Metro-style Hotmail turns up in leaked screenshots
It certainly wouldn't come as much of a surprise that Microsoft would finally bring
Hotmail into the Metro fold, but until now we haven't had much evidence that such a change was actually in the works. If a set of leaked screenshots obtained by
WinFuture are any indication, however, it looks like the nearly
sixteen-year-old email service could soon be getting one of its biggest redesigns to date. As you'd expect, it all looks very Metro, but also very unfinished, with a number of features reportedly still missing or not working properly. Of course, there's no indication when or if it'll actually roll out to the millions of Hotmail users (though the Windows 8 launch would provide a convenient fit), but there's plenty more screenshots where this one came from at the source link below.
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Apple alternative to UDID may come soon, track app use without pesky privacy issues
Apple has already provided a
few clues as to what it's going to put on the plate for developers at
WWDC. One change that's unlikely to be touted at the keynote, or even the entire conference, could prove to be the most important for app writers: an alternative to the UDID (Unique Device Identifier) that Apple started phasing out a year ago. If
Wall Street Journal tipsters are right, the hardware-specific ID will be replaced with tagging independent of any one iPad or iPhone, such as a number sequence. The system as it's teased would let developers track user behavior and improve their apps without spooking users worried that Apple, or someone else,
might snoop over their shoulders by linking a UDID to the owner. It sure sounds like a remedy to
mounting privacy concerns to us, although an unveiling supposedly due within the "coming weeks" raises the possibility that the new ID won't show its face until after the programming hordes have already left San Francisco.
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NHK lays out Olympic broadcast plans, Super Hi-Vision test viewing locations in Japan
We've already run down Olympic broadcast plans in the
US and
UK, and now Japanese broadcaster NHK has unveiled some information. Similar to the others there is not only the TV production including data about ongoing competition, but also an online component complete with live video access on mobile devices, but also support for the
acTVila video on-demand portal. The other notable information is that it's locked down locations and details for those
trial Super Hi-Vision broadcasts, listing four spots where people can get their eyes on some sweet 8K
UHDTV action. While most of them will be displayed by projectors, including a 520-inch screen in Shibuya, while Akihabara's Studio Park will feature a 360-inch LCD. The details for UK and US are a bit more vague, but if we have to track where in Washington D.C. NBC is letting the
33MP resolution video and 22.2ch sound out for a trial just by its scent, then that's what we'll have to do.
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Dausen iPhone pico projector battery case at Computex 2012 (hands-on video)
It's
not the first iPhone 4/4S
pico projector battery case we've come across here at Engadget, but we spotted this little number at
Computex 2012 and just couldn't resist sharing it with you. What makes this accessory a bit more unique is that it incorporates the latest in
DLP technology from Texas Instruments. As such, it's capable of projecting a 640x360-pixel image up to 70 inches across with 1000:1 contrast ratio. The 2200mAh battery lasts about 3 hours on a charge an can even top off your iPhone in a pinch. Additional features include a built-in speaker powered by a 0.5W audio amplifier. We spent a few minutes using the pico projector and while it works pretty much as advertised, it clearly struggled with the harsh lighting conditions of the show floor. Stay tuned for pricing and availability, but don't miss our hands-on gallery below and our demo video after the break.
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Linux lands on Android 4.0-toting MK802 mini PC
If the
MK802 piqued your interest but has you pining for
Ubuntu, Linux Questions forum user michaelfisk has a solution. The secret sauce is a pre-baked image of Ubuntu 10.04 modified for a different device using the same 1.5 GHz Allwinner processor. Simply slide a microSD card prepped with a bootable image of the distro into the mini PC and you're set. Though Lucid Lynx can be coaxed to run on the $74
mini PC without considerable hassle, performance isn't exactly top notch -- unseemly load times and a few kinks are reportedly throughout the experience. Eager to load up your
Cotton Candy competitor with Linux? Hop past the break to see Liliputing give it a test drive or hit the links below for walkthroughs and the appropriate download.
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Swiss court eases up on Street View privacy concerns, Google says it's pleased with the ruling
It's no secret Google's been involved in a few
privacy-related kerfuffles around the globe, but some would say those are just the burdens attached to being one of the big-guns in the industry. Still, Big G can go home to Mountain View a happy camper today, as the Swiss Federal Tribunal has decided to ease up on the company's usage of its
Street View technology
in the country. Per the ruling, however, Google
will have to make adjustments to its viewing methods, things like making it easier for folks to manually blur images available on Street View, and full anonymity around hospitals, schools, prisons and courts. Naturally,
Google says it's quite pleased with the outcome and that it plans to "look at the ruling closely, discuss it with the federal data protection commissioner and examine what options are available."
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ZTE Tania waves Windows Phone flag for China, makes official mainland debut
When it rains
Windows Phone in China, it pours. After
HTC claimed top honors for being the
first to bow a Redmond-powered handset in the region, the floodgates opened with Nokia quickly doling out
its Tango wares and, now, ZTE. The company, formerly a white label manufacturer, has finally gotten its
Tania act together, releasing the not-so-secret phone on China Unicom with a slight upgrade to its previously announced spec list. Though most of what it offers falls in line with WP hardware requirements -- 800 x 480 display, 512MB RAM -- the processor's been bumped from 1GHz to 1.4GHz, giving the 4.3-incher a welcome speed boost. Interested parties can also look forward to a 5-megapixel rear shooter, 4GB of storage, as well as black and white color options. If you're living in the land to the far east and like the live tile approach, you might want to consider this as your next.
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Twitter post-to-Facebook integration adds photos, tags and links, makes wild nights more regrettable
Twitter has long had the option to send updates to
Facebook, but most of what makes
Twitter unique has been stripped out while cross-posting the night's escapades. That's been fixed just in time for the weekend. As of now, Twitter has confirmed to
The Next Web that updates will automatically display the first photo as well as link Twitter users' names and any hashtags. The change isn't automatic and will require a quick on-and-off flick of the cross-posting setting before the gobs of extra information make the trip to Facebook. It's just as well -- we'd really rather not make it any easier for Aunt Mildred to see photos of our
weekend benders.
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FCC Fridays: June 8, 2012
We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there individually, we've gathered up an exhaustive listing of every phone and / or tablet getting the stamp of approval over the last week. Enjoy!
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US and Mexico strike public safety spectrum deal along national borders
The
FCC announced today that Chairman Julius Genachowski has entered into an agreement with Mexico's telecommunications officials to create a new spectrum sharing scheme along the nation's borders. The move will normalize 800MHz and 1900MHz spectrum use within 68 miles of the common border, and is primarily intended to reduce interference and allow for reliable
public safety communications in the region. Further rollout of commercial services is also central to the pact, as
Sprint has been authorized to deploy its CDMA service in the 1900MHz spectrum along the border. The move is hardly a free gift, however, as Sprint had previously surrendered a share of its 800MHz holdings to pave way for the agreement. A bi-national task force will oversee the adjustment process, and both nations have agreed to discuss future spectrum coordination along the border in future meetings. Proof that cooperation isn't completely dead, folks. To gain a greater understanding of where both nations are headed, just hop the break for the announcement.
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Open-mesh PC case keeps heat, dust bunnies at bay
If you haven't done it in a while, opening your PC case can be like a
slasher flick -- you know you'll see something disgusting, but you're never sure what. Taiwan's YoungYear Electronics claims to stop the horror with its Green Mesh case, which has neither
fans to suck dust, nor filters, and keeps your components cool with a "chimney effect" instead. It's this same action that repels
dust out the top, so that only one quarter the usual amount of filth is drawn in -- according to the company. The only downside is that with poor heat dissipation, the maximum power supply unit size is 300 watts -- which probably scratches it off the list for most modders or power-users. For the rest, if you don't mind your computer's innards blowing in the breeze, at least you'd have no nasty case-opening frights.
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Arthur P. Stern, instrumental in inventing the color television and GPS, passes away
Engadget learned that Arthur P. Stern passed away on May 24th, 2012, but just this week,
The Los Angeles Times has published a laudable look back at a man that had an enormous impact on the technology that we rely on -- and, quite frankly, take for granted -- each and every day. Born in 1925 in Budapest, Hungary, Arthur went on to obtain an M.E.E. from Syracuse University, joining General Electric in 1951 and making a near-immediate impact in the realm of television. He's widely credited with pioneering the color TV that we're familiar with today (and holding a related patent -- number 2920132 -- granted in December of 1953), while also publishing initial technical papers on transistor radios. As if that weren't enough, he was also instrumental in the progress of GPS, spearheading the development of key elements in the latter portion of his career.
As fantastic as Stern was as an inventor, he was also a beloved grandfather to
Joanna Stern, one of the industry's premiere technology reporters. Currently, Joanna works at
ABC News, though she has spent time at
LAPTOP Magazine,
The Verge and right here at
Engadget prior. From the entire staff, our deepest sympathies go out to a wonderful colleague and peer. The world has lost a brilliant mind, but on a personal level, a friend has lost much more.
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Microsoft delves into Windows 8's media core, promises HD chat and 3D video for all
Microsoft's deep exploration of Windows 8's
numerous tweaks has swung to one of the most important components for the
onslaught of tablets we're about to see: the media foundations. The pipeline is now much leaner than it was in Windows 7, both through lower lag and miserly energy use that should keep that
Skype video call from falling out of sync and killing your battery. Tuning up the video performance also makes in-the-box HD webcam support an easy feat, and Microsoft has thrown in extras like Stereo 3D video and multiple audio tracks for one video. There's much (much, much) more detail from Microsoft's group program manager Scott Manchester, so if you want to know the intricacies of
Windows 8's moving pictures and sound, head on over to the source and get an eye- or earful.
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Canadian government appoints Jean-Pierre Blais as new CRTC head
The past five years have certainly been an eventful time for the
CRTC -- with
broadband controversies and
foreign ownership issues garnering plenty of headlines, to name just two examples -- and we now know who will be leading the Canadian regulatory agency for the next five. The Prime Minister's Office announced today that it has appointed longtime civil servant Jean-Pierre Blais as Chairperson, with his five-year term set to begin on June 18th. Blais comes primarily from a legal background, and has previously held positions at Canada's Treasury Board, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the CRTC itself -- all of which Prime Minister Harper says makes him "well qualified" for the job, and gives him a "comprehensive understanding of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors and the role of the CRTC." He replaces Konrad von Finckenstein, who's term ended in January, at which point the government indicated he would not be reappointed for a second term.
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Editorial: The Galaxy S III in the US is giving Samsung a backbone
Samsung caught more than a few off guard with its US launch plans for the
Galaxy S III, but primarily for what it
didn't do. Whether it was a variant for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon, the American versions had no arbitrary
screen size bumps. No
keyboards. Not even the customary navigation key changes that Samsung has implemented in US-spec Galaxy phones to avoid
uncomfortable comparisons. Instead, the Korean electronics giant was dictating almost the entire device launch strategy to the carriers, which
sounds a little familiar. While some would be cynical about it, it's really the sign of a rethink at Samsung that's giving the company the courage it needs to keep ahead -- and which could trigger a wider change not just at carriers, but within the Android ecosystem as a whole.
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Apple's Campus 2 will up the secrecy factor with an underground auditorium
You know how Tim Cook said Apple will be
"doubling down on secrecy" for unannounced products? Well, the company's hush-hush mentality seems to be informing the design for its upcoming
Campus 2. According to plans and technical drawings on
Cupertino.org, Apple could be moving its press events underground -- into a mammoth subterranean auditorium that will no doubt also serve as Cook's secret lair / bunker for tough times in the ongoing patent wars. You know what they say -- out of sight, out of mind... and
so beyond passé ground-level amphitheaters. Click the source link below for more images.
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Nintendo's Hideki Konno discusses the 3DS and the element of surprise
As
E3 was coming to a close, we sat down with one of the men responsible for
Nintendo's 3DS,
Hideki Konno. Konno's official title is manager / producer, but because he's involved at such a high level with both software and hardware development on the 3DS, our conversation covered quite the range of topics. When asked about the handheld's performance in the last year, he drew parallels to the success of the DS that preceded it and he hopes that the 3DS will experience a similar growth curve. Due to the mention of the DS, we inquired about the possibility of a larger 3DS. While Mr. Konno wasn't able to confirm plans for a
super-sized version of the current-gen handheld, he did express his affinity for the
DSi XL's increased real estate -- he finds the larger screen is much easier to gaze upon. You can draw your own conclusions as to
exactly what that means. When chatting about mobile gaming, we asked about the impact of smartphones on the outfit's handheld. Konno offered that Nintendo prides itself on surprising gamers with new "compelling experiences" that handsets can't provide.
We asked if any of these new experiences would involve the integration of both 3DS and the Wii U, and Konno replied that he's confident about those explorations taking place in future. In fact, a version of the
Smash Brothers series is currently being developed for both 3DS and Wii U simultaneously. He indicated that it would be hard to believe that the two versions being developed in parallel wouldn't provide some unique interactions between them and their respective platforms. Additionally, while it sounds like the
Miiverse will only be available on Big N's next-gen console at launch, Mr. Konno communicated that -- depending out how well it's received -- we're likely see the social element brought to the mobile gaming arena, too.
Michael Gorman contributed to this report.
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E3 2012 wrap-up
Greetings from -- actually, scratch that, we're all back home now, but we had a blast spending the week in sunny, smoggy downtown Los Angeles -- even if this year's
Electronics Entertainment Expo wasn't exactly the most exciting in recent memory. After all, neither
Sony nor
Microsoft gave us much in the way of new hardware, and
Nintendo, the one member of the big three with a new console for 2012, didn't show off much that we hadn't already seen. We did, however, get our hands on a fair share of hardware and we're generally impressed by some software innovation, like Microsoft's
SmartGlass. If you happened to miss something during the gaming news deluge (not to mention the fact that
Computex happened to be going on at the same time), feel free to catch up on our coverage after the break.
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WWDC banner shot betrays iOS 6 debut
What does Apple have in store for us at
WWDC? Well, it was a pretty safe bet that there was going to be some iOS news, and now we can pretty much confirm that
iOS 6 will be unveiled at Cupertino's big developer event. What exactly we might see from the self proclaimed "world's most advanced mobile operating system" is anybody's guess, but it's probably safe to assume the power of flight or teleportation is not on the feature list. Hit up the source links for some more images and don't forget to check back in here Monday for the official unveiling.
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Motorola Droid RAZR HD's backside possibly leaked: we hope you like Kevlar
We may have seen it
from the front, but Motorola's rumored upcoming
Droid RAZR HD now looks to have had its back subjected to the whims of
Mr. Blurrycam. The overriding theme? Kevlar. Lots of
Kevlar. So much so that it runs right up to the edge, making even the
original Droid RAZR seem a tad restrained. A side profile shot hints that it might not be as waif-thin as that first model, which
Droid Life takes as a sign (however indefinite) that Motorola could reuse the 3,300mAh mega-battery from the
Droid RAZR MAXX. Sadly, the snoop providing the photos hasn't solidified rumors of a Snapdragon S4 processor, a 720p display or a 13-megapixel camera, although they're components that are increasingly par for the course in mid-2012 and later. Unverified murmurs have Verizon only shipping the Droid RAZR HD in the summer; that will give us plenty of time to figure out whether or not it can
stop a bullet.
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US Cellular announces Galaxy S III pricing, starts at $200
US Cellular
made it known that it would be accepting pre-orders of the
Samsung Galaxy S III this upcoming Tuesday (with the device shipping sometime in July), but it left the pricing a mystery to keep us all in suspense for at least a few days. As it turns out, USCC will be offering the 16GB GS3 for $200, while the 32GB flavor will cost you an extra $50. Here's the kicker, though: these prices can be yours -- after a $100 mail-in rebate. But hey, it's hard for us to complain too much, considering it's not too often a regional carrier gets a flagship device around
the same time as any of the major national players.
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