Monday, August 9, 2010

IT News HeadLines (Engadget) 09/08/2010



AT&T's bullish earnings report suggests iPhone exclusivity is almost over
You can tell a product ranks high in the public consciousness when something like this is news: AT&T's quarterly earnings report makes it sound like the telecom may finally lose its iPhone exclusivity deal. While a class-action lawsuit recently confirmed the handset was originally locked to AT&T / Cingular for a full five years, the company's Q2 SEC filing has the company making a considerable number of familiar excuses why AT&T's cellular business will thrive even "as these exclusivity arrangements end." While the iPhone isn't mentioned by name, it's hard to imagine sentences like "We believe offering a wide variety of handsets reduces dependence on any single handset" could refer to anything else -- but before you start defecting to Team Red, know there's nothing in there that suggests a date, much less proof of the fabled CDMA iPhone.
AT&T's bullish earnings report suggests iPhone exclusivity is almost over originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Electronista  |  sourceUS Securities and Exchange Commission  | Email this | Comments
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Bankrupt iRex can't buy a vowel, gets new lease on life as IRX Innovations
iRex loses a vowel, gets new lease on life as IRX Innovations
Things were looking bad for iRex Technologies a few months back. Its DR 800 e-reader didn't get to retail in time for the holiday season and, with at $450, it wasn't exactly price competitive anyhow. As the company filed bankruptcy CEO Hans Brons remained optimistic, saying "expectations are still positive," and now we can see why: the company is being reborn as IRX Innovations. This time it will skip the pesky retail market altogether, hoping to find businesses willing to pay the roughly 100% premium over a comparable 3G Kindle or Nook or what have you. It's unclear whether IRX will be offering the same products or will start showing off new, more business-minded ones, but with the WiFi Kindle now shipping for a mere $140 we're hoping the new company has some lesser expensive offerings.
Bankrupt iRex can't buy a vowel, gets new lease on life as IRX Innovations originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink   |  sourceelectronista  | Email this | Comments
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Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots goes motion-controlled for TI design challenge
Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots have already seen some new life in an augmented reality demo, and they've now gotten yet another taste of the future -- Zachery Shivers and Anne Flinchbaugh have created a motion-controlled version of the game as part of Texas Instruments' Co-op Design Challenge. As you can probably imagine, that requires plenty of servos and circuit boards underneath the ring, but the key ingredient is TI's accelerometer-equipped Chronos watch, which lets you translate your actual punches into rock 'em sock 'em punches. Check it out in action in the video after the break, and hit up the source link below for the complete details on building your own.
Continue reading Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots goes motion-controlled for TI design challenge
Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots goes motion-controlled for TI design challenge originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 07:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Make  |  sourceElectronic Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots  | Email this | Comments
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QNAP's QMobile app enables multimedia NAS streaming to Android and iOS
Got yourself a QNAP NAS, do you? If you're also in legal possession of an Android or iOS-based device, you could soon be streaming your dusty Boyz II Men and / or Our Lady Peace jams straight from your network. Over the past month, the outfit has released QMobile apps for both Android and iOS, enabling everything from Google's Nexus One to Apple's iPod touch, iPad and iPhone to remotely stream images, tunes and videos so long as their NAS is online (and connected to a halfway decent broadband line). The app is said to work just fine over 3G or WiFi, and there's even a My Jukebox feature that essentially acts as a shuffle system for those who aren't too picky about what comes through. Both apps are available now in the Android Market and App Store for no charge, but you'll probably want to tap those source links and update your NAS management software to v3.3.0 before trying any fancy business. Video promo is past the break, if you need some encouragement.Continue reading QNAP's QMobile app enables multimedia NAS streaming to Android and iOS
QNAP's QMobile app enables multimedia NAS streaming to Android and iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 01:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Hot Hardware  |  sourceQNAP 1, 2  | Email this | Comments
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Switched On: ZuneForSure
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The moon has only four major phases, but as the Zune -- that satellite around Microsoft's gravitational pull -- enters a familiar fifth phase, what some consider a pale reflection of the iPod has made few waves despite inspiring its share of romantics. Zune began as a new salvo against the iPod as Microsoft grew frustrated in its attempts to make inroads versus Apple's soaring digital media device with its abysmally named and convoluted PlaysForSure rights management scheme. PlaysForSure had actually achieved some level of acceptance on digital music players and even handsets, but as Steve Ballmer has explained, devices that sell in the tens of millions of units per year -- as opposed to hundreds of millions like PCs and handsets (Kin notwithstanding) -- can be a good opportunity for vertical integration of hardware and software.

And so was born Zune, welcoming us to the social with its chunky profile, brown color option, "double shot" facade and the quirky and later abandoned WiFi-based song-squirting sharing feature. Its next major iteration introduced the "squircle" -- a rounded square clickable trackpad that surpassed the click wheel just as Apple was gearing up for the game-changing iPod touch: strike two.Continue reading Switched On: ZuneForSure
Switched On: ZuneForSure originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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RIM averts Saudi Arabia's BlackBerry messaging ban, negotiates surrender (update: 48-hour ultimatum)
It took two long years for India to (allegedly) tap BlackBerry traffic, but Saudi Arabia may not have to wait nearly as long; the Wall Street Journal reports that RIM has all but agreed to set up a local server in the country. While we've no details yet on what the deal entails, an unnamed Saudi telecom official said negotiations are already in the final stages. Sorry, RIM, but it looks like Saudi Arabia called your bluff. We imagine the company will deny any potential for government snooping in short order... and both Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates will start planning their own attempts to wrest away control. We'll let you know where this house of cards falls.

Update: Saudi Arabia has reportedly given its three national cellular carriers 48 hours to try out proposed solutions that "meet the regulatory demands" of the country, else the BlackBerry messaging ban will take effect as originally planned.
Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal, Associated Press  | Email this | Comments
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Augen's Kmart tablet and smartbook won't have Google-branded apps from now on
The future for Augen's $150 tablet and $100 smartbook isn't looking good -- not only do the blue-light specials have slow processors and resistive touchscreens, but their official Google app privileges have just been revoked. To be fair, Android Market actually wasn't working on either device from the get-go, but Augen just sent us a statement confirming that the entire proprietary suite (including Market, Gmail and more) was preloaded on the devices without Google's permission, and won't appear on new batches that make it to store shelves. Augen says it's working with Google to secure rights to these apps for new products further down the road, but if you want a dirt-cheap mass market Android device with these apps preinstalled, you'd best head on down to Kmart... assuming they're finally in stock, of course. Press release after the break.Continue reading Augen's Kmart tablet and smartbook won't have Google-branded apps from now on
Augen's Kmart tablet and smartbook won't have Google-branded apps from now on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Audiovox rolls out FLO TV-equipped DFL01 portable DVD player
FLO TV may not be the runaway success that Qualcomm hoped it would be, but it's been pushing into one new area after the next as of late, and you can now add portable DVD players to that list -- Audiovox has just rolled out the first such device with its DFL01 player. It was actually announced way back at CES in January, but is now available to order for $199, which will get you a 7-inch widescreen display, three months of free FLO TV service (it'll run you $14.99 a month after that) and, of course, a built-in DVD player. Somewhat curiously, it seems that HSN is the only retailer actually shipping the device right now, but it's said to be "coming soon" to Best Buy as well.
Audiovox rolls out FLO TV-equipped DFL01 portable DVD player originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Chip Chick  |  sourceHSN, Best Buy  | Email this | Comments
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Robot arm takes engineers for a virtual reality Formula 1 ride (video)
As it turns out, industrial-strength robot arms are good for more than amusing hijinks and the occasional assembly line -- a team of researchers at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have turned a KUKA KR 500 into the ultimate Formula 1 simulator ride. Outfitting the six-axis, half-ton lifter with a force-feedback steering wheel, pedals, video projector and curved screen, the newly-christened CyberMotion Simulator lets scientists throw a virtual Ferrari F2007 race car into the turns, while the cockpit whips around with up to 2 Gs of equal-and-opposite Newtonian force. There's actually no loftier goal for this particular science project, as the entire point was to create a racing video game that feels just like the real thing -- though to be fair, a second paper tested to see whether projectors or head-mounted displays made for better drivers. (Projectors won.) See how close they came to reality in a video after the break, while we go perform a little experiment of our own.

[Thanks, Eric]Continue reading Robot arm takes engineers for a virtual reality Formula 1 ride (video)
Robot arm takes engineers for a virtual reality Formula 1 ride (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink   |  sourceIEEE Spectrum  | Email this | Comments
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Mark Papermaster leaves Apple for reasons and destinations unknown (update)
We're not quite sure chip guru Mark Papermaster ever truly settled into his role as Apple's SVP of Devices Hardware Engineering in the year and four months since he finally walked through the door, but after the recent antenna troubles someone decided that he wasn't going to work there anymore. The New York Times reports that Papermaster has left and Bob Mansfeld (SVP of Mac Engineering) will assume his role. So far, there's been no official statement as to why the departure is occurring, whether he was ousted or left of his own volition (again, though he oversaw the new iPhone, his background is in processor design) but either way, the former SVP's picture and bio have already been removed from Apple's website. The man himself reportedly refused to comment when contacted by the Times, but as with all truths we're sure this one will come out eventually.

Update: The ever-resourceful John Gruber says that Papermaster's departure may be more closely related to Apple's antenna troubles than we originally thought:
Inside Apple, he's "the guy responsible for the antenna" - that's a quote from a source back on July 23. (Another quote from the same source: "Apparently the antenna guys used to have a big chip on their shoulder. No more.")
Mark Papermaster leaves Apple for reasons and destinations unknown (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 9 to 5 Mac  |  sourceNew York Times  | Email this | Comments
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Microsoft pulls apart a Kinect camera, tickles your non-gaming fetish
Tease as much as you want, Sony, but things get real serious when you flip to the other side and look at the magic behind Microsoft's Kinect camera. Recently, T3 was able to get behind the scenes for a quick lesson on how this Xbox 360 peripheral works, and as part of the tour, it also saw the innocent sensor sitting bare naked in the lab. As you can see above, this little device actually has a lot to pack in -- namely a RGB camera for facial recognition plus video capturing, a depth sensor (an infrared projector paired with a monochrome CMOS camera) for movement tracking, four downward-facing mics for voice recognition, a quiet motor in the bulky base for rotation, and all the circuitry components to link them up. Head over to the source link for a detailed briefing -- but we all know you're just gonna go straight to the gallery of Redmond's naughty pics.
Microsoft pulls apart a Kinect camera, tickles your non-gaming fetish originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceT3  | Email this | Comments
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Email-based FaceTime support surfaces in iOS 4.1 beta 3
Fool us once, shame on us. Fool us twice? Fuhgetaboutit. Apple has a thing for introducing new iPods each fall, and given that the existing touch is being given away gratis with a new student computer (not to mention how long in the tooth it is), we're guessing the tradition will continue in 2010. We'd heard earlier on in the year that Apple may toss FaceTime over to the iPod line whenever it finally gained a front-facing camera, and now the evidence is nearly too strong to ignore. In the latest iOS 4.1 beta (numero three, if you're keeping count), there's an option to connect to a contact via FaceTime by ringing their digits or by pinging their email address. We're guessing that the latter is there mostly for iPod touch users (the ones without Apple Peel 520s, anyway), and it's the most glaring sign yet that the next generation touch will flippin' finally boast a camera (or just a way around that SMS-based activation?). Still, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high -- falling ain't no fun, you know?
Email-based FaceTime support surfaces in iOS 4.1 beta 3 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink   |  sourceMac Rumors  | Email this | Comments
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