Acer Iconia W4 tablet spotted at event with Bay Trail chip, IPS display (video)
There have been persistent rumors of an upgraded Acer Iconia W3 tablet with an IPS display and, quite possibly, a faster Bay Trail-based processor. Those rumors are now reality, as Bouweenpc.nl has just tried an unannounced Iconia W4 at an Intel event. True to expectations, the 8-inch device was carrying both the new 1.33GHz Atom Z3740 processor and a much improved "wide view angle" (read: IPS) screen. Not much else may change, however -- the pre-release slate still carried the W3's 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Given that the W4 is running Windows 8.1, we wouldn't be surprised if it reaches the market sometime around the Windows update's launch in October. Check out Bouweenpc.nl's hands-on video after the break.
Filed under: Tablets, Acer
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Source: Bouweenpc.nl (translated)
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Ask Engadget: best next-gen console projector?
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 "Eager Gamer," who has asked a question that's appeared more than a few times in our inbox over the last month. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
"With next-gen consoles around the corner, could you please help me out with some of the best gaming projectors to choose from? I'm looking for something in the $2,000 - $2,500 in the price range. Thanks for any and all advice you can offer, as buying my first projector is much harder than I thought it'd be."
Never fear Easy Gamer, as we'd rather you ask us than run the risk of buying a bad gadget. On the upside, both the Xbone and PS4 will support 4K video (the Xbone will also be able to run games in 4K where supported). On the downside, the cheapest 4K projector is more than ten times your top budget.
So instead, let's look at a high quality projector that you can grab that is within budget. Sony's VPLHW30ES, for instance, offers 3D projection, a 1,300 lumens bulb an HDMI-in for $2,500, while ViewSonic's PRO9000 can be snapped up for $1,800. Still, those are just two options from us -- we're reasonably sure that the Engadget community can suggest something even more suited to your tastes.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Microsoft
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Nokia tablet gets approved by the FCC with AT&T and Verizon LTE
We have to hand it to Nokia: the company faces an acquisition by Microsoft in the very near future, but it's still got a few tricks up its sleeves. The FCC just approved a mystery device known as the RX-114, and Nokia's team did an incredible job of dressing up the paperwork so as to hide all clues of what it really was -- that is, right up until the last page of a 167-page document full of bland measurements and technical graphs. What you see above is official confirmation that Nokia is indeed working on a tablet, complete with diagrams of the device along with specific references to its slate-like state. (Forgive the fuzzy print; the diagrams are pretty small, so we enlarged them.)
What else do we know? The docs confirm that the tablet features LTE with support for bands 2, 4, 5, 13 and 17, along with a full suite of HSPA+ and GSM / EDGE. This means that regardless of which carrier actually picks up this particular device (frequency support doesn't guarantee carrier coverage, and no networks have confirmed that they'll be selling it), it technically will work on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Of course, we've already seen purported leaks that show the Windows RT device with Big Red branding, so it's not a far stretch to believe this is still in the works for one or more US providers. We'll continue to parse through the paperwork for other cleverly hidden clues, but this at least confirms what we already suspected -- and if we had to guess, we have a strong suspicion that we'll be seeing this beaut in the flesh at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi on October 22nd.
Filed under: Tablets, Wireless, Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon
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Source: FCC
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Mobile Miscellany: week of September 23rd, 2013
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 week brought a new LTE phone to Boost Mobile, hints of consolidation between Sprint and T-Mobile, and lastly, hints of what we might see at Nokia's upcoming 'innovation reinvented' event. These stories and more await. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of September 23rd, 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
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US officials accuse Iran hackers of breaking into Navy's computers
Oh, how times have changed. Almost a year ago, Iranian officials claimed the country was suffering from constant internet-based attacks. Now, according to the WSJ, it's Iran -- or hackers working for the Iranian government -- that's allegedly behind a series of digital intrusions on the US Navy's unclassified computers. The report, which cites unnamed US officials, says the attacks these past few weeks targeted computers that the Navy's been using for email and intranet. Since no sensitive information was stolen, the US is reportedly more worried about the digital attacks' implications: Iran is gaining hacking proficiency, and fast. Supposedly, it's because Russian hackers have been extending their help -- true or not, it's clear that the US can no longer view Iran as a non-threat in the cyber arena. The Navy has already patched up its security system, but the US government is reportedly still waiting for what comes out of the US-Iran talks before deciding whether to take action.
Filed under: Internet
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
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Engadget Podcast 362 - 09.28.13
We didn't do it live this week, but boy did we record a great show for you! Brian, Dana and Peter piped in from their respective
Hosts: Brian Heater, Dana Wollman, Peter Rojas
Producer: Joe Pollicino
Hear the podcast:
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NYT: NSA monitors, graphs some US Citizens' social activity with collected metadata
Just how does the NSA piece together all that metadata it collects? Thanks to "newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials," the New York Times today shed light on how the agency plots out the social activity and connections of those it's spying on. Up until 2010, the NSA only traced and analyzed the metadata of emails and phone calls from foreigners, but anything from US Citizens in the chains would create stopgaps. Snowden-provided documents note the policy shifted around late in that year to allow for the inclusion of Americans' metadata in analysis. An NSA representative explained to the Times that, "all data queries must include a foreign intelligence justification, period."
During "large-scale graph analysis," collected metadata is cross-referenced with commercial, public and "enrichment data" (some examples included GPS locations, social media accounts and banking info) to create a contact chain tied to any foreigner under review and scope out its activity. One of the of the main set of ingestion tools goes by the name Mainway. The Times also highlights a secret report, dubbed "Better Person Centric Analysis," as well, detailing how data is sorted into 164 searchable "relationship types" and 94 "entity types" (email and IP addresses, along with phone numbers). Other documents highlight that during 2011 it took in over 700 million phone records daily on its own, along with an "unnamed American service provider " that began funneling in an additional 1.1 billion cellphone records that August. In addition to that, Snowden's leak of the NSA's classified 2013 budget cites it as hoping to capture "20 billion 'record events' daily" that would be available for review by the agency's analysts in an hour's time. As you might expect, the number of US Citizens that have had their info bunched up into all of this currently remains a secret -- national security, of course. Extended details are available at the source links.
Filed under: Misc, Internet
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Via: The Verge
Source: New York Times
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The FTC wants your thoughts on proposed patent troll investigation
Here's a question. Forced to decide, would you rather have a patent troll breathing down your neck, or cuddle up with an entity just as ghoulish that's living under a bridge? The FTC wants your thoughts on the matter, even if its description isn't quite so... colorful. The agency is putting out a call for public commentary on its proposed investigation of patent assertion entities, which have come under federal scrutiny as of late. Key to the proposal, the FTC would request information from 25 patent trolls to learn non-public information such as their corporate structure, patent holdings, means of acquiring patents, the cost of enforcing them and the earnings that the trolls generate. Accordingly, the agency hopes to "develop a better understanding of how they impact innovation and competition."
For comparison sake, the FTC also proposes an information request from approximately 15 companies in the wireless communication sector, which would include manufacturers and other licensing entities. You're more than welcome to answer the bridge question in the comments, but if you want to contact the FTC directly, you'll find everything you need after the break.
[Image credit: Tristan Schmurr / Flickr]
Filed under: Misc
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Source: FTC
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Palo Alto to require wiring for fast EV chargers in new homes
Palo Alto is an ideal place for electric vehicles when it's full of wealthy, tech-savvy executives. It only makes sense, then, that the city council has voted in favor of a proposal requiring that new homes include wiring for speedy Level 2 EV chargers. The mandate should add less than $200 to a home's price, and could represent a bargain for future residents -- they'd have to pay four times more for a retrofit, Mayor Greg Scharff says. Established locals may also catch a break, as the council wants to simplify the process of getting an EV charger permit. The moves aren't very bold -- many in the area could buy a Model S with spare change -- but they may start a trend that spreads to less affluent regions.
[Image credit: Steve Jurvetson, Flickr]
Filed under: Transportation
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Via: VentureBeat
Source: San Jose Mercury News
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Steam Controller in use: game developers sound off on the beta version's highs and lows, how it feels
We've only known about the Steam Controller for 24 hours, but it turns out a variety of developers already got a chance to put the controller to use ahead of the lucky 300 beta participants later this year. The devs we spoke with didn't use the final format of the controller, but the non-touchscreen beta form seen above: four large buttons stand out in place of the clickable touchscreen panel (planned for the final version of Steam Controller). It's the version that will ship to those aforementioned 300 beta participants later this year, and it's the version that Valve is showing game developers ahead of anyone else. Follow us beyond the break and find out what they had to say.%Gallery-slideshow99391%
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals, HD
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Microsoft outlines 66,539 account requests from law enforcement during first half of 2013
We've covered various transparency reports before, but now the whole notion takes on a different feel in our post-PRISM world. Microsoft's latest report details that it received 37,196 requests from law enforcement agencies between this January and June, which impacted 66,539 of its accounts. Seventy-seven percent of those requests were for data like a user's name, IP history and billing address, and with 21 percent of requests, no data was disclosed at all. However, in 2.19 percent of queries by law enforcement, Redmond disclosed "at least some" customer content. What does that mean? Well, the company's definition includes the subject or body of an email, photos stored in SkyDrive and address book info. According to the document, the info was all obtained via lawful warrants and court orders.
While National Security Letters also fall under the guise of law enforcement requests -- which primarily come from the FBI in order to obtain records such as phone numbers and email addresses -- Microsoft is only allowed to publish these statistics on an annual basis. Hence, they're absent this time around, and will be published in the company's next Law Enforcement Requests Report. To see just how deep the rabbit hole goes, do check out the source. We suggest putting on a pot of coffee, though -- it's not a quick read.
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
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Via: TechCrunch
Source: Microsoft
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Apple and AT&T settle class action for unlimited data claim of original iPad
Another day, another lawsuit finally drawing to a close. This time, a judge has approved a settlement for a class-action lawsuit filed against Apple and AT&T, based on the unlimited data claims of the original iPad that were later withdrawn by AT&T. So, if you bought a 3G iPad before June 7th, 2010, you'll get a $40 payout from Apple, even if you stand among AT&T's grandfathered customers. Meanwhile, if you purchased the original 3G iPad but didn't get a mobile plan, you're also eligible for a $20 / month discount for up to a year under the carrier's current $50 offering. The toddler-aged class action was born out of affected customers' frustration over the change and the belief that they overpaid for their devices as a result. Unfortunately, the ruling won't be finalized until February 2014, so don't expect to hear from Apple about the payout -- or plan a modest $40 dinner for two -- until then.
Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Apple, AT&T
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Via: GigaOM
Source: Law360, Scribd
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The Xbox One hits the road on an international magical mystery tour
If you're still on the fence about choosing between a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Microsoft wants to help you make your decision. Redmond is taking its next-gen console on a multi-city international tour starting October 1st, putting the system's launch titles in your hands and throwing parties replete with live music in select Canadian, European and US towns. These events are running right up until the system's November 22nd launch, and full details -- where to find the happenings and when -- are but a click away.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
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Source: Xbox Wire, Xbox
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Kaleidescape's digital store adds $2 Blu-ray-to-digital copy upgrades
Kaleidescape arrived at this year's CEDIA event with a couple of fresh news items to accompany its mainstream-adjacent $3,995 Cinema One player. Its online Kaleidescape Store is getting a boost by adding the ability for customers to add digital copies for their existing Blu-ray discs. At launch it only supported DVDs, but now customers can get high quality, discless access to movies they already own HD editions of, just by putting a disc in the player. The price for Ultraviolet access across devices and an excuse to stop getting up from the couch to put the disc in (although, if you'd like to buy an expensive disc changer instead we're sure Kaleidescape won't argue) is $1.99, so choose wisely. Finally, the company is expanding access to the store, which has opened its virtual doors in Canada for the first time, in addition to the US and the UK, where it launched back in May.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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Source: Kaleidescape
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Sudanese protesters use crowdmapping to get around internet shutdowns
Like past regimes, Sudan's government is trying to silence protests by periodically shutting off internet access. Activists have found a way to keep everyone informed, however, by launching the Abena Crowd Map. The tool sends SMS-based reports of demonstrations and other events to a crowdmapping platform where contributors verify, locate and post stories. Observers can both filter the report stream and get alerts when incidents take place within a given area. The map won't always help protesters on the ground, but it will share their ordeal with the outside world -- and prevent Sudan's rulers from controlling the narrative.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet
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Via: Vice
Source: Abena Crowd Map
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MLB to use iOS 7's iBeacon for pointing out sights (and seats) in stadiums
Major League Baseball is becoming very iPhone-friendly: it gave iOS 6 users Passbook ticketing this season, and it's now planning a treat for iOS 7 users. A 2014 update to MLB's At the Ballpark app will use iOS 7's iBeacon feature to guide sports fans as they pass by low-power Bluetooth transmitters in the stadium. Enter the ballpark and you'll get seat directions; visit specific points and you may get coupons or highlight videos. Only the New York Mets are testing the feature at Citi Field, but the league believes that other teams are likely to follow suit.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
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Source: Mashable
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Evernote gets physical: Why a software maker's turning to tangible goods
What the hell is Evernote doing selling backpacks and socks? That's a question asked by many yesterday, when Evernote revealed a plan to expand its business well beyond productivity software by opening up Evernote Market. The Market, revealed at the third annual Evernote conference in San Francisco, debuted selling a selection of high-end bags from Côte&Ciel, notebooks from Moleskine, a scanner from Fujitsu, a stylus from Adonit, plus a smattering of T-shirts, posters and the aforementioned socks. The stylus packs the smallest tip on the market and is designed to work with note-taking apps like Penultimate. And the scanner integrates tightly with Evernote software, too -- it can scan a pile of varied documents (business cards, receipts, invoices, etc.), then sort and deposit the results an appropriate notebook automagically.
At first blush, selling physical goods seems odd for such a company. To hear CEO Phil Libin tell it, however, the move into retail is a logical one, should you be willing to make a bit of a cognitive leap. The key to this strategy was revealed during his day two keynote, when Libin said that his company is in the business of AI. However, those letters stand for augmented, not artificial intelligence.
Filed under: Wearables, Internet
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iMotion 3D controller launches on Kickstarter with dreams of replacing your mouse, we go hands-on (video)
If you thought the Kinect was a brilliant step forward in 3D sensing and you were enthralled by the possibilities of hand gestures with the Leap Motion, then you might be interested in what the iMotion 3D motion controller has to offer. A small rounded rectangular device that fits onto your hand like a glove, the iMotion is composed of accelerometers, gyroscopes and three LED sensors that will communicate with any standard web cam to locate your body in 3D space. There's no special sauce to it either; as long as you have the iMotion software on your computer, you're able to use the controller with pretty much any application. However, iMotion does plan on releasing an SDK so that developers can fine-tune their app or game to enable additional features of the iMotion, such as better precision and haptic feedback.
The technology was initially developed a few years ago by Intellect Motion, a company based out of Singapore, for medical purposes like sports rehabilitation. A year ago however, it started to delve into the gaming side of things and came up with the prototype device you see above. Now the company is ready to move on to the next stage, and that's to launch the device on Kickstarter and get the iMotion out to the public. Join us after the break to get our early hands-on impressions, a video of it in action and more details of the Kickstarter campaign.%Gallery-slideshow99474%
Filed under: Gaming
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Source: iMotion, Kickstarter
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Daily Roundup: Distro Issue 109, Valve's Steam Controller, CyanogenMod creator Steve Kondik and more!
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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Windows app install limit increases to 81 devices starting October 9th
Windows users rejoice: the days of only being able to install apps on five different devices will soon be over. Starting October 9th, apps purchased with a single Windows Store account will be sharable among up to 81 devices. If you recall, we learned back at Build that Microsoft would be increasing the app roaming limit, but today's announcement clarifies some key details nonetheless. Says the company in a blog post: "The change we're introducing will reduce the friction that most active customers have in being able to access their favorite apps from any device, and will give developers additional opportunities to monetize." This of course means one other thing: you're going to need a bigger backpack.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
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Source: Windows App Builder Blog
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This week on gdgt: Apple's new iPhones, Loewe's Speaker 2go and Steam Machines
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
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French agency may slap Google with a €300,000 fine for privacy violations
Google has once again found itself in the hot seat over its data practices, and this time, a French agency is sounding the alarm. Earlier today, France's National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) threatened Google with a €300,000 fine due to the company's lack of compliance with a June decision aimed at protecting users' private data. Previously, Google was given three months to address CNIL's concerns about centralized data collection that lumps together information from Youtube, Gmail and searches and transparency about how such data was put to use. Now, the clock is up, and France isn't fooling around. While formal sanctioning is a lengthy process that won't be resolved for several months, the country's stance is considered aggressive, even if the fine is relatively modest. Google, however, doesn't seem phased. Company spokesperson Al Verney said, "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services."
Filed under: Internet, Google
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Source: Yahoo
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Bang & Olufsen promises 'second-to-none' experience from new wireless speaker technology
Wireless speakers still aren't usually the first choice of those primarily concerned with sound quality, but high-end manufacturer Bang & Olufsen is setting out to change that perception with its latest offering. Announced at the CEDIA conference this week, the company's new wireless speaker platform promises to deliver 24-bit, uncompressed audio to either a pair of speakers or a full 7.1 surround setup. To do that, the platform employs the WiSA open standard, which operates in the 5.2-5.8 GHz range, along with some more proprietary tech from B&O and Summit Semiconductor. The end result of that, the company says, is not only speakers that provide a "second-to-none multi-channel wireless experience," but ones that are compatible with any WiSA-compliant device. The company isn't quite ready to show off any new speakers based on the new platform just yet, though; it's saving that announcement for late October, when a new set of "Immaculate Wireless Sound" speakers is set to debut.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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CyanogenMod creator Steve Kondik on the challenges of refining the ROM
On the morning after the Oppo N1 launch, Steve "Cyanogen" Kondik was surrounded by several Oppo ambassadors and tech writers at a hotel lounge in Beijing. It's a far cry from where he began: toying with Android ROMs out of "boredom" about five years ago.
"When I started this thing, I had, like, no idea that people would actually care," said Kondik, the creator of CyanogenMod. "I was kind of watching out to see who was going to bring Linux to the first mobile device, in a way that it didn't absolutely suck."
In the end, it was Android that stood out with its open-source development, and Kondik saw the potential of adding his own enhancements to devices running on this OS. By day, the Seattle-based developer was a lead engineer at a bioinformatics startup in Pittsburgh; but during his free time, he worked on what later became CyanogenMod for the legendary T-Mobile G1, the world's first commercial Android device. And of course, he bought it on the day it came out.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
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$35,000 Prima Cinema Player brings movies home as soon as they hit theaters (eyes-on)
Ready to escape the usual crowd at the movie theater and host your own premieres at home? Prima Cinema has an answer, with the minor requirement of $35,000 (and a few other details) to get your home theater ready for first-run movies. Just as we'd heard when it first popped up a couple of years ago, that large setup fee buys the Cinema Player, a rack-mountable box loaded with a 2TB hard drive and enough DRM to keep the studios happy, plus a wired fingerprint reader used to ensure the owner's identity. Movies download automatically to its hard drive in the background so they're already there when the owner chooses to unlock them for viewing. That privilege costs $500 ($600 for 3D), good for one showing within 24 hours. Check after the break for more of our impressions after a quick preview at Prima's CEDIA 2013 booth, then prep your black card for the pricey purchase.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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Source: Prima Cinema
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