Xbox One: chat headset not included
Today Microsoft confirmed another disappointing detail about the Xbox One's launch -- unlike the Xbox 360 Pro SKU, it won't pack a chat headset in the box. In a statement to Ars Technica, the company extols the virtues of Kinect 2.0 and its multi-array microphones for chat across games, Skype and "other experiences." Chatting with the Xbox 360's Kinect introduces a multitude of issues like echoes and the device taking conversation as system commands. To replace even a cheap headset, Kinect 2.0 will need to be a massive upgrade. This strikes odd considering Microsoft included headsets with almost everything since the original Xbox Live kits. However, The House That Gates Built isn't the only one breaking tradition: Sony's including a single earbud-and-mic headset with each $100-cheaper PS4. Shots fired?
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
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Via: Joystiq
Source: Ars Technica
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Square Market launches, provides easy online storefronts for small businesses
We've come to know Square for its efforts in making it easier for small -- and not so small -- businesses to get paid in real life with card readers, iPad registers and apps, but its latest project is trying to help them sell online as well. Square Market has just opened up, and features storefronts from a number of retailers selling good and services online. Of course, in 2013 launching a website isn't that difficult and others like Etsy and eBay have been in this segment for a long time, so what does Square have to offer? According to the company, anyone can open up a store for free complete with photos and a business profile. There's no charge for item listings either, however a 2.75 percent fee is collected on each sale. It's too early to tell if the simple approach will cut into its competitor's market share, but for merchants already using its physical products (or thinking about it) it may provide an easy portal to customers worldwide as well as local.
Filed under: Internet
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Source: Square Market
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Intel Labs developing 'talking' tail lights for safer roads, we go eyes-on (video)
Smarter headlights could guide you out of a rainstorm, but intelligent tail lights could enable communication between vehicles. At least, that's the idea behind a collaborative Connected Vehicle Safety project between Intel and National Taiwan University. Its purpose is so that you'll be able to know just what the vehicles around you are up to -- whether they're speeding or braking or making a left -- by receiving data from their tail lights. Your vehicle could then stop or accelerate automatically without you needing to intervene, or you could choose to react manually if desired. We saw a demonstration of the concept at a Research @ Intel event in San Francisco with a couple of scooters, so head on past the break to learn how it all works, with video to boot.
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Sony's Jun Katsunuma on the inspiration for Xperia Z Ultra's design
After the Xperia Z Ultra's launch event in both London and Shanghai, we had a brief chance to talk to Sony's Product Design Director, Jun Katsunuma, who was present in the latter city. Jun's been responsible for Sony's mobile devices since the Xperia S days, so the transition to the Xperia Z's double-glass design was also under his watch. That said, the newer Xperia Z Ultra isn't simply just an enlarged version of its smaller sibling, as we found out straight from the horse's mouth.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
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LG G2 purportedly spied in promo shots, may carry backside volume buttons
LG has teased the Optimus G's successor for awhile, but we've seen precious little of the phone's design. We may have just received a better peek: a tipster has sent @evleaks some images that appear to come from a promo video for the flagship device. While the snapshots are clearly victims of Mr. Blurrycam, they're detailed enough to suggest a big break from last year's model. They show both a previously seen buttonless front as well as an extremely slim profile that moves the volume controls to the back. There's also no mention of the Optimus badge -- all the on-screen graphics simply refer to the phone as the "G2." None of the images are verifiable, so there's no guarantee that they reflect the real thing. If we happen to see something similar-looking on August 7th, however, it won't come as a surprise.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG
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Source: @evleaks (Twitter)
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Intel's working on DIY programmable home automation, we go eyes-on with its proof-of-concept (video)
The internet of things is growing, friends, and Intel knows it. From WiFi lightbulbs to smart thermostats and door locks, it seems that most everything in our homes will have some sort of connectivity in the not-so-distant future. That's why chipzilla's research arm has been working on a way to program all of those devices and make it easy enough so that any do-it-yourselfer can get her home working the way she wants it to. The key is getting all of these future devices to work together, and Intel's plan is to build a platform that'll talk to most any PCB (Arduino, Beagle Boards, etc.) over any wireless protocol (WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, et al.).
A layer of middleware lets the bits of hardware talk to each other on an ad-hoc basis, so that say, when a baby monitor hears a crying child, it can tell a nearby stereo to tee up some soothing tunes to put him back to sleep automagically. The system actions are crafted using an easy-to-use HTML 5 programming environment, and will be deposited in a software library of modules that can be accessed by end users. Then, home automators can utilize a simple GUI editor to tailor their system to their wishes. We got to see a proof-of-concept system in person today, so head on past the break for a full video explanation and a demo of it in action.
Nicole Lee contributed to this report.
Filed under: Household, Intel
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SK Telecom launches the world's first LTE-Advanced network, and the Galaxy S4 LTE-A
Just days after an LTE-Advanced variant of Samsung's Galaxy S 4 leaked, Korean carrier SK Telecom has officially announced it's launching the world's first publicly available LTE-Advanced wireless network. The Galaxy S4 LTE-A is also official (in red or blue) as the first device able to take advantage of the new technology for even faster data transmission speeds. According to the press release, SK Telecom plans to have as many as seven LTE-A devices available by the end of the year, all capable of up to 150Mbps. While SK Telecom is using Carrier Aggregation and Coordinated Multi Point technology to improve speeds right now, it will add Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination in 2014 to go even faster. After that, it suggest carrier aggregation will improve to support higher speeds and faster uploads in subsequent years.
To take advantage of the higher speeds, SK Telecom's Btv IPTV service will begin offering 1080p video streaming in early July. That will be accompanied by enhanced multiview baseball broadcasts, more free videos, an HD video shopping service with six channels on one screen in August and the addition of FLAC audio files via its music package. Right now, the company has Seoul covered in LTE-A, and plans to eventually offer it in 84 cities, all at the same price as existing LTE service. Check after the break for the press release with all the details, plus video of a speed test.
Update: We've just come across another juicy tidbit that makes the Galaxy S4 LTE-A all the more worthwhile... it'll ship with a Snapdragon 800 SoC that contains a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU. It goes without saying that this phone will be speedy on all angles.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
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Source: Samsung Tomorrow (1), (2)
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Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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T-Mobile Prism II from Huawei is official, yours tomorrow for $116 outright
If you're looking to tap into one of T-Mobile's low-cost unlimited plans but are feeling squeamish about paying for your phone outright, then you might be curious about the Prism II: a new budget smartphone that's about to hit widespread availability at T-Mobile. The handset has been on our radar for some time -- ever since it was first outed by @evleaks in March -- but just recently became official with a wallet-friendly price of $116 outright. The Prism II arrives as a successor to the original model from Huawei, but with added horsepower and a fresh version of Android. In all, it brings a 3.5-inch HVGA (480 x 320) display, a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB of expandable storage, a 1,750mAh battery and Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The Prism II is currently listed as "Coming Soon" on T-Mobile's website, but carrier reps tell us that it'll hit nationwide availability on June 26th... in other words, tomorrow.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, T-Mobile
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Via: PhoneScoop
Source: T-Mobile (1), (2)
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JetBlue begins Fly-Fi flight testing, on track for Q3 launch
Adding satellite WiFi to an airplane isn't as simple as mounting an antenna up top and flipping the switch on a router -- even installing a cockpit printer
requires FAA approval, so as you can expect, the Federal Aviation
Administration won't check off on major modifications without some
thorough testing. JetBlue's new Fly-Fi service
is well on its way to getting a formal green light, though, and is
expected to launch before Q3 is through. This week, the carrier is
running through a variety of flight tests with one of its Airbus A320s,
including maneuvering the plane with some pretty unusual weight loads,
such as the rear center of gravity positioning you can see demonstrated
above. After that's complete, it's time to wait for FAA certification
before moving onto performance testing, and if all goes well, passengers
should expect to hook up to ViaSat-1
from 30,000 feet in mere months. Once Fly-Fi goes online, it'll be by
far the fastest commercial in-flight WiFi option -- we really can't
wait!
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Los Angeles puts ridesharing companies on notice, demands local permits
Someone didn't get the memo, apparently. Despite California's Public Utilities Commission giving ridesharing services the all clear on a statewide level, Los Angeles' Department of Transportation has sent cease-and-desist warnings to Lyft, Sidecar and Uber, claiming that all three are breaking local laws by operating without city permits. Drivers could face arrests and lose their cars if they keep serving customers, according to the notices. Not surprisingly, the ridesharing firms have a very different opinion. Uber tells Engadget that it's operating a limousine-like service which only needs PUC permission to operate, and Lyft says it's talking with the Mayor's office to resolve what it believes is a "state issue." For now, we're at an impasse -- let's just hope that Los Angeles follows in New York's footsteps and tries to reach a happy medium.
Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation
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Via: AllThingsD
Source: SCPR
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Xbox Music web version launching next week, Microsoft confirms
Microsoft's Xbox Music will launch on the web "next week," a company representative confirmed to Engadget this afternoon. The service was previously only available to folks using various Microsoft devices and operating systems, from the Xbox 360 to Windows 8 / RT / Windows Phone 8, but the service is going wide online for its next step. The web-based service is expected to launch at music.xbox.com, and looks significantly different from the layout seen above.
The company isn't sharing more details just yet, but a report on The Verge citing unnamed sources has a few more tidbits. Apparently the service will function similarly to Spotify's web version, offering streaming and playlist management through your favorite web browser. Additionally, the Windows 8 app is reportedly getting an update with Windows 8.1, which both changes its look and adds support for SD cards. It's very likely we'll have even more details on Xbox Music's upcoming updates from Microsoft's Build developer conference this week, so keep an eye out!
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
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The Daily Roundup for 06.25.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
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Xperia Z Ultra makes its way through the FCC
Sony's new mondo handset, the Xperia Z Ultra, was just revealed to the world today, and so it should come as no surprise that the new phone has just received Uncle Sam's seal of approval. That's right, folks, a version of the 6.4 inch device sporting 1,700MHz HSPA and GSM 850/1900MHz radios has passed the FCC's battery of tests. Alas, despite its cellular and dual-band WiFi radios being put through the wringer, there's a dearth of LTE info in the docs, so we're still in the dark as to the bands that the handset's working with. Still, should you wish to know more of the Z Ultras secrets, all the charts and RF readings you can handle can be found in the source below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
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Source: FCC
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Google Currents for iOS updated with audio playlists and vertical article pagination
They may not be anything new to the Android faithful, but Google's today brought a few notable additions to the iOS version of Currents. First, the software now sorts audio playlists for any listening content that you fancy alongside the existing playback features. Version 2.1 of the app also displays articles in a vertical-scrolling format and allows for pinch-to-zoom on pictures should the need arise. If your iPhone or iPad has yet to alert you to the update -- or if you're looking to nab the reader for the first time -- you can snag the latest release via the source link that follows.
Filed under: Software, Google
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Source: iTunes
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Samsung posts kernel source code for Galaxy S4 Active on AT&T, Galaxy Note 8.0 with LTE
Samsung may have been busy this past week with the launches of the Galaxy S4 Active and Galaxy Note 8.0, but it hasn't forgotten its duties to Android programmers. It just posted the kernel source code for both the AT&T variant of the GS4 Active (the SGH-i537) as well as the LTE-equipped Note 8.0 in its American and Canadian forms (SGH-i467 and i467M). As with past releases, the source material gives developers a better understanding of the hardware; it also gives tinkerers an easier time when modifying the firmware or creating fully functional custom ROMs. Whichever camp you're in, the kernel code awaits at the links below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T
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Via: Android Police
Source: Samsung (1), (2), (3)
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Mad scientists turn roaches into cyborgs, control them with Kinect, laugh at nature
We'd love to tell you that the researchers at North Carolina State University aren't monsters who implant circuits on living things so that those living things do their bidding, but we'd be lying. They totally do that, roaches are their primary victim, and now they're using Microsoft's Kinect to help them control the insects. Sure, why not!
As Dr. Alper Bozkurt of NCSU says in today's new release, "Our goal is to be able to guide these roaches as efficiently as possible, and our work with Kinect is helping us do that." Apparently the researchers are employing Kinect for data collection as well, determining how effectively the cyborg survivors respond to electrical impulse-motivated control. They say the end goal is to use the partially mechanized arthropods to, "explore and map disaster sites." For now, there's some very weird stuff happening in North Carolina. Head below for a video of the roaches in action.
Filed under: Misc, Robots, Science, Software, Alt, Microsoft
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Source: North Carolina State University
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Samsung Galaxy S 4 Developer Edition for Verizon now shipping for $650
Samsung's online listing for the Galaxy S 4 Developer Edition is back, and now you can actually follow through on a purchase. The device, currently available for Verizon customers, can be yours for the princely sum of $649.99. This isn't the Google Edition running stock Android that we first heard about at I/O; instead, the Developer Edition includes the TouchWiz UI and Android 4.2.2, but ships with an unlocked bootloader, letting you play around with custom ROMs and the like. Add it to your cart at the source link below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
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Via: TechnoBuffalo
Source: Samsung
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Foursquare for Android and iOS now lets you check friends in, with permission
If you regularly hang out with Foursquare aficionados, you've likely seen conversations grind to a halt as everyone dutifully checks in at the same restaurant. A fresh update to Foursquare's Android and iOS apps could get those friends talking again by letting one of them check in the rest. Whoever arrives first just has to tag their contacts, who'll be counted as if they'd gone through the check-in themselves. Thankfully, Foursquare tries to eliminate the privacy disasters that could stem from its new feature -- the app won't check anyone in without permission, and users can delete unwanted check-ins on the spot. Those comfortable with Foursquare's safeguards can grab the new app through the source links.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet
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Via: Foursquare Blog
Source: App Store, Google Play
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Chromebook Pixel gets new Google+ Photos app for easier backups, sharing
It may not exactly be enough to make the high-end price tag any more palatable, but Chromebook Pixel owners now have another small exclusive to call their own. Google has just released a new Google+ Photos app for the device, which promises to make photo backups and sharing a bit easier. Namely, it'll automatically upload all your new photos to Google+ when you insert an SD card, from where you can then chose which you'd like to make public. No word on when the app will hit other non-Pixel Chromebooks, but Google says they are currently working on that.
Filed under: Laptops, Google
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Source: Google, AJ Asver (Google+)
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The Engadget Show 44: Education with Google, OLPC, Code.org, LeapFrog, SparkFun, Adafruit and more
It's time to rethink the way our children learn. It's all a bit overwhelming, attempting to restructure the age-old classroom model, particularly in a system as bogged down in bureaucratic red tape as education. This month, however, we packed up our things and toured the country to find out how educational institutions are adopting new models to help reinvent the learning process -- rather than sitting idly by, waiting for the system to change around them. Naturally, technology is playing a huge role in that shift, moving from models of teaching to models of learning, where students can explore, express themselves and learn at their own speed.
We kick things off in Chicago, where Jackie Moore, a former systems programmer, is teaching inner city students how to build robots in a shopping mall basement at LevelUP. Next up, we head Miami and California, to see how technologies like the iPad, Google Chromebook and One Laptop Per Child's XO laptop are being implemented in three schools, including interviews with educators, students, OLPC CEO Rodrigo Halaby and Google director of product management, Rajen Sheth. We'll also talk to component retailers SparkFun and Adafruit about the initiatives those companies have implemented to help kids learn electronics at an early age, and then we sit down with American Museum of Natural History president, Ellen Futter, to discuss the ways the New York City institution is redefining itself for the 21st century.
We've also got an interview with Ali Partovi, a serial entrepreneur, who is working to make computer science an essential part of the elementary-level STEM program, through Code.org. Richard Culatta, the acting director of the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology discusses how devices can help target the learning process for individual students and LeapFrog CEO John Barbour tells us how his company is rethinking the educational toy. All that plus prognostications from John Roderick and some really sweet moose dioramas can be yours to enjoy after the break.
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Laptops, Robots, Tablets, Science, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Alt, Google, Acer
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Editorial: As Google Reader dies, reading struggles to be reborn
When Google announced it was pulling Reader's plug (which will happen next week), the outcry was loud and viral. If I may speak for those who were most wounded by the knife in Reader's back, the announcement shock was mixed with betrayal, anger and loss. Those who built RSS reading into their lives generally placed it at the epicenter of their online activity. Anticipating life without Reader was a black-hole view -- the web with a void punched into the center.
As the wailing turned practical, exporting and migrating recommendations proliferated. The commotion died down for a while, and has now resumed for Reader's final week. Major and minor brands are jumping into the feed-reading game, seeking to sway a vocal population looking for new homes. But is a loud community of users also a large community of users? Feed-based web consumption hasn't had this much publicity in years. Does all this product development and media attention signal a rebirth of RSS's geeky convenience? Or are money and effort being thrown at an ephemeral market?
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Facebook
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Romo update adds telepresence, lets kids terrorize siblings remotely (video)
Romo first rolled into our lives via Kickstarter. Since then we've seen it return leaner and meaner, with more improvements just announced. Romotive tells us that an app update coming today brings full telepresence functionality, allowing users to log into the device from anywhere via any iOS device or PC running a Chrome browser. Setting up the telepresence should be no harder than setting up a regular call, and once you're set, you'll get two-way video and audio -- plus control of the robot (including its expressions!). This not only gives Romo new scope for (almost literally) becoming one of the family, it adds a whole host of new use cases. Want a few ideas to get you started? There's a few in the suitably chipper video past the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile
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Google Transparency Report now tracks malware and phishing sites
Google's Transparency Report has long warned us about the dangers of government overreach, but that's not the only threat online -- there's plenty of malware to go around. Accordingly, Google is expanding its report to show the volumes of virus-infected and phishing sites found through the company's Safe Browsing technology. The data includes both attacking and victim pages, and it shows how well web hosts cope with successful infections. Combined, the new information doesn't paint a pretty picture. Google spotted a total of 67,909 compromised sites just in mid-June, and it still takes over a month for most affected webmasters to scrub their servers clean. The Safe Browsing data isn't very reassuring, then, but it is a friendly reminder to be careful on the web.
Filed under: Internet, Google
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Via: Google Online Security Blog
Source: Google Transparency Report
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Astronomers find three planets in Gliese 667C's habitable zone
Astronomers have a good day when they detect one planet inside a star system's habitable zone. A mostly European team of researchers must be giddy, then, as it just found three of those ideally located planets around Gliese 667C. The group has combined existing observations from the ESO's Very Large Telescope with new HARPS telescope data to spot the trio of super-Earths, all of which could theoretically support liquid water. As long as the discovery holds up, it may have a big impact on exoplanetary research: it shows both that three super-Earths can exist in one system and that more than one survivable planet can orbit a low-mass star. We can only do so much with the findings when Gliese 667C is 22 light-years away, but it's good to learn that space could be more human-friendly than we once thought.
Filed under: Science, Alt
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Source: ESO
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