IT News Head Lines (Engadget) 02/05/2011

Gigabyte's S1080 Windows tablet undressed by the FCC

Looks like Gigabyte's S1080 tablet, which landed in Taiwan earlier this month, is getting ready to hit shelves here in the US. The 10.1-inch Windows 7 slate stopped by the FCC, where it got cracked open and had its silicon-packed innards exposed for the camera. There's nothing new to glean here -- specs are still the same (dual-core Atom, 320GB hard drive, etcetera) and we haven't heard anything about a much-needed price drop, but if you want a quick peak under the hood, check out the gallery below!

Gallery: Gigabyte S1080 hits FCC

Gigabyte's S1080 Windows tablet undressed by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nanocones make solar cells more efficient, sinister looking

Going green is de rigeur, so the sun is becoming a much-preferred source of power. However, solar cells' inefficient harvesting of helical energies is a major reason they haven't usurped the power of petroleum. Good thing the big brains at Oak Ridge National Labratory are looking to change that with nanocone-based solar technology. The teeny-tiny cones are made of zinc oxide and create "an intrinsic electric field distribution" to improve electrical charge transport within solar cells. We aren't sure what that means, but we do know the prickly-looking design provides a 3.2 percent light-to-power conversion efficiency that's a substantial improvement over the meager 1.8 percent offered by today's flat photovoltaics made of similar materials. That's 80 percent more efficient, and 100 percent more awesome.

Nanocones make solar cells more efficient, sinister looking originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 05:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony promises 'phased restoration' of PlayStation Network and Qriocity starting this week

Sony made quite a few promises this morning about how it intends to deal with the fallout from the PlayStation Network outage and breach when it wasn't profusely and solemnly apologizing -- you can find our liveblog right here -- including improved security measures and a few token handouts of 30-day free subscriptions to PlayStation Plus and Qriocity and possibly some free software. Perhaps more importantly for you gamers, Kaz Hirai told reporters that services will resume "soon," and by the end of the week we should see some functionality return. Of course, it made those promises in Japanese, but if you want an English copy you won't have to look far, as the official PlayStation.Blog got hold of a press release with them all spelled out. Find the full document after the break.
Continue reading Sony promises 'phased restoration' of PlayStation Network and Qriocity starting this week

Sony promises 'phased restoration' of PlayStation Network and Qriocity starting this week originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 02:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony's Kaz Hirai addresses PlayStation Network hack, we're liveblogging

Sony's PlayStation Network has been down for over a week, and it's a royal mess for all involved -- as you've no doubt heard, an external intrusion by unknown hackers compromised the personal information (supposedly including everything but credit card numbers) of potentially millions of users. This morning, Sony VP Kaz Hirai (formerly of the PlayStation division) will address the world from the company's headquarters in Japan, and our friends at Engadget Japanese are on the scene to bring us first-hand details in just a few minutes. Additionally, there appears to be an official livestream that will begin at 1AM ET, so keep it locked right here and potentially find some video at our source link.



Update: We're hearing that Sony's "goodwill gesture" may not be an incredibly significant one -- affected users can expect a free 30-day subscription to PlayStation Plus and a free software download of some sort, while Qriocity customers will get an extra 30 days of service on the house.



Update 2: As many as 10 million credit card numbers may have been exposed, though Sony says it has no proof that any actually have been compromised, and claims that it's received no reports of credit card fraud thus far. It is, however, working with the FBI to investigate the hack.



2:00 JST: The show's begun -- following a little bit of Mozart, Sony has trotted out three solemn-looking executives. More updates after the break.
Continue reading Sony's Kaz Hirai addresses PlayStation Network hack, we're liveblogging

Sony's Kaz Hirai addresses PlayStation Network hack, we're liveblogging originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 00:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change Motorola's Atrix 4G?

Motorola's Atrix 4G may have some serious competition from a performance standpoint, but it's still got one thing going for it over all of the other Android superphones hitting the streets these days: an optional laptop dock. 'Course, it's debatable whether or not said accessory is truly worth paying for, but the phone itself has certainly done its fair share of impressing. You've read our take on Motorola's latest Android whizkid, and now it's your turn to vent. If you had the power necessary to overhaul the Atrix 4G, how would you go about doing so? Would you nix Motoblur altogether? Toss the latest build of Android onboard? Make it available on more carriers? Handle the laptop dock differently? All (sane) opinions are welcome, and comments are open below.

How would you change Motorola's Atrix 4G? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 22:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Triton 36,000 submarine to plumb ocean's deepest depths, comes in yellow (video)

Richard Branson's not the only one eager to explore that other 70 percent of the world. Triton Submarines has designed a three-passenger sub able to dive 36,000 feet, reaching the deepest part of the world's oceans. And while Sir Richard envisions a spaceship-like craft, Triton's design evokes old school bathyspheres: it's a glass globe. Of course, water pressure poses a serious engineering challenge when you descend seven miles below the surface -- the last manned sub to reach that depth had only a single, small window made of plexiglass. The current design uses borosilicate glass (like those transparent displays we, um, saw through a while back) that actually grows stronger as depth pressure increases; it took eight months of careful heating and cooling to produce. Assuming the glass holds, it will take about 75 minutes to reach the bottom of the ocean. Anyone considering a test run should check out the PR video after the break, showing Triton's other submarines in action.

Continue reading Triton 36,000 submarine to plumb ocean's deepest depths, comes in yellow (video)

Triton 36,000 submarine to plumb ocean's deepest depths, comes in yellow (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I-O Data's HDCA-UT3.0K drive offers USB 3.0 and 3TB of storage

If you've been on the hunt for the biggest, fastest hard drive around, it seems your options are expanding. I-O Data just introduced the HDCA-UT3.0K external hard drive, which offers USB 3.0 support and 3TB of storage, which, as the company notes, makes it an ideal companion for TVs with a USB recording mode. Struggling to resist the charm of its blue LED and the possibility of owning more storage than you'll ever need? Look for it in mid-May with a price of ¥26,400 ($324).

I-O Data's HDCA-UT3.0K drive offers USB 3.0 and 3TB of storage originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Thunderbolt getting new radio firmware, according to Verizon doc

Looks like AT&T isn't the only carrier patching cellular connectivity issues this month -- a Verizon document suggests that we'll be getting some brand new radio firmware for the beleaguered HTC Thunderbolt. The handset not only fell victim to Verizon's LTE outage but has had 3G data and CDMA / LTE cycling issues since day one, so we're hoping this latest baseband will bring at least a modicum of relief for affected speed demons across the country. What we don't know is when this patch might show up -- we thought the Xoom's security update would be imminent, but those documents were unceremoniously pulled.

HTC Thunderbolt getting new radio firmware, according to Verizon doc originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC opens floor for public comment on AT&T / T-Mobile deal

Since the world's engineers haven't yet come up with a way to read minds over the internet (or at all, last we checked), we're not sure what you think about the proposed marriage of T-Mobile to AT&T. We're pretty sure you do have an opinion of some sort, though, and if you want it to be heard, now's the opportunity to let the Federal Communications Commission read your thoughtful, reasoned take on how a GSM monopoly in the United States might or might not work. (Speak now or forever hold your peace, in other words.) To comment, simply visit the source links below, where the FCC has some handy forms -- one for short comments, one for long comments (where you have to attach a PDF document) and one with the magic number of the related proceeding, which is 11-65. Let 'em know just how you'll be impacted if the deal goes through, for better or for worse.



[Thanks, Jeff]

FCC opens floor for public comment on AT&T / T-Mobile deal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shocker! Microsoft commands 79 percent of worldwide OS revenue (update)

Everyone knows that Windows is installed on the vast majority of computers, but it's always interesting to be reminded of what a cash cow the OS has been for Redmond. According to Gartner, Microsoft owned 78.6 percent of the global market revenue share for desktop operating systems at the end of 2010 -- revenue up almost 9 percent from 2009. That means, of the $30.4 billion in revenue that various companies generated, $23.8 billion lined Microsoft's coffers. But while Windows remains the kingpin, Mac OS X and -- wait for it -- Red Hat, posted more substantial gains. Apple's market revenue shot up almost 16 percent to 1.7 percent, Red Hat surged 18 percent, while dark horse Oracle leaped from ninth place to fourth, with a 7,683 percent growth in income -- no small thanks to its 2009 acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Only one question remains, then -- who's the loser here?



Update: Looks like we got this one wrong, folks, as it's not market share that's being measured here, but rather revenue share -- how much money each company made from its operating systems relative to one another. That means companies that price their operating systems cheaper will be at a disadvantage in the rankings, not to mention those organizations that charge nothing at all -- Ubuntu, anyone? Oh, and as some of you have pointed out in comments, there are both desktop and server operating systems in the chart above.

Continue reading Shocker! Microsoft commands 79 percent of worldwide OS revenue (update)

Shocker! Microsoft commands 79 percent of worldwide OS revenue (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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App review: Seamless for iOS and Mac (video)

If you're the kind of person who's always listening to music and wouldn't be caught dead headphone-less, pause that song for a quick second and check out Seamless. This lightweight app links your iPhone's Music player to iTunes on your Mac in a pretty clever -- not to mention Cupertino-esque -- fashion. The whole crux of it is the "transition," which simultaneously fades out a song on one end while bringing it to full blast on the other. All it takes to get started is a quick $1.99 download for your i-device and free Mac-centric companion app. Does it work as advertised, or is it really just a gimmick? Head past the break for a quick rundown of just how seamless this utility really is.
Continue reading App review: Seamless for iOS and Mac (video)

App review: Seamless for iOS and Mac (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T brings HSUPA to Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G, one requires WiFi to download update

If you're the somewhat-proud-but-feeling-throttled owner of a Motorola Atrix 4G or HTC Inspire 4G, your days of terribly slow uploads are nearly through -- following some preliminary tests, AT&T is rolling out updates that provide "increased potential data speed" to both HSPA+ handsets right on cue. The Inspire 4G's patch will also "make the email set up process much easier," while the Atrix 4G will actually get a pair of updates which will allegedly bring better Bluetooth headset compatibility, fingerprint reader performance and battery life (which is always a plus) as well as the questionable utility of turning the Atrix into an EDGE hotspot, and a bump to Android 2.2.2 to hopefully fix any lingering SMS routing bugs. Word of warning though, you'll need to throw your Atrix up on a WiFi network to obtain these goodies -- all the Gs in the world won't help you.

AT&T brings HSUPA to Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G, one requires WiFi to download update originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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