|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Tired of fussing with touchy phone tethers, expensive MiFi devices and spotty hotspots? Lenovo feels your pain, and wants to take the guesswork out of getting an internet connection when you need it. Say hello to Lenovo Mobile Access, your dongle-free destination for on-the-go broadband -- assuming you're rocking a Lenovo rig with the right hardware, of course. In partnership with Macheen, Lenovo is serving up no-contract broadband access to owners of select ThinkPad laptops. Just need a few minutes to check your email? That'll be $2 -- as long as you keep it under 30 minutes and 30MB. Full day passes (capped at 200MB of usage) are available for $9, and monthly plans (at both 2GB and 6GB) are on the way. 3G equipped ThinkPads will be able to access the service in the United States, UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands on a single SIM, though pricing may vary by location. Looking for the official skinny? Skip on past the break for a pair of official press releases. Continue reading Lenovo Mobile Access bringing contract free broadband to ThinkPads in US and Europe Lenovo Mobile Access bringing contract free broadband to ThinkPads in US and Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 01:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  The folks behind that nasty Flame trojan that burned its way through the Middle East aren't the kind to brag -- the malware's manufacturers apparently started dousing their own fire last week. According to Symantec reports, several compromised machines retrieved a file named browse32.ocx from Flame controlled servers, which promptly removed all traces of the malware from the infected systems. Although the attackers seem spooked, Microsoft isn't taking any chances, and has issued a fix to its Windows Server Update Services to block future attacks. The update hopes to protect networked machines from a similar attack by requiring HTTPS inspection servers to funnel Windows update traffic through an exception rule, bypassing its inspection. The attackers? "They're trying to cover their tracks in any way they can," Victor Thakur, principal security response manager at Symantec told the LA Times, "They know they're being watched." Check out the source link below for the Symantec's run down of the trojan's retreat. Flame malware extinguishes itself, Microsoft protects against future burns originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  LA Times, Electronista, Ars Technica |  Symantic, Microsoft | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It's been awhile since we learned how many unique Android devices were switching on every day; the last time was at Mobile World Congress, when Google's senior mobile VP Andy Rubin confirmed 850,000 activations a day just as we were fruitlessly practicing our Catalan. He's now chiming in with word that the daily rate is up to 900,000 cellular-enabled phones and tablets as of June. That's a ways off from the breakneck pace of growth in 2011, but it certainly shows that Android is no shrinking violet just yet. Rubin's answer is ostensibly prompted by a need to debunk a rumor that he might be leaving Google -- there's "no plans" for that, he says. All the same, we're sure he doesn't mind ever-so-slightly deflating Apple's balloon before WWDC 2012 kicks off tomorrow. [Image credit: Jon Fingas, Flickr] Google's Andy Rubin: Android activations up to 900,000 a day, I'm staying put thank you originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Android Police | Andy Rubin (Twitter), Robert Scoble (Google+) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  How would you change: a regular feature where we ask people about their experiences with gadget's we've reviewed, when they reach the real world. This week we're looking at the Japanese edition* of the PlayStation Vita, which instantly made us feel old when we realized the OG model was seven years old. Times have changed, and the Vita's biggest competitor is smartphone gaming: leading to our dismay when we found its battery conks out after just three hours, not to mention the high cost and that measly VGA camera. We know there's a market for hardcore gamers who want blockbuster games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but is that hefty price-tag worth it? Let us know in the comments below. *We'll be looking at the US edition in a few months time, for those of you who didn't import the device when it was released. How would you change the PlayStation Vita (Japanese Edition)? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of June 4th, 2012 Refresh Roundup: week of June 4th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.
 As the race to develop new, more efficient modes of transportation heats up, it could soon become even easier (and greener) to jet around the globe. This week saw the Solar Impulse -- that broad, funny-looking airplane -- complete the world's first solar-powered intercontinental flight. Meanwhile, Boeing's hydrogen-powered 'Phantom Eye' drone aircraft successfully completed its first flight, releasing only water as a byproduct. Both developments signal growing confidence in employing new green technologies in air travel. Now that green airplanes are taking flight, what will we do with all of those old fuel-guzzling planes that are currently in use? One Oregon man may have found an answer -- Bruce Campbell transformed an entire Boeing 727-200 into his home, converting one bathroom into a shower and installing a computer monitor in the middle of the control panel. Continue reading Inhabitat's Week In Green: cities in the sky, a cloned Chinese village and a few green DIY Father's Day projects Inhabitat's Week In Green: cities in the sky, a cloned Chinese village and a few green DIY Father's Day projects originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.  Particularly since the rise of laptops and their ability to be used in the living room near a TV, consumers have been engaged with multiple screens simultaneously. In those early days, many of which occurred before the consumer-friendly Web, people were even more likely to tend to tasks unrelated to what was on the tube (which, back then, actually was a tube). As standards such as WiFi, DLNA and automatic content recognition develop, though, the use of second screens have the potential to form tighter links with what's happening on TV. At the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo, the three major home console companies all showed off their approach to bringing home video games and other content further beyond a single display. Continue reading Switched On: E3, Screen Two Switched On: E3, Screen Two originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Having to fiddle with a separate Android tablet and smartphone and a laptop just won't cut it? You might be eager to get your mitts the ASUS PadFone if that's your sentiment, but folks in the US won't exactly find these at their local Best Buy. Still, despite having no official carrier support or definitive launch plans within the states, you'll now be able to snag the smartphone bundled with its tablet dock if you're willing to hit the gray market. As discovered by Phone Arena, our friends at Negri Electronics are now stocking the international edition of the über-hybrid; $860 gets you one to call your own, but tactile-typists should note that it doesn't include the keyboard dock. To refresh your memory, the fone itself is runs Ice Cream Sandwich atop a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, and features a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 16GB of expandable storage, HSPA+ connectivity and a 1,520mAh battery. Additionally, the 10-inch PadFone Station (tablet dock) scores you more screen real estate (naturally) and a nine-fold increase in battery life. Feel free to refresh your knowledge of the device (and its accessories) with our previous hands-on posts, then check out the source link below if you decide to pick one up with your hard-earned dough. Asus PadFone, tablet Station get imported stateside courtesy of Negri Electronics, yours for $860 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Phone Arena, Phandroid | Negri Electronics | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Much like Porsche Design before it, this isn't strictly the auto-maker (in this case it's the son of the famous sports car mogul) releasing a phone. However, these are devices (three phones and a tablet) which bear the family name. Russian site Hi-Tech Mail got a good look at two feature phones (which look remarkably familiar,) the TL688 and TL820, sporting 2- and 2.4-inch displays, along with 3- and 5-megapixel cameras and 4GB and 1GB (expandable) storage respectively. Their main selling point evidently being the hand made gold plate and leather finish. There is a TL700 smartphone, too, which runs on not-so-sporty Android Gingerbread, with an unspecified Qualcomm processor, 3.7-inch 800 x 480 display and 5-megapixel shooter. This one ups the flash-factor some, boasting diamond processed metal and "elements" of crocodile skin. The tablet is known as the Lamborghini L2800 and has a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 resolution screen, 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB onboard storage (expandable). How much does all this sense-defying technology cost? Well, the feature phones start at 60,000 rubles, (about $1,829) or you can snap up the Android for 30,000 more (about $2,743) and treat yourself to the L2800 tablet for a reasonable 75,000 rubles (about $2,286). Of course, you'll have to drive to Russia to get your hands on them, sometime in late August, but we're guessing if you're in the market for one of these, that'll barely dent the plastic anyway. Tonino Lamborghini launches 'Luxury' phones for low-spec loving Russians with deep pockets originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Phone Arena | Hi-Tech Mail (Translated) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Disagreement between passionate Windows and Mac OS diehards have caused many a kerfuffle on the Interwebs. When it comes to the tactical control system of the US Navy's autonomous vertical take-off-and-landing craft, however, the military branch is putting its money on a different operating system. The Navy just awarded a contract worth nearly $28 million to Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems to transition its VTOL drones to using its own flavor of good, old Linux. Eventually, the Navy plans to have 168 Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Navy Fire Scout drones rocking the OS as part of its fleet. The Register reports that the move was likely made for security reasons following a malware attack on the Air Force's Windows-based drone system last year. Add Samsung's recent inclusion into the Platinum ranks of Linux's core supporters and you really can't blame fans of the operating system if they decide to wear shades while pondering its future. [Image credit: Northrop Grumman] Attack of the drones: US Navy picks Linux for its unmanned VTOL aircraft control system originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 11:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink CNET | The Register | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference opens up tomorrow, with Tim Cook taking the stage at 10AM PT to deliver what'll have to be... well, some fairly important company news. He asked us back in March to look forward to more in 2012, and if the deluge of rumors is indication of what's to come, this could very well be the most monumental WWDC in recent memory. Or, you know, maybe we'll just hear that iOS 6 is indeed coming after iOS 5. Our own Tim Stevens and Darren Murph will be on hand at Moscone West in San Francisco to bring you second-by-second coverage, and if you're looking for a bookmark, you can return here tomorrow to catch the liveblog. We'll also be broadcasting live outside of the venue (sorry, Apple won't allow video streaming from within!) before and after the fireworks, so be sure to keep it locked for a full day's worth of mayhem. P.S. - Toss your best guesses on what's coming in comments below! Apple's WWDC 2012 keynote is tomorrow -- get your liveblog right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Engadget Liveblog | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference opens up tomorrow, with Tim Cook taking the stage at 10AM PT to deliver what'll have to be... well, some fairly important company news. He asked us back in March to look forward to more in 2012, and if the deluge of rumors is indication of what's to come, this could very well be the most monumental WWDC in recent memory. Or, you know, maybe we'll just hear that iOS 6 is indeed coming after iOS 5. Our own Tim Stevens and Darren Murph will be on hand at Moscone West in San Francisco to bring you second-by-second coverage, and if you're looking for a bookmark, you can return here tomorrow to catch the liveblog. We'll also be broadcasting live outside of the venue (sorry, Apple won't allow video streaming from within!) before and after the fireworks, so be sure to keep it locked for a full day's worth of mayhem. P.S. - Toss your best guesses on what's coming in comments below! Apple's WWDC 2012 keynote is tomorrow -- get your liveblog right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Engadget Liveblog | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It's no secret that LG planned to launch its 4.7-inch Optimus 4X HD in select European countries this month, and now the company has confirmed that it's right on schedule. Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and Italy will be the first to receive the Tegra 3-loaded Android 4.0 smartphone, followed by the likes of six others. According to the translated presser, LG also has a "major surprise" in store regarding the device's launches as well, although details appear to be ambiguous for the time being. You can read all about it from the source below while re-acquainting yourself with its 720p HD IPS LCD using our hands-on from MWC. LG's Optimus 4X HD officially making its way to 11 European locales, 'surprise' in store originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | LG (translated) | 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.  We won't lie: this might be the ultimate Insert Coin. It's not often that you get the author of Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon asking for Kickstarter funding, after all. Neal Stephenson and Subutai Corporation are tired of swordfighting in video games being reduced to abstract button presses, and they want to produce both a video game and a control system that will replicate what it's really like to fight steel-to-steel, complete with pommel hits, blocks and distinct techniques. The initial game, Clang, will focus on two-handed longsword dueling with an "off-the-shelf" controller to get out the door quickly. In the long run, however, the plan is to work on custom controllers, and the project will involve an open framework known as MASE (Martial Arts System Embodiments) that will let anyone build their own fighting game. You could create a realistic Wushu simulator... or an extremely detailed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat-em-up. Any pledge will help the cause, but if you'd like a credit in the game or an actual copy, you'll want to spend a respective $10 or $25. The rewards escalate quickly after that: $50 and $75 pledges first give downloadable concept art and later a digital fighting manual, while $100, $150 and $250 donations will add a very real t-shirt, a hard copy of the manual, a signed poster with a patch and eventually a signed poster. Are you a high roller? Spending $500 or $1,000 adds a signed manual as well as either the first book or whole collection of the related The Mongoliad trilogy, plus (at the higher tier) invitations to Subutai parties in Seattle. Pledges at $5,000 will supply the actual concept art; at the peak $10,000, you'll get a real longsword, lunch with Subutai and a tour of the offices. If you're game in the literal sense of the word, you'll have until mid-day on July 9th to help Neal reach the lofty $500,000 funding target. Continue reading Insert Coin: Clang, a motion-controlled swordfighting game by no less than Neal Stephenson (video) Insert Coin: Clang, a motion-controlled swordfighting game by no less than Neal Stephenson (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jun 2012 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Kickstarter | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
