Monday, August 2, 2010

IT News HeadLines (Engadget) 02/08/2010



BlackBerry email, web and messaging banned in UAE due to 'security concerns'
Looks like those regulators over in the Middle East don't mess about. Following this week's revelation that the United Arab Emirates' telco overseers weren't happy with being unable to monitor how people were using their BlackBerrys, today we're hearing what their solution to the problem will be: an outright ban. Internet access, email and instant messaging on RIM devices will be blocked in the UAE starting this October -- provided, of course, that the Canadian phone maker doesn't do something in the meantime to appease the authorities. Saudi Arabia is similarly peeved with the BBM service, which it intends to shut down later this month. And just in case you were wondering why all this drama is taking place, the BBC cites a Saudi Telecom board member as admitting it's designed to pressure RIM into releasing users' communication data "when needed." Charming.
BlackBerry email, web and messaging banned in UAE due to 'security concerns' originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Lightweight robot arm connects to your wheelchair, stoops in your stead (video)
Japan's latest robot arm won't flip pancakes or do dishes, and you'll have to control its every move via remote, but it enables a surprising range of motion that some disabled individuals just can't manage on their own. The RAPUDA (Robotic Arm for Persons with Upper limb DisAbilities) is a modular, wheelchair mounted device that weighs just thirteen pounds, yet extends over three feet to pick up objects (up to one pound) from a nearby table or floor. Its relative sloth and noise may irritate some, but it's all nostalgic to us -- it sounds just like the Radio Shack Armatron that graced our childhood. Now, where did those D-cells go... Video after the break.Continue reading Lightweight robot arm connects to your wheelchair, stoops in your stead (video)
Lightweight robot arm connects to your wheelchair, stoops in your stead (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink CrunchGear  |  sourceAIST  | Email this | Comments
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DXG-5D7V, 'the only 3D video camcorder,' now available for preorder
Panasonic may have the first 3D camcorder we'd actually ever consider purchasing, but technically speaking DXG has been sitting on the stereoscopic gold mine for months. This past week, the budget camera company's 3D View pistol cam got real, in a Hammacher-Schlemmer package that'll set you back $600. That outlay buys you not only the twin-lens VGA shooter you see above, but also a companion 7-inch, 800 x 480 3D media player, both of which are outfitted with glasses-free parallax barrier LCD screens. It's not a terrible deal considering the alternatives on offer, but we're not down with the $200 luxury tax Hammacher and company tacked on top, and we're a little wary about the way that ram is staring at us. Cameras are expected to ship August 6th; press release after the break.Continue reading DXG-5D7V, 'the only 3D video camcorder,' now available for preorder
DXG-5D7V, 'the only 3D video camcorder,' now available for preorder originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Macworld  |  sourceHammacher Schlemmer  | Email this | Comments
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Luxurite's custom 82-inch Glass TV is just the thing for your episode of Teen Cribs
Sure it's the kind of distinction that only matters in some celeb's rented-for-the-day mansion, but Luxurite is proudly claiming to be the first company offering anything as big as its 82-inch Glass TV (42-inch pictured). So named because its glass panel front flicks from see through (for more convenient TV watching) to a mirror when it's turned off, listed specs show a 1080p resolution, 120,000:1 contrast ratio (yeah, right) and 3 HDMI inputs. Price? Don't even ask. Well-heeled UK customers looking to spice up their bathroom, wet bar or other areas can get details on how to place a custom order beyond the read link.
Permalink Born Rich  |  sourceLuxurite  | Email this | Comments
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Best Buy to slash prices for old Xbox 360 special edition bundles tomorrow? (Update: yes)
Let's face it: despite the new Xbox 360 being joyously quieter and more efficient, the previous model still manages to seduce some of us with its sexy curves. Speaking of which -- according to Joystiq's source, Best Buy's going to kick off August by lowering the prices for the Splinter Cell: Conviction and Final Fantasy XIII previous-gen Xbox 360 bundles. For just $299 -- $50 off the current price point (and $100 off the launch price) -- you still get a copy of the corresponding game title, a 250GB HDD, and two wireless controllers. So that's gaming sorted for the summer; now put that $50 towards some cooling aid and you're good to go.

Update: and the new prices are live. Grab them while they're hot.
Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceJoystiq  | Email this | Comments
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Hacker intercepts phone calls with homebuilt $1,500 IMSI catcher, claims GSM is beyond repair
In 2009, Chris Paget showed the world the vulnerabilities of RFID by downloading the contents of US passports from the safety of his automobile. This year, he's doing the same for mobile phones. Demonstrating at DefCon 2010, the white hat hacker fooled 17 nearby GSM phones into believing his $1,500 kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) was a legitimate cell phone base station, and proceeded to intercept and record audience calls. "As far as your cell phones are concerned, I'm now indistinguishable from AT&T," he told the crowd. The purpose of the demonstration was highlight a major flaw in the 2G GSM system, which directs phones to connect to the tower with the strongest signal regardless of origin -- in this case, Paget's phony tower.

The hacker did caveat that his system could only intercept outbound calls, and that caller ID could tip off the owner of a handset to what's what, but he says professional IMSI catchers used by law enforcement don't suffer from such flaws and amateur parity would only be a matter of time. "GSM is broken," Paget said, "The primary solution is to turn it off altogether." That's a tall order for a world still very dependent on the technology for mobile connectivity, but we suppose AT&T and T-Mobile could show the way. Then again, we imagine much of that same world is still using WEP and WPA1 to "secure" their WiFi.
Permalink   |  sourceWired, AP, MobileBeat, Forbes, IDG  | Email this | Comments
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Switched On: The Galaxy S paradox
Most high-profile smartphones launch exclusively on one of the major carriers in the U.S. The Samsung Galaxy S, though, will come to market via all of them under different names, different industrial designs, and, in one case, with different input options. And yet, its screen's quality and size - big but not too big - will certainly make it a contender at all of them.

But the handset will encounter anything but a level playing field in its respective portfolios. The Galaxy S will provide a good lab in which to study how much motivation to push a high-end portfolio device counts versus the muscle of having the largest subscriber bases but stronger handset competition. With the Galaxy S's lack of exclusivity already dampening some carrier enthusiasm for promoting it heavily, it appears as though the handset's impact goes down as the number of carrier subscribers goes up. Let's look at the universe of Galaxy S distribution.Continue reading Switched On: The Galaxy S paradox
Switched On: The Galaxy S paradox originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dell Studio XPS 9100 arrives with six cores, little fanfare
AMD had its turn in the high-end Dell desktop spotlight, but it's time for another Intel beast, as the company's quietly upgraded its tower lineup to support Intel's consumer-grade champion chip, the 3.33GHz Core i7-980X. While the new Studio XPS 9100 looks just the same as its predecessor on the outside and sports the same basic options and ports, internally there's a 525W power supply with enough juice for a Radeon HD 5970 2GB graphics card (a $580 option) and slots for up to 24GB of DDR3 memory. You won't be getting any of this pixel-pushing goodness on the $950 base model, of course, which has only a (respectable) quad-core 2.66GHz Core i7-920 and an Nvidia GeForce G310 512MB, but the machine looks like it could hold its own with low-end Alienware cousins if you get into $2,000+ territory. Call us crazy, but we think there's a configurator session with your name on it.
Dell Studio XPS 9100 arrives with six cores, little fanfare originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink LogicBuy  |  sourceDell  | Email this | Comments
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Engadget Podcast 207 - 07.31.2010
The Engadget Podcasters are chattin' re: magic, black magic, crack, GHB, Kmart, and Ashton.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Sadnes - Wicked Game

00:01:29 - New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK
00:07:33 - Amazon sees e-book sales surpassing paper versions, has Mirasol technology in the Kindle labs
00:13:30 - RIM takes control of blackpad.com, laughter takes control of our minds
00:13:53 - RIM's 9.7-inch Blackpad rumored for November launch -- yes, Blackpad
00:14:22 - RIM and AT&T event next Tuesday -- BlackBerry slider and OS 6 en route?
00:24:32 - Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3
00:25:57 - Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999
00:26:17 - Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69
00:26:30 - Magic Trackpad review
00:28:45 - Apple Battery Charger gets official: a battery charger, only you know, better (update: hands-on)
00:33:45 - Apple issues Magic Trackpad drivers for OS X and Windows, updates MacBooks with new gesture support
00:34:50 - Library of Congress adds DMCA exception for jailbreaking or rooting your phone
00:36:50 - Did the Fifth Circuit just make breaking DRM legal? Not quite.
00:51:28 - Augen's $99 GenBook smartbook preview
00:54:30 - Augen's $150 Android tablet hits Kmart circular, coming to stores later this week



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Engadget Podcast 207 - 07.31.2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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'The Shack' downsizes, opens Bullseye Mobile kiosks in many Target stores
'The Shack' getting downsized, opening Bullseye Mobile kiosks in many Target stores
Radio Shack is at it again, expanding your perceptions of the place that once actually sold radio components. A year after that ill-received 'The Shack' marketing campaign the company is now making a rather more substantial move, securing an arrangement with Target stores to see the creation of so-called Bullseye Mobile kiosks. This has started with a 100-store pilot program but, throughout this year and into summer next, the expectation is to prop them up in 1,750 big box locations. Something tells us they won't all be wired up for WiMAX, but we can hope.

[Thanks, Breon]
'The Shack' downsizes, opens Bullseye Mobile kiosks in many Target stores originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink   |  sourceBloomberg  | Email this | Comments
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Dell Zino HD 410 quietly leaks out with AMD quad-core potential
Once upon a time, Dell's Zino HD promised desktop parts in a tiny box and didn't quite deliver the goods, but it was still cute and powerful enough a mini-desktop to earn a spot on our holiday gift guide. This time round, it looks like Dell might actually fulfill that original pledge, as support documents leaked at the company's website show the box sporting an AMD RS880M chipset capable of socketing Phenom II quad-core processors. While it only comes with onboard Radeon HD 4250 graphics by default, a Mobility Radeon 5450 GPU is listed as a potential option at launch, and the box can now hold up to 8GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory alongside 802.11n WiFi and Blu-ray drive options. On the front and back of the small box, you'll find practically exactly the same ports, but there is a new optical S/PDIF socket capable of piping 7.1 surround sound. While there's no guarantee all these options are slated for a stateside launch, we imagine Dell will either deliver or keep a tighter lid on these sorts of docs.
Gallery: Dell Inspiron 410 Zino HD specifications

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Dell Zino HD 410 quietly leaks out with AMD quad-core potential originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink AVS Forum  |  sourceDell Support  | Email this | Comments
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Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)
Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)
To win at Mario Kart on a console you must master two things: drifting and power-ups. Half of that is replicated in these R/C Mario Kart toys, which we saw standing still last month but now can finally see in action motoring around what looks to be either Corporate Carpet Raceway or CDR Castle. The controller emits that familiar jingling item select sound when you've snagged a virtual power-up, and you can see how mushrooms boost your speed while banana peels cause your opponents' cars to freak out. Sadly there is no drifting to be found in this version of the game, but we're wondering if a little tape on the rear wheels wouldn't help address that shortcoming.

[Thanks, Jarom]Continue reading Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)
Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Motorola Droid getting Android 2.2 next week (update)
14diggsdigg We've just been dropped a brief note from Verizon that the original Droid will be getting the full Froyo treatment at some point next week. Considering the brevity of the announcement, it's entirely possible that this was thrown together in response to Sprint's EVO news -- but who cares? The more Android 2.2, the better, right? No official word on other Droid variants -- most of which are likely going to see Froyo updates soon -- but we'll be keeping our ears firmly planted to the ground.

Update: Want to know just how extensive your Droid makeover might be? Hit up the full Verizon PDF guide to Android 2.2 on Droid at our more coverage link. [Thanks, Sgenius]
Motorola Droid getting Android 2.2 next week (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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