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- Transportation Department to propose mandatory black boxes in passenger vehicles?
- WatchESPN app upgraded for iPad, still restricted to just a few TV providers
- Diffus Solar Handbag charges your cell during the day, may actually leave the closet
- ASUS 'PadFone' to be the final name of the phone-docking tablet?
- HTC Sensation review
- Lenovo IdeaPad K1 tablet hits some online retailers, still not buy-able
- ZiiLabs unveils Jaguar family of Honeycomb tablets for OEMs to devour
- Telecommunications device for the deaf gets hitched to a rotary phone, hacked to run Zork
- NASA asteroid mission could explain how life began (and how ours might end)
- T-Mobile G2x experiencing reboot issues, Gingerbread may be the remedy (update)
- Smartphones, not DVRs, are the biggest threat to TV adverts
- Nokia: iDoalotmore talking about Symbian than a zombie OS deserves
- New Signal Process introduces BreakOut Stereo and Stomp for the most serious of iOS musicians
- Sony says PlayStation Network will return to Asia, starting tomorrow
- Xperia Play finally lands at O2 UK, available in black or white
- Another Samsung WiFi Galaxy Tab 10.1 hits the FCC, this time dubbed GT-P7310
- NHK demos Hybridcast streaming, teams up internet and cable TV for superior 3D delivery
- Apple's iCloud music service will automatically mirror your iTunes library using 'high-quality' tracks?
- Cadence's 4-Bit Chrono Watch lets you do business, disguises your inner geek
- PayPal swiftly slaps Google with mobile payment suit
- Sony Ericsson boosts Xperia Arc and Play to 2.3.3, includes Facebook integration
- ASUS to unveil a phone-docking tablet at Computex?
- Sony stands behind its digital projectors, claims the only thing ruining movies is Russell Brand
- HTC officially dissolves locked bootloader policy
- Netflix updates Android app, expands device support
- Windows tablet OS preview coming next week?
- NASA commits to Orion-based Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle for space exploration
- Philips GoGear Connect 7 Android tablet launching in China soon?
- Vodafone truck can recharge 2,000 devices at once, is coming to an Isle of Wight near you
- Researchers boost multi-core CPU performance with better prefetching
- Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least
- Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart
- The Engadget Podcast, live at 5:00PM ET!
- AirStash wireless flash drive (and iOS app) review
- NVIDIA 3D Vision machines get 3D YouTube video support on Firefox
- Amazon launches Mac Download Store with more than 250 titles
- Tesla Roadster 2.5 gets 119 MPGe rating from EPA, still as expensive as ever (updated)
| Transportation Department to propose mandatory black boxes in passenger vehicles? Posted: 27 May 2011 11:38 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WatchESPN app upgraded for iPad, still restricted to just a few TV providers Posted: 27 May 2011 11:03 AM PDT  'WatchESPN' App Now on iPad Update Gives Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV Subscribers Live Access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com on iPad NEW YORK, N.Y. – ESPN is proud to announce its WatchESPN App, which allows live access of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com, is now available on iPad. The WatchESPN App gives Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers who receive ESPN's linear networks as part of their cable subscription another screen from which to watch their favorite ESPN content. The WatchESPN App features a simple user interface that takes the live viewing experience to the high-resolution, Multi-Touch display of iPad, as well as iPhone and iPod touch. Once users download WatchESPN, they will receive instructions to enter the appropriate cable subscriber credentials to begin accessing ESPN content from any of their Apple devices. The WatchESPN App is available free from the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and now iPad, or at www.itunes.com/appstore. ESPN first launched an online-accessible authenticated version of ESPN in October, 2010. Authenticated versions of ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line launched in January, 2011. Consumers can access the channels through a centralized website, ESPNnetworks.com. About ESPN, Inc. ESPN, Inc., is the world's leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of more than 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of seven 24-hour domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes and ESPN 3D). ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS HD are simulcast services. Other businesses include ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (46 networks, syndication, radio, websites), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN3.com (broadband sports network) ESPN Mobile, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV and other growing new businesses, including ESPN on Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN. -31- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diffus Solar Handbag charges your cell during the day, may actually leave the closet Posted: 27 May 2011 10:34 AM PDT  Sure, solar-paneled bags are occasionally practical and always geeky, but the women in our lives wouldn't dream of letting us walk around with one, let alone using one themselves. That soon may change. The Solar Handbag from Diffus, a Danish design studio, integrates 100 "solar sequins" in a pattern that ladies may actually find socially acceptable, perhaps even attractive. During the day, the bag is capable of generating 2 watts of power, enough to charge many portable gadgets. After the sun sets, however, any leftover energy is redirected to a set of optical fibers, which glow whenever you open the bag to search for mascara, ABC gum stuffed in crumbled receipts, or whatever else you've decided may never leave your side. There's no word on whether the bag will actually come to market, but if it does go to production, it may just end up being affordable, given that many handbag budgets far exceed the amount we set aside for gadgets. When High Tech Becomes Fashion Luxury handbag becomes a portable power station when miniaturized solar cells and embroideries are combined With the boom of environmental consciousness, bags with integrated solar cells to charge your mobile phone or laptop have become commonplace. The usual approach of placing flexible thin film solar modules onto messenger type bags, however, has primarily led to products in a outdoor/leisure category. Diffus Design has teamed up with e.g. Swiss embroidery specialist Forster Rohner and Alexandra institute (DK) to challenge this approach. A handbag that charges your mobile, helps you find your keys and looks amazing! In the daytime hours one hundred small solar power stations distributed on The Solar Handbag generate enough electricity to charge a mobile device and a powerful lithium ion battery hidden in a small compartment. At night or in dark surroundings, opening the bag activates optical fibres attached to the inside of the bag that give a diffuse glow and assist in the search for keys, purse or other objects of vital importance. An aesthetic approach to function The desire to create a solar energy harvesting surface that offers maximum design freedom while still being highly efficient is the driving force behind The Solar Handbag. Working around existing technologies is not an option: Most textile-based products have limited surface areas available and therefore thin film solar cells have limitations regarding efficiency and aesthetics. The technology behind The Solar Handbag is based on miniaturizing the currently most efficient photovoltaic material, monocrystalline silicon, into oversized sequins and processing them through traditional textile techniques. The shape of the bag resembles the story between the relationship between the sun and moon – between light source and enlightened. Therefore the shape mimics an eclipse where the moon – the enlightened – interfere or interact with the sun – the light source. The surface is embroidered with an integrated combination of normal embroidery and conductive embroidery that is able to convey the energy harvested for the solar sequins to the rechargeable battery. Promise of a powerful future The Solar Handbag illustrates the first development step towards highly efficient, textile based solar cell surfaces. The first generation of solar elements shows an efficiency of 9% when converting solar energy into electrical energy. Overall, the solar elements distributed on The Solar Handbag are able to generate 2 Watts, more than enough energy to charge a mobile device, even at low daily exposure to sunlight. The next generation of solar elements are already promising - the new developments will double the efficiency. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ASUS 'PadFone' to be the final name of the phone-docking tablet? Posted: 27 May 2011 10:01 AM PDT  PadFone. Well, as silly as it sounds, the name sure speaks for itself. Unearthed by our friends over at Pocketnow, this USPTO trademark document was filed by ASUS merely four days ago. Such timing suggests that this could very well be the final name of the company's eccentric "pad or phone" combo, which is to be unveiled at Computex next week. As expected, no specifics are detailed in this application, but it does mention "electronic pens for computer touch screens" -- possibly hinting that the PadFone will be compatible with N-Trig's DuoSense or similar stylus technology. Alas, that's all we have for now until ASUS lifts the curtain on Monday, but let us point you to Notebook Italia's brilliant mock-up to quench your thirst for the time being -- we, too, suspect that the phone would slide onto the back of its companion tablet, hence the bump. That said, do bear in mind that this phone is already proven to be not as tacky looking, but is likely closer to a full-fledged Android handset. Anyhow, check out the artist's impressions after the break. Update: Oh hey, remember Windows SideShow? Good times.   | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 27 May 2011 09:00 AM PDT  HardwareBefore delving into the minutiae of the Sensation's construction, let's take a moment to address its most outstanding physical asset: it feels small. 4.3-inch smartphones, starting with HTC's own HD2, have always been impressive beasts, but beasts is what they were -- ungainly, crude, and occasionally harder to handle than an angry carp. Not so with the Sensation. This handset is only 6mm taller, a single millimeter wider, and -- at 11.3mm -- actually slightly thinner than the 4-inch HTC Incredible S. Putting aside the measuring tape and grappling with the pair confirms what those numbers suggest: the 4.3-inch Sensation is nigh indistinguishable from its more modest family mate. That's been achieved with a shrinking of the top and bottom bezels framing the screen and few other changes. You'll still find an extra-large volume rocker on the Sensation's left side, as you would on the Incredible S, accompanied by a micro-USB input a little further down. The bottom of each phone is home to a microphone and a notch for opening up the back cover, the right sides are left barren, and the tops feature headphone jacks and power / lock buttons. Also functionally identical are the rear layouts, with an 8 megapixel autofocus camera sat next to a dual LED flash and a single loudspeaker grille. All these design similarities are hardly coincidental, HTC sees that arrangement and styling as a winning combination and we have to agree.   We'd be remiss not to compare the Sensation against the most clear and present danger to its quest for smartphone supremacy: Samsung's Galaxy S II. The latter is clearly a stupendously thin device, whose admittedly plastic construction left us with few complaints. Still, when faced with the question of which phone we'd trust to last us the full 24 months of a typical contract, we have to hand it to the Sensation. It isn't flawless, but its aluminum shell is sturdier, and we found its curves more ergonomic and natural, which should help make accidental drops that extra bit less likely. Battery life We'll get to the Sensation's performance further on in the review, but suffice it to say that what you're getting here is an extremely versatile handset. Neither the 4.3-inch screen size nor the dual-core processor pose challenges to using the Sensation as your daily phone, but they do expand on what you can do with it when the fancy strikes you. The Galaxy S II is again the obvious competitor here, and it too acquitted itself well in our battery tests. Our testing, however, showed the Sensation to be more efficient when not actively in use -- which, even for intensive smartphone users, tends to be the majority of the time -- granting it a higher ceiling for battery life. The Super LCD on board also seems to be consuming energy with restraint, making that frankly average 1520mAh cell look very good indeed. If battery life is an important consideration in your spec-for-spec comparison with the Galaxy S II, score this as a win for the Sensation. Display Video is where the second big advantage of qHD emerges. 960 x 540 pixels provide a native 16:9 screen ratio and thereby sends those pesky black bars off into oblivion. You'll be able to watch both content you've downloaded and recorded yourself in full screen without resorting to any compromises such as zooming the picture in and cutting off the widest portions. And if you're really a lover of the widescreen experience, there's an option in the camera app to let you shoot 16:9 as well. That'll help keep your content optimized for a vast range of desktop monitors and the great majority of HDTVs. Small considerations, perhaps, but good to have nonetheless. In terms of the Sensation's output quality, it merits noting that in spite of its 4.3-inch display bearing the same branding as the 4- and 3.7-inch ones on the Incredible S and Desire S, it is not up to the same standard. Viewing angles are the first giveaway, as they're nowhere near as expansive on the Sensation. At 45 degrees away from center, the Sensation's picture washes out, whereas the Incredible S maintains color fidelity until laid almost flat. Additionally, the smaller handset is brighter and better saturated than its newcomer buddy. None of this is to say that HTC has installed a poor LCD on the Sensation, we'd just refrain from calling it a Super one. As to our running tally against the Galaxy S II, the Sensation wins out on resolution, but loses by a big margin when it comes to quality and the sheer feeling of luxury that the GSII provides. Oh, we almost forgot to mention the peculiar contouring that HTC has applied to the edges of the glass screen. They're ever so slightly higher than the rest of display, with a tiny little slope lending the whole screen a subtle concavity. As a result, most of the glass never makes contact with surfaces when the phone is laid face down, adding a smidgen extra protection against scuffs and the like. Not that you're terribly likely to mar this expansive screen, which has been given the Gorilla Glass treatment just like the rest of HTC's recent line. Needless to say, that's a marked improvement from last year's Nexus One, which HTC had the gall to claim wasn't supposed to go into pockets. Reception, earpiece and loudspeakerCalls on the Sensation were for the most part clear and competently handled. HTC has an extra microphone on the back of the handset, whose job we presume is to analyze external noise and nullify its effects. In voice calls, the other party heard us even on a busy street where we had our own struggles keeping up with what they were saying to us. The earpiece is neither excellent nor poor, it just does the job. Its position at the very top of the phone means that you'll generally place the sound source up above (rather than next to) your ear when taking a call, but then it's not like HTC had a lot of flexibility as to where to put it. Guess this is just the price we have to pay for the aggressively thin bezels on this handset. Moseying through our usual testing area revealed no aberrant behavior from the Sensation's 2G and 3G radios and reception was on par with what we would generally expect. This phone can actually reach HSPA+ speeds of 14.4Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up (hence why it'll be known as the Sensation 4G in the US), but we didn't have the requisite network to test it out. The Sensation's antenna is built into the plastic parts of its rear cover, a recurring trend in HTC's recent handsets.  If you plug in your own set of ear blasters, on the other hand, you'll be treated to some very nice output indeed. SRS virtual surround sound enhancements baked into the phone make a tangible difference by widening the sound stage and creating a more intimate feel to whatever you're listening to. For a smartphone that aspires to woo customers with top tier multimedia performance, getting audio right is a big deal and the Sensation thankfully delivers. Top marks on that, HTC, but if you can't bundle good headphones of your own, just don't bother next time. We'll take stickers instead. CameraThe unnecessarily capitalized feature that HTC is introducing with the Sensation's camera software is a little something dubbed Instant Capture. It's not a setting that you can toggle; HTC rightly presumes that you'll always want to minimize lag between telling the phone to snap a photo and the actual capture, and it works almost quickly enough to justify its name. Low light conditions will slow you down some as the autofocus isn't as fast, plus the flash might need to pop on and do its job, but responsiveness on the whole is very impressive indeed. We thought the Galaxy S II was fast to shoot and reload, but the Sensation is at least as quick. Also helpful is a little preview window in the bottom left corner (when the phone's held in landscape mode), which shows the last photograph taken. This isn't a novelty for Android, but it wasn't available on the recent Incredible S and Desire S and makes particularly good use of the increased visual detail afforded by the size and pixel density of the Sensation's display. You can obtain enough information about a captured image from it to disable full screen image review after snapping a shot, leaving the camera free and ready to record another masterpiece. A sweet shrinking animation transitions taken photos into the smaller window and gives a visual clue to newbies that they'll find their photographic archives by tapping on it.  Even with the company's auto-enhance option turned off (our whole sample gallery was shot this way), the software will automatically choose where to blur things out to deliver more visually appealing imagery at lower resolutions. That's the key, really. Looking at the pictures in our sample gallery, you'll be hard pressed to pick out any softness, because they've been shrunken down to a mere 800 x 600 pixels in size, a situation that's mirrored when viewing pictures on the phone, so you can definitely see HTC's motivation for optimizing its software to make things look good at lower resolutions. It's just that photography purists (and just people who expect 8 megapixels to mean 8 megapixels) will scoff at the idea that full-size quality should be sacrified for improvements at lower resolution. Another issue caused by the software is that it'll occassionally get its color balance pretty badly wrong. Perusing our gallery, you'll find London buses looking slightly pink and black fencing shading toward a dark (deep?) purple. Thankfully, there's a decent selection of tweaks you can play around with, including exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and a set of white balance presets. The predictably limited dynamic range of the Sensation's camera does mean that in high contrast situations you'll end up with either blown-out skies or overcast landscapes, depending on what you choose to focus on and how the camera meters the available light, but that needn't be a tragedy -- it can lead to more artsy and interesting imagery. Overall, we reckon the Sensation is equipped with a mighty fine imager that might require you to be just a little more hands-on in controlling its settings in order to obtain the best results. We must commend HTC for the intelligently designed dual LED flash. It's bright enough to illuminate group portrait shots and yet subtle enough not to whitewash a subject that's placed immediately in front of the camera lens. The front-facing VGA camera, on the other hand, didn't impress us much. It produced murky and grainy results and continues to be a tool primarily intended for video calls. Video recording on the Sensation is simply effortless. Thirty frames of glorious 1080p can be filled each second and it seems to be done with utter ease. The camcorder's ability to keep up with motion on screen is markedly superior to what we're used to as well. There's a fluidity to the Sensation's output that's rare to find. Make no mistake about it, folks, this is where your dual-core processor will run circles, squares, and trapezoids around the competition. Though performance is sublime, we must note that actual visual quality of the Sensation's video leaves some room for improvement. HTC again seems to be fiddling with the recording -- by blurring some parts and sharpening others for a more uniform look -- which can sometimes deliver unnatural-looking results. Sound is recorded in stereo, another feather in the Sensation's multimedia hat, though we found the phone unusually prone to picking up wind noise. In our estimation, this is owing to the position of the microphone used for voice calls, which unfortunately gets exposed directly to oncoming wind when the phone's held horizontally to shoot movies. Aside from that, quality of sound recording was pretty much middle of the road; it's certainly a far cry from the tinny stuff the HTC Flyer recently treated us to. If the two vids above aren't enough for you, you'll find a couple more samples here and here. SoftwareMany of you might gaze upon the HTC Sensation and see your ideal hacking phone -- tons of hardware potential, great ergonomics, and an almost spotless bill of physical health. All you need now is a nice community-built ROM for it and you'll be flying... but oh wait, that's right, HTC developed a weird allergy to custom Android ROM installations this year and has been locking down the bootloaders on its 2011 phones to prevent such chicanery. Company CEO Peter Chou announced yesterday that this unpopular policy will be done away with in the future -- a welcome decision that may be enacted with retroactive effect and lead to the full unleashing of the Sensation -- but as it stands today, this lovely new handset's only option is HTC's Sense-tweaked Android 2.3.3 install. You can polish it up by overlaying custom app launchers or UI skins from the Android Market, but customization purists will have to look elsewhere. Sense 3.0With such an introduction, you might surmise that HTC's latest version of Sense, 3.0, hasn't treated us quite the way it should and you'd be right. It isn't that the user experience suffers from any glaring flaws or omissions -- it is generally smooth, responsive and pleasing to the eye -- but we're left disappointed by the indolent pace of innovation that HTC has exhibited with this supposedly major new release. Unfortunately, the Sense 3.0 tweaks have proven to be mostly superficial and there's little in the way of added functionality over and above what you can obtain on a Gingerbread-sporting Incredible S. Let's start off with the bright spots. The overhauled lockscreen is by far and away the biggest and handiest improvement in the latest Sense. It now offers four customizable app shortcuts, which can be dragged into a so-called activation ring and thereby unlock the phone straight into the app. Above the shortcuts, you can have some spectacularly animated weather animations signifying the current weather, or stock updates, or a floating array of your pictures, which too can be dragged into that ring for a closer look. On the whole, it takes the previously dormant, borderline nuisance of a screen and it turns it into a much more dynamic and useful part of the user interface. We like the way that selecting an app shortcut creates an outline of it inside the activation ring, which in itself moves up from the bottom of the screen and closer to the app. These subtle visual clues, along with other hints and animations, help newcomers to smartphones find their way around with little difficulty. There's no denying the fact that, superficially, Sense 3.0 is a clear step ahead of its predecessors. Navigation between homescreens is executed with a three-dimensional animation, implying a carousel arrangement, and there are tons of little visual tweaks suggesting depth in, around, and behind UI elements. Moving left of the left-most homescreen sends you to the right-most one, while skipping in a single direction too quickly pulls your view back, exposes the full carousel, and gives it a rapid spin in that direction. Unlocking the phone in the conventional way spins your first homescreen into view in a similar fashion. This is all well and good, and it certainly makes for a good exhibition of the underlying graphical prowess, but it's purely cosmetic. There's no utilitarian reason for why you'd want to send your homescreens into a washing machine cycle -- that actually takes control of the phone away from you, whereas we'd have thought the whole point of customizing Android was to improve and enhance it, not make it more unwieldy.  Overall, the new Sense UI is designed to make a great first impression, but scratch below the surface and you'll find little substance. We still aren't great fans of the onscreen keyboard, in spite of the extra room on this larger-display handset, and though HTC explicitly promised to improve its input prediction algorithms, we weren't struck by any great improvements there either. Precise text selection and cursor placements are also uniquely challenging on HTC devices, with the execution being arguably worse than on the default Android Gingerbread software. Finally, the move to a more graphically intensive UI does ocassionally take its toll on the phone's otherwise exemplary responsiveness, with detectable traces of lag cropping up here and there. Having said that, let's also give an approving nod to HTC's integration of a Quick Settings menu in the drop-down Android menu (it sits alongside the usual Notifications area) and the nice app switcher that appears when you hold down the Home button. Moreover, the company does a good job of juggling resource use by background tasks, a valuable trait. The reason we're not more enthused about these items is that they're also present and accounted for in the company's other Gingerbread handsets, making the Sensation just another in a succession of phones rather than the singular and outstanding device that its former codename of Pyramid suggested. Performance HTC Watch, the company's newly launched online movie store / rental kiosk, is available on the Sensation, having made its debut on the Flyer. It works on a progressive download basis that's practically indiscernible from streaming, you just end up with the trailer, TV episode, or movie fully downloaded on your phone after you've watched it. There's a small buffering delay before you can start playback, but again, that's part for the streaming course. Although we aren't sure of the actual resolution at which movies are played on the Sensation, they look (and yes, we've been saving this adjective for just the right moment) sensational. That 16:9 screen ratio and the processing power within the phone pair up to deliver a supreme movie-watching experience. If you weren't convinced smartphones were big or good enough to make films enjoyable, you owe it to yourself to check out what HTC has to offer here.  Naturally, you'll be wanting some benchmarks to go with your serving of hands-on impressions. We ran the Sensation through the usual gauntlet, however our usual warning about screen resolution affecting scores must be reiterated here. Quadrant's 3D graphics tests are done at native resolution, which as we mentioned above is a 35 percent more intensive workload for the qHD Sensation than it is for, say, the WVGA Galaxy S II. Don't be shocked, therefore, to hear that the Sensation's scores coalesced around 2,000. Linpack typically gave us around 46MFLOPS, matching the Galaxy S II. Other graphical tests were hamstrung by a 60fps cap, giving us average scores of 58fps in Neocore and 42fps in Nenamark. Needless to say, the full power of that Adreno 220 GPU will need some nice and intensive new games to push it to its limits. It'll still be a good long while, however, before there's anything on Android capable of choking up the hardware inside the Sensation. Wrap-up In terms of design language, HTC is a monoglot and proud of it. The Sensation doesn't break with the company's established styling, yet its subtle physical refinements add up to make it a veritable pleasure to hold and to operate. Combining these excellent ergonomics with the phone's superior battery efficiency and generous qHD display resolution makes the Sensation a formidable foe for Samsung's celebrated new flagship. Given the choice between the two, we'd opt for the Galaxy S II for its brilliant display and snappier performance, but that's just a matter of preference. Ultimately, you'll have to decide what it is you value most in your Android superphone and pick the one that fits those needs best. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lenovo IdeaPad K1 tablet hits some online retailers, still not buy-able Posted: 27 May 2011 08:43 AM PDT  Lenovo still hasn't officially confirmed it, but all signs are pointing to an imminent US launch of its Android-based IdeaPad K1 tablet. It just hit the FCC under the "K1" moniker earlier this month, and it's now gotten a full blown listing on Buy.com, complete with specs and some pictures that show off Lenovo's "custom-built Android interface." Those specs include a 10.1-inch display, a Tegra 2 processor (not a Snapdragon as we had seen on the LePad), 32GB of storage, dual cameras (5 megapixel rear and 2 megapixel front-facing), a microSD card slot, a micro HDMI out, and even a SIM card slot -- somewhat notably it's also listed as coming with Netflix pre-installed. While most of those specs seem like a safe bet, others apparently aren't quite set in stone, the listing alternatively mentions both Android 3.0 and Android 3.1, for instance, and both a 1280 x 720 and 1280 x 800 resolution (though the latter seems likely). What's more, while Buy.com isn't providing a price just yet, the tablet has also hit Krex Computers of all places, where it's listed at $510. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ZiiLabs unveils Jaguar family of Honeycomb tablets for OEMs to devour Posted: 27 May 2011 08:29 AM PDT  ZiiLABS Announce JAGUAR Family of Android 3.X Reference Platforms Modular Tablet Reference Designs Enable OEM's to Meet the Growing Demand for Innovative Next-Generation Android Tablets Singapore – 26th May 2011 – ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd), today introduced its JAGUAR family of high-performance, energy-efficient Android tablet reference platforms. The modular 7" and 10" tablets are designed for the latest Android 3.X compliance and leverage the superior performance, low-power consumption and rich-feature set of the latest ZiiLABS ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 StemCell Processors. Engineered for high-quality, connected and immersive tablet computing, the JAGUAR platforms enable OEMs to meet the growing demand for next-generation Android tablets that deliver stunning 1080p high profile video playback, immersive OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics, high-quality HD video calling and a rich desktop browsing experience including Adobe Flash Player. Based on a motherboard concept, the JAGUAR allows an OEM or ODM to bring to market their own Android 3.X tablets in the shortest possible time. The JAGUAR platforms combine the sleek Industrial Design templates (ID), proven high-speed system design and peripheral modularity required to enable OEMs and their ODM partners to innovate and differentiate critical components such as the LCD display, touch controller, cameras, ID and modem connectivity. JAGUAR reference tablets based on the ZMS-20 will be shown in the ZiiLABS suite (Grand Hyatt Hotel Taipei, Grand Room, #1137) at the Computex 2011 tradeshow in Taipei, Taiwan between 31 May and 4 June. The ZMS-20 features 48 StemCell media processing cores and dual 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 MPCores. "As consumer demand for a wide-range of smarter, more connected tablets increases, so do the OEMs' needs to innovate while also shrinking their time-to-market" said Hock Leow, president of ZiiLABS. "The JAGUAR platform combines our deep understanding and experience working on consumer devices and tablets with our ZMS processors, reference platforms, software and certification know-how to deliver a state-of-the-art platform that minimizes the complexities of introducing next-generation tablets." "Timing is everything and a frenzied land-grab is taking place in the tablet computing market," said Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology. "Android 3.X and ZMS-20 are designed and engineered specifically for this new and exciting tablet market where growth is expected to approach 100 million next year. The JAGUAR platforms based on ZiiLABS' ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 processors push performances to a new level that the world has never seen before and OEMs and ODMs can leverage this with JAGUAR to quickly stake a sizeable claim in this explosive market." Existing JAGUAR based tablet designs will be able to take advantage of 6 GHz of quad-core computing by migrating to the compatible quad ARM-Cortex-A9 based ZMS-40. JAGUAR Platforms - Key Features * Powered by ZiiLABS ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 o Dual and Quad Core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores with Neon o 48 and 96 core floating point StemCell media processors * Robust Android BSP and Middleware * Designed for Android 3.0+ Compliance * Modular Motherboard Design to enable OEM/ODM Customization * Wide-angle 7"(1024x600) and 10" (1280x800) LCD options * Capacitive and Resistive LCD touch options * Up to 2GB high-speed 64-bit memory o High performance and low-power LPDDR2-800 for super high memory bandwidth of 6.4GBytes per second o DDR2/DDR3 for low cost * 5MP rear and HD front facing camera as standard * Wi-Fi b/g/n, 3G/4G/WiMax and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR * GPS, accelerometer, digital compass and gyroscope * Stereo speakers and dual Microphone array * Up to 64GB internal storage * USB 2.0 port * SDHC Card sl * Extended battery life with robust dynamic power management * Instantaneous On feature Availability The JAGUAR Android reference tablets are sampling now. For additional information and to arrange meetings at Computex visit: www.ziilabs.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Telecommunications device for the deaf gets hitched to a rotary phone, hacked to run Zork Posted: 27 May 2011 07:59 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NASA asteroid mission could explain how life began (and how ours might end) Posted: 27 May 2011 07:27 AM PDT  There's a slight chance that the Earth could get hit by an asteroid in about 170 years, but don't you worry -- NASA's all over it. This week, the agency announced a new mouthful of a mission known as Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, for short. The $800 million initiative, part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, will send a spacecraft to link up with 1999 RQ36 -- a nearby asteroid that's likely rich in carbon and other organic molecules that could explain how life forms originated. After about four years of space travel, the craft should get close enough to map the asteroid's surface, before using its robotic arm to extract at least two ounces of material and return it to Earth by 2023. Scientists will also pay close attention to something known as the Yarkovsky effect, which determines how an asteroid's path changes as it absorbs and emits energy from the sun. OSIRIS-REx will attempt to measure this affect for the first time, perhaps allowing NASA to predict the trajectories of potentially hazardous asteroids -- including the RQ36. The 1,900-foot wide rock is expected to approach Earth by the year 2182 and, according to recent estimates, there's a one in a thousand chance that it could actually strike our planet. Now if you excuse us, we have to go prepare a bunker for our great-great-grandchildren. Head past the break for a video and full press release. NASA to Launch New Science Mission to Asteroid in 2016 05.25.11 NASA will launch a spacecraft to an asteroid in 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system's formation and how life began. The mission, called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth. "This is a critical step in meeting the objectives outlined by President Obama to extend our reach beyond low-Earth orbit and explore into deep space," said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. "It's robotic missions like these that will pave the way for future human space missions to an asteroid and other deep space destinations." NASA selected OSIRIS-REx after reviewing three concept study reports for new scientific missions, which also included a sample return mission from the far side of the Moon and a mission to the surface of Venus. Asteroids are leftovers formed from the cloud of gas and dust -- the solar nebula -- that collapsed to form our sun and the planets about 4.5 billion years ago. As such, they contain the original material from the solar nebula, which can tell us about the conditions of our solar system's birth. After traveling four years, OSIRIS-REx will approach the primitive, near Earth asteroid designated 1999 RQ36 in 2020. Once within three miles of the asteroid, the spacecraft will begin six months of comprehensive surface mapping. The science team then will pick a location from where the spacecraft's arm will take a sample. The spacecraft gradually will move closer to the site, and the arm will extend to collect more than two ounces of material for return to Earth in 2023. The mission, excluding the launch vehicle, is expected to cost approximately $800 million. The sample will be stored in a capsule that will land at Utah's Test and Training Range in 2023. The capsule's design will be similar to that used by NASA's Stardust spacecraft, which returned the world's first comet particles from comet Wild 2 in 2006. The OSIRIS-REx sample capsule will be taken to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The material will be removed and delivered to a dedicated research facility following stringent planetary protection protocol. Precise analysis will be performed that cannot be duplicated by spacecraft-based instruments. RQ36 is approximately 1,900 feet in diameter or roughly the size of five football fields. The asteroid, little altered over time, is likely to represent a snapshot of our solar system's infancy. The asteroid also is likely rich in carbon, a key element in the organic molecules necessary for life. Organic molecules have been found in meteorite and comet samples, indicating some of life's ingredients can be created in space. Scientists want to see if they also are present on RQ36. "This asteroid is a time capsule from the birth of our solar system and ushers in a new era of planetary exploration," said Jim Green, director, NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington. "The knowledge from the mission also will help us to develop methods to better track the orbits of asteroids." The mission will accurately measure the "Yarkovsky effect" for the first time. The effect is a small push caused by the sun on an asteroid, as it absorbs sunlight and re-emits that energy as heat. The small push adds up over time, but it is uneven due to an asteroid's shape, wobble, surface composition and rotation. For scientists to predict an Earth-approaching asteroid's path, they must understand how the effect will change its orbit. OSIRIS-REx will help refine RQ36's orbit to ascertain its trajectory and devise future strategies to mitigate possible Earth impacts from celestial objects. Michael Drake of the University of Arizona in Tucson is the mission's principal investigator. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will provide overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver will build the spacecraft. The OSIRIS-REx payload includes instruments from the University of Arizona, Goddard, Arizona State University in Tempe and the Canadian Space Agency. NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., the Langley Research Center in Hampton Va., and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., also are involved. The science team is composed of numerous researchers from universities, private and government agencies. This is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. The first, New Horizons, was launched in 2006. It will fly by the Pluto-Charon system in July 2015, then target another Kuiper Belt object for study. The second mission, Juno, will launch in August to become the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter from pole to pole and study the giant planet's atmosphere and interior. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T-Mobile G2x experiencing reboot issues, Gingerbread may be the remedy (update) Posted: 27 May 2011 06:51 AM PDT  As it turns out, our tale doesn't stop there. A well-worded statement was sent out explaining, "a small percentage of customers have commented about possible improvements and we are working with LG to deliver a software update." A bit of a far cry from confirming reboot issues (or bugs of any kind, for that matter), but it is refreshing to hear some sort of acknowledgement at least. T-Mobile didn't get specific on what those "possible improvements" may entail, but the carrier also reiterated plans to bump the flagship phone up to Gingerbread "by summer" -- possibly tackling the bugs at the same time. The end to our story has yet to be written, but we sure hope it's a happy one. Update: TmoNews just posted a screenshot (shown after the break) that shows a resolutions sheet to help employees troubleshoot a few customer concerns about the G2x. The list includes overheating, rebooting, low battery life, and WiFi handoffs. Now, it's important to note that this isn't T-Mobile acknowledging these as known issues; the company is just receiving enough calls on them that it needed to add these to the list of standard support responses.  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Smartphones, not DVRs, are the biggest threat to TV adverts Posted: 27 May 2011 05:37 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nokia: iDoalotmore talking about Symbian than a zombie OS deserves Posted: 27 May 2011 05:05 AM PDT   | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Signal Process introduces BreakOut Stereo and Stomp for the most serious of iOS musicians Posted: 27 May 2011 04:25 AM PDT   | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sony says PlayStation Network will return to Asia, starting tomorrow Posted: 27 May 2011 03:40 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xperia Play finally lands at O2 UK, available in black or white Posted: 27 May 2011 03:04 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Another Samsung WiFi Galaxy Tab 10.1 hits the FCC, this time dubbed GT-P7310 Posted: 27 May 2011 02:03 AM PDT  Update: A bit more digging found a pair of 10.1-inchers demonstrated in Monaco with models listed as the GT-P7300 (a WiFi plus 3G Galaxy Tab 10.1) and GT-P7310, which, you guessed it, is a WiFi-only version. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NHK demos Hybridcast streaming, teams up internet and cable TV for superior 3D delivery Posted: 27 May 2011 01:11 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 27 May 2011 12:08 AM PDT  Of course, this value-add won't come free and will certainly require a subscription fee. The cost to the consumer, though, is still very much unclear as is the service's integration with Apple's $99 per year MobileMe sham. And you know those rumors about MobileMe being offered as a free service? We wouldn't be surprised if it stays at $99 with iCloud being announced as a "free" feature update; aka, an $8.25 per month music subscription that also provides web access to your synced bookmarks, contacts, email, and calendar. Regardless, it's this subscription model that has the major labels so enthusiastic as it will finally allow them to extort fees for all that pirated audio you may have stumbled upon since Napster was loosed on an unprepared music industry a decade ago. All signs point to WWDC for this to get official but we're sure to hear more -- much more -- before the event kicks off on June 6th. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cadence's 4-Bit Chrono Watch lets you do business, disguises your inner geek Posted: 26 May 2011 11:02 PM PDT  Cadence Watch Company Unveils 4-Bit Chronograph Watch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PayPal swiftly slaps Google with mobile payment suit Posted: 26 May 2011 09:58 PM PDT  Just this morning we reported on the rather jovial atmosphere at Google's big mobile payment announcement -- well, it looks like PayPal's prepared to bring an end to the celebration. According to Bloomberg, PayPal filed a suit against Google today in a California Superior Court, alleging that former PayPal executive, and one of this morning's MCs, Osama Bedier misappropriated the company's trade secrets. The suit further fingered Stephanie Tilenius, also formerly with PayPal, of violating the terms of her contract in recruiting Bedier. Though we've yet to get our hands on any clear details about which trade secrets PayPal's pointing to, we'd say the timing speaks volumes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sony Ericsson boosts Xperia Arc and Play to 2.3.3, includes Facebook integration Posted: 26 May 2011 09:54 PM PDT  Well, Sony Ericsson might just deserve a gold star for effort. A week ago we reported that a possible rollout of the long-rumored Facebook integration update would come to select Xperia series phones this week, and we're seeing the process begin today. The recipients of this particular push are the Arc and Play, though it will come to all new Xperia devices down the road. While the download includes Android 2.3.3, the major focus is on "Facebook Inside Xperia," another way for you to sync your social media with other aspects of your phone, such as contacts, calendar, and photo gallery. Other improvements in the package include WiFi stability, improved battery performance, HD video recording performance (Arc only), and bug fixes. Don't stress if your phone hasn't seen the update yet; Sony Ericsson says it's rolling it out gradually due to issues with individual markets and carrier branding. No specific timeframe was given, though the company mentioned that "it can take a while." Should you be one of the lucky recipients to get it today, however, sound off in the comments below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ASUS to unveil a phone-docking tablet at Computex? Posted: 26 May 2011 08:40 PM PDT  But the real meat here lies in the remaining image, which is scheduled to close the loop on the "Pad or Phone" teaser campaign this coming Sunday. What's new is merely the intriguing line "How about Both?" below the old text, accompanying the silhouette of what appear to be a large tablet and a smaller phone-like device. Could this mean ASUS is toying with the idea of an Atrix-like docking combo, except the lapdock is instead just a tablet? We could well be stretching here, but hey, ASUS does say it wants to "break the rules," right? Stay tuned as we'll find out more at Computex 2011 next week. [Thanks, Anas A.] Update: It should be noted that the phone-docking idea we're referring to is not related to the MeMO and MeMic duo -- look at the second pic closely and you'll see that the smaller device has four Android soft keys, whereas the MeMic has different buttons. Check out the close-up after the break.   A close-up of the devices in the second pic:  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sony stands behind its digital projectors, claims the only thing ruining movies is Russell Brand Posted: 26 May 2011 07:29 PM PDT  All of these go directly against information from the original "Deep Focus" source, although it still doesn't explain why they could see such a marked difference between films in the same theater being projected digitally or on film. However, simpler explanations like an old and weakened bulb, a film projector set outside the specs, or unintentional misconfiguration could account for all of that. Until this is sorted, all we can recommend for your summer movie viewing is that if you do see anything out of order, don't let that jumbo tub of popcorn and Icee slow you down -- complain to management loudly and quickly to get the picture fixed. Check after the break for Sony's claims, as well as more detailed information from a projectionist we spoke to that broke down just how the technology works. The projectionist that Boston.com spoke with clearly has little to no understanding of how the systems work and is likely a manager that also works in the booth to start shows, the projectionists of yore are long gone in most cases. While the 3D lenses in the Sony are polarized, the images do not alternate, they are projected at the same time and split through a prism system in the lens, but really that's besides the point. All of the 3D systems we have installed have been selected based on a number of variables such as screen size and auditorium length. Based on that information we can determine if the Sony projector will be able to light the screen to SMPTE spec. The SMPTE specifications on light are very clear and the DCI specification for digital equipment follows in line with that. Basically 2D digital projection should have 14 footlamberts (a measurement of reflected light) at the center of the screen, in comparison 35mm spec is 16fl of light through an open gate (meaning no film and no shutter movement) if a projector is installed to meet that spec the light output of the digital will be seen to exceed that of film. in any house where we cannot make the required light we use a bigger system, most recently these have been made by Barco. In addition to the light levels the digital projectors are color corrected to within ±.005 of the DCI color spec. This means that when we correct with the polarizers in place on the Sony system for 2D movies that the color will be virtually identical to that seen on a DLP projector without a polarizer in the light path. They also fail to mention some of the advantages of the way the Sony system works, such as reduced eye fatigue. DLP systems alternate images as implied in the article, they do so by electronically shifting the polarizer state for the left and right eye 3 times per frame per second. This ultimately results in the same situation you find with shutter glasses in that there is flicker that causes headaches and sometimes motion sickness, the difference is that the glasses do not actively perform this task, but close on eye while watching a 3D film ad you may see it (you may not, the system is projecting 144fps or 72 per eye, though make no mistake the content is still 24fps). The Sony system does not have this issue as it splits the 2K image across the top and bottom of the chip and then overlays them on the screen, the dual polarizers on the Sony are completely passive with not electronics involved. To give a brief background of my knowledge base, I have been a technician for going on a decade, I have been installing digitals since the first "wide" roullout of 100 screens that Disney purchased for Chicken Little 3D. I have industry certifications through Sony, Barco and Dolby on D-Cinema equipment as well as my department's highest level of internal certification and I am Net+ and A+ certified. As far as why the film and digitally projected showing had such a difference, I think it's likely one of two things, the 35mm could have been way above spec, which can happen easily due to the way the lamps are adjusted in many cases or the lamp in the digital was not adjusted properly. The biggest issue I run into is a lack of training within the theaters. I do my best to train when the systems are installed or when I am onsite for service calls, but these days so many people get rotated through the booth that should a lamp go out Friday night they just slap one in without making any of the necessary adjustments. I'd like to know what was wrong with the management of that theater though, how do you host a premiere without making sure everything is perfect first? I myself haven't done any due to my location within the country, but I have talked to a number of my coworkers about them and they are on site days before they happen making sure every detail is perfect. In fact many directors want to specify special color corrections for their premieres in digital or ask that sound be tweaked out of spec and so on. I think the biggest problem digital cinema faces is that the operations departments of most chains think we can take a hands off approach to this equipment, and that is not currently the case. Proper lamp maintenance is crucial in any theater, but even more so in digital. 5-10 years from now when the laser light sources are in the field no-one will ever have need to go in the booth outside of cleaning the port glass and the maintenance calls myself and my cohorts perform. Sony Digital Cinema 4K projection system information: The Facts Sony projection systems are designed to deliver a bright image, with stunning resolution, for the moviegoer. Hopefully, the below information will clarify the inaccurate information that is currently circulating on the web. General: Sony projection systems are capable of both 2D and 3D projection with a 3D lens or 2D with a 2D lens. 3D projection utilizes RealD technology. Lens technology: Sony projectors do not rapidly alternate two images. Our system displays both left and right eye images at the same time, all the time. Polarized glasses allow the viewer to continuously see the left image with the left eye and the right image with the right eye, thereby mimicking the way our eyes naturally see in 3D. Some other systems alternate the images, but Sony systems do not. Sony 3D systems are not the only ones with two beams of light. Any double-stacked system would have two beams, as would a RealD XL cinema system on other projectors. Lens change: It takes less than 20 minutes for a trained technician to change the lens. Sony has a system in development to make the change even simpler. If there are cases where it is not possible to change the lens, the 3D lens will play back 2D content. If the system is setup for 4.5fL (studio recommended) in 3D, it will play 2D content at about 14fl without glasses and filters, which falls well within the SMPTE spec of 14fL +/- 3flL. RealD filters for Sony systems only reduce the light by about 20%, because light out of the Sony projector is already polarized, unlike our competitors. Removing the 3D glasses has the most effect on the visible light. Changing a lens does not require entering the projection system. Lenses are changed from the front of the projector. There is no security risk, nor is there danger of shutting down the system. Projector operators are required to login, on all digital cinema systems, by the DCI Specification. Financing: While we are not at liberty to discuss the details of specific customer transactions, most of our customers work with integrators, using the well-known Virtual Print Fee (VPF) model. We sell our projectors to those integrators. Sony is also an integrator, offering VPF agreements directly to exhibitors. We do not negotiate the exchange of projectors for pre-show advertising. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HTC officially dissolves locked bootloader policy Posted: 26 May 2011 06:25 PM PDT  There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we've listened. Today, I'm confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience.We're holding out hope that this policy will also be retroactive, but this is very welcome news regardless. Ball's in your court, Motorola. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netflix updates Android app, expands device support Posted: 26 May 2011 06:02 PM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Windows tablet OS preview coming next week? Posted: 26 May 2011 05:17 PM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NASA commits to Orion-based Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle for space exploration Posted: 26 May 2011 04:53 PM PDT  There's been a lot of talk of things coming to an end at NASA lately, but there are also some new beginnings, and the space agency has now officially filled in one big gap. It's announced that the so-called Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (or MPCV) will be its go-to space exploration vehicle for missions beyond Low Earth Orbit -- presumably, the individual spacecraft will get names more up to the level of boldly-named vehicles like Endeavor and Atlantis. If it looks a little familiar, that's because the MPCV will be based on the Orion spacecraft that was developed under the now-canceled Constellation program and, like it, it will be built by Lockheed Martin. Once its put into service, the spacecraft will be capable of carrying four astronauts on missions up to 21 days, and it could even be used as a backup for cargo and crew delivery to the ISS -- to actually get into space, it would blast off atop a heavy lift rocket, and then splash down Apollo-style in the Pacific Ocean. Head on past the break for NASA's official announcement. NASA Announces Key Decision For Next Deep Space Transportation System WASHINGTON -- NASA has reached an important milestone for the next U.S. transportation system that will carry humans into deep space. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced today that the system will be based on designs originally planned for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Those plans now will be used to develop a new spacecraft known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). "We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," Bolden said. "The NASA Authorization Act lays out a clear path forward for us by handing off transportation to the International Space Station to our private sector partners, so we can focus on deep space exploration. As we aggressively continue our work on a heavy lift launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track." Lockheed Martin Corp. will continue working to develop the MPCV. The spacecraft will carry four astronauts for 21-day missions and be able to land in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. The spacecraft will have a pressurized volume of 690 cubic feet, with 316 cubic feet of habitable space. It is designed to be 10 times safer during ascent and entry than its predecessor, the space shuttle. "This selection does not indicate a business as usual mentality for NASA programs," said Douglas Cooke, associate administrator for the agency's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. "The Orion government and industry team has shown exceptional creativity in finding ways to keep costs down through management techniques, technical solutions and innovation." To learn more about the development of the MPCV, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philips GoGear Connect 7 Android tablet launching in China soon? Posted: 26 May 2011 04:22 PM PDT  It's rumored to be launching soon, Supposedly hitting shelves in June. Instead of picking Honeycomb, Philips decided to go it on its own. Underneath its skin you'll find Gingerbread, We'd prefer an "entirely for tablet" OS instead. There's a front facing camera for video chat And a "drawing area" -- imagine that! It's got a 7-inch screen and microSD, As for price and processor it's wait and see. [Thanks, Holman] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vodafone truck can recharge 2,000 devices at once, is coming to an Isle of Wight near you Posted: 26 May 2011 03:51 PM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Researchers boost multi-core CPU performance with better prefetching Posted: 26 May 2011 03:12 PM PDT  Piling on cores is one way to boost performance, but it's not necessarily the most efficient way -- researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new prefetching technique for processors that could boost performance by up to 40-percent. As you may know, any data not stored in a CPU's cache must be pulled from RAM, but as more cores are added they can create a bottleneck by competing for memory access. To counter this designers use prefetching to predict what information will be needed and grab it ahead of time, but guessing wrong can hurt performance. Researchers tackled this problem from two fronts: first, by creating a better algorithm for divvying up bandwidth, and second, by selectively turning off prefetching when it might slow the CPU. Full PR and an abstract of the study being published June 9th are after the break. New Bandwidth Management Techniques Boost Operating Efficiency In Multi-Core Chips For Immediate Release Release Date: 05.25.2011 Filed under Releases Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed two new techniques to help maximize the performance of multi-core computer chips by allowing them to retrieve data more efficiently, which boosts chip performance by 10 to 40 percent. To do this, the new techniques allow multi-core chips to deal with two things more efficiently: allocating bandwidth and "prefetching" data. Multi-core chips are supposed to make our computers run faster. Each core on a chip is its own central processing unit, or computer brain. However, there are things that can slow these cores. For example, each core needs to retrieve data from memory that is not stored on its chip. There is a limited pathway – or bandwidth – these cores can use to retrieve that off-chip data. As chips have incorporated more and more cores, the bandwidth has become increasingly congested – slowing down system performance. One of the ways to expedite core performance is called prefetching. Each chip has its own small memory component, called a cache. In prefetching, the cache predicts what data a core will need in the future and retrieves that data from off-chip memory before the core needs it. Ideally, this improves the core's performance. But, if the cache's prediction is inaccurate, it unnecessarily clogs the bandwidth while retrieving the wrong data. This actually slows the chip's overall performance. "The first technique relies on criteria we developed to determine how much bandwidth should be allotted to each core on a chip," says Dr. Yan Solihin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. Some cores require more off-chip data than others. The researchers use easily-collected data from the hardware counters on each chip to determine which cores need more bandwidth. "By better distributing the bandwidth to the appropriate cores, the criteria are able to maximize system performance," Solihin says. "The second technique relies on a set of criteria we developed for determining when prefetching will boost performance and should be utilized," Solihin says, "as well as when prefetching would slow things down and should be avoided." These criteria also use data from each chip's hardware counters. The prefetching criteria would allow manufacturers to make multi-core chips that operate more efficiently, because each of the individual cores would automatically turn prefetching on or off as needed. Utilizing both sets of criteria, the researchers were able to boost multi-core chip performance by 40 percent, compared to multi-core chips that do not prefetch data, and by 10 percent over multi-core chips that always prefetch data. The paper, "Studying the Impact of Hardware Prefetching and Bandwidth Partitioning in Chip-Multiprocessors," will be presented June 9 at the International Conference on Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems (SIGMETRICS) in San Jose, Calif. The paper was co-authored by Dr. Fang Liu, a former Ph.D. student at NC State. The research was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation. NC State's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is part of the university's College of Engineering. -shipman- Note to Editors: The study abstract follows. "Studying the Impact of Hardware Prefetching and Bandwidth Partitioning in Chip-Multiprocessors" Authors: Fang Liu and Yan Solihin, North Carolina State University Presented: June 9, 2011, at the International Conference on Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems, San Jose, Calif. Abstract: Modern high performance microprocessors widely employ hardware prefetching to hide long memory access latency. While useful, hardware prefetching tends to aggravate the bandwidth wall, a problem where system performance is increasingly limited by the availability of off-chip pin bandwidth in Chip Multi-Processors (CMPs). In this paper, we propose an analytical model-based study to investigate how hardware prefetching and memory bandwidth partitioning impact CMP system performance and how they interact. The model includes a composite prefetching metric that can help determine under which conditions prefetching can improve system performance, a bandwidth partitioning model that takes into account prefetching effects, and a derivation of the weighted speedup-optimum bandwidth partition sizes for different cores. Through model-driven case studies, we find several interesting observations that can be valuable for future CMP system design and optimization. We also explore simulation-based empirical evaluation to validate the observations and show that maximum system performance can be achieved by selective prefetching, guided by the composite prefetching metric, coupled with dynamic bandwidth partitioning. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least Posted: 26 May 2011 02:41 PM PDT  [Thanks, Chris] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart Posted: 26 May 2011 02:17 PM PDT  The e-reader market just got a lot more crowded this week with the launch of the touch-enabled Nook and Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Will either device be able to take down the Amazon's industry defining Kindle? We've broken down the specs on the two new readers, the Kindle, and Sony's comparable Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) to find out which device will come out on top. There's a lot of overlap features between the different readers, like infrared touchscreens and Pearl E Ink displays. All of those important details and more in the chart after the break. Check it out, because you obviously like reading things.
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| The Engadget Podcast, live at 5:00PM ET! Posted: 26 May 2011 01:45 PM PDT  Hey, we're back again, taking a break for our busy liveblogging schedule to bring you another episode of the Engadget Podcast. Tim and Brian will be joined in studio by each other, because none of our usual guests would return our phone calls. But we're going to be strong for you, because there's no crying in podcasting. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AirStash wireless flash drive (and iOS app) review Posted: 26 May 2011 01:30 PM PDT  The AirStash is much like the Seagate GoFlex Satellite hard drive we reviewed earlier this month, but unlike the GoFlex this is a BYO storage affair. It's essentially an SD card reader that creates its own WiFi network, enabling you to access the content on whichever card is inserted as long as you're connected to the network it emits. Cards up to 32GB in size are supported, and you can load up any kind of content your heart desires -- but more on that in a moment.    You can also store video and audio files on an SD card and stream them to the i-device, even if they're protected by iTunes DRM. We were bummed to discover that the AirStash+ app doesn't support background audio, so once you leave the app you lose whatever was playing. You can also store documents on your SD card for quick access in other apps. Since the dongle supports the open WebDAV standard, you can mount it as a server in apps like GoodReader and read / write files directly to it wirelessly. We're still not quite sure what the advantage would be over completely cloud-based solutions like Dropbox, but if you're paranoid about privacy and need to keep your data locked down, AirStash's solution could be worthwhile. The AirStash is a solid option if you're looking to add storage to your device and have a stack of SD cards lying around. Dragging and dropping a video to an SD card and streaming to an iPad is much more enjoyable than waiting for a needlessly long iTunes sync, and we're definitely fans of this simple workaround. Not having to purchase Apple's Camera Connection kit is also a nice value proposition, though the import options aren't as robust as we'd like. Overall, this device is definitely for a certain crowd of people, but if Apple's storage options just aren't cutting it, you may want to give the AirStash a proper once-over. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA 3D Vision machines get 3D YouTube video support on Firefox Posted: 26 May 2011 01:02 PM PDT  NVIDIA 3D Vision Video Now Available Worldwide on YouTube Users Can Easily Share and Enjoy High-Quality, Stereoscopic 3D Videos on YouTube With Their NVIDIA 3D Vision PCs SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 05/26/2011 -- NVIDIA today announced that YouTube is for the first time giving users the ability to view thousands of 3D videos in rich, high-quality stereoscopic 3D on their NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ PCs and notebooks when using the latest version of the Mozilla Firefox Web browser. "We're excited to introduce HTML5 and WebM support to the thousands of 3D videos available on YouTube," said Jonathan Huang, 3D Product Manager at YouTube. "By embracing these open standards, NVIDIA 3D Vision users now have a great way of experiencing YouTube's library of 3D content." "Firefox with 3D Vision creates a stunning and smooth 3D video experience using HTML5 video based on open standards," said Jay Sullivan, VP of Products at Mozilla. "3D Vision from NVIDIA is a great example of the rich, innovative experiences that are being built on top of the speed and graphics power that Firefox delivers to the Web." "Sales of our ASUS G series notebooks with 3D Vision have been strong," said Ben Thacker, vice president of Systems Business Group-Distribution, ASUS North America. "Now that users can view YouTube videos in high-quality 3D, we expect interest in the ASUS 3D Vision models to grow significantly." With a number of new, consumer 3D video cameras launched this year, YouTube's support of NVIDIA 3D Vision technology extends its existing commitment to 3D, enabling even more consumers and 3D enthusiasts to share their 3D videos online. With attractively priced models now available from JVC, Sony and other leading vendors, users now have another easy way to capture and post high-quality 3D videos on YouTube, 3DVisionLive.com, or even their own websites by embedding the YouTube 3D video player. To further showcase the new YouTube stereoscopic 3D video streaming capabilities and some of the latest professional and user-generated 3D YouTube videos, NVIDIA is now hosting the top YouTube stereoscopic 3D videos on its 3D web community site at www.3DVisionLive.com/YT3D. "YouTube 3D on an NVIDIA 3D Vision PC is an amazing experience," said Phil Eisler, general manager of 3D Vision at NVIDIA. "Now 3D Vision PC users can enjoy over 525 games, YouTube videos and photos in theater-quality, full-resolution 3D." To view YouTube stereoscopic 3D videos an NVIDIA 3D Vision-equipped PC or notebook and the latest NVIDIA GeForce® drivers (version 275 or above) are required, as well as Firefox (version 4 or above), which includes support for HTML5 video streaming. Users will also need to select the HTML5 viewing option when viewing a YouTube 3D video: http://www.youtube.com/select_3d_mode. In addition, with NVIDIA 3DTV Play™ software, users can connect their PCs to their 3D HDTVs to enjoy 3D YouTube videos on the "big screen" in the comfort of their living rooms. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amazon launches Mac Download Store with more than 250 titles Posted: 26 May 2011 11:44 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tesla Roadster 2.5 gets 119 MPGe rating from EPA, still as expensive as ever (updated) Posted: 26 May 2011 11:32 AM PDT  Move over, Nissan, because there's a new MPGe king in town. Yesterday, Update: We just heard from the EPA, which clarified that this is not their official rating for the Roadster 2.5. These numbers are Tesla's, and the window sticker itself is a mockup - not a legitimate sticker from the EPA. Still, if you'd like to see it, it's down after the break.  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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