|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | You may have never heard of Pace, but you might have some of its hardware in your house right now. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, that satellite receiver you rely on every day might actually be made by Pace. Or, perhaps the box your cable company gave you that you just never gave much thought to. The up and coming set-top box maker has recently even had some success with the biggest cable company of them all, Comcast. The latest partnership for the company trying to overthrow both Motorola and Cisco in the cable box space? TiVo. This global partnership will ensure that TV providers that buy hardware from Pace and software from TiVo will have almost no work left to do. In other words, it'll make way for an out-of-the box TiVo-verified platform. Pace indicates this will help answer the "strong interest" from TiVo's list of service providers, but that seems a bit optimistic. Our cynical side reminds us of all the great Sling powered hardware marketed to those same providers that years later, still has not been put into use. Continue reading TiVo software coming to Pace set-top boxes TiVo software coming to Pace set-top boxes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Like any money-hungry corporation, Sprint's branching out to pursue greener (as in the color of dolla dolla bills) pastures. The Hesse-led co's just announced the creation of its New Ventures unit, an overseas- and wholesale-focused entity which is set to expand upon Android's rapidly growing user base to generate some lucrative B2B handshakes with manufacturers and foreign operators. First up on the organization's plate is the white labeled extension of the company's branded apps, now nestled under the carrier agnostic Mobile ID and Mobile Zone monikers. Those software packs will function much like they do here in the US, offering subs a pre-selected assortment of skins containing applications, ringtones and wallpapers, in addition to a centralized hub for account management. No word yet on what international partners have signed up for the licensed service, but with Mobile World Congress only a few days away, we're sure those necessary details will be forthcoming. Continue reading Sprint launches New Ventures arm, adapts ID and Zone apps for foreign markets Sprint launches New Ventures arm, adapts ID and Zone apps for foreign markets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The first one may only amount to a MiFi housed in the dash (although that does come standard), but automaker Proton and Malaysian carrier Yes seem to have some fairly grand designs on 4G-connected cars. In addition to providing a WiFi hotpot for passengers, they eventually hope to use the 4G connectivity for a range of automotive-related applications, including vehicle diagnostics, security, and other location-based services. Notably for potential buyers, Yes's 4G coverage of Malyasia is fairly widespread, encompassing over 65 percent of the country's populated areas and the full 960 kilometer stretch of the country's North-South Expressway, as well as a "large portion" of its East-Coast Expressway. While details on those promised services or any future cars remain a bit light, that first one (the P3-21A sedan) will apparently soon be available. Continue reading Proton and Yes team up to offer Malaysia's first 4G-connected car, promise more to come Proton and Yes team up to offer Malaysia's first 4G-connected car, promise more to come originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Forbes |  Proton, Yes | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Internet fraud and theft are major problems, there seems to be little doubt about that -- according to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, some 8.4 million credit card numbers are stolen every year. The question, then, is who should be addressing the issue. Genachowski this week called for "smart, practical, voluntary solutions," asking internet service providers to put more effort into helping prevent data theft, hacks and other issues, or risk having "consumers lose trust in the internet," thereby "suppress[ing] broadband adoption and online commerce and communication." The chairman asked ISPs to help avoid hijacking through more efficient traffic routes and to instate DNSSEC to help weed out fraudulent sites. FCC thinks ISPs should do a better job preventing fraud, theft originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Reuters | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sick and tired of your boring old truss? This handy little robot may well be just the solution you're looking for. It can navigate a truss structure using its 3D-printed bi-directional gear innards, unscrew a beam with its rotational mechanism and reattach it, transforming the structure into a new shape. The structure itself is specially designed for the bot, with robot lockable connectors and reflecting segments that can be picked up by its sensors to help it detect its location. The folks behind the plucky little robot are currently working a number different concepts for the project. You can see a few of them in action in the video after the break. Continue reading Robot navigates, reassembles truss structures Robot navigates, reassembles truss structures originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Creative Machines | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Once upon a less digital time, there existed the art of the mixtape: a tedious labor of love that required timing, taste and a penchant for musical progression. No longer in this iTunes-era, where personally curated song collections that once served as the background to our lives can now be automated by our dear friends in Cupertino. And, based on a patent application filed back in August of 2010, those Apple-made robo-playlists could get even smarter and slicker, with your perennially hip, millennial compadres being none the wiser. According to the claims covered, "an electronic device" (insert Mac or iOS product here) would be able to locate and interpret beats from a preceding AAC, MP3 or WMA file and crossfade them into those of the following track. In other words, it's a virtual disc jockey built into your machine; one that would supercede the currently available DJ feature. Whether or not this Sven Väth-like software will pan out in the company's favor remains to be seen. So, until that fateful day arrives, the creation of those fist-pumping, house mixes is better left to the few, the proud, the orange-skinned. Apple patent application points to DJ-like beat matching, pairs iTunes with fist pumps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | USPTO | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | We'll have to wait until this weekend to find out if Martin Scorsese's Hugo takes home any hardware from the Academy Awards, but we've got an early preview of one the Blu-ray 3D release's special features right here. Press play to hear the director explain why 3D affects the storytelling by bringing in qualities usually found in the theater to film, as well as comments from actors Christopher Lee and Sascha Baron Cohen. Scorsese explains "We see in 3D, we see in space... most of us do. Space is part of our lives. It means something. I think, for the individual person who has a vision of telling a story through images, how that person uses space -- that extra element, that extra dimension -- to tell a story is very, very important." Adapted from a book inspired by filmmaker Georges Méliès, the movie hits stores February 28th -- check out the trailer after the break. Continue reading 'Hugo' director Martin Scorsese, cast explain the advantages of shooting movies in 3D (video) 'Hugo' director Martin Scorsese, cast explain the advantages of shooting movies in 3D (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mozilla hasn't exactly been quiet about the fact that it has some big stuff to show off at Mobile World Congress. We've already gotten a peek at Boot to Gecko and it's announced it'll be joining the app market fray. But, what we haven't heard anything about just yet, is hardware. A mobile operating system and software outlet are only useful if you've got a physical platform to run it on. Now rumors are circulating that LG is in cahoots with the makers of Firefox and will be building developer hardware for for its fledgling OS. Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich has said publicly his foundation will be at MWC with "partners..." plural. Who exactly those ally companies are isn't clear, but we'd say it's safe to assume there is at least one hardware maker in the mix. And, if the sources at ExtremeTech are right, that manufacturer already has a rather busy schedule. We'll just have to wait till we land Barcelona to find out for sure. Mozilla rumored to debut LG-made Boot to Gecko device at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | @BrendanEich, ExtremeTech | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3D printers, 3D scanners and robotics are usually more than enough on their own to get us interested in something, but a team of researchers at Drexel University have played one other big trump card with their latest project -- they've thrown dinosaurs into the mix. As you can probably surmise, that project involves using a 3D scanner to create models of dinosaur bones, which are then reproduced (at a somewhat smaller scale) using a 3D printer. The researchers then hope to use those to build working robotic models that they'll use to study how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals may have moved and lived in their environments. That work will start with a dinosaur limb that they expect to have completed by the end of the year, after which they say it will take a year or two to build a complete robotic dinosaur replica. Drexel University turns to 3D scanners, printers to build robotic dinosaurs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink CNET | Drexel University | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Today TiVo announced its earnings for Q4 2011 and the full year, however the most interesting note was word of a few new boxes on the way. From the sound of things, the company will deliver a four stream transcoder similar to the one we saw demonstrated at CES (pictured above) capable of dishing out video to multiple devices (phones, tablets, etc.) within the home simultaneously. Also on the way is an IP set-top box coming to retail that sounds very much like the TiVo Preview multiroom extender, however it could include access to internet video services as well. As mentioned on Tech of the Hub, CEO Tom Rogers' statements indicate the transcoder will enable both live streaming and DirecTV Nomad-style "high speed" sideloading of recorded content for offline viewing. More concrete are its positive numbers from the partnership with Virgin Media in the UK, and progress on a plan for Pace to develop TiVo-compatible set-top boxes for cable operators here and abroad. The Comcast partnership is also apparently progressing, with VOD access in beta trials and preparing to launch "soon" in the San Francisco area. Continue reading TiVo releases Q4 results, announces transcoder and IP set-top box on the way TiVo releases Q4 results, announces transcoder and IP set-top box on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Tech of the Hub | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | If you were lucky enough to be at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, then you might have caught a glimpse of Samsung's latest sliver of mobile silicon. The as yet unnamed Exynos parts will come in dual- and quad-core configurations running at up to 1.5GHz. Perhaps the most important change though, is the switch from a 45nm manufacturing process to 32nm. That means smaller parts that draw less power, while delivering better performance. The A9 cores are paired with Sammy's own GPU, an OpenGL ES 2.0-capable chip with four pixel processors. According to the company, the new CPUs deliver a 26 percent boost in performance and up to a 50 percent increase in battery life. Of course, we'll have to wait to run our own benchmarks to confirm that lofty claim. Who knows, maybe we'll see it show up in some phones at MWC.
[Thanks, Vlad]Samsung demos new 32nm quad-core Exynos ahead of MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Unwired View | EE Times Asia | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.  Fallen out of love with sensor? Don't worry, Variable Technologies is here to help. The company's working to bring the world Node, a project aimed at helping smartphone users "explore the fun and power of sensors." The "Swiss Army knife-sized" modular device communicates with the iPhone 4S and Android devices via Bluetooth. It has a built-in accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope and can detect physical motion and space, temperature and elevation, to name but a few. It also has a game control module and eight LEDs that can double as a camera flash, with carbon monoxide and radiation detection on the way. The Node will be compatible with Arduino devices and will have an open API, firmware and source code. There's a month left to help Variable hit its lofty $50,000 goal. Click the source link for more info. Continue reading Insert Coin: Node helps your smartphone monitor pretty much everything Insert Coin: Node helps your smartphone monitor pretty much everything originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Kickstarter | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  After yesterday's clarification that Tegra 3's architecture will now be known as 4-PLUS-1, NVIDIA's got something a little meatier to share. The outfit just announced that its quad-core chips are getting LTE support, with modem makers GCT and Renesas pledging support right off the bat. In a way, it's hard to believe Tegra 3 didn't already support 4G officially, given that the chip was detailed a whole five months ago. In any case, these partnerships feel somewhat transitional, given that NVIDIA's "Project Grey" Tegra chips will get integrated, NVIDIA-made modems in 2013, though it might be an exaggeration to say these current partnerships will be moot then. In the meantime, we'd love to get our hands on some quad-core, LTE handsets, but something tells us we'll get our fill in Barcelona. NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 chips get LTE support, radio makers GCT and Renesas on board originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | NVIDIA | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | If you've spent some quality time with Google+, we're sure you've encountered Circles. You know, the feature that enables you to control who sees your G+ posts and who doesn't. Now, the folks in Mountain View have added the social network management tool to Google Voice. You can organize your contacts into groups who can actually ring your Galaxy Nexus and those who are sent straight to voicemail. Custom greetings can also be added to each Circle, should you feel the need to offer some Punch Brothers instead of the boring ol' standard ringback. Looking to take 'er for a spin? Hit the Groups & Circles tab in your Voice settings in order to customize your sets of contacts, but take note that your existing Google+ Circles are getting cozy there already. Google+ Circles heading to Google Voice, creepers heading straight to voicemail originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Google Voice Blog | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  South Korea's biggest internet provider plans to recoup high traffic network upgrades by charging YouTube and other data-hungry sites. KT will start by blocking access to some TV apps found Samsung's internet TVs, looking to strike up a payment deal where data-heavy services would possibly have to share advertising income or pay fees to the ISP. According an interview with Reuters, KT's vice president of smart network policy, Kim Taehwan said it's not just Samsung that it'll be tapping up for cash; once its system is in place, the company will be moving on to bandwidth-taxing manufacturers, "be it Apple or Google." Korea's largest ISP plans 'network fees' for datahogs like YouTube, internet TV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Reuters | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HTML5 is supposed to set the web free. Free to deliver and shape online media in any web browser. However, several of the standard's greatest champions want to be able to restrict the use of and tags through encrypted media extensions. A draft proposal has been submitted by Google, Microsoft, and Netflix to the W3C -- the curators of HTML5 -- to add encrypted media extensions to the web standard's spec. The proposed system works using a key-based content decryption system controlled by applications, thusly providing the copy protection that so many content owners desire. Naturally, the proposal specifically states that "no DRM is added to the HTML5 specification" if it's adopted, but letting apps lock up audio and video content sure sounds like digital rights management to us. However, there's already some discord amongst the W3C's members as to whether the proposal will work as promised, so its addition to HTML5 is far from assured. You can read the full proposal at the source below, and check out the more coverage links for some added perspective.<audio> and <video> tags through encrypted media extensions. A draft proposal has been submitted by Google, Microsoft, and Netflix to the W3C -- the curators of HTML5 -- to add encrypted media extensions to the web standard's spec. The proposed system works using a key-based content decryption system controlled by applications, thusly providing the copy protection that so many content owners desire. Naturally, the proposal specifically states that "no DRM is added to the HTML5 specification" if it's adopted, but letting apps lock up audio and video content sure sounds like digital rights management to us. However, there's already some dischord amongst the W3C's members as to whether the proposal will work as promised, so its addition to HTML5 is far from assured. You can read the full proposal at the source below, and check out the more coverage links for some added perspective on the proposal. Google, Microsoft and Netflix want DRM-like encryption in HTML5 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | W3C | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  The nation's fifth largest wireless provider -- MetroPCS -- has checked in with its Q4 2011 financials, and on the whole, the company looks to be doing quite well. Metro reported $1.2 billion in consolidated quarterly revenues and $362 million in earnings, an increase of 16% and 15% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. A few other positive vitals: average revenue per user (ARPU) was up $0.76, net income rose to $77 million and churn dropped 80 basis points from 4.5% in Q3 to 3.7% in Q4. Two small blemishes can be found in the net customer additions and cost per user (CPU) columns. While MetroPCS added well over 197,000 new customers in Q4, the rate at which it grew slowed dramatically -- down 34% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. The company's CPU also rose $1.17 during that same period -- which can be partially attributed to LTE network services, along with general expansion and operating costs. One other mildly unfortunate note was word that voice over LTE wouldn't be launching till the second half of the year, slightly later than we had been anticipating. Taking all that into consideration, it was still a strong quarterly showing from the value-centered wireless carrier. Continue reading MetroPCS Q4 results are in: increased revenue, slowing growth MetroPCS Q4 results are in: increased revenue, slowing growth originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world of email. Yes, email! Sure, many of you have given up on the stuff in favor of more instant means of communication, but don't worry, because that's here too! Yes, the BlackBerry PlayBook, which was released 10 months ago, is now finally able to send messages all by itself. Sure, BlackBerry Bridge is still there and more useful than ever, tying the PlayBook even closer to your work-issued smartphone, but the 7-inch slate finally feels like it can stand a little more solidly on its own two feet.
Thankfully that's not all -- this recently refreshed refreshed tablet has a few other tricks up its sleeve, most notable being the ability to run some (focus on the some) Android apps without having to resort to any messy tweaks or hacks. The experience isn't entirely clean, nor does it quite feel like the refresh the "two dot oh" moniker implies, but it is a nice step forward. Click on through to see what you get.
Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 review BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ComScore released its annual Digital Future in Focus report earlier this month, offering new findings on things like email and web use, and it's now out with its latest Mobile Future in Focus report, which provides a year-end wrap of mobile device use both in the US and around the world. Not surprisingly, that year was marked by the continued growth of the smartphone, with the adoption rate among US mobile users jumping from 27 percent in 2010 to just under 42 percent in 2011 (similar growth was found elsewhere, with it cracking the 50 percent mark in a few countries). Among those, Android proved to be the most popular platform with a 47.3 percent market share, followed by iOS at 30 percent and RIM at 16 percent (exactly half of what it was in 2010). Incidentally, Canada was the sole country where RIM retained a lead, but just barely; it accounts for 32.6 percent of the smartphone market in the country, followed closely by iOS at 31.2 percent and Android at 27.8 percent.
Breaking things down further, while Android had the largest market share among smartphones, Apple had the three biggest selling phones in the US for the year with the iPhone 4, 3GS and 4S; the BlackBerry Curve 8530 snagged the fourth spot and the HTC EVO 4G took fifth. Of course, ComScore also took a look at tablets, and found that close to 15 percent of all US mobile users owned a tablet in addition to a phone, with the iPad of course accounting for an overwhelming majority of those. Notably, it also estimates that iPads account for over half of all iOS traffic, which helped boost iOS' overall share of mobile device traffic to a whopping 90.4 percent, although it notes it expect that to decline somewhat in 2012 as devices like the Kindle Fire peck away at the iPad's dominant market share. The full report can be found at the source link below. Continue reading ComScore report finds 42 percent of US mobile users have smartphones, Android at nearly 50 percent ComScore report finds 42 percent of US mobile users have smartphones, Android at nearly 50 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | ComScore | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fancy yourself a world traveler but steadfastly refuse to pay a premium for an unlocked variant of Apple's 4S? Or perhaps it's just not up for grabs on that beloved carrier of yours. Well, a solution to all of your iPhone's freedom problems may be on the way -- and no, it doesn't involve jailbreaking. That is, if you're on iOS 5.0 or 5.0.1 and your Baseband digits are within the 1.0.11, 1.0.13, 1.0.14 boundaries. Unfortunately, those of you lingering on 04.11.08 are out of luck for now. The Gevey Ultra S, as it's so cleverly dubbed, is set to start shipping on March 3rd for $55. We've yet to come across anyone we know who's put it to the test, thus you'll be taking the dive at your own risk. Meanwhile, you can jump past the break to catch the Ultra S in some self-promoting action. Continue reading Gevey Ultra S SIM brings freedom to iPhone 4S, unlockers rejoice (video) Gevey Ultra S SIM brings freedom to iPhone 4S, unlockers rejoice (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | applenberry | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  After showing off a duo of wearable, see-through displays at CES, Lumus is back with a second optical engine -- one that could be used in any style of frames, from prescription glasses to ski goggles. Available in binocular and monocular configurations, the tiny OE-31 sensor weighs just 10 grams (.35 ounces), allowing it to accommodate a variety of form factors besides your run-of-the mill (and quite dorky-looking) 3D glasses. As always, Lumus' hook is its ability to combine head up displays, augmented reality and see-through displays, though this time around the sensor allows for a 19-degree field of view and a full-color, 640 x 360 picture. Though that's not as impressive as the 720p, 3D-capable frames on offer at CES, the company argues it should be adequate for reading text, particularly since the viewing experience will be comparable to starting at a 40-inch screen from 10 feet away. No word, of course, on where we might see these discreet head up displays turn up, though maybe, just maybe, we'll catch a demo in Barcelona. For now, we've got photos below along with a handful of demo videos after the break. Continue reading Lumus' OE-31 optical engine turns motorcycle helmets, other eyewear into wearable displays Lumus' OE-31 optical engine turns motorcycle helmets, other eyewear into wearable displays originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  The results for the 2011 Engadget Awards are in! With more than 250,000 total votes, the response this year has been tremendous -- and no, that's not just another name for the Galaxy Note, which garnered just 3.5 percent of tallies in the Smartphone category. Instead, the iPhone 4S took top prize for Smartphones, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S II as the runner up. The ASUS Zenbook was the first pick among this year's Laptops, with the Apple iMac besting the rest of 2011's Desktops. Canon and Nikon battled it out till the end, but the former eventually came out ahead, earning 17.9 percent of the Digital Camera vote for its T3i, while the Nikon D5100 represented a very respectable 17.6 percent. That's just a small sample of this year's top gadgets -- there are 15 categories in all, and we're crowning both Readers' and Editors' Choice winners for each. Jump past the break for an unabridged look at your selections for the 2011 Engadget Awards, and check back tomorrow for the Editors' Choice. And if you're wondering who came in almost-first place, you can find the runners up for each category in this week's issue of Engadget Distro. Continue reading The winners of the 2011 Engadget Awards -- Readers' Choice The winners of the 2011 Engadget Awards -- Readers' Choice originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Just what is a "mobile PC" these days? According to market research firm NPD, that category now includes both tablets and laptops -- and by that definition, Apple is unsurprisingly way ahead of its competitors. Based on its preliminary numbers, Apple shipped 23.4 million mobile PCs in the fourth quarter of 2011 (nearly 80 percent of which were iPads), which was enough to snag a market share of 26.6 percent (and keep it in the top spot for the year). In contrast, the four companies rounding out the top five relied almost entirely on laptops to fill their numbers, with HP coming in at just under a 10 percent market share, followed by Dell, Acer and Lenovo. Looking just at laptops, however, HP comes in first with a 15.5 percent market share, while Apple falls to fifth with just over eight percent. As for tablets, Apple is estimated to have a 59 percent market share for Q4, followed by Amazon at 16.7 percent (based on shipments of 5.3 million), and Samsung, ASUS and Barnes & Noble each in single digits. Additional numbers can be found in the press release after the break and at the source link below. Continue reading NPD: Apple grabs over a quarter of the mobile PC business in Q4 2011 (including iPads), HP tops with laptops NPD: Apple grabs over a quarter of the mobile PC business in Q4 2011 (including iPads), HP tops with laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | NPD DisplaySearch | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | New ways to watch TV, we're always looking for 'em. New products for you to buy, companies are always trying to make 'em. The two aspirations converge with Hauppauge's latest product, Broadway. The idea here isn't exactly novel, but with few exceptions Sling Media has been left to dominate the placeshifting category. The Broadway picks up where Sling kicked off, adding WiFi and more interestingly, shedding the need for costly clients, instead using a built-in web server to access the live video streams. Interesting idea, sure, but is it actually useful and worth the $199 it demands? We hope to reveal just that, after you click through of course. Continue reading Hauppauge Broadway review Hauppauge Broadway review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Smart ovens have long been a promise of appliance-makers, but they haven't exactly caught on with the general public just yet. Samsung's now making another push to change that, however, rolling out its new Zipel oven in Korea. In addition to some decidedly modern styling, that standout feature here is some built-in WiFi that lets the oven communicate with your Android-based smartphone, which can be used to dial the oven in just right for 160 different dishes. The oven itself is also an infrared oven, which promises more versatility than a conventional oven, and it packs a number of "smart" features into the oven itself, including the ability to display the number of calories of a particular dish. Unfortunately, there's no indication of a price just yet, or a release outside of Korea. Samsung Zipel oven takes instructions from your Android phone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge, Unwired View | Samsung | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It was only a matter of time, we suppose. After having seen the Samsung Rugby Smart poke its head out from time to time, Samsung's new rugged smartphone is officially hitting AT&T stores on March 4th. Much like the Pantech Element, the Rugby Smart will be "waterproof," meaning it can be submerged for up to 30 minutes in one meter of water. The phone itself is built to mil-spec 810F standards, so it's going to handle most extreme conditions pretty well. So let's list off the specs we've heard so far: it will launch with Android 2.3 -- shocker, we know -- as well as a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED panel, 4GB of internal storage, 1,650mAh battery and a 1.3MP front-facing shooter for video chat along with a 5MP rear facing autofocus camera with LED flash and 720p video capture. The Smart will also be 12.19mm thick (also not a surprise, given its rugged nature) and weigh 4.2 ounces. We don't know what CPU's inside yet, but we'll update as soon as we find out. To check out all the extreme details, head to the videos and press release under the break. Continue reading Samsung Rugby Smart officially coming to AT&T March 4 for $100 Samsung Rugby Smart officially coming to AT&T March 4 for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Obama is throwing his weight behind a consumer bill of rights that includes protections against online companies in particular, and aims to safeguard customer privacy. While the plan doesn't come prepackaged with a new set of laws for companies to abide by, the Commerce Department is working to develop enforceable policies with help from the concerned parties. The bedrock of the new bill of rights is that consumers should have control over the kind of data companies collect and what they do with it. Internet firms would have to be transparent about what information is gathered and how it's used. There is also a call for limitations on the use of certain personal data. As part of the push a number of major players in the field, including Google, have agreed to include a "Do Not Track" button in their browsers and to honor the system -- the latter being a tiny detail that has made implementations of the feature ineffective until now. Hit up the source links for a few more details. White House gets behind online 'bill of rights,' companies to adopt 'do not track' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Reuters, Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Well looky here. A phone bearing the alluring name of "HTC VLE_U" just cropped up on NenaMark2 with a healthy 57.50 average frame rate. More interesting than the score, however, is the reference to a Qualcomm Adreno 225 GPU, which -- assuming this is legit -- strongly implies the presence of a powerful Snapdragon S4 sitting in the Ville's engine compartment. This tallies with earlier hints of the Ville carrying a 1.5GHz dual-core processor along with a (roughly) qHD display, and it also lines up with another MSM8960 benchmark from a reference handset spotted a few weeks ago. By extension, all the Tegra 3 smoke that's been billowing out of HTC recently must come from an entirely different fire -- namely the Endeavor or One X. Either way, it's certainly nice to see HTC hotting up. HTC Ville to run on a dual-core Snapdragon S4? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink PocketNow, TmoNews | NenaMark2 | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2012 may prove to be a very good year for NEC, which has launched two smartphones and a tablet in the past month alone. Having not missed a beat, the Japanese firm has gone ahead and revealed its lineup for Mobile World Congress a full week ahead of the show in Barcelona. Rather than actual shipping models, you can think of each of these as prototypes for the carriers, where the only fixed specification is the screen size. Most interesting among the bunch is without a doubt the "Best Cloud UX Device," which offers two 4.3-inch displays that open and close like a book -- a hell of a lot better than Kyocera's attempt, if you ask us. Also among the mix will be a 5-inch "Large Screen in One Hand" model, along with another 4.3-inch "Stylish" unit. Unlike previous products, the latest trio fully embrace the design philosophy of Ice Cream Sandwich and eschew the dedicated navigation buttons from bygone days. NEC jumps the gun, debuts its MWC smartphone lineup ahead of Barcelona originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge | Impress Watch (translated), Gadget Haishin (translated) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Today, AT&T revealed that it's working on a new home monitoring and automation platform known as Digital Life. While it'll be marketed toward service providers, the IP-based system will allow business and residential users alike to remotely monitor cameras, lighting, thermostats, motion detectors, window and door sensors, along with a litany of other devices. It'll be demonstrated next week in Barcelona as part of the GSM Association's Connected Home experience. As you'd expect, we'll be there to bring you a peek of AT&T's handiwork.
The company has also announced that, later this year, customers will find eco-rating labels on AT&T-branded mobile devices. With this initiative, shoppers may evaluate criteria such as a product's energy efficiency, the percentage of recycled materials used in manufacture, and the inclusion of metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. These factors and more will be presented as a composite score that evaluates the sustainability attributes of each device -- think of it as an easy way to get your green in gear. You'll find the PR for both announcements after the break. Continue reading AT&T announces home automation platform, eco-ratings for consumer devices AT&T announces home automation platform, eco-ratings for consumer devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Esperanto isn't just something Microsoft uses to tease Google for abandoning video codecs, it's a legitimate, manufactured language. Created in the late 1800's by Dr. Ludwig L. Zamenhof, Esperanto was designed to be an easy to learn language that would help folks from all over the world understand each other. Seeing as how Google Translate shares similar goals, the Mountain View firm felt Zamenhof's homemade tongue would be the perfect fit for its machine translation service. Despite a rather small sample size of pre-existing translated material to feed the Google language machine, the firm says Google Translate handled Esperanto surprisingly well -- partially crediting the language's learner friendly construction for the service's success. Sure, it may not be the most useful addition Google Translate's ever seen, but hey, it gets us one step closer to watching cult classics like Incubus without the subtitles. What's that, you haven't heard of William Shatner's pre-Star Trek, all Esperanto romp? Crack open your machine translator and head past the break, then. Continue reading Google adds Esperanto as its 64th machine translatable language Google adds Esperanto as its 64th machine translatable language originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink TheNextWeb | Google Translate Blog | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Have you been shoring up funds since you first heard about the Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 12-65 last month? We sure hope so. The company has announced that its 65-inch full HD and 3D compatible plasma TV will hit showrooms in the Canada, Mexico and the US in a matter of days. Featuring an integrated center speaker and a NeoPDP panel, the BeoVision display will carry a hefty price tag of $11,350. If money really is no object, you can spring for the $19,749 package that includes the B&O's BeoSystem 3 'stage manager' for your living room. The 12-65 arrives stateside in March, so you've got a short time to finish getting your finances in order. But for now, hit the eyes-on gallery below for another look before committing. Continue reading Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 12-65 hits North America in March for $11,350 Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 12-65 hits North America in March for $11,350 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
