Apple brings Dictation to the Mac, tells Siri to stay in the car
Apple has just announced that it's bringing new
iPad-style dictation to
Mountain Lion. In the same way that you can tap the button on the digital keyboard, hitting the microphone button will allow you to speak directly into native software, websites like
Facebook and even third-party applications like
Microsoft Word.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 Keynote, check out our
liveblog!
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Apple: 26 million copies of Lion OS sold, 66 million Mac users
As we try to get to our feet after that tidal wave of hardware announcements, Apple's moved onto Mac OS, quoting with some impressive new figures. Over 26 million copies of OS X Lion have now been sold, making it Apple's "best-selling release ever." Meanwhile, Mac users now total over 66 million -- that's three times the number in 2007.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
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Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Aperture, AutoCAD and more score Retina Display support
As we learned pretty quickly when the
iPhone 4 introduced the
Retina display to the world, all those pixels are pretty useless without apps that can truly take advantage. Thankfully, Apple wasn't about to leave the stage today without delivering the goods for it's
next gen MacBook Pros. In addition to all the stock apps being updated,
Final Cut Pro and
Aperture have also gotten the appropriate boost in pixel density, allowing them to be all they can be on that 220ppi display. Which, in the case of Final Cut, means full-res 1080p video docked in a corner of the interface with all the tools exposed to your itchy editing finger. If that isn't good enough for you, Adobe is hard at work on
Photoshop and Autodesk will be delivering an update to
AutoCAD as well. And, in case you're worried that all work and no play makes Tim Cook a dull boy,
Diablo 3 has also been updated, instantly making the Mac our favorite platform to farm low level baddies for gold on.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
liveblog!
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Apple announces first Retina display in a MacBook, 220ppi with 2880 x 1800 resolution
Apple just announced its
next-generation MacBook Pro, and it comes equipped with a gorgeous 220 pixel-per-inch 2880 x 1800 display. That's quite a bit shy of the 326 ppi LCD on the
iPhone 4S and the 264 ppi density of the
new iPad's display, but it's still a massive improvement over the 1680 x 1050 pixels found on Apple's previous-generation clamshell. The new Retina is, as Apple marketing head Phil Shiller not-so-modestly pointed out during this morning's
WWDC keynote, the "world's highest-resolution notebook display." It's also soon to be the highest-res LCD in any household, offering three million more pixels than your 1080p HDTV. It's a bit hard to determine just how impressive this next-gen tech is from where we're seated at the keynote, but we'll be back with more impressions just as soon as the presentation wraps. Or, if you have $2,199 to spare for a 2.3GHz model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, you can pick up your very own
today.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
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Apple announces next-generation MacBook Pro: Retina display, 0.71-inches thin, shipping today for $2,199
Apple announced some new
MacBook Airs and
MacBook Pros early in its
WWDC keynote today, but it had another surprise in store: the next-generation MacBook Pro. It packs a Retina display with a 2880 x 1800 resolution (or 220ppi), and a casing that measures just 0.71-inch thin and weighs 4.46 pounds. In addition to that high resolution, Apple is also promising higher contrast ratios, better viewing angles and reduced glare compared to other laptop displays, and it's updated all of its stock apps to take advantage of the new resolution, as well as Aperture and Final Cut Pro -- "reading your mail is like reading fine print," according to Apple's Phil Schiller. As for the other specs, you'll get to 16GB of RAM, NVIDIA Kepler GT 650M graphics, up to a quad-core 2.7GHz Core i7 processor, a maximum 768GB of storage (SSD, naturally), and a promised seven hours of battery life with 30 days standby. One spec nowhere to be seen: an optical drive. Also on the outs are Ethernet and FireWire 800 ports, which you'll now need an optional Thunderbolt adapter to use.
Making its debut on the laptop is a new, thinner MagSafe connector, and a new fan that's said to be "nearly imperceptible" to the user. Pricing starts at $2,199 for a 2.3GHz unit with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it's shipping
today. "It's without doubt the very best computer that we've ever built," says Schiller.
Developing...
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
liveblog!
Continue reading Apple announces next-generation MacBook Pro: Retina display, 0.71-inches thin, shipping today for $2,199
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Apple unveils new MacBook Pro with Ivy Bridge at WWDC
Apple is certainly making
WWDC a hardware conference this year -- it just unveiled a refresh of the existing
MacBook Pro running Intel's newer
Ivy Bridge processors on the San Francisco gathering's opening day. The 13- and 15-inch portables run up to 2.7GHz quad Core i7s (turbo up to 3.7GHz), carry up to 8GB of RAM and have
GeForce GT 650M-based graphics 60 percent faster than the previous generation. Like the new
MacBook Air, they tout USB 3.0 ports. If you're more comfortable with Apple's conventional MacBook Pro design than
the new variety, Apple will ask $1,099 for the base 13-inch version and $1,799 for a 15-inch version, with an upgraded 15-inch model going for $2,199. All of them are shipping today -- we're not seeing any mention of an updated 17-inch version, so it may have been cast aside.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
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Apple announces refreshed MacBook Air: Ivy Bridge processor, USB 3.0, shipping today
Apple's skinnier, lighter MacBook option checked in for another (irregular) hardware update at this year's
WWDC. Just under a year since the last time the range was renovated, the move to Ivy Bridge processors wasn't the only thing that changed. First up, those processors will reach up to 2GHz Core i7, with Turbo Boost tipping these up to 3.2GHz. The FaceTime camera is now 720p, with the display on the 11-inch model now 1366 x 768 (and Intel's HD graphics 4000 doing the pushing). The 13-incher will house a 1440 x 900 screen and both will arrive with a pair of USB 3.0 ports and capacity for up to 8GB of RAM. Storage will now extend to 512GB, while prices will start at $999 for the most basic option, up to $1099 for the speediest offering. All of the new models look set to be $100 less than their comparable predecessor. The best part? They'll start shipping today.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
liveblog!
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App Store hits 650,000 apps, 30 billion downloads, $5 billion doled out to developers
One of the first pieces of news out of the gate at Apple's
WWDC 2012 keynote is its success with mobile apps so far. The company has hit 650,000 apps in the
App Store -- 225,000 of which are specific to the iPad. Customers have downloaded 30 billion of the apps since they became an option four years ago. Developers also have a good reason to salivate: there are now over 400 million iTunes accounts with credit cards, and they've been paid a total of $5 billion for all of their app sales. Whatever pressure exists to support other platforms, Apple wants its coders to know they're taken care of.
For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our
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Apple WWDC 2012 liveblog!
Back in March, at the tail end of the
new iPad's launch, Apple CEO Tim Cook did something atypical. He encouraged us to expect even more from his company in 2012. From an outfit that rarely sets lofty expectations, that's saying something. Here at WWDC 2012, we're on hand to find out what exactly Apple has in the hopper. A deep dive into iOS 6 is
guaranteed, but beyond that, all we have are rumors, smoke signals and few underground whispers. New MacBook Air / Pro laptops with
Retina graphics? New iMacs with more pixels that are calculable by mere mortals?
A new iPhone? Join us here at 10AM PT (that's 1PM on the right coast; pre-breakfast over in Kauai) for the blow-by-blow coverage you've come to expect!
June 11, 2012 1:00 PM EDT
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Sprint stops being Clearwire's majority owner
Sprint has declared that it's no longer Clearwire's majority owner in a move designed to shield the carrier should the
worst happen to its troubled bedfellow. While Big Yellow is planning to supplement its own
LTE network with Clearwire's
TD-LTE backbone, it's looked to distance itself on the business side from a company that finds it very hard to
make money -- requiring
handouts from Sprint just to stay
afloat.
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ITC denies HTC chance to wield Google patents against Apple
HTC
hasn't been having the best time bringing ITC disputes against Apple, and the situation just got a bit more glum. Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender has ruled that HTC can't use the patents it
borrowed from Google to challenge Apple's products, as the Taiwan phone maker hasn't properly acquired all the necessary rights. If the decision is upheld after the (possible) appeal, it cuts the amount of ammunition for HTC's second complaint by more than half: only three of the eight patents will hold up. The
One X designer can still try to appeal or get Google involved, and Apple still can't rest easy knowing that just one patent infringement verdict would be bad news. Even so, the ruling does take a considerable amount of sting out of the ITC case as-is -- and at a time when Apple is
ramping up its own complaints.
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Twitter airs first TV spot during NASCAR, implores racing fans to discover the magic of hashtags
Given #thescope with which
Twitter has #invadedpopularculture, it may come as a shock to realize that the company hasn't really ventured too far into the world of television advertising -- but then, it seems that it's been doing a pretty good job getting enough #freeadvertising as is. Clearly the folks at Twitter saw an untapped resource in the form of the
#NASCAR audience, using the weekend's race to launch its first TV #adcampaign, revolving around fittingly pithy spots capped off with the TWITTER.COM/#NASCAR URL, which redirects to a landing page for the weekend's festivities. Relive the #thrilloftherace with a slew of Twitter ads #afterthebreak.
Continue reading Twitter airs first TV spot during NASCAR, implores racing fans to discover the magic of hashtags
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Google brokers a deal with French publishers to immortalize out-of-print books
Google has reached an agreement with France's publishers to scan thousands of
out-of-print texts. From the terse explanation offered, it looks like Mountain View will
digitize the books, but the publishers and authors will retain commercial use of them. It means those editions will presumably be sold over Google Play rather than being offered free -- but on the upside, will mean that you'll save plenty of time checking eBay for that copy of
Fly Fishing by
J.R. Hartley.
Permalink The Next Web |
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Chameleon Android homescreen cancels Kickstarter funding due to account mix-up, new project coming soon
If you fell in love with Teknision's contextual Android skin, we've got some news that might break your heart. The
Chameleon homescreen's Kickstarter project has been unceremoniously canceled, as its Amazon payments account-holder has left the company. With no easy way to transfer over $50,000 of earmarked money, the makers were left with no choice but to reboot the project. A new project is set to go live later this week, so hold on to those
investment dollars. Anyone who pledged funds to the first project won't be charged, but they will have to restate their interest on the new project page.
Permalink Android Police |
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Engadget's pre-WWDC live broadcast from San Francisco!
We wish you were here, we really do, but we understand -- you're busy. That trip out to San Francisco takes ages and besides, getting a ticket into Apple's developer conference can be a
tricky proposition. So, then, please do us the honor of being our guest at what is shaping up to be a bombastic show. The
WWDC liveblog happens here, but before then Darren Murph and Tim Stevens have a special live video broadcast just for you, where they'll break down what you can expect from this year's keynote presentation. Click on through to get streaming.
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Duracell Powermat announces 24-Hour Power System, we go hands-on (video)
Since
Duracell and Powermat formed their wireless charging alliance late last year, we've seen the
Powermat debut at CES and heard quite a bit about the company's vision for future battery tech. Today the company is unveiling a new charging system which, while not drastically different from the Powermat we've seen before, bundles a few useful products together. In addition to a Powermat for charging the iPhone or iPhone 4, the 24-Hour Power System includes a phone case (necessary for juicing a phone on the Powermat) and a portable backup battery with both microUSB and Apple connectors. The whole package will set you back $100, and it's available online and in NYC stores starting today. Though the system currently only supports the iPhone, the company says it will add compatibility with "an array of other leading smartphones" by this fall. Check out our hands-on demo with Duracell Powermat CEO Ron Rabinowitz below.
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Intel's NUC mini-desktop said to cost around $400
Intel's
Next Unit of Computing mini-desktop is reportedly going to cost around $400 when it arrives in the third quarter of the year. Designed for kiosks and digital signage setups, the weeny box has attracted so much interest from solder-wielding modders that the company expects it to go on general sale. The initial unit will include a Sandy Bridge Core i3, 4GB RAM and a 40GB SSD, while on the outside it'll come with three USB 2.0 ports and dual HDMI outputs. That high price might dampen the spirits of those hoping for an Intel-powered
Arduino /
Raspberry Pi, but we still expect to see it crop up in plenty of
brilliant mods next year.
Permalink Slash Gear |
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The Apple store is down... here we go
Down goes the Apple store. Whatever the
reason is, it'll be a few short hours until we know what new goodies have been added to Cupertino's boutique. Whatever happens, we'll be right there, detailing all the action in our
liveblog -- in the meantime, you can check what we're hoping to see in iOS 6
right here.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Editorial: What we want to see in iOS 6
We asked for
third party apps,
copy and paste,
multitasking,
wireless sync,
data-only messaging and
better notifications and year by year, they all arrived.
iOS 5 may be one of the most mature, and popular mobile operating systems out there, but that doesn't mean Apple can take the day off. If you'd like to know what we're hoping
Scott Forstall announces when he takes to the WWDC stage in a few short hours, head on past the break.
Continue reading Editorial: What we want to see in iOS 6
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Samsung announces GT-B9120 for Android flip phone fans in China
The emergence of Android, and the decline of the flip-phone form factor happened as such, that the two aren't all
that well acquainted. Samsung, however, wants to firm-up that relationship, bringing the two together
once more. The GT-B9120 is the result. A flip phone with Google's Gingerbread operating system from the Galaxy-maker, headed for the Chinese market. There's dual 3.5-inch 480 x 800 screens, and a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 doing the business. A 5-megapixel camera will send photos off to the 16GB internal storage, and HSPA, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth make up the wireless options. Somewhere someone's dream has just been answered, we just hope that person is in China.
Permalink Ubergizmo |
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Keio University democratizes facial recognition technology for Avatars everywhere (video)
If you liked the look of that
facial recognition technology on its way to
Everquest II, but aren't so sure on your Froglok allegiance, then a Keio University group may have you covered. A project led by Associate Professor Yasue Mitsukura has developed a similar technology using just an ordinary PC and webcam. The software uses an algorithm that updates in line with the motion of the face, which the makers claim make it very fast and precise. The researchers hope that this real-time, low hardware requirement, system could find its way into the hands of amateur CG animation creators, or -- like the SOEmote solution -- into game controls. So, expect a glut of pimped-out Numa Numa remakes in the not to distant future.
Continue reading Keio University democratizes facial recognition technology for Avatars everywhere (video)
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Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with Verizon LTE hits the FCC
Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has mooched on through the
FCC sporting a bundle of wireless radios that play nicely with
Verizon's LTE. Given that it's the same Ice Cream Sandwich-running slate that has already passed through our own
testing labs, there aren't any surprises to discover in the Government's report. Except to say that we can probably expect it to pop up at our local boutiques shortly.
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SmartKey TV HDMI dongle gives ICS brains to any boob tube (updated)
How
many similar
devices have to
come to light, until a new category is born? Screentop? USBPC? We're going with "Pendroid." Whatever you want to call it, here's another one, this time up the SmartKey TV from Italian firm LiquidTv. Inside its tiny housing are a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, Mali 400MP GPU, 512MB RAM and 4GB flash storage. There's a USB host port, and one for power, along with a microSD (up to 32GB) card slot, plus wireless in b, g and n flavors. Unlike other products that leave the input solution up to you, this little guy has accessories and a smartphone app purpose-built for that. If you want a slice, it'll cost you €99 (about $125,) or €119 ($150) with a motion sensor remote control. Tune your browser to the Italian video after the break to see it in action.
Update: Some people are pointing out the similarities between this product and a Kickstarter project, and it looks like there are some issues between the two. LiquidTv has now removed its existing video demo -- and Infinitec (the company behind a very similar-looking Pendroid project) have been quick to state that the SmartKey TV isn't related to its
Pocket TV.
Continue reading SmartKey TV HDMI dongle gives ICS brains to any boob tube (updated)
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China planning manned mission to its own space station, didn't want to be on the ISS anyway
State news agency
Xinhua is reporting that China is planning to launch a
manned spacecraft later this month. A Shenzhou-9 capsule and rocket are already in place, and when it launches it'll manually dock with the nation's
space station:
Tiangong-1. The nation is moving quickly to capitalize on its successes last year, after learning how to
dock two objects in high-speed orbit. Once both are linked up, the three astronauts on-board would move across to perform scientific experiments before returning to Earth in the craft, as you do.
[Image Credit:
China Daily]
Permalink Yahoo! News (AFP) |
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Microsoft revives free Windows desktop development tools, didn't mean to make you cry
Microsoft has resuscitated
Visual Studio Express for
Windows Desktop, a few weeks after deciding to
bump it off. The company had wanted to push developers onto the $400 professional edition of the software, but a volley of complaints forced the climbdown. When it arrives in the fall, it'll let hobbyists, beginners and open-source coders create desktop and command-line applications... for free!
Permalink Ars Technica |
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Noctua's noise-canceling PC fan gets tested, drops twenty decibels
Having trouble tuning out the hum of your PC fans? Maybe it's time you took another look at Noctua's NF-F12 integrated noise cancellation fan. According to the firm, the
Computex prototype kept things about 20dB quieter by utilizing a patented RotoSub ANC technology to emit anti-noise directly from the fan's own blades. Noctura hopes to dampen the cooler's 2,500 RPM hum to the overall noise level of a slower 1,500 RPM fan. Builders looking to piece together a quieter machine can look for the noise reducing cooler an the latter half of 2013. Your old fan? Well, you could always use as a
makeshift turntable. Hit the break for a peek at a more silent tomorrow.
Continue reading Noctua's noise-canceling PC fan gets tested, drops twenty decibels
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Nexus 7 tablet will arrive at end of June, says anonymous ASUS source
We reported the possibility of the ASUS building a 7-inch Nexus tablet
earlier, but that rumor just jumped a notch with an unnamed rep confirming to
Android Authority that it is indeed working with Google on a quad-core
tab. Though the mole wasn't willing to divulge more specifics, previous speculation points to the Tegra-based
MeMO 3270T with
Jelly Bean, the next iteration of Android. The publicity-shy source also confirmed the device would be coming at the end of June -- putting it within reach of Google's upcoming
big event.
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MacBook Pro blurrycam pics hint at Kepler GPU
Blurrycam photos purporting to be of the 15-inch MacBook Pro's logic board, suggest that the refreshed laptops will carry NVIDIA's GeForce 650M
Kepler GPU. Given that we're barely hours from an Apple keynote and being deluged with all sorts of weird and wonderful
rumors, we're filing this under "could be plausible." That said, it's a surprise given the company's high-profile switch to AMD's graphics
last year, but Cupertino has never been a company for
sentimentality. We'll find out the truth later today, so
stay tuned.
Permalink M.I.C. Gadget |
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Lenovo Mobile Access bringing contract free broadband to ThinkPads in US and Europe
Tired of fussing with touchy
phone tethers, expensive
MiFi devices and
spotty hotspots? Lenovo feels your pain, and wants to take the guesswork out of getting an internet connection when you need it. Say hello to Lenovo Mobile Access, your dongle-free destination for on-the-go broadband -- assuming you're rocking a Lenovo rig with the right hardware, of course. In partnership with Macheen, Lenovo is serving up no-contract broadband access to owners of select ThinkPad laptops. Just need a few minutes to check your email? That'll be $2 -- as long as you keep it under 30 minutes and 30MB. Full day passes (capped at 200MB of usage) are available for $9, and monthly plans (at both 2GB and 6GB) are on the way. 3G equipped ThinkPads will be able to access the service in the United States, UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands on a single SIM, though pricing may vary by location. Looking for the official skinny? Skip on past the break for a pair of official press releases.
Continue reading Lenovo Mobile Access bringing contract free broadband to ThinkPads in US and Europe
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Flame malware extinguishes itself, Microsoft protects against future burns
The folks behind that nasty
Flame trojan that burned its way through the Middle East aren't the kind to brag -- the malware's manufacturers apparently started dousing their own fire last week. According to
Symantec reports, several compromised machines retrieved a file named
browse32.ocx from Flame controlled servers, which promptly removed all traces of the
malware from the infected systems. Although the attackers seem spooked, Microsoft isn't taking any chances, and has issued a fix to its Windows Server Update Services to block future attacks. The update hopes to protect networked machines from a similar attack by requiring HTTPS inspection servers to funnel Windows update traffic through an exception rule, bypassing its inspection. The attackers? "They're trying to cover their tracks in any way they can," Victor Thakur, principal security response manager at Symantec told the LA Times, "They know they're being watched." Check out the source link below for the Symantec's run down of the trojan's retreat.
Permalink LA Times, Electronista, Ars Technica |
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Google's Andy Rubin: Android activations up to 900,000 a day, I'm staying put thank you
It's been awhile since we learned how many unique Android devices were switching on every day; the last time was at Mobile World Congress, when Google's senior mobile VP
Andy Rubin confirmed
850,000 activations a day just as we were fruitlessly practicing our Catalan. He's now chiming in with word that the daily rate is up to 900,000 cellular-enabled phones and tablets as of June. That's a ways off from the
breakneck pace of growth in 2011, but it certainly shows that Android is no shrinking violet just yet. Rubin's answer is ostensibly prompted by a need to debunk a rumor that he might be leaving Google -- there's "no plans" for that, he says. All the same, we're sure he doesn't mind ever-so-slightly deflating Apple's balloon before
WWDC 2012 kicks off tomorrow.
[Image credit: Jon Fingas,
Flickr]
Permalink Android Police |
Andy Rubin (Twitter), Robert Scoble (Google+) |
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How would you change the PlayStation Vita (Japanese Edition)?
How would you change: a regular feature where we ask people about their experiences with gadget's we've reviewed, when they reach the real world. This week we're looking at the Japanese edition* of the
PlayStation Vita, which instantly made us feel old when we realized the OG model was
seven years old. Times have changed, and the Vita's biggest competitor is
smartphone gaming: leading to our dismay when we found its battery conks out after just three hours, not to mention the high cost and that measly VGA camera. We know there's a market for hardcore gamers who want blockbuster games like
Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but is that hefty price-tag worth it? Let us know in the comments below.
*We'll be looking at the
US edition in a few months time, for those of you who didn't import the device when it was released.
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Refresh Roundup: week of June 4th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient
roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of June 4th, 2012
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Inhabitat's Week In Green: cities in the sky, a cloned Chinese village and a few green DIY Father's Day projects
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.
As the race to develop new, more efficient modes of transportation heats up, it could soon become even easier (and greener) to jet around the globe. This week saw the
Solar Impulse -- that broad, funny-looking airplane -- complete
the world's first solar-powered intercontinental flight. Meanwhile, Boeing's hydrogen-powered '
Phantom Eye' drone aircraft successfully completed its first flight, releasing only water as a byproduct. Both developments signal growing confidence in employing new
green technologies in air travel. Now that
green airplanes are taking flight, what will we do with all of those old fuel-guzzling planes that are currently in use? One Oregon man may have found an answer --
Bruce Campbell transformed an entire Boeing 727-200 into his home, converting one bathroom into a shower and installing a computer monitor in the middle of the control panel.
Continue reading Inhabitat's Week In Green: cities in the sky, a cloned Chinese village and a few green DIY Father's Day projects
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Orbotix pits Sphero as advanced 3D controller, details upcoming Augmented Reality Engine (hands-on)
During the wind down of
E3, we were able to spend a few fleeting moments with the folks from Orbotix to talk about its latest batch of upcoming software for
Sphero. If you're unfamiliar with the gizmo, it's essentially a Bluetooth-enabled robotic ball that can be controlled using your Android or iOS device. While Sphero is certainly a unique toy, we grew bored of it quickly -- it ended up best serving us as spendy dog toy during our review. The toy does have constant app development in its favor however, and the company insists that it will continue to offer free apps that open up the roller's capabilities. Head past the break where we'll detail two new advancements on the platform: augmented reality and advanced 3D control support.
Continue reading Orbotix pits Sphero as advanced 3D controller, details upcoming Augmented Reality Engine (hands-on)
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Switched On: E3, Screen Two
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Particularly since the rise of laptops and their ability to be used in the living room near a TV, consumers have been engaged with multiple screens simultaneously. In those early days, many of which occurred before the consumer-friendly Web, people were even more likely to tend to tasks unrelated to what was on the tube (which, back then, actually was a tube). As standards such as WiFi, DLNA and automatic content recognition develop, though, the use of second screens have the potential to form tighter links with what's happening on TV. At the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo, the three major home console companies all showed off their approach to bringing home video games and other content further beyond a single display.
Continue reading Switched On: E3, Screen Two
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Asus PadFone, tablet Station get imported stateside courtesy of Negri Electronics, yours for $860
Having to fiddle with a separate Android tablet and smartphone and a laptop just won't cut it? You might be eager to get your mitts the
ASUS PadFone if that's your sentiment, but folks in the US won't exactly find these at their local Best Buy. Still, despite having no official carrier support or definitive launch plans within the states, you'll now be able to snag the smartphone bundled with its tablet dock if you're willing to hit the gray market. As discovered by
Phone Arena, our friends at Negri Electronics are now stocking the international edition of the über-hybrid; $860 gets you one to call your own, but tactile-typists should note that it doesn't include the keyboard dock. To refresh your memory, the fone itself is runs Ice Cream Sandwich atop a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, and features a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 16GB of expandable storage, HSPA+ connectivity and a 1,520mAh battery. Additionally, the 10-inch PadFone Station (tablet dock) scores you more screen real estate (naturally) and a nine-fold increase in battery life. Feel free to refresh your knowledge of the device (and its accessories) with our previous
hands-on posts, then check out the source link below if you decide to pick one up with your hard-earned dough.
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Tonino Lamborghini launches 'luxury' phones for low-spec loving Russians with deep pockets
Much like
Porsche Design before it, this isn't strictly the auto-maker (in this case it's the son of the famous sports car mogul)
releasing a phone. However, these are devices (three phones and a tablet) which bear the family name. Russian site
Hi-Tech Mail got a good look at two feature phones (which look
remarkably familiar,) the TL688 and TL820, sporting 2- and 2.4-inch displays, along with 3- and 5-megapixel cameras and 4GB and 1GB (expandable) storage respectively. Their main selling point evidently being the hand made gold plate and leather finish. There is a TL700 smartphone, too, which runs on not-so-sporty Android Gingerbread, with an unspecified Qualcomm processor, 3.7-inch 800 x 480 display and 5-megapixel shooter. This one ups the flash-factor some, boasting diamond processed metal and "elements" of crocodile skin.
The tablet is known as the Lamborghini L2800 and has a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 resolution screen, 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB onboard storage (expandable). How much does all this sense-defying technology cost? Well, the feature phones start at 60,000 rubles, (about $1,829) or you can snap up the Android for 30,000 more (about $2,743) and treat yourself to the L2800 tablet for a reasonable 75,000 rubles (about $2,286). Of course, you'll have to drive to Russia to get your hands on them, sometime in late August, but we're guessing if you're in the market for one of these, that'll barely dent the plastic anyway.
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Attack of the drones: US Navy picks Linux for its unmanned VTOL aircraft control system
Disagreement between passionate
Windows and
Mac OS diehards have caused many a kerfuffle on the Interwebs. When it comes to the tactical control system of the US Navy's autonomous vertical take-off-and-landing craft, however, the military branch is putting its money on a different operating system. The
Navy just awarded a contract worth nearly $28 million to Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems to transition its VTOL drones to using its own flavor of good, old
Linux. Eventually, the Navy plans to have 168 Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Navy Fire Scout drones rocking the OS as part of its fleet.
The Register reports that the move was likely made for security reasons following a malware attack on the Air Force's Windows-based drone system last year. Add Samsung's recent inclusion into the
Platinum ranks of Linux's core supporters and you really can't blame fans of the operating system if they decide to wear shades while pondering its future.
[Image credit: Northrop Grumman]
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Apple's WWDC 2012 keynote is tomorrow -- get your liveblog right here!
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference opens up tomorrow, with Tim Cook taking the stage at 10AM PT to deliver what'll have to be... well, some fairly important company news. He
asked us back in March to look forward to more in 2012, and if the deluge of rumors is indication of what's to come, this could very well be the most monumental
WWDC in recent memory. Or, you know, maybe we'll just hear that iOS 6 is indeed coming after iOS 5. Our own Tim Stevens and Darren Murph will be on hand at Moscone West in San Francisco to bring you second-by-second coverage, and if you're looking for a bookmark, you can return
here tomorrow to catch the liveblog. We'll also be broadcasting
live outside of the venue (sorry, Apple won't allow video streaming from within!) before and after the fireworks, so be sure to keep it locked for a full day's worth of mayhem.
P.S. - Toss your best guesses on what's coming in comments below!
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