|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It's been a few months since we last heard about the legal kerfuffle between Sky and pub owner Karen Murphy. In case you've been out of the loop, it all started when the UK broadcasting giant went after Murphy for using what was deemed to be an illegal method for screening FA Premier League matches at her, or any, bar. The Greece Nova decoder, which is considered a legal bit in the privacy of your own home, was helping Murphy bypass Sky's £480 ($740) required monthly fees for bar owners and saving her over £350 ($555) in the process. Now, over $260,000 in legal fees later, Mrs. Murphy's conviction has been overturned by the relentless High Court. The ruling allows her to keep using the troubled Greek gadget to screen any EPL game without facing any troubles -- except the occasional drunken fracas. So, now you know where to go the next time you're in Portsmouth and want to catch a good ol' footy match. Pub owner Karen Murphy wins appeal in TV-decoder battle against Sky originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  The Telegraph | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Believe it or not, pinball (that most beloved of nerd pastimes) hasn't always looked this way -- a familiar field of bumpers with a pair of forward facing flippers at the bottom. That particular design originated with the 1948 title Triple Action, the work of Steve Kordek who died this week at the age of 100. Kordek is credited with a number of innovations to the analog arcade games, including multi-ball mode and drop targets. All told, the pioneer designed well over 100 different machines for Genco, Bally and Williams -- some of the biggest names in the pinball pantheon -- over the course of his roughly 60 year career. So, it is with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to a man that provided us with hours of entertainment and cost us plenty of quarters. Pinball pioneer Steve Kordek dies at 100 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Time | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Canadians may still have to wait a bit longer for some official word of the Lumia 900's possible debut in the country (the latest rumors suggest it may be heading to Rogers), but there's now at least a firm date for the launch of its slightly smaller counterpart. Telus confirmed today that the Nokia Lumia 800 will be available on March 2nd (in your choice of black, cyan or magenta), although it's unfortunately still not providing a price. As you may recall, Nokia's other new Windows Phone, the Lumia 710, made its Canadian debut on Rogers earlier this month, where it can be had for as little as $50 on-contract or just over $250 off-contract. Telus confirms March 2nd launch for Nokia Lumia 800 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  MobileSyrup | Telus | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Warner Bros. has busted out an iOS flavored compilation of Midway's classic arcade games. For 99 cents you can re-live the experience of pumping coin after coin in the cabinets of your childhood. The app comes with emulated versions of Spy Hunter, Rampage, Joust, Root Beer Tapper, Defender, Arch Rivals, Air Hockey, Arcade Basketball, Pool and Roll Ball. Once you've finished reacquiring your square-eyes from all that gaming action, two expansions are available as an in-app purchase. One includes NARC, Total Carnage and APB, whilst the other packs both Gauntlet games and Wizard of War. All the company needs to do now is make sure it works in perfect harmony with the iCade and we may never leave the house again. Continue reading MIdway Arcade brings Joust, Defender, Spy Hunter to iOS without the associated coin-loss MIdway Arcade brings Joust, Defender, Spy Hunter to iOS without the associated coin-loss originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Joystiq | iTunes | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | We know how much you love tweaking that Android handset, so we figured we'd let you know about a fresh 4.0-friendly UI customizer. The Nova Launcher, which has dubbed itself "everyone's favorite Ice Cream Sandwich launcher," just hit the Android Market in free and paid flavors. Those looking to take the freeloadin' road will get tidbits like a customizable homescreen grid, scrolling effects (pictured above), as well as custom folders and icons. If you do, however, decide to unleash the four bucks for premium status, you'll get extra features, including personalized gestures and dock "swipe-actions." Tickle your fancy enough to take it for a spin on that shiny new G-Nex? Both variants are up for grabs from the source links below. Nova Launcher hits Android Market, custom grid and scrolling effects in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Android Central | Android Market (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After a short, two day stint on Sony's next generation portable, Facebook's Vita app has been pulled from the PSN store. According to a post on the official PlayStation Forum, users were encountering an error code while trying to log into the popular social network, forcing them to close the application. Community team leader PadPoet says the error is a "Facebook specific issue (on their side)," and that the two outfits are working on a solution. "We will announce further details when ready," a Sony rep told Joystiq. Hopefully the app will make a triumphant return shortly, though it's absence doesn't make cripple the handheld's social aspiration's completely -- after all, there's always Twitter. PlayStation Vita Facebook app pulled for repairs, Sony blames house of Zukerberg originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Joystiq | PlayStation Forum | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Well, well, it looks like AT&T wasn't the only one looking to acquire a competitor in the wireless business last year. According to CNBC's David Faber, the Now Network was knee-deep in negotiations to acquire MetroPCS for $8 billion dollars before its board nixed the deal. Apparently, Sprint had been trying to make the merger happen for months and the coupling was even endorsed by CEO Dan Hesse, but for reasons unknown the board shot it down. We're still digging for details, so stay tuned for more as we have it. Sprint almost bought MetroPCS for $8 billion, Hesse said yes, but the board said no originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge | David Faber (Twitter), (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Without hesitation, February always seems to be the most hectic time of the year for the mobile industry, thanks primarily to the annual Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. The show has long been considered the proper venue for phone and tablet vendors to show off their latest and greatest innovations. Naturally, the internet is been set ablaze with plenty of rumors and even a few official product announcements from companies hoping to benefit from some solid pre-show buzz.
In this guide we'll take you on a tour and walk through the hardware we already know will be shown off at MWC, as well as what we should likely expect to see and the things we'd really love to hear more about but probably won't. Join us after the break, won't you? Continue reading Mobile World Congress 2012 preview: what will we see? Mobile World Congress 2012 preview: what will we see? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have a special guest: tech journalist and co-founder of Netbooknews, Nicole Scott.
Snow Day set it all off. Seventh grade, and already I knew. In Canada everything shuts down when the snow is deep, especially school. But I was determined to go. They had a better computer than we had at home. I was going to get my allotted half hour, no matter what. I made my poor parents drive me to school anyway, and after all that, we were promptly sent away. And so my disastrous love affair with technology began. Continue reading Growing up Geek: Nicole Scott Growing up Geek: Nicole Scott originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Officially branded Galaxy Nexus accessories have been a dream of ours for a while. So imagine our surprise, caution and then surprise again when the landscape dock for the ICS super-phone arrived on these shores. Cradling the device horizontally, it'll let you charge the phone via the side-mounted pogo pins, so you can continue to watch that movie when low on power. It's available right now for $90 at our source link, we'd advise not to delay, otherwise Samsung might change its mind and take our toys away. Galaxy Nexus landscape dock comes to the US originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Droid-Life | Samsung | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Canonical's announcement of Ubuntu for Android kicked up quite a stir, but it also left us with a few unknowns. The idea is that your phone becomes a mobile PC, switching from Android into full desktop Ubuntu mode when you dock it to a bigger display, keyboard and mouse. But just how well does it perform? When is it coming? How is it coming? And will tinkerers be able to install it for themselves? Canonical let us into its London office today to try out the software and pepper one of its engineers with questions. First, the good news: Ubuntu for Android is everything it's been claimed to be. It's a functional desktop OS that sits alongside Android, shares the same kernel and has full read / write access to everything on your phone (the connectivity hardware itself plus contacts, emails, videos, apps and pretty much everything else.). It's also ready for ARM-compatible Ubuntu apps, potentially expanding the range of things your phone can do.
The bad news? It needs to be faster -- a lot faster. The prototype we saw was running on a TI OMAP 4430-powered Motorola Atrix 2 that had primarily been chosen for its ready-made docking accessory. The software hadn't been customized for that handset and neither Motorola nor TI have so far been involved in the project. Despite this, some tasks ran surprisingly well, like watching a video or adjusting a photo. However, surfing on the Chromium desktop browser showed way too much hanging and it was also clear that multi-tasking would be a serious burden. According to Canonical, better speeds will come when manufacturers tailor the software to their newest handsets and offer it pre-installed. The company is doing everything it can to make that happen -- meeting with big players at MWC next week and trying to persuade them that its not too late to offer Ubuntu on models scheduled for launch this year. We asked if Canonical would make the OS available to us ordinary folk sooner than that, so we can play with it and give our feedback, but that just isn't part of the company's game plan right now -- everything hinges on manufacturers seeing the 'differentiation' value and climbing aboard. To tide you over in the meantime, click past the break for a hands-on video. Continue reading Ubuntu for Android: more details and prototype hands-on (video) Ubuntu for Android: more details and prototype hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Google slipped a bit of an upgrade into the Android Market today. The mobile version of Chrome received a seemingly minor version bump and, much to our chagrin, left no changelog behind for us to peruse. Most of the tweaks are under the hood and, in our unscientific testing, pages appeared to load much faster and the interface was more responsive. Our immediate impressions were backed up by benchmarks -- the updated version of Chrome scored a 1,846.8 on SunSpider. The most welcome addition, though, was the ability to recognize links associated with applications. For example, the initial release never offered us the opportunity to open search results in the Google Maps app, it went straight to the mobile site. That quirk hasn't been fixed completely, as YouTube vids still stream inline with no immediately apparent option to launch them in the app. Still, it's nice to see Google improving integration with the OS and working towards making Chrome an acceptable replacement for the default browser. Chrome for Android updates: recognizes app links, boosts speed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Across the globe today, Samsung is bringing a number of pushes to broaden NFC adoption. On the island of Japan, the company's sealed a partnership with FeliCa Networks to implement its NFC-Secure Application Module chips in its mobile devices. Notably, the solution is ensures compatibility between Japan's long established Osaifu-Keitai contactless payment services and the newer breed of NFC Types A and B which normally don't play nice together. The chips are touted has having "advanced security" to keep your funds in check, and are expect to hit "commercial deployment" set for 2013. Flying over to London, Samsung and Visa have unveiled the official NFC payment app for the 2012 Olympics, in their continued preparation for the event. Despite the unveil, the application (based on Visa's PayWave) will officially debut for display at Mobile World Congress next week. This comes nearly ten months after the duo announced their plans to further establish NFC-based payment options for London and the event itself. Hit up the two press releases after the break for the full details on the announcements. Continue reading Samsung partners with FeliCa for Japanese NFC solutions, unveils 2012 Olympics' mobile payment app with Visa Samsung partners with FeliCa for Japanese NFC solutions, unveils 2012 Olympics' mobile payment app with Visa originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  You know the drill, you're browsing an article about volcanos on your phone and want to know more about Eyjafjallajokull. You've got two options, commit that bad-boy to memory, or fiddle with copy and paste. Well, Google not only feels your pain, but has some medicine for it too -- if a patent filing is anything to go by. The application describes a two-part continuous gesture for easier searching on touchscreens. Imagine drawing a "g" with your finger, then circling the text or image you want to search in one motion, and you'll get the basic drift. It's also indicated that different letters could be drawn to search different sites, "w" for Wikipedia, "y" for Yahoo and so on. The patent also includes methods to search for multiple words from the same text, or even words and images. Certainly it's not too much of a stretch to imagine this becoming a standard part of Android, but, as always, we don't know for sure. That said, chances are we'll still be typing out our Icelandic friend's name by the time we do find out. Google's 'continuous gesture' patent application runs circles around copy and paste originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Patently Apple | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  The Engadget Show has just hit the big 3-0, and to celebrate, we're stretching out our legs in a more spacious locale. Yep, we're hitting the Times Center this month, but don't worry, we've got plenty of show to fill up the space. We'll be kicking things off by checking out February's hottest gadgets, including the Droid 4, AT&T's Galaxy Note, the PlayStation Vita and Apple's newly announced OS X Mountain Lion. Next up, Brian takes a trip to Toy Fair in NYC and comes back with a table full of some of the coolest products of the show -- helicopter flying and water pellet gunfire ensue. Then we head to Asbury Park, NJ to check out the Silverball Museum, for some Springsteen-worshiping pinball action, and Michael Gorman visits the Googleplex in Mountain View, to get to the bottom of Google Translate. We cap the show off with a performance and conversation with DJ Spooky, who tells us all about his iPad app and his latest project, The Book of Ice. Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater Special guests: DJ Spooky, Josh Estelle Producer: Guy Streit Director: Michelle Stahl Executive Producers: Joshua Fruhlinger, Brian Heater and Michael Rubens Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 030 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 030 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 030 (Small) Subscribe to the Show: [ iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (MP4). [ Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (MP4). [ RSS MP4] Add the Engadget Show feed (MP4) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. [ HD RSS] Get the Engadget Show delivered automatically in HD. [ iPad RSS] Get the Engadget Show in iPad-friendly adaptive format. The Engadget Show 30: DJ Spooky, Google, Toy Fair and a pinball museum originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Acer's CloudMobile has already broken cover once. Now it's been manhandled in the flesh by members of the media. Sadly, we weren't on hand at Fashion Week in Milan to give it the once over ourselves (we'll have to wait for MWC for that), but the folks at Notebook Italia were. It looks like the 4.3-inch display is, in fact, of the 1280 x 720 variety, and the processor tasked with pushing all those pixels is a dual-core 1.5GHz part. Underneath that award-winning shell is also Dolby Mobile sound, NFC and Ice Cream Sandwich. Interestingly, reports are that the handset is running the unannounced Android 4.1, but we haven't been able to confirm that just yet. Also not quite ready for prime time? It's namesake AcerCloud platform, but the company still has a few more months to work that one out before the anticipated Q3 release. Check out the video after the break and hit up the source link for a few more photos. Continue reading Acer's CloudMobile gets manhandled, sexy shell may hide Android secrets (video) Acer's CloudMobile gets manhandled, sexy shell may hide Android secrets (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Notebook Italia (translated) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Yesterday, we announced your selections for the 2011 Engadget Awards, and now we're back with our picks. Editors' Choice awardees are designated for each of the same 15 categories that you voted in earlier this month, but these results represent our own opinions, and are not influenced by your nominations. Naturally, there's some overlap here and there, but there are plenty of newcomers as well. As you can see in the teaser just below, we've included a brief summary for each product to give you an idea of what motivated our decisions, which you'll find just beside the rest of our favorite products once you click past the break.
Also, be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win an unlocked Galaxy Nexus -- courtesy of the folks at Negri Electronics. All the rules for entering await beyond the list of winners on the other side of the break  Smartphone of the Year The Galaxy Nexus has a gorgeous 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display, excellent battery life and it's a top performer through and through. Oh, and it ships with Ice Cream Sandwich. We'll take two. Continue reading The winners of the 2011 Engadget Awards -- Editors' Choice (and enter to win an unlocked Galaxy Nexus!) The winners of the 2011 Engadget Awards -- Editors' Choice (and enter to win an unlocked Galaxy Nexus!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It was just under four years ago that Sprint and Clearwire brought together an impressive group of companies as part of a multi-billion dollar partnership to back the WiMAX service provider, but it's safe to say that things haven't quite worked out as planned in the years since. While Clearwire is of course still up and running, its WiMAX-based network has faced an uphill battle against other carriers' LTE-based networks, which even Sprint and Clearwire itself have been switching to. Now one of those partners, Google, has decided to offload its stake in Clearwire at a steep loss. According to an SEC filing, Google will be selling off its shares at a price of $1.60 each, or just over $47 million in all -- that's compared to the $500 million it spent to invest in the company. Not surprisingly, that has caused Clearwire's shared to take a tumble. As of this writing, shares in the Washington-based company were down almost six percent. Google plans to sell off stake in Clearwire at a steep loss originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge | SEC | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Looks like the corporate bromance between Microsoft and Nokia is stronger than ever. The Finnish handset maker has announced a suite of MS applications that is making its way to select Symbian handsets right this very moment. Users rocking a Belle device are being given access to a handful of apps from Redmond, which will include: OneNote, Document Connection, Lync and PowerPoint Broadcast. A second wave of Office-centric wares, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, will be made available at an undisclosed date in the not-to-distant future. Nokia E7, C7, C6-01, X7, Oro, 700, 701 and 603 owners should see the goodies appear in Symbian's software update application; the phone maker has promised to add support for the N8, E6 and 500 "soon." For more information on the Microsoft software infiltration, check the press release after the break. Continue reading Nokia Belle earns corporate street-cred with Microsoft Office apps Nokia Belle earns corporate street-cred with Microsoft Office apps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | While we can't really say that we're surprised, Nokia has snagged the top spot for Windows Phone devices. Strategy Analytics reports that the Finnish smartphone maker now sits atop the global charts for the Microsoft mobile OS after being in the game for just one quarter. Nokia overtook HTC and Samsung to claim a 33% market share with 0.9 million out of the 2.7 million units shipped in Q4. Aided by the Lumia family's expansion to several new territories and the 36% growth of the platform overall for the quarter, the company has taken "an encouraging baby step forward." If you're itching for more details, hit up the source link below. Nokia is the largest Windows Phone maker in the world, after one quarter originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Strategy Analytics | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | You won't see our nominees flashing smiles and diamonds on a step and repeat, but the 2011 Engadget Awards are here and we've got all the winners in this week's issue of Distro. Alongside these champions of consumer electronics, we'll be scrutinizing Pantech's waterproof tablet, the Element, and its budget-friendly LTE handset, the Burst, as well as Sony's Walkman Z. We'll also give Apple's latest OS refresh a thorough once over in our in-depth preview of OS X Mountain Lion. In addition, the father of Nerdcore, MC Frontalot, answers our burning questions, we bring you our latest Recommended Reading and Box Brown takes Cupertino's big cats to task for Last Word. So, if you've been wondering who (or what) played second fiddle to Honda's ASIMO for robot of the year, there's only one way to find out: get to downloading!
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Follow Distro on Twitter Roll out the red carpet -- Distro Issue 29 presents the Engadget Awards originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | iTunes, Android Market | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Today's driving laws are awash with restrictions designed to help cut down on distracted driving -- no texting, no TV, no phone calls and no fun. The good 'ol car stereo has managed to stay off the ban list, but rest easy, cautious driver, if it were to be outlawed, the folks at Cirque could build one that wouldn't respond to the driver's commands. The outfit's latest sensor tech can distinguish the user's right hand from their left, making it possible for future vehicle controls to ignore input from the driver. Cirque says the "proximity sensing with grip detection" technology will allow devices to react contextually to how they are used, creating more customized interactions for future automobiles, medical terminals and other consoles. Fine by us, as long as they don't ban our beats. Peep the video up top for a quick demo, or read on for the outfit's official press release. Continue reading Cirque's proximity and grip sensor knows your left from your right, won't let you turn up your car stereo Cirque's proximity and grip sensor knows your left from your right, won't let you turn up your car stereo originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Cirque | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In addition to the ICS phone trio, ViewSonic's also just announced three new tablets ahead of the MWC party. Pictured on the left is the 7-inch "super light, super slim" ViewPad G70 -- to be sold alongside the E70 -- featuring Android Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, microSD expansion, a two-megapixel imager and a 0.3-megpixel front-facing camera, along with various ports including mini HDMI, micro-USB and mini-USB. Oddly enough, ViewSonic hasn't confirmed the G70's processor specs, but we'll let you guys know when we do.
Another ICS tablet in this lineup is the 9.7-inch ViewPad E100. While we're still waiting for its press shots, we're told that this slate packs a 1,024 x 768 IPS display, a 1GHz chip, and the usual selection of connectivity like HDMI, USB and microSD. All of this comes in a package weighing 620g and at 9.1mm thick.
Last but not least, we have the Windows 7-powered ViewPad P100 pictured on the right, featuring a 10-inch 1,280 × 800 IPS display, a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom N2600 and a camera on both the front and the back. No deets on pricing and availability just yet, so stay tuned as we scan the MWC show floor next week.
ViewSonic adds ViewPad G70, E100 and P100 to its tablet collection originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Engadget Chinese | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | When you're ready, here's yet another load of pre-MWC goodness. This year ViewSonic decided that merely slapping Ice Cream Sandwich on its new ViewPhones isn't good enough, so instead, the company's just-announced 4s, 4e and 5e also come with an extra SIM slot. Starting from the left we have the ViewPhone 4s featuring an impressive 3.5-inch 960 x 640 Super Clear IPS LCD (which, from the sounds of it, should be very similar to Apple's Retina Display from LG), along with a five-megapixel camera, a VGA front-facing imager and a 1GHz chip. Pictured in the middle is a similar-looking ViewPhone 4e but packing a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 LCD, a slower processor at 650MHz only, a three-megapixel camera and one extra touch button than its sibling; all of this made with budget in mind, obviously, though somehow ViewSonic's very proud of its 10.3mm thickness.
If 3.5-inch displays aren't your cup of tea then you'll have to jump straight to the 5-inch ViewPhone 5e, but so far all we've been told is its 800 × 480 screen resolution. Could there be more in this dual-SIM beast? Stay tuned to our MWC coverage and you'll know as soon as we do.
ViewSonic goes dual-SIM with ViewPhone 4s, 4e and 5e, all packing Android Ice Cream Sandwich originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Engadget Chinese | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | If we were Tim Cook, we wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of wasting some of that $100 billion on something extravagant, like a crystal iPhone dock or private theme park. Instead the boys in Cupertino remain dogged in quietly acquiring start-ups and hoping no-one notices. Chomp is the latest technology company whose staff will find themselves with a pass for the Infinite Loop car park. It's an app discovery business with technology reportedly far in advance of the App Store's current keyword-based search and given that there are 500,000 apps, it's unsurprising that people aren't finding what they need. You may recall that Chomp powered Verizon's Android searches too, a situation we don't expect to last very long as soon as it's time to renegotiate that contract. The companies will be mixing their sauces together in the hope of making some good goulash, although as usual, we don't expect to get a taste for a while. Apple chomps Chomp to improve App Store search originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink TechCrunch | All Things D | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not getting the kind of attention you feel a DJ deserves? Then maybe it's because your decks are Plain Janes of spinning black nothingness when they could be so much more. You need projectors up there on the ceiling, creating light shows mapped to the rotation and beat of your records and simultaneously overlaying your software -- so you won't have to keep staring subserviently at a laptop. The next step? Using Wii controllers and motion capture for even stranger effects, plus whatever else your imagination conjures after seeing the video below. Soon this technology will be everywhere, from hospital radio DJs right down to that little pretender who does discos on the pier, so get in there quick to beat the curve. Continue reading If God is a DJ, these are his decks (video) If God is a DJ, these are his decks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | E.N.S. (Vimeo) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | If you're anything like us, your inner-geek revels in hearing rare system beeps while holding down obscure key combos that only occur while updating low-level firmware. While much of those theatrics have since disappeared in the modern era, those of you with 2011 iMacs, Mac Minis, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs can at least relive some of that nostalgia as you update them to their latest respective EFI firmwares. There's four versions (one for each machine, naturally), yet Apple says us they all address the same underlying problems, including improving "the reliability of booting from the network" in addition to addressing "an issue that can prevent HDCP authentication" after reboots. Finally, there's improvements pertaining to "boot device selection when a USB storage device is hot-plugged." Direct links to the respective support pages are below, or those seeking to avoid guesswork can simply go on ahead and fire up Software Update. Your call. Apple releases EFI firmware updates for 2011 Macs, crushes bugs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink TUAW | Apple (1), (2), (3), (4) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
