical next step (video)

Multitoe floor shows us the logical next step (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Design Boom | sourceHasso Plattner Institut | Email this | Comments
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Intel adds Android to Moorestown compatibility list, wants to Atomize your smartphone
Alright, so this isn't the first time we've seen Android running on the x86 CPU architecture, but it's notable that Intel has ported the OS to run on its Atom CPUs with the specific aim of offering Android plus Atom smartphone combos. Such is the news that has emerged today at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, which means Intel loyalists will have a second option in the smartphone sphere, beyond the already known Moorestown-powered MeeGo handsets. It would seem that Chipzilla is taking the ARM threat to its home markets seriously, and is launching a counter-offensive in the mobile space. As to when that will happen, Intel's bigwigs are saying they're still "on track for introduction during the first half of this year," meaning we'll be seeing (or at least hearing about) the vanguard of its attack by the end of June.

Intel adds Android to Moorestown compatibility list, wants to Atomize your smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Police | sourcePC World | Email this | Comments
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WarGames 'Shall we play a game?' computer for sale; credit cards at DEFCON 1 (video)
You know what sells? Nostalgia. And while you might be from the Kin generation, you have undoubtedly heard the W.O.P.R. supercomputer utter the text-to-speech phrase, "Shall we play a game?" from the speaker resting atop David Lightman's IMSAI 8080. The 1983 film WarGames is the stuff of nerd legend, of geek folklore; a 1200 baud, acousticly-coupled, wardialing catalyst in a Hollywood blockbuster that gave phreakers mainstream cred and a real chance at Ally Sheedy. Appraised at $25,000, the perfectly preserved IMSAI 8080 and its associated peripherals will go sale to the general public soon. So embrace it, buy it, and then hand over your icon of computing to the Smithsonian where it can be admired for generations. See the 8080 after the break with a gratuitous WarGames trailer tossed in just for fun.

Continue reading WarGames 'Shall we play a game?' computer for sale; credit cards at DEFCON 1 (video)

WarGames 'Shall we play a game?' computer for sale; credit cards at DEFCON 1 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Original Prop Blog | sourceIMSAI | Email this | Comments
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Nokia C3, C6, and E5 try to smarten up the dumbphone market
The countdown is over and the mystery is solved. Nokia just let us in on the secret of its "everyone connect" teaser: a trio of new middling handsets. Yes folks, hardware, but not the N-series flagship many of you were hoping for. Instead we've got a handful of affordable QWERTY cellphones bent on bringing messaging and social networking to the masses. Naturally, these devices aren't going to compete for the attention of the N8-00 crowd -- that's fine, they're not meant to. Today's launch is part of Nokia's global strategy to push the smartphone experience down into the dumbphone market.

Let's start things off with the colorful C3-00 (available Q2 for €90 pre-tax and pre-subsidy) -- Nokia's first Series 40 QWERTY. The quad-band GSM candybar crams its social networking tools onto a 2.4-inch QVGA homescreen with Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, and 55MB of internal memory (and up to 8GB supported on microSD) coming along for the ride. It's also packing the Opera Mini browser in addition to the standard Webkit fare for browsing the mobile internet on the C3's paltry EGPRS data connection. But hey, €90. Moving on, we've got the more ambitious C6-00 (Q2, €220) 4-row QWERTY slider with quad-band GSM/EDGE and quad-band HSDPA/UMTS on the 850/900/1900/2100 frequencies. The familiar looking C6 runs S60 5th on that 3.2-inch nHD (640 x 360 pixel) touchscreen (resistive, we presume) with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera and flash riding the backside. Of course, it also features integrated A-GPS for free Ovi Maps turn-by-turn navigation as is the case for all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones. Finally we've got the E5-00 (Q3, €180) for those in need of a S60 3rd device that's a bit more business-minded than the C3 but twice the price (but still cheap). That means tri-band UMTS, A-GPS, WiFi and another unfortunate 2.4-inch LCD. Full press release after the break.

Gallery: Nokia C3, C6, and E5 try to smarten up the dumbphone market

Continue reading Nokia C3, C6, and E5 try to smarten up the dumbphone market

Nokia C3, C6, and E5 try to smarten up the dumbphone market originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Desk Phone Dock spotted in the wild
Still harboring some lingering doubts that the Desk Phone Dock is as real as you hoped it to be? Then it looks like you can now cast those worries aside, as our pals at Engadget Chinese have spotted the device in the wild following its debut at the China Sourcing Fair. Unfortunately, there's still no word on a release date, but the dock will reportedly run $150 "or more," and it does seem to work just as promised, with the speaker at least loud to be heard on a crowded trade show floor. Head on past the break for a quick video, and hit up the source link for plenty more hands-on shots.

Continue reading Desk Phone Dock spotted in the wild

Desk Phone Dock spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceEngadget Chinese | Email this | Comments
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Microsoft Kin notifications have up to fifteen minute delay
Microsoft's new Kin phones promise to let "Generation Upload" stay in touch with their friends via integrated, streamlined social networking. It's the main draw, the big selling point, the reason why teens, tweens and those who want to share pictures of huge fat men eating Chipotle burritos will get one. But unless you hit a manual refresh button, Microsoft says Kin will only let you stay in touch in fifteen-minute intervals. That's how often the company's servers will ping Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Windows Live to grab info from the cloud. "We didn't want the device always pulling data from the network," said one engineer, citing battery life and immature social network APIs as primary reasons why. Our take? This might be how Microsoft intends to leverage cheaper data plans out of Verizon -- by subtly throttling data usage -- providing an always-on 3G experience at a tween-affordable price. We'll just have to see if "Heather M." appreciates that, when her clothing recommendation is subject to a quarter-hour delay.

Microsoft Kin notifications have up to fifteen minute delay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Firefox ported to Pre, N900 says 'psh, whatever, I'm still awesome'
WebKit's all well and good, but every once in a while there's a reason why you've got to pull out the Old Standby, right? Once reserved for the Maemo Elite, Firefox is slowly spreading from pocket to pocket, and webOS is mercifully the latest to get hooked up. We don't know the full backstory here yet -- it looks like you can't download a user-friendly package right now -- but this'll undoubtedly be a good option when the Pre's in-built browser simply won't do. It's not an official port we're looking at, but let's be honest: the community does a better job half the time, right?

Firefox ported to Pre, N900 says 'psh, whatever, I'm still awesome' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourcePreCentral | Email this | Comments
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Flip Slide HD officially official, on sale now
After a week of essentially non-stop leaks from Best Buy, Cisco's finally coming clean with the Flip Slide HD, the newest member of its Flip family. Obviously the big feature here is that pop-up three-inch screen -- when folded down and in record mode, it's a resistive touchscreen version of the Flip Mino button layout, but when it's time to play back you can pop it open for easy viewing. Thankfully, it's got a headphone jack in addition to stereo speakers and HDMI out, so you don't have to annoy everyone around you during playback. Camera-wise, the Slide is identical to the Flip Mino HD, so you're getting 720p video with no image stabilization, although storage has been bumped to 16GB for four hours of record time and 12 hours of compressed video storage.

We'll be honest and say we're on the fence about resistive here, especially since that capacitive touch slider control below the screen in the open position suggests the touchscreen isn't responsive enough for navigation, but plenty of Flips get used on ski slopes and during other glove-intensive activities, so we can see the resistive rationale. We're less ambivalent about the $279 price tag, though -- for that money you can get any number of very nice HD video-capable point-and-shoot cameras with three-inch screens, all of which offer better lenses, better sensors, and image stabilization. Our review unit is due to arrive imminently, so we'll wait to use one before we make up our minds -- but if don't want to wait for us you can buy one from Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, and theflip.com right this second.

Gallery: Flip Slide HD press images


Gallery: Flip Slide HD personalization options

Flip Slide HD officially official, on sale now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera Mini for iPhone approved, will be available for free (update: hands-on)
206diggsdiggOur man Thomas Ricker was just wondering how long it would take before Apple determined the fate of Opera Mini for iPhone, and we've got some good news -- it's been approved and will be available for free on the App Store within 24 hours! Can't say we were expecting that, since non-Safari-based browsers have typically been verboten from Apple's little kingdom, but we're certainly happy to be surprised. We'll do up a full hands-on when we see it in the store, but for now check the demo video after the break.

Update: We're getting reports that UK and Australian readers are already able to download and enjoy this surprising little addition to the app store -- be sure to give this iTunes link a shot and see if it works in your region, mmkay?

Update 2: We just got our hands on Opera Mini for the iPhone, and the first thing we noticed is, in fact, how fast it renders pages. When we open the app, we are quickly introduced to the default Opera Screen, with links to Facebook, Twitter and the like. Opening a new tab is a single touch and loading virtually any homepage is quick. While scrolling through the loaded page, some images don't fully render until you stop over them. Multitouch is enabled to some extent -- you can pinch to zoom, and double tapping only fully zooms in and out, with really no inbetween. Something else we noticed that we'd been looking for in OS 4, is the ability to Find in Page. It works really well, and the words being searched are highlighted for an easy find. This browser totally kicks safari out of the water, and we're definitely looking forward to updates for Opera Mini.

Update 3: It looks to be live in the US now! Hit up that iTunes link and go wild!

Gallery: Opera Mini for iPhone submitted to Apple for approval (video)

Continue reading Opera Mini for iPhone approved, will be available for free (update: hands-on)

Opera Mini for iPhone approved, will be available for free (update: hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is this proof of a Verizon iPhone? (updated)
According to a tip we've just received, Apple's long-rumored, hotly-desired Verizon iPhone could turn out to be more than mere fantasy, though we warn you, this is nothing to start placing bets on. If you believe the above graphic -- a snippet of data allegedly from the recently reliable Flurry Analytics -- then at least a handful of non-AT&T phones are currently in play. The numbers show a polling of carriers a particular app is being tested on, and there's no denying that Verizon is most certainly on that list... albeit in small numbers. Now obviously this is in no way conclusive evidence of anything, and you've got to allow for the possibility -- however pathetic and slim -- that someone is just Photoshopping this little infographic, but if it's accurate, well... that's something.

Update: Proof? Probably not. We've been in touch with Flurry who thinks the data is from Verizon DSL or FiOS subscribers using their iPhone at home over WiFi.

Is this proof of a Verizon iPhone? (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Protip: Microsoft Kin not compatible with microSD
Dear SanDisk,

The Kin does not have a microSD slot. We checked.

Love, Engadget.

Protip: Microsoft Kin not compatible with microSD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google buys Plink, puts it to work on Google Goggles
Well, it looks like Google Goggles could soon be getting a few enhancements, as visual search company Plink has just announced that it's been acquired by Google, and that it will now focus all its future development efforts on Google's own visual search app. For those not familiar with it, Plink is the UK-based company behind the PlinkArt Android app, which lets you simply take a photo of a painting and then receive all the pertinent information about it. Of course, that's something that Google Goggles also does, but it seems that Plink will be working to make that functionality even better, and help out on other types visual search as well. Of course, that also means that the PlinkArt app itself will cease to be, but it will apparently remain functional in its current incarnation for the time being.

Google buys Plink, puts it to work on Google Goggles originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink @ruskin147 | sourcePlinkArt Blog | Email this | Comments
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Microsoft: Kin and Windows Phone 7 will share more technology over time
Sure, Nokia's already proven that it's possible to commercially support multiple mobile platforms at a time, but is it really a great idea? Even Nokia ultimately ended up collapsing Series 80 and 90 in to S60 over the years, but Microsoft's going in a distinctly different direction by rolling out Kin and Windows Phone 7 at nearly the same time (plus the spectre of WinMo 6.x, which'll undoubtedly soldier on in some niche markets for years to come). While both products share common underpinnings, they're different enough so that there's really no user-facing commonality beyond some shared compatibility with services like Zune and Windows Live, and frankly, we don't get it -- why not start from a generic, extensible platform like Windows Phone 7 and work outwards to create Kin as a specialized sub-product?

We chatted with Microsoft GM Matt Bencke today to get a feel for why there isn't more technical synergy between two products that obviously share the overwhelming majority of their DNA, and basically, the Reader's Digest version of the conversation is that they intend to get there eventually. "We're going to share more and more in terms of code," he said -- though we weren't able to nail him down to a timeline for making that happen -- ultimately agreeing that it was fair to say you'd start to see the platforms converge over time. If we had to guess, Kin's suffering from the fact that it was approved and set in stone before Windows Phone 7 even existed in its current incarnation, and it's going to take Redmond a little while to get the projects synced. See the critical portion of the talk on video after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft: Kin and Windows Phone 7 will share more technology over time

Microsoft: Kin and Windows Phone 7 will share more technology over time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability
There's no I in pad. Only we, of course. Yeah, we've been wanting to make that joke for awhile -- but in all seriousness, Neofonie, makers of the 11.6-inch WePad, held a press conference in Berlin today to reveal a bit more about its Linux-based slate. According to our German counterparts there will be two versions of the Intel Atom N450-powered tablet, which has two USB ports and an onboard webcam -- the 16GB / WiFi version will go for €450 and the 64GB / HD capable model for €569. We're a bit intrigued by the promised "full HD" support of the larger version, but Neofonie was quick to say that there is no NVIDIA inside. Hmm... Broadcom's Crystal HD, perhaps? The company wasn't willing to let reporters play with the early build of the multitouch device, but they did show off some videos of the Linux interface. You can watch a few after the break, but the live widget-based GUI looks extremely attractive and amongst other things, the browser supports Flash. It sort of hurts that we won't be able to get our hands on one until August, but we're happy to hear that the company, unlike some others, is taking the time to get things right.

Updated: We can't help but laugh at the fact that many sites are reporting that the WePad on display at yesterday's press conference was actually running Windows 7 underneath the Linux-looking UI. Apparently the company has more work to do than we originally thought.

Continue reading WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability

WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceWePad, Engadget German | Email this | Comments
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Kin is basically a Zune HD inside, can go for a weekend on a charge
In a discussion with Kin product manager Derek Snyder this afternoon, we've confirmed that both the Kin One and Kin Two are built on the same foundation as the Zune HD -- in other words, they're running NVIDIA Tegra silicon, and there's no reason that anything you see on a Zune HD couldn't run just as well on a Kin. Of course, that's a purely theoretical statement at this point since Zune apps don't work on Kin as it stands -- the platform's completely closed, though Microsoft has been insistent that we should keep a close eye on its over-the-air updates after launch as features evolve. Either way, that's a marked (and curious) departure from Windows Phone 7, where Microsoft's been taking an all-Qualcomm, all-the-time approach.

Realistically, we've gotten the impression today that Kin doesn't come close to tapping out a Tegra's horsepower, but that might be by design: Snyder also mentioned that a key goal of the development phase was to make sure that the phones could go a whole weekend without a charge. Running a Tegra at full bore 24 / 7 doesn't lend itself to miserly power consumption, so the overall simplicity of the UI -- and the lack of 3D gaming -- might play a role there.

Kin is basically a Zune HD inside, can go for a weekend on a charge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Commodore Gaming disavows Commodore USA (and its decals)
Remember back in March, when Commodore USA CEO and longtime Commodore user Barry Altman excitedly told us about how he'd spent "the better part of a year" untangling the red tape, finally getting the rights to the Commodore name? As far as we are able to tell, Yeahronimo Media Ventures acquired the rights to the Commodore brand back in 2004, when it changed its name to Commodore International Corporation. Among its many projects are a joint venture with Amsterdam's Content Factory called -- you guessed it! -- Commodore Gaming. Today we received an email from Commodore Gaming's Global Product Manager Taco van Sambeek, informing us that Commodore USA has not been granted a license to use the Commodore name, and that "Commodore USA Ltd. has no legal rights to be using the Commodore trademark." When we went back to the old Commodore USA site, we found a few updates, including this line in the fine print:
    Commodore trademark logo used pending licensing rights, used above for illustrative purposes only.
In case you're curious, the company has also started shipping its "barebones and configured systems" (also known as the Cybernet all-in-one PC). But there's a catch! Your purchase, according to the site, "will not be branded with the Commodore logo or markings. These self-adhesive logo label plates will be shipped to you at no charge when they are available." Thanks for clearing that up. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to go order some Silicon Graphics decals to put on our Toshiba Satellite laptop.

Commodore Gaming disavows Commodore USA (and its decals) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm also looking at licensing webOS and / or finding new investors
Although we've got the feeling that Palm will eventually be sold off, apparently that's not the only option on the table: Reuters and Street Insider have followed up last night's news that Palm is up for sale with some more details, including the revelations that Cisco is an interested buyer and Palm is also considering licensing webOS and / or seeking an additional infusion of cash from an outside investor. We're at all sure who'd be willing to join Bono's Elevation Partners in pumping more cash into Palm as it stands right now, but we can certainly see the company loosening the strings and licensing webOS to other manufacturers, something it did with great success back in the Palm OS days. Of course, that success eventually led to a string of terrible business decisions and the brink of failure, from upon which Palm has never returned, but hey -- at least it's familiar territory, right? Sigh.

In other news, Palm CTO Mitch Allen is scheduled to talk about Palm's patent strategy next month, and the press release announcing his talk straight-up values the company's IP portfolio at $8-$9 a share, or around a billion and a half dollars. If that's true, it means anyone buying Palm at today's closing price and market cap of $6 and $1.01b would be getting a nice little discount -- which is probably why bids are expected to come in this week. We'll see what goes down; it looks like most of you agree with us that HTC would be a terrific match here, but anything can happen. Stay tuned.

Palm also looking at licensing webOS and / or finding new investors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PreCentral (licensing), PreCentral (patents) | sourceReuters, PR Newswire, Street Insider | Email this | Comments
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Motorola software update makes 3D automatic, except for the "buying a new TV" part
It's not like a couple of button presses on a remote was the big gap between us and the perfect 3D experience but when most people can't even figure out if they're actually watching HDTV, some automated assistance can't hurt. To that end Motorola has developed an update for its latest set-top boxes that allow them to automatically detect and process 3D signals so those properly equipped can watch without having to lift a finger, and even adjusts the on screen graphics to match. No word when operators will actually deploy the new software, though odds are it will be well before you actually buy a 3DTV so we wouldn't worry too much, yet.

Motorola software update makes 3D automatic, except for the "buying a new TV" part originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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myTouch Slide found in the wild, looking good in red
Yeah, we saw the myTouch Slide back in January, but it certainly seems to have come a long way in the past few months. For starters, the phone is on now, showing off a slightly custom Android UI and that 480 x 320 screen. The handset also looks to have gotten a fancy red (or is that form of pink?) paint job, and doesn't look half bad for it. Our guess is we'll be seeing this in a number of colors, just like the myTouch 3G, but that's just speculation. There aren't any other details about the phone on offer here, or knowledge on exactly how this shot managed to leak out, but we figure we'll be learning more soon enough.

myTouch Slide found in the wild, looking good in red originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix for Wii now 'fully available' to all users
Netflix discs have already been shipping out to quite a few Wii users for a couple of weeks now, but Nintendo and Netflix have only just now finally announced that the discs and service are "fully available" to all users as of today. So, if you weren't among the rather large initial group, you should be receiving your disc any day now (if you haven't already), and you can of course still request a disc from Netflix if you haven't done so -- assuming you have a Netflix membership, that is.

Netflix for Wii now 'fully available' to all users originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq | sourceBusiness Wire | Email this | Comments
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NASDAQ and CEA announce Smartphone Index
The NASDAQ isn't exactly our usual beat here at Engadget, but it's not every day that a consumer electronics market segment gets elevated to the status of having its own index, which is what the stock exchange has now done with a little help from the Consumer Electronics Association. They've teamed up for the NASDAQ OMX CEA Smartphone Index, which consists of 84 companies that are involved in one way or another with the "building, design and distribution of handsets, hardware, software, and mobile networks associated with the development, sale and usage of smartphones." We're having a bit of trouble tracking down the complete list of companies included in the index, but it does apparently have the usual suspects like Apple, Google and RIM, and it has started out with a valuation 250.00.

NASDAQ and CEA announce Smartphone Index originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC EVO 4G shows up in Sprint inventory, shots of the accessories surface
Need something to wash that Kin marketing out of your mouth? How about some new tidbits on the superphone to end all superphones? For whatever reason, the HTC EVO 4G has showed up in Sprint's inventory, a couple months early by all accounts. It's carrying a completely reasonable $5,555 pricetag, and the appropriate HTC A9292 model number. If that doesn't quite satiate your EVO 4G thirst, LeakDroid has managed to get shots of those EVO 4G accessories we've been hearing about, including a home dock, extended battery case, colored silicon sleeves, and a car dock. Hit up the source link for the shots.

[Thanks to an anonymous tipster for the inventory screen]

HTC EVO 4G shows up in Sprint inventory, shots of the accessories surface originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two first hands-on!
55diggsdigg We've just spent some time handling Microsoft's just-announced Kin One and Kin Two, and we're not sure what to think; the keyboards have surprisingly good feel, particularly the One (think Palm Pre levels of usability on the One, for example -- we wouldn't be surprised if it was their benchmark) and the phones generally feel pretty solid. In fact, we'd go so far to say that this is a marked improvement in hardware quality for Sharp than any of its Sidekicks ever offered. Problem is, we just can't get over the fact that the software is extremely limited in its scope -- yes, we understand that it's by design, but does this so-called "upload generation" of socially-connected teens and twentysomethings really want a phone that they can't download games to? That's the million-dollar question that Verizon will be answering over the next few months, it seems.

We know that the One is positioned as the slightly lower-end device on account of its 5 megapixel cam (the Two has 8) and half the internal storage, but we actually came away liking it more -- it's the only one of the two that looks truly unique, because the Two just looks like any old landscape slider smartphone (not to say that's necessarily a bad thing). The front of both devices is graced with a single metallic button to offset an otherwise clean glossy black bezel -- this button functions as Back, not Home, so if you're multiple levels deep into the UI you'll only be taken back one. You can still hold the button down to get back to the home screen, fortunately, and both the One and Two have dedicated camera buttons -- Microsoft's making no secret of the fact that image and video capture are a huge push for these devices.

Follow the break for more thoughts, shots, and video!

Gallery: Kin One UI hands-on

Continue reading Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two first hands-on!

Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin UI walkthrough
If you've managed to pull your eyes away from our no-holds-barred liveblog of Microsoft's Kin announcement, you might've noticed that there are videos up on the official Kin site depicting the UI in all its hipster-lite, storytelling glory. Still, in case you're not a 20 something living in Brooklyn on your parents' money while pursuing a career in the arts, we've turned those motion video picture things into regular stills for your staid perusal. We even added little descriptors below the galleries, which due to your acute lack of ADD you might even find time to read. We upped the videos after the break as well, just in case you wanted to try your hand at the young-and-hip life.

Gallery: Kin Spot


Kin Spot is a little hot spot at the bottom of the screen almost akin the virtual "binding" in Courier. You can drag pictures, addresses, web pages, and other media into it, and then drag the faces of friends who you want to send the stack of stuff to. Once you tap the spot you can preview your message, add some text, and choose from MMS or email to send it out.

Haven't had enough? Check out our hands-on and the official announce post! Videos and the rest of the features are after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft Kin UI walkthrough

Microsoft Kin UI walkthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceKIN.com | Email this | Comments
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Microsoft Kin Studio saves all your phone content to the web (update: video!)
16diggsdigg There's no denying that Microsoft's new Kin phones are a next-gen riff on the Sidekick, and just like the Sidekick, everything that happens on the phone will be backed up to a Microsoft service, called Kin Studio. Text messages, photos, videos, music, other content -- it's all instantly synced to the Studio, which is obviously accessible from any browser. Of course, it's sort of funny for Microsoft to be saying that it'll back up all your data for you, since it just had a major Sidekick data loss incident, but hey -- the kids don't know that, right? They're off skateboarding, or hanging out watching fat people eat burritos*, or whatever they do.

Update: Video for the "upload generation" now available to stream after the break. Think you can handle that?

*Actual line from teen testimonial video shown during Microsoft event. We are not kidding.

Continue reading Microsoft Kin Studio saves all your phone content to the web (update: video!)

Microsoft Kin Studio saves all your phone content to the web (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two announced: Windows Phone roots with a social slant (updated with video)
58diggsdigg It's finally official: Microsoft Pink -- the product of Redmond's acquisition of Danger -- has just been unveiled as a pair of handsets sourced from Sharp (which made most of Danger's Sidekicks) known as the Kin One and Kin Two. The devices are being marketed as Windows Phones, and while they're ultimately based on most of the same underpinnings of Windows Phone 7, it's a distinctly and totally different experience -- the entire user interface is custom to Kin with a heavy social media slant, a custom browser (we're told it's based on the Zune's browser), and surprisingly, zero support for third-party apps. The displays are capacitive with support for multitouch (yes, you can pinch and zoom in the browser), but there's no support for in-browser Flash or Silverlight.

Kin One -- the phone we'd seen rumored as "Turtle" -- is basically a curved square slider with a QVGA display, 4GB of internal storage, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Kin Two, meanwhile, is the phone leaked as the "Pure," upping the ante with a HVGA display and a more traditional landscape QWERTY slide form factor. It also moves up to an 8 megapixel cam and 8GB of internal storage, but otherwise, the experience is roughly the same as what you get on the One; both phones have WiFi and Bluetooth in addition to their 3G cellular radios. For what it's worth, Microsoft is emphasizing that internal storage really isn't a big deal with the Kin phones, because your entire photo and video collection that you capture using the onboard camera is synced seamlessly with your bottomless online storage; you can access the entire collection from your phone at any time by browsing thumbnails, and if you want the full content, you can download it. Kin comes bundled with a desktop web experience that's entirely based on Silverlight for viewing and sorting just about all of the major stuff that you can see on your phone -- contacts, social network status updates, images, and so on -- and we've got to admit, it looks pretty slick. Keep reading after the break for a lot more info and video!

Gallery: Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two press shots

Continue reading Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two announced: Windows Phone roots with a social slant (updated with video)

Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two announced: Windows Phone roots with a social slant (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourcekin.com | Email this | Comments
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Live from Microsoft's 'It's Time To Share' event!
We've been ushered out to lovely San Francisco today (well, actually, not so lovely -- the weather is uncharacteristically yucky) to learn all about this mysterious "It's Time To Share" thing that Microsoft has been cooking up. The popular rumor is that a new line of handsets (Pink? Kin?) are en route. Stay tuned!

Continue reading Live from Microsoft's 'It's Time To Share' event!

Live from Microsoft's 'It's Time To Share' event! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Jobs apparently says original iPhone won't be upgraded in the future
Now that the iPad is out and iPhone OS 4 has been announced, it looks like Steve Jobs is taking a little time to catch up on his email -- in addition to taking up the new SDK rules, it appears he's very tersely confirmed what we sadly suspected all along: the first-gen iPhone won't get an upgrade to iPhone OS 4. That makes a certain amount of sense, given that Apple's subscription accounting model for the original iPhone only booked free upgrades for 24 months, but really, that's just paperwork -- we don't see why Cupertino couldn't at least allow for an iPod touch-style paid upgrade, especially since the upgradeable iPhone 3G runs essentially the same hardware. And let's not forget that first-gen iPhone owners paid more or less full price for their devices, so if this is true, Apple's summarily dead-ended a $400 phone just under three years after it launched. Of course, none of this is officially confirmed yet, so anything can change -- we've pinged Apple for comment and they haven't responded yet, but we'll let you know what we find out.

[Thanks, Tanzeel]

Steve Jobs apparently says original iPhone won't be upgraded in the future originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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