|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If you're a smartphone fan (of course you are, if you're not then you're almost certainly in the wrong place, can we ask how you even got here?) then you've almost certainly been bitten by the bug of a battery that just doesn't last long enough, the normal side effect of a data hungry lifestyle. HTC says it feels your pain however, and thinks it's done quite a bit to lick the issue with its latest flagship phone, the HTC One X. In reports consistent with our experience with the dual-core AT&T iteration, a blog post on the company's site notes several others that have tested it out and come away impressed with the battery life it shows. While our tests with the quad-core global version left something to be desired HTC says the One bests the old Sensation by as much as 147 percent when it comes to talk time, and 39 percent in video playback, while Anandtech had glowing recommendations for both versions. So, are you as impressed with HTC's engineering, or are you still pining for a larger RAZR Maxx-style battery bump? HTC pats itself on the back for the One X's battery life, has plenty of help originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 01:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  HTC | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If you're still in the quest for that perfect Mother's Day gift, E Fun believes you should have to look no further than its recently announced Next 7S tablet. The outfit isn't a newcomer to budget-friendly territory, and it's keeping the trend rolling by pricing its latest 7-inch slate at a mere $129.99. That small amount of cash will get you an 800 x 480 display, a 1GHz single-core processor, 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD) and, more importantly, a serving of Android four-dot-oh (4.0.3 to be exact). Unfortunately, the Next 7S -- which itself might be some rebadged hardware -- isn't offering support for Google Play at the moment, thus you're stuck with either Barnes & Noble's Nook shop or the lesser-known GetJar App Store. Head on past the break to check out an extra pic of the Next 7S and the official word from E Fun. Continue reading E Fun launches $130 Next 7S tablet with Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GHz CPU E Fun launches $130 Next 7S tablet with Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GHz CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 00:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Nextbook | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Vonage may have raked in $216 million in revenue, netting itself $14 million in profit, but things still seem to be heading in the wrong direction for the company. We're not even talking about the sharp decrease in net income -- the $350 million made in the last quarter was thanks in large part to a one-time tax benefit. Revenue remained flat sequentially at $216 million, but was down slightly from the same time last year. What's more, churn had increased from Q4 and, despite signing up 165,000 new accounts, the VoIP carrier managed lose 19,000 subscribers -- and that's after dropping 14,000 last quarter. For more info check out the PR after the break. Continue reading Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Lenovo announced a slew of notebooks back at CES in January, so you'll be forgiven if the ThinkPad Edge E430 and E530 don't ring a bell. Those names are about to hit closer to home, though, because both models are finally on sale in the US and Asia with a base price of $459. To jog your memory, the 14-inch Edge E430 and 15-inch E530 run Intel Core i3-2350M Sandy Bridge CPUs clocked at 2.3GHz and feature 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drives, Intel HD Graphics and a 1366 x 768 displays. Of course, Lenovo lets you customize the processor, storage space and more on its website. Click through to the source links below for the full configuration options. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E430 and E530 go on sale, starting at $459 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 21:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  PCLaunches.com | Lenovo (1), Lenovo (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Samsung's latest Series 9 Ultrabook is certainly a beautiful piece of engineering, but really, what's the fun in purchasing a new laptop with yesterday's internals? Fortunately, users won't need to make that compromise, as the company has now outed a refreshed version of the computer that's complete with Ivy Bridge internals. The move follows Samsung's recent reveal of the Series 7 Gamer laptop, but as you'd expect, components in the Series 9 are geared more toward efficiency than performance. At its heart, you'll find a dual-core 1.7GHz Core i5 3317U CPU (which has yet to be announced), Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the HM75 Express chipset. While its internal storage remains the same, with a 128GB SSD, its memory has received a pleasant bump up to 8GB. No word yet on pricing or availability, but for those who want to own the very latest, we invite you to stay tuned.
[Thanks, Brooks] Samsung teases Series 9 Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, leaves availability in the ether originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 20:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Samsung UK | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  War! Huh! What is it good for? Stuff like smart bullet-feeding systems, apparently. See, the US Army isn't quite satisfied with the mixed ammo feed it currently uses with weapons like the helicopter-mounted M230 chain gun. Instead, it wants its machine gunners to be able to freely switch and pick their ammo of choice -- whether it be incendiary rounds or precision-guided smart bullets -- to better match conditions on the field. So the Army is using another weapon in its arsenal -- good, old tax dollars -- to solicit proposals for a smart bullet-feeding system. Initial project goals include near real-time inventorying of ammo, a fire rate of 300 rounds per minute and a selection accuracy rate of 95 percent. Yeah, it's no freaking railgun or tactical laser system. But at least the feeding system can also be used for more peaceful pursuits, like dispensing medical vials or emergency supplies (not via machine gun, of course). In the meantime, folks who want to see a demo of the system's not-so-peaceful applications can check out the video after the break. Continue reading US Army gets picky, solicits smart feed ammo system for machine guns and auto cannons (video) US Army gets picky, solicits smart feed ammo system for machine guns and auto cannons (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Wired | US Army | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  EchoStar has come a long way since unveiling that HDS-600RS early last year, and today the European company's taking the wraps off of its newest DVR, the Ultra Slim Box HDT-610R. Keeping true to its moniker, the 610R measures in at a slim 14mm thin, while weighing in at just under two pounds. Physical features aside, EchoStar's managed to stuff a 500GB hard drive inside the DVR's scrawny body, as well as a couple of USB 2.0 incisions and single Ethernet and HDMI ports. On the software end, the device is equipped with a Freeview+ HD feature that offers subscription-free access to over 50 "high quality" and four high-def channels -- though, you will have to pay a one-time fee for the service. The HDT-610R will be available for pre-order starting May 4th, with Amazon, John Lewis and Mapling being the first online vendors to have it for up for grabs. No word on pricing yet, but in the meantime all you Euro folks can gander at the PR below to soak up the rest of the deets. Continue reading EchoStar outs its HDT-610R Ultra Slim Box, says it's 'world's slimmest' DVR EchoStar outs its HDT-610R Ultra Slim Box, says it's 'world's slimmest' DVR originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | EchoStar | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We'll forgive you if you failed to take MIT up on its offer take its courses for free when it rolled out its MITx online learning platform last year. However, Harvard took notice of its efforts, and has joined MIT online to form the edX platform and offer courses and content for free on the web. There's no word on the available subjects just yet, but video lessons, quizzes and online labs will all be a part of the curriculum, and those who comprehend the coursework can get a certificate of mastery upon completion. edX won't just benefit those who log on, either, as it'll be used to research how students learn and how technology can be used to improve teaching in both virtual and brick and mortar classrooms. The cost for this altruistic educational venture? 60 million dollars, with each party ponying up half. The first courses will be announced this summer, and classes are slated to start this fall. Want to know more? Check out the future of higher education more fully in the PR and video after the break. Continue reading MIT and Harvard announce edX web education platform, make online learning cheap and easy MIT and Harvard announce edX web education platform, make online learning cheap and easy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 18:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | edX | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Hot off the heels of the BlackBerry 10 exhibit, RIM announced a partnership with Gameloft that will see the developer offer a number of mobile titles by the time the new platform launches. As RIM notes, these games will be designed to take advantage of "key" features within the fresh OS, including Scoreloop social gaming tools and multiplayer functions. Among the 11 games set to be released are Shark Dash, Ice Age Village, Oregon Trail and, of course, N.O.V.A 3: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance -- all of which will range from free to $6.99. Let's not forget, though, that Jetpack Joyride and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will also be making their way onto the platform. All in all, not a bad way for the Waterloo-based outfit to kick things off. Continue reading Gameloft set to offer 11 games on BlackBerry 10 platform at launch, more to follow Gameloft set to offer 11 games on BlackBerry 10 platform at launch, more to follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 18:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Recombu | RIM | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Toshiba's 7.7-inch and 10.1-inch Excite tablets (known also by their respective model numbers, AT270 and AT300) have had their time in the FCC spotlight, and now it's the 13-incher's turn. The ARM-powered AT330 looks to be on track for its on-sale date of June 10th, so it has a good month to sit tight alongside its 7.7-inch sibling. As for that FCC report, no surprises there: Toshiba hasn't slipped in an LTE radio without warning us or anything scintillating like that -- just Bluetooth and WiFi tests here. So you can rest assured that the AT330 will be safe to use, but the jury is still out on how many people want a $650, 13-inch tablet. Toshiba AT330 gets FCC approval, on track for June 10th launch date originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | FCC | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If your gadget life centers equally on Apple devices and luxury Danish home theater, Bang & Olufsen now has you officially covered. The BeoPlay V1 TV, which we got a sneak peek at just over a week ago, has a slot to connect your Apple TV without wires spoiling the look of your upscale loft. Both 32- and 40-inch versions have relatively powerful speakers, too, with as many as three 32W amps in the 40-inch version being joined by discrete treble / mid speakers and a bass unit. Either of the 1080p TVs carries a 100Hz refresh rate, five HDMI inputs, and a USB port for your music and photos. Just as new is a BeoPlay A3 speaker dock for the iPad, which nestles your first- or second-generation iPad into what Bang & Olufsen calls a "stable wedge" that not only keeps the iPad comfy but adapts the speakers to get maximum output. An eight-hour battery keeps the speakers completely wireless, although it won't charge your iPad in the process. The company will have the V1 in British shops on May 3rd at a comparatively frugal £1,999 ($3,238) and £2,499 ($4,047) for the respective 32- and 40-inch sizes, while fans of Hamlet's homeland will have to wait until May 23rd to pay £449 ($727) for an A3 dock, a picture of which you can find after the break. Continue reading Bang & Olufsen caters to the iOS crowd with Apple TV-friendly BeoPlay V1 TV set, A3 iPad speaker dock Bang & Olufsen caters to the iOS crowd with Apple TV-friendly BeoPlay V1 TV set, A3 iPad speaker dock originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 17:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Pocket-lint | Bang & Olufsen | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  When Canon promised a fix for the EOS 5D Mark III's preview LCD leaking light, photographers wondered just what the "countermeasures" would be to prevent the display from affecting exposure readouts. The remedy, it turns out, is a simple patch -- of the physical kind, not software. Roger Cicala at LensRentals was brave enough to tear down one of the DSLRs shipping with a fix already in place and found black electrical tape covering the LCD area that would otherwise spill light into the exposure meter. While basic, the solution does the trick, and will no doubt be a relief to shutterbugs who want to know exactly what exposure they'll get while snapping photos in the dark. Canon EOS 5D Mark III's light leak fix found to be black tape originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 17:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink DP Review | LensRentals | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Confused by Microsoft's array of internet/cloud-based services for Windows and Windows Phone? Then it looks like the company's been listening to you. In his latest blog post for the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft's Steven Sinofksy has explained the company's new approach to cloud services in Windows 8 and Windows Phone, and confirmed one big change: it's doing away with the Windows Live brand entirely. Replacing it is something simply called the Microsoft account, which you can use to both sign in to Microsoft own services and tie to other third-party services like Twitter or Facebook. That one account can also be used to sign in on various devices and immediately have access to Microsoft's various services, which are now all definitely called "apps," and are also taking on a more unified approach across both Windows 8 and Windows Phone (as you can see in the chart above). As usual, Sinofksy's described all those changes at some length -- hit the source link below for his full post. Microsoft ditches Windows Live brand, explains new approach to cloud services originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Building Windows 8 | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We're going to warn you up front: what you're about to see is eccentric, puzzling, and perhaps even disturbing. And undoubtedly, it's the fanboy film to end all fanboy films. According to Network World, who managed to get ahold of an internal 'rally the troops' video, the referenced clip was produced with a $50,000 budget and shown to an international sales force at a 1984 meeting in Hawaii. The film, entitled "1944," was purportedly provided by one-time Apple employee Craig Elliott, now CEO of Pertino Networks. The vintage footage shows then-CEO Steve Jobs as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the nine minute film drags on to show Apple-clad soldiers lining up to do battle with IBM -- a massive, massive rival in the space during that era. The full watch can be found in the source link below (embedding was disabled), and again, this will absolutely freak you out. Fair warning. Bizarre internal Apple video shows Steve Jobs rallying the troops against IBM originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink CNET | Network World | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Been itching for Facebook's iPhone-dedicated Messenger app to make its way over to the iPad? ? Maybe for the iPhone variant to finally reap the benefits of Skype video chat integration as well? Well, according to 9to5Mac, Camp Zuckerberg is testing both in-house, with the latter planned to hit iPhones this summer. According to the site, one of its trustworthy tipsters was able to grant it access to beta versions of the new apps, and it has the pictures to prove it. Unsurprisingly, the Messenger app for iPad is described as simply a sized-up port of the iPhone version, but surely the bump would be appreciated by many if it ever gets officially released. Perhaps more interesting, though, is having Skype video chat baked into the iPhone version -- tapping an arrow next to a contact initiates your video session, and 9to5Mac reports that it's "smooth most of the time." Of course, it's always worth taking such leaks with a grain of salt, but hit up the source link below if you'd like to find more information and screenshots of the apps in question. Facebook's iPhone Messenger to get video chat, enlarged variant for iPad? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | 9to5Mac | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We here at Engadget are always fans of brain wave experiments, and so we were delighted when two Cornell University electrical engineering students, Chuck Moyes and Mengxiang Jiang, wrapped up a final project using brain waves in the best way possible: playing Pong. Their experiment links a baseball cap full of EEG-scanning electrodes to a computer, letting the cap wearer control a paddle using Alpha or Mu waves. Depending on the waves you use, you can move the paddle either by changing your concentration level or by thinking about moving your feet. You won't rack up a high score while napping (or with a teammate narrating over your shoulder), but with a budget under $75, it's hard to find fault. You can grab the source code below, and check out a video of Jiang and Moyes' handiwork after the break. [Thanks, Chuck and Mengxiang] Continue reading Cornell students steer Pong using brain waves, can't quite play during naps (video) Cornell students steer Pong using brain waves, can't quite play during naps (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | BCI, source code (GitHub) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Nikon promised us a "late April" shipment of its D3100 replacement, and sure enough, it looks to have met that self-imposed deadline. The black D3200 kit is now shipping from Best Buy warehouses, and while a litany of other reputable e-tailers have the unit listed (check our links below), we're seeing it backordered elsewhere. That said, these things are obviously trickling into the places that matter most, and determined to-be buyers can almost certainly call around to find one in stock. If you're still on the fence, have a look at our hands-on here, and head on past the break for a lovely unboxing video tour. Continue reading Nikon D3200 now shipping from Best Buy, unboxing video gets personal with new features Nikon D3200 now shipping from Best Buy, unboxing video gets personal with new features originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Duncan33303 (YouTube) | Best Buy (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Fitting a truly quick solid-state drive into a small space isn't easy, and for that reason RunCore's new Mini DOM (Disk On Module) stands out from the crowd. It's billed as the first single-chip SSD to use a SATA interface (SATA II, to be exact), giving it that much more bandwidth than the pokey IDE and PATA DOMs of old while remaining under half the size of a regular mSATA drive. RunCore's own tests show it hitting about 113MB/s sequential reads and 47MB/s writes. Neither figure will knock the socks off even a mainstream budget SSD like Intel's SSD 330, but they're more than brisk enough for embedded gear. The drives can survive brutal conditions, too: an Industrial Grade trim level can survive temperatures as chilly as -40F and as scorching as 185F. So, the next time you pry open some military equipment and see one of these sitting inside, in three different formats and capacities from 8GB to 64GB, you'll know exactly what you're looking at. Continue reading RunCore's Mini DOM packs single-chip, SATA-based SSD into tiny places RunCore's Mini DOM packs single-chip, SATA-based SSD into tiny places originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If there's anything that Google doesn't like, it's things that collect dust. The company is famous for its annual spring cleaning efforts, in which the firm rids itself of redundant and dead-end projects, along with more bullish moves, such as its push to overhaul the internet's DNS system. Now it's looking to replace HTTP with a new protocol known as SPDY, and to that end, it's demonstrating the potential speed gains that one might expect on a mobile network. According to the company's benchmarks, mean page load times on the Galaxy Nexus are 23 percent faster with the new system, and it hypothesizes that further optimizations can be made for 3G and 4G networks. To its credit, Google has already implemented SPDY in Chrome, and the same is true for Firefox and Amazon Silk. Even Microsoft appears to be on-board. As a means to transition, the company proposes an Apache 2.2 module known as mod_spdy, which allows web servers to take advantage of features such as stream multiplexing and header compression. As for HTTP, it's no doubt been a reliable companion, but it seems that it'll need to work a bit harder to earn its keep. Stay weird, Google, the internet wouldn't be the same without you. Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Google Developers Blog | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 Is that Galaxy S II feeling a bit stale? It's just about time for Samsung to name a successor to the massively popular smartphone, live at the company's Mobile Unpacked event at the Earls Court Olympic venue. We'll surely see a brand new mainstream handset make its debut, but what's not quite as clear is what other gadgets Samsung plans to show off in London. With defined divisions, the Korean device maker's "Mobile Unpacked" event title implies that Android phones will steal the show, so it's unlikely that we'll see an updated Tab or two. We have 24 hours and change to find out for sure, however, so bookmark this page to stay abreast of the news as it happens in our liveblog. The show kicks off at 2PM ET tomorrow (7PM local time in London) -- you'll find your local time translation just below. March 7, 2012 2:00 PM ESTContinue reading Samsung unpacks the Galaxy tomorrow, we'll be liveblogging the London event right here! Samsung unpacks the Galaxy tomorrow, we'll be liveblogging the London event right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Don't feel like having media purchased through Google Play billed directly to your credit card? Well, now you can have those charges simply added to your monthly phone bill, provided you're on T-Mobile here in the US, or NTT Docomo, KDDI, or Softbank in Japan. According to Google's posting about the move, Sprint will soon be offering the option to pay for movies, books and movies purchased through Big G's market along side your voice and data plan. For T-Mobile subscribers that means both apps and content can simply be added to your tab, while AT&T is sticking with carrier billing for apps only at the moment. Conspicuously absent from the whole shebang, however, is Verizon, which has been one of the more prominent Android pushers here in the US. For a complete list of carriers with at least some direct billing features check out the more coverage link. Google Play adds carrier billing for music, movies and books originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge | Google Play (Google+) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Verizon is trying to put the final nail in the coffin of its DSL service. Of course, that's still a long way off but, for those outside of reach of its FiOS tentacles, Big Red is pushing HomeFusion. The LTE to the home solution, which started rolling out in early March, is now available nationwide... provided your definition of "nationwide" jibes with Verizon's. Still, with a claimed two-thirds of the US population covered by 230 distinct 4G markets, VZW is hoping to expand its residential broadband footprint without running those costly and ugly wires. The five to 12 Mbps down, and two to five Mbps up speeds aren't going to beat a fiber to the home connection, but it should run circles around your average DSL line. One thing it wont do, though, is save you money. With plans starting at $60 a month for 10GB of data and climbing to $120 for 30GB (not to mention the $10 per GB overage fees) HomeFusion isn't exactly a bargain. For more info check out the PR after the break. Continue reading Verizon's HomeFusion LTE to the home now available nationwide Verizon's HomeFusion LTE to the home now available nationwide originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  In case those RX receivers we saw last month weren't powerful enough for you, Yamaha's unleashing a couple of new beasts that may just meet all of your home entertainment demands. Similar to its V573 and V473 siblings, the RX-V773WA and RX-V673 are AirPlay-friendly and pack a 4K passthrough feature -- though, these also carry some PT action in 3D. Save for the YWA-10 WiFi adapter and an aluminum front panel on the V773WA, both newcomers are sporting identical traits. Among these are 7.2 channel audio, an enhanced YPAO calibration system, seven "intelligent" assignable amplifiers, six HDMI ports on each unit and an ECO mode to help reduce power usage. As far as pricing, you'll have to shell out $849.95 for the higher-end RX-V773WA and $649.95 for the RX-V673 when they hit shelves in June and later this month, respectively. Continue reading Yamaha outs RX-V773WA, RX-V673 receivers: AirPlay and 4K / 3D passthrough on board Yamaha outs RX-V773WA, RX-V673 receivers: AirPlay and 4K / 3D passthrough on board originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Yamaha | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  No surprise here, but T-Mobile has been prepping a low-end Android phone called the Prism for quite some time now, and it's finally time for the little guy to make its official debut. With a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 3.2MP fixed-focus camera and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), it won't be the stuff dreams are made of. The CPU is also unspecified, which leads us to believe that T-Mo is leaving it out of the talking points for a reason -- yesterday's leak indicated that we can expect it to be 600MHz. That said, plenty of potential buyers wanting an inexpensive smartphone may be easily persuaded by its $20 price on contract (with a $50 mail-in rebate) or $150 without any sort of commitment. The Huawei-made Prism will make its first appearance at Best Buy on May 6th, followed by Walmart on the 9th and official retail channels on the 23rd. We have a press release awaiting you after the break, so take a peek if it interests you. Continue reading T-Mobile officially adds Prism to its budget lineup on May 6th for $20 T-Mobile officially adds Prism to its budget lineup on May 6th for $20 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  If you've been storing part of your digital library on Amazon's Cloud Drive, access to your goods just got easier. The outfit has released a desktop app for both Mac and Windows machines enabling uploads and downloads with minimal effort. For starters, you'll be able to drag and drop files via a Cloud Drive icon and you'll be a brief right-click away from sending any file or folder to the repository. Downloads from the cloud run in the background and can be paused / resumed whenever you darn well please. Dropped your connection in the heat of battle? No worries. The app manages restarts and connectivity hiccups without losing your wares. If you're already signed up, hit the source link below to fetch yours. [Thanks, Max] Amazon outs Cloud Drive desktop app for Windows and Mac, allows easy access to your digital wares originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Amazon | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Since 2010, Target has happily hawked Amazon's e-reading wares. The retailer even carved out a branded corner of its online shop just for the Kindle. Now though, that store within a store is empty and conspicuously missing from Target's virtual shelves is Amazon's entire Kindle line. Sure, a few accessories remain, but the readers themselves are gone. What's more, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge, the products will be cease to be restocked at the company's brick and mortar locations starting May 13th. The communique states that, after evaluation, Target "has made the decision to no longer carry Amazon hardware." The reasoning behind the banishment isn't clear, but the potential causes are practically endless. Amazon's vast online repository of goods, including some grocery items, makes it a direct competitor of the big box outlet. Target continues to carry the Nook and Kobo e-readers, but those company's don't challenge the retailer. It's also possible that, with mini Apple Stores opening up on its premises, Cupertino put some pressure on Target to clear out its competitors. It could also be as simple as collapsed contract negotiations, with Target failing to get as big a cut of sales as it wanted or, and this is a bit of a stretch, the Minneapolis company could be preparing to launch its own e-reading hardware. Neither Amazon nor Target has responded to our requests for comment at this time. Target pulls Kindle from virtual shelves, physical ones may follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 11:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink GigaOM | The Verge | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Microsoft has long been pushing to get the Xbox 360 into as many living rooms as possible, and it looks like it could now be about to attempt a new tactic to further expand its reach. According to The Verge's sources, the company will launch a new bundle next week that will include both a 4GB Xbox 360 console and a Kinect sensor for just $99 -- the only catch being that you'll also have to sign a two-year contract at a rate of $15 a month. That will give you access to the Xbox Live Gold service, and potentially some additional streaming content, as well as a two-year warranty (there's also naturally an early termination fee for those that break the contract). From the sound of things, though, the new offering could be getting something of a soft launch -- the only outlet mentioned for the bundle so far is the rather limited number of Microsoft Stores in the US. Microsoft reportedly launching subsidized Xbox 360 bundle next week for $99 with a two-year subscription originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | The Verge | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Again, not exactly a bombshell here, but a day after the 4G version of RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook was "confirmed" over a hearty breakfast at BlackBerry World, the company's CEO let it be known that the tablet is, in fact, on the way. According to Thorsten Heins at a press event this morning, the 4G PlayBook is due out before year's end. While he didn't specifically mention LTE, the executive prefaced that statement by saying that his company admittedly has a glaring lack of LTE devices. Should we put two and two together? Interpret it how you will. RIM CEO: 4G PlayBook coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 11:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  So, you're tapping your manifesto into a Macbook, but twitter, RSS and email alerts keep clamoring in your face. How to finish that latest screed with such distractions? In the "where has this been all my life?" category, a new update to OS X Mountain Lion Preview 3 has a Do Not Disturb option, which stonewalls all notifications and banners. The feature, which could be useful on plenty of other devices too, can be armed with a mouse click on the menu bar or a left swipe on a trackpad. Some other iOS-style tweaks debuted in Preview 3 include the Game Center, Notes, Airplay Mirroring and Reminders. Now, back to fomenting that revolution. OS X Mountain Lion Preview updated with Do Not Disturb feature originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | 9TO5Mac | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Dr Jonathan Rossiter, a senior lecturer at the University of Bristol's Department of Engineering and Mathematics, has snagged a two-year research grant of over £200,000 to develop robots that decompose once their mission if complete. This means instead of our automaton friends rusting away, devoid of purpose, they could return gracefully (and more importantly non-toxically) back to mother earth. Not only would this be a boon to the environment, but scientists would no longer need to track and retrieve their mechanical progeny once it reached the end of its usable life, further sparing resources and allowing mass deployment. At least we know, when the day comes, the planet won't be harmed. Environmentally friendly robots will feed the flowers they trample originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink PhysOrg | University of Bristol | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Looks like it's time for a little endzone celebration in the City of Brotherly Love this week. Comcast issued its earnings, and things are looking up, marking a 30 percent profit increase for the first quarter. Revenue for the cable company is at $14.9 billion, beating out analyst estimates of $14.4 billion. The Associated Press chalks the happy results up to Super Bowl advertising and the popularity of the company's broadband offerings. Comcast earnings beat expectations for Q1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Yahoo | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Most Engadget readers will have grown up with GPS, but the UK's Newcastle University has realized that many in the older generation might be first-timers and unfamiliar with all those keep-lefts and turn-rights. Development is underway at the school for a new satellite navigation system that would be easier and more intuitive for your grandfolks, with features that include calling out direction changes by landmark names, limiting turns to the safer variety and keeping the route off of high-speed motorways. When this might come to your local high street shop isn't known, but the university has a £12 million ($19.5 million) research grant to help sort that out. Newcastle University preps in-car GPS for the elderly, helps grandmum get home safely originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 08:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Autoblog | The Sun | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  All hail the e-book! Seriously, if it weren't for this marvelous literary development, try saying with a straight face that you wouldn't at least take pause before adding a new title to your collection. Numbers are in from The Publisher's Association -- a group of 120 companies across the trade in the UK -- which reveals that e-book digital sales have increased 54 percent for the year 2011, and of that statistic, 13 percent of revenues came from academic and professional titles. As a sign of changing preferences, the total sales of both e-books and their traditional counterparts fell by two percent during the year -- and let's be honest, it's not hard to see which group fell short. Also reflective of the shift is the fact that average book prices fell by 1.3 percent during the year, which compares favorably to the UK's current inflation rate of 4.47 percent. Those interested in the full story will find the PR after the break. Continue reading Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011 Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  The Peel Sessions -- those are three blissful words to any music enthusiast. John Peel's BBC radio show was the stuff of legends. It launched entire careers and created a legacy of eclectic and intimate musical snapshots by our favorite artists. Can you imagine exploring his record collection? Well, now you can. The Space has created a wonderful site that lets you browse the late DJ's record archive one virtual shelf and album cover at a time -- complete with links to iTunes and Spotify. It looks and feels like the real thing, and provides a fantastic journey back in time. Only the letter A's been cataloged so far -- additional letters will be added (one each week) over the coming months. This is your chance to discover music curated by a man with impeccable musical taste over a period of four decades. Just follow the source links below. Browse John Peel's legendary record collection, travel back in time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Gizmodo | The Space (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
