|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Facebook users rebuked proposed privacy changes in a vote on Friday -- to the tune of 87 percent -- but a thousand times higher turnout was needed for it to matter. As such, the company will likely proceed with the additions, which it said were needed to clarify current policies for European and US regulators. However, the company was sufficiently chastened by the anemic turnout of 342,600 voters to state that it was "pretty disappointing," and spokeswoman Jame Schopflin said in the future, they will consider the vote "advisory" if numbers were too low. Still, groups like Our Policy who started the petition for this referendum might want to pick their battles better next time. Tiny fraction of required 270 million Facebook users squeak 'no' to changes originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  PC World | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  So you love Windows Phone, but how can you let the world know? Until now, you'd either have to wave your object of desire around, or keep showing colleagues those "Smoked by Windows Phone" YouTube videos. Now, you can simply wear your alliance across your chest, or favorite beverage, thanks to a new CafePress store. Revealed in a Windowsteamblog post, the shop will let you grab mugs, t-shirts, stickers, magnets and more emblazoned with "I Heart Windows Phone" in icons. Not only that, in case all those soccer moms didn't know which side of the fence you stood, you can clear up the doubt by snagging a bodysuit for your youngest. Credit card at the ready? Jump on that source link for the goods. New Windows Phone store lets you wear your 'I heart WP' on your sleeve originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 01:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Windows Team Blog | CafePress | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Georgi, who is risking his life, his wallet and his sanity to buy the most hated of all consumer electronics: a printer. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I'm looking into buying a new four-in-one for my company. I'd love an internet connected printer that can scan directly to a mac from the menu, be able to email faxes it receives without printing them to save on paper and if it could support mobile devices, that'd be fantastic. I had my eyes on a couple of Epson and HP models but I'm not sure what to buy in terms of longer lifespan, cartridge price and software support. My budget's around $125. Thank you!" Your humble narrator can tell you for sure that HP's Photosmart 5514 isn't the way to go -- we're waiting on our third replacement unit in as many weeks. Each time a new reconditioned model arrives at our door, we plug it in only to find that it's as broken as the one we bought new. Anyway, let's turn the question over to our audience, who may know of a printer that's reliable, cheap and not a figment of our collective imagination. Over to you. Ask Engadget: best four-in-one printer, scanner, copier and fax? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 22:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  You pretty much can't say (or read) AiAiAi's name without feeling happy and performing a dancey hand gesture -- or maybe that's just us? It's fair to say we're fans of their work. So when we heard the Danish firm had released some new TMA-1 "Studio" cans, our ears perked up. Where as the original TMA-1s were all about the DJ, the new pair are for... well, the studio. So what's different? Mainly that 40mm titanium driver, which has been tickled to make it more transparent, and better for referencing. Those cushions now go fully over-ear for comfort and isolation, along with some more padding around the headband. You can grab them with or without a mic -- we assume for Skyping on the road, not singing a capella -- priced at $249 and $269 respectively and up for pre-order now. Continue reading AiAiAi takes its TMA-1 headphones out from the DJ box, into the Studio (video) AiAiAi takes its TMA-1 headphones out from the DJ box, into the Studio (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 20:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  While feverishly revamping Flash with the all-new Next version -- to keep HTML5 from killing it -- Adobe is still plugging the current incarnation with smaller updates. To that end, Flash 11.3 just popped out of beta, which sees the company add a few notable goodies for the beleaguered plugin. On top of filling seven critical security holes, Adobe added a background updating feature for Mac OS X and signed the code in preparation for compatibility with Mountain Lion. That way it'll align it with the upcoming Gatekeeper feature in the next OS X release, though you'll have to dial its max security down one notch to get it. Lastly, sandboxing -- already in Chrome -- has been tacked on to Firefox as well, slowing hackers by isolating the plugin from critical system processes. All that fresh duct tape and polyfill should keep Flash rattling along -- until Adobe can pull the gleaming Next platform out of the hangar. Meanwhile, click the source for the download links. Adobe Flash 11.3 checks in with security fixes, OS X silent updater and Firefox sandbox in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink ComputerWorld | Adobe Blogs | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  By and large Sony's wrist-born Android info center, the SmartWatch, has given enough utility to end up on a few of our wrists. Connecting to any Android 2.1 or higher smartphone via Bluetooth, the device has a capacitive screen for input and acts as a notifier for calls, messages or social networks. With a new SDK under its belt, it also supports 60 apps so far including an open-source music player and eight new games. Now you can grab one for $149.97 at Verizon Wireless' online or brick and mortar stores, along with accessories for it like extra straps and chargers. So if you've been looking for a way to stay on top of your social life at a glance, find your phone when it gets lost -- or even just check the time, believe it or not -- hit the source link below for more info. Sony SmartWatch and accessories pop up at Verizon Wireless originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Verizon Wireless Shop | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  News barely just hit the airwaves about Google snapping up social platform Meebo, and already it's being dismantled. As from Monday (June 11th,) Meebo Messenger, Sharing on Meebo, MeeboMe and all the mobile apps will be shutting down. In the meantime you'll still be able to download chat logs, sharing history and so on, but you'll need to hop on quick, before the final curtain. Meebo does confirm, however, that its Bar product will continue to be available, and receive support, for the at least the coming months. PSA: Some Meebo services shutting down starting next week originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 15:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Meebo | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If you've got a smartphone, it's increasingly likely that you're also carrying a tablet as a sidearm. ComScore understands that 23.6 percent of American smartphone owners also have an iPad, Kindle Fire or some other large touchscreen slab as of April. That's only 16.5 percent of all cellphone owners in the land, but that's a huge jump from 9.7 percent of smartphone owners (4.7 percent of cellphone owners) just one year earlier. And if you do own a slate, odds are that you're watching your fair share of movies and cat videos. More than half of tablet users, 53 percent, fire up the likes of Netflix or YouTube at least once a month, with almost a tenth (9.5 percent) tuning in daily. Tablet lovers are unsurprisingly three times more likely to watch than their smartphone counterparts, suggesting that it's just a short hop from buying a tablet to catching up on Daily Show episodes. ComScore: Nearly a quarter of US smartphone owners have tablets, love their video originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | ComScore | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It was only a couple of months ago that we first crossed paths with Sony's Xperia Neo L, and now the Ice Cream Sandwich handset is back with a vengeance -- at least in terms of exposure. As you may know, details were revealed in abundance (read: 1GHz Snapdragon S2 CPU, 512MB of RAM) during our first MT25i encounter, but thanks to Taiwanese site ePrice, we're able to gander at the device posing in an array of different angles and leaving very little to the imagination. For now, pricing still remains a mystery, though we do know Sony's 4-inch (854 x 480) Neo L is expected to hit Chinese shelves later this month. Until then, anyone intrigued can jump past the break to check out a different look, or hit the source link for the full set of snaps. Continue reading China-bound Sony Xperia Neo L with ICS gets handled, holds nothing back China-bound Sony Xperia Neo L with ICS gets handled, holds nothing back originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Android Central | ePrice | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  The Electronics Entertainment Expo is no place for the easily distracted, every inch of convention center carpet devoted to capturing the attentions of calloused video game journalists. In spite of the customary flash however, it's hard to come away from this year's festivals without a creeping sense of disappointment, that for all the showmanship, we didn't actually see all that much at E3 2012 -- an in-between year that seemed lackluster even by those standards. It's diminishing to break such a show up into clearly delineated binaries like "winners" and "losers" certainly, but if impact can be measured by lasting buzz, Epic's certainly sitting pretty at the close of the event. It's telling, really, that Unreal Engine 4 generated some of the most excitement around the show. In a year when Sony and Microsoft are no doubt focused on churning out next generation consoles, one of the show's highlights came in the form of a gaming engine -- a backend on which the next generation titles will be built. Continue reading E3 2012: the year of the lackluster blockbuster E3 2012: the year of the lackluster blockbuster originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Well, well, the warrior from Mars seems to have stirred some problems over in the US of A. According to the LA Times, Disney isn't exactly happy with Netflix and Redbox, mainly because they're both offering the hot-off-the-press John Carter DVD ahead of that 28-day rental window -- granted, the parties never agreed to a deal in the first place, and thus it shouldn't cause any legal troubles. The conundrum started after Walt's movie studio couldn't close a pact with Netflix and Redbox that'd see them offer new rentals after the aforementioned time frame. This eventually lead to the services buying discs off of retailers like Walmart and Target for more than twice as much as they would from the studio, but allowing them to have it up for grabs on release date. Chances are this saga won't end here, though, so we'll keep you in the loop if this takes a turn for the worse. Disney troubled over early offering of John Carter DVD by Netflix and Redbox originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Los Angeles Times | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It certainly wouldn't come as much of a surprise that Microsoft would finally bring Hotmail into the Metro fold, but until now we haven't had much evidence that such a change was actually in the works. If a set of leaked screenshots obtained by WinFuture are any indication, however, it looks like the nearly sixteen-year-old email service could soon be getting one of its biggest redesigns to date. As you'd expect, it all looks very Metro, but also very unfinished, with a number of features reportedly still missing or not working properly. Of course, there's no indication when or if it'll actually roll out to the millions of Hotmail users (though the Windows 8 launch would provide a convenient fit), but there's plenty more screenshots where this one came from at the source link below. Metro-style Hotmail turns up in leaked screenshots originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 07:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge | WinFuture | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Apple has already provided a few clues as to what it's going to put on the plate for developers at WWDC. One change that's unlikely to be touted at the keynote, or even the entire conference, could prove to be the most important for app writers: an alternative to the UDID (Unique Device Identifier) that Apple started phasing out a year ago. If Wall Street Journal tipsters are right, the hardware-specific ID will be replaced with tagging independent of any one iPad or iPhone, such as a number sequence. The system as it's teased would let developers track user behavior and improve their apps without spooking users worried that Apple, or someone else, might snoop over their shoulders by linking a UDID to the owner. It sure sounds like a remedy to mounting privacy concerns to us, although an unveiling supposedly due within the "coming weeks" raises the possibility that the new ID won't show its face until after the programming hordes have already left San Francisco. Apple alternative to UDID may come soon, track app use without pesky privacy issues originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 06:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | WSJ | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We've already run down Olympic broadcast plans in the US and UK, and now Japanese broadcaster NHK has unveiled some information. Similar to the others there is not only the TV production including data about ongoing competition, but also an online component complete with live video access on mobile devices, but also support for the acTVila video on-demand portal. The other notable information is that it's locked down locations and details for those trial Super Hi-Vision broadcasts, listing four spots where people can get their eyes on some sweet 8K UHDTV action. While most of them will be displayed by projectors, including a 520-inch screen in Shibuya, while Akihabara's Studio Park will feature a 360-inch LCD. The details for UK and US are a bit more vague, but if we have to track where in Washington D.C. NBC is letting the 33MP resolution video and 22.2ch sound out for a trial just by its scent, then that's what we'll have to do. NHK lays out Olympic broadcast plans, Super Hi-Vision test viewing locations in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 04:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Impress | NHK (PDF) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
