Ask Engadget: what's the best way to arrange a protected AirPlay setup?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's
Ask Engadget inquiry is from Wes, who needs to ensure that Delta Tau Chi don't start interfering with his band practice sessions. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at
ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
"I'm a university band director, and I need a WiFi stereo receiver for our rehearsal space. The problem is, that it would have to join the same network that the students and faculty all share. I want to be able to Airplay music and related apps (like a metronome) through the setup, but I'm worried that any student can connect and mess with it. I can't seem to find a receiver that requires a separate password to connect to it, so I could really use some help! Thanks, Wes"
Wes, we'll help you on one condition: the next time you're directing a half-time show, the band has to stand in the shape of the Engadget logo. Deal? Good.
- It's very easy to set an AirPlay access code onto an Apple TV. That way, if anyone wants to start pushing tunes (or apps) to your sound system, you have to enter a four-digit code of your choosing.
- You can also control permissions on other AirPlay devices like the Sony STR-DN1030, but there's a limit of 20 devices, and it's a little bit fiddly.
Of course, this wouldn't be Ask Engadget without some audience participation, so, dear audience, participate! Share your knowledge, tell us tales and spread some love this weekend -- but only if said love is related to the world of AirPlay passwords.
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Mobile Miscellany: week of October 29th, 2012
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, Cricket added a compact smartphone to its lineup, new press images landed for Verizon's next QWERTY-enabled handset and Canadian carriers grabbed a rugged smartphone from Samsung. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "
best of the rest" for this week of October 29th, 2012.
Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of October 29th, 2012
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Bell gearing up for November 15th HTC 8X release
Windows Phone fans in the Great White North shouldn't have to wait long to get their hands on HTC's
latest piece of kit -- a internal
Bell document obtained by
MobileSyrup pegs the 8X for a November 15th launch. The reported Canadian launch date trails
T-Mobile's availability by a mere day, noting that pre-ordered devices could ship out as early as November 9th. Not too surprising, considering the phone just skipped through
the FCC with support for the entire north American continent. No word on pricing, but the page's listed specs nicely match the brightly colored 4.3-inch, 1.5GHz dual-core slab
we reviewed. Not a Bell customer? Don't worry --
MobileSyrup is hearing murmurs that the same date applies to Rogers, as well.
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Microsoft explains the origins of Windows Phone 8's home and lock screens
We've delved into just what we think of
Windows Phone 8's interface, but not what led Microsoft to the final layout. The company isn't content to let us wonder -- a pair of new company blog posts explain some (though not all) of what was involved in that birthing process. Ignore the marketing spin and you'll learn that the wider, more densely packed home screen was chosen as much for balance as to stuff in more home tiles, and that it caused a momentary crisis for the app list as a result. The Redmond team goes on to justify choices behind the lock screen, such as why notifications are as customizable as they are, why the music controls fade and why there's a failsafe for PIN attempts. Don't expect to come out of the explanations suddenly craving a
Lumia 920; just expect to make more sense of the OS inside.
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Alt-week 11.03.12: zombie animals, martian methane and self healing buildings
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
After a week where large numbers of people found themselves at the mercy of mother nature, many will be reminded just how vulnerable we really can be at times. That said, science still provides us with a pretty big stick to whack many
other problems with. After the break we look at how crumbling buildings could soon be self-healing, why some UK-based scientists think they are one step closer to answering the "is light made of waves or particles" quandary, and NASA reveals its latest results in the hunt for martian methane. Oh, and there's some zombie animals too. This is alt-week.
Continue reading Alt-week 11.03.12: zombie animals, martian methane and self healing buildings
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A*STAR unveils 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, touts affordability and improved energy efficiency
Move over,
Western Digital.
A*STAR's Data Storage Institute (DSI) has developed its own
5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, and it's packing a 1TB HDD and a 32GB SSD within its 2.5-inch confines. Aptly dubbed A-Drive, the firm's razor-thin hardware relies on a new proprietary motor and 30 additional design patents to lower power consumption and achieve its diminutive form factor. The outfit envisions the drive being put to work in tablets, where it could stretch battery life by up to 30 percent, and in ultrabooks or business-centric storage solutions. To top things off, A*STAR says its
hybrid drive will be cheaper than SSDs currently used in ultrabooks, and
Yahoo! News reports the device could ring up at roughly $73. Can't wait to have the hardware in a machine of your own? Hold your horses, vaquero. According to DSI Executive Director Pantelis Alexopoulos, it might take six to eight months to kick off production after they strike a deal with a manufacturing partner, which hasn't happened quite yet.
[Image Credit: Yahoo! photo/ Deborah Choo]
Continue reading A*STAR unveils 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, touts affordability and improved energy efficiency
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Barnes & Noble cut the price of Nook Tablet, Nook Color once more, really wants to be on your Christmas list
Barnes & Noble recently took the wraps of two new tablets, updating its range (
along with everyone else it seems) in preparation for next year. That doesn't mean it's washed its hands with the OG
Nook tablet and
Nook Color -- in fact, both just got
another price cut. Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to pick up the original 8GB tablet for $159, the 16GB version for $179 and the Nook Color for $139. With two price cuts in three months, anyone would think it was trying to get rid of stock. This still puts last year's lower capacity model shoulder to shoulder with Amazon's 2012 Kindle Fire (with ad subsidies), but with Christmas just around the corner, we're not complaining about more choice for less dollars.
Continue reading Barnes & Noble cut the price of Nook Tablet, Nook Color once more, really wants to be on your Christmas list
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Editorial: Amazon and Google are undermining mobile pricing, and that may hurt everyone
When Google unveiled the
Nexus 4,
Nexus 10 and a
refreshed Nexus 7 in October, the moment was arguably the crescendo of a change in the Android ecosystem that had been building ever since Amazon's
Kindle Fire first braved the marketplace in 2011. Along with a widely expanded Amazon lineup that includes multiple
Kindle Fire HD models and a price-cut tweak to the original Fire, two of the largest players in the mobile world now have top-to-bottom device businesses built around selling at break-even prices and recouping their money through content. That might sound good on the surface, but it's a bad omen for competitors that genuinely can't respond in kind -- and it could erode some of the values of diversity and innovation that we're supposed to hold dear as technology fans.
Continue reading Editorial: Amazon and Google are undermining mobile pricing, and that may hurt everyone
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Simple.TV review: a set-top box that streams broadcast TV to mobile devices
Anyone who follows the home entertainment space closely probably agrees that TV is
broken: archaic user interfaces, pricey bundles, six remotes that each do one thing, all limited to the confines of your home. Of course, realizing it's broken and knowing how to fix it are two different things. One attempt at a fix is
Simple.TV. This $149 box (plus $59 a year for service) bridges the gap between the various devices you already own and the world of broadcast television. It allows you to access the plethora of content available via unencrypted digital cable, or for free via an antenna, on just about any device you own -- tablet, smartphone, PC or even a TV. Sounds pretty great, huh? But does it deliver? And can it replace your cable box and the high-priced service that goes with it? Just click on through, and you'll find out.
Continue reading Simple.TV review: a set-top box that streams broadcast TV to mobile devices
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Visualized: Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its final journey, arrives at new home (video)
On Friday, Space Shuttle Atlantis made its final voyage, marking the last time an orbiter in America's shuttle program would be on the move. We were on-hand during the occasion and followed Atlantis as it slowly trekked to its destination, a 90,000 square-foot exhibit building at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex. To live out the event vicariously, check out the photos below or hit the jump for the video.
Continue reading Visualized: Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its final journey, arrives at new home (video)
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Seagate now a DECE member, supporting UltraViolet
The
Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem -- the consortium of companies attempting to develop an industry standard for digital distribution of entertainment, and the folks behind
UltraViolet -- can count another member among its ranks as of this week: digital storage company
Seagate. The storage manufacturer announced as much in a press release this week, and threw its support behind UltraViolet. "As a DECE member, Seagate's expertise and perspective on cloud solutions and storage devices will help the organization to evolve those benefits," says UltraViolet GM Mark Teitell. Considering how many major content providers are supporting UltraViolet, it's good to know that
one of the largest storage companies isn't standing against our digital futures.
Continue reading Seagate now a DECE member, supporting UltraViolet
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Blackberry PlayBook 3G+ now available in the UK, 1.5GHz dual-core, 32GB storage
It was over a year ago now that we first heard about
RIM's plans to release a 3G PlayBook, but it looks like it is finally here, popping up on the UK BlackBerry site. Of course, since then it's gone one better and delivered
an LTE version, but if you're in the UK, and want a little PlayBook action with data to go, you can order one today. Much like its LTE sibling, it comes with 32GB of memory, and gets the same faster 1.5GHz processor too. (The original was 1.0GHz.) The kicker here? The price, at around £420 (about $690 by conversion) this is only £30 ($48) shy of Apple's 32GB WiFi and cellular iPad mini (at UK prices). On a positive note, while RIM might have had the 3G model lingering for some time, it did beat
its own projections. But, with the
UK now enjoying LTE, perhaps those interested in a PlayBook might campaign for the faster model to be added to the roster also.
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Apple posts revised 'Samsung did not copy' statement, acknowledges first version was inaccurate
Apple has just reposted its statement
acknowledging that Samsung did not copy its tablet design, after the initial wording was
deemed unacceptable by the UK courts. The new version is a lot shorter, and simply repeats what it published in
national newspapers this week, stating that
the court did not find Samsung to be in breach of Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001, reminding us that it was also upheld by the Court of Appeal, providing links to the appropriate patent and judgement documents online. The mention of the same case going in Apple's favor in Germany has been removed completely. When first published, Apple included a short link at the bottom of its homepage. Now, to completely comply with the court's bidding, there is a short statement accompanying the link, confirming that its initial acknowledgement was inaccurate. The court also told Apple that it must keep the admission online until at least December 14th. Will this be enough to appease the UK courts? We'll just have to wait and see.
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Apple's Lightning to micro-USB adapter now available in US, not just Europe anymore
Just in case you thought the Lightning to micro-USB connector was
Europe-only (to stave off that pesky
European Commission), Apple has decided to sell it stateside as well. The tiny choking hazard recently made its way to the company's online store in the US for $19 each (over in Europe, it's £15 / €19), and brick-and-mortar locations will probably get them too -- if they're not in stock already. We're not sure if there's a huge demand for this, but if you're a recent
iPod,
iPhone, or iPad (
Mini or
4th gen) owner with a plethora of existing micro-USB cables, an adapter like this could help lighten your nest of wires.
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