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Friday, November 11, 2011

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ASUS Transformer Prime already getting the hands-on treatment

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 11:15 AM PST

Considering ASUS just officially let the quad-core cat out of the bag two days ago, we didn't expect to see an Eee Pad Transformer Prime hands-on claw its way to the surface quite this quickly. Nonetheless, here's the first hands-on (that we've seen anyway) of an engineering model of the pioneering tablet. According to Mr. Henrique Martin over at ZTOP, the Prime's big standouts are sound quality and speed (no real surprise there). He's also given us a glimpse at a couple of software updates courtesy of ASUS. It's not the most in-depth first look we've ever seen, but we'll take it. For more photos and videos of the Tegra 3 tablet running Shadowgun and Supernotes, hit the source link below.

Google announces Android 'special event' for November 16th in Los Angeles

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 11:01 AM PST

We just got word from Google of an Android-themed event next week, with little more than the words "These Go to Eleven" right up top -- a reference to a phrase from the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. To top things off, the email came from "Nigel Tufnel," Christopher Guest's character from the film. The event kicks off in Los Angeles at 2PM local time (that's 5PM for you folks on the East Coast) on Wednesday, November 16th. We'll be there live, and so will you -- catch the livestream at YouTube.com/Android. There are a few more subtle hints in the invite teaser image, so jump past the break to see if you can pick them out.

Broadcom's got a WICED game it plays, to make smart devices feel this way

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 10:45 AM PST

Broadcom wants you to fall in love with its BCM 4319 WICED (Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices) platform -- a weeny 802.11 a/b/g /n WiFI module that can be added to any device that uses a microcontroller. Jimmy one into your fridge, digital camera or aircon and it'll find its own way to the cloud. With instant networking for kit like this, doctors could monitor patients vital signs, your holiday snaps could find their own way online and, most importantly of all, you can make sure the kids aren't fiddling with the darn thermostat again.
Show full PR text
Broadcom Introduces New Wi-Fi Module Bringing Wireless Connectivity to an Array of Previously Non-Networked Devices

Opens Doors for Wi-Fi Adoption in Emerging Markets Including Connected Appliances, Smart Energy Systems and Cloud-based Health and Home Management Services

Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Our products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. Broadcom provides the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(r). www.broadcom.com. (PRNewsFoto/BROADCOM) IRVINE, CA UNITED STATES

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Self-contained Wi-Fi subsystem with embedded processor, a streamlined and simple connectivity API and complete software development environment allows manufacturers to incorporate wireless connectivity into a broad range of products that previously did not feature networking capability
Breakthrough "self-hosted" Wi-Fi and networking software stack eliminates impact on host processor to manage connectivity in resource-constrained devices
Platform enables simplified Wi-Fi integration in MCU-based systems and creates new opportunities for Wi-Fi proliferation into emerging markets

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today unveiled its new Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platform (pronounced "wik-id"). The new module eases development effort and simplifies the implementation of Wi-Fi connectivity in an array of consumer devices, especially those with no current networking support. Visit Broadcom.com for more news on wireless connectivity.

The new Wi-Fi module, featuring the Broadcom® BCM4319 wireless LAN MAC/baseband/radio, includes an embedded processor and unique "self-hosted" Wi-Fi networking library and software application stack, allowing manufacturers to easily integrate wireless connectivity into any MCU based consumer product. WICED-based modules enable the addition of secure, interoperable Wi-Fi functionality via a simple serial port using a basic command set that does not require any significant changes in product micro-controller architectures.

The WICED platform enables Wi-Fi in several emerging markets including connected appliances, smart energy systems, and cloud-based health and home management services.

Home Appliances: When WICED is integrated into appliances such as washing machines and air conditioners, users can monitor energy consumption and control the products either at home or remotely.
Consumer Electronics: WICED modules can be easily designed into portable consumer electronics like digital cameras and audio products for file sharing and access to internet-based storage and applications.
Cloud-Based Services: Because of its low power and small size, WICED solutions can be built into sensors and monitors for remote and cloud-based healthcare, fitness and security capabilities.

Modules based on Broadcom's WICED platform are now shipping to top tier appliance OEMs and makers of monitoring and control electronics.

Product Highlights/Key Facts:

WICED leverages Broadcom's advanced Wi-Fi technology and products. Key product features and benefits include:
The BCM4319 single-chip 802.11a/b/g /n solution, with radio, MAC, baseband and integrated power amplifier (PA). A complete development kit with software debugger, compiler and test board is also available.
Easy-to-use software development and applications library with an innovative application programming interface (API) that reduces development complexity required to access and utilize advanced Wi-Fi capabilities.
Serial-to-Wi-Fi API enables high-speed TCP/IP throughput of greater than 20 megabits per second that enables advanced applications and support for key I/O interfaces, including USB, UART, SPI and SDIO.
Built-in support for Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Protected Set-up allow end users to get connected simply and securely.

Engadget Primed: HDTV technologies detailed, past and future

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PST

Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.


Like so many things in life, when it comes to high-definition televisions, size matters. So, too, does picture quality -- we like watching the devil in crisp detail, after all. As the centerpiece of home entertainment systems, today's flat big-screen HDTVs pull triple duty. They're the preferred display when you're braining zombies during a flesh-tearing PS3 game of Dead Island. They're ideal for watching zombies (er, walkers) get brained on AMC's hit The Walking Dead. And in terms of social status, big HDTVs serve notice that, yes world, you've arrived. So join us as we explore and demystify the acronym-filled habitat of HDTVs -- and in the process maybe save your bank account from getting bitten.

In this installment of Primed, we'll examine the two main breeds of flat-panel HDTVs, including a look at liquid crystal display and plasma technologies. We'll also put screen size, resolution and frame rates under the microscope. We'll wrap things up with a view of what's on the high-def horizon and close out with a critical assessment of 3D HDTV. Strap yourselves in, couch jockeys, it's time for Primed.

Table of Contents
Rewind
Mind your p's & i's
Back in black
LCD
Fast-forward
Not ready for prime time
Wrap-up

Rewind
 Return to top

Folklore tells us Philo Farnsworth was fourteen when, in 1921, he hit on the idea of an image dissector -- to wit, television. What an awesome invention. And what an awesome name! You go, Philo. As the story goes, the inventor of modern TV drew inspiration from the back-and-forth plowing and planting of potatoes on the family farm in Idaho.

US Patent and Trademark Office records show us that Farnsworth received a patent for history's first fully electronic television system in 1927. His image dissector converted individual elements of an image into electricity, which could be transmitted and "painted" onto a screen one line at a time. More specifically, his device was a tube that captured an image through a glass lens and focused the image onto a plate coated with cesium oxide (Cs20). When light struck the cesium oxide-coated plate, it emitted negatively charged photoelectrons. Electrostatic deflecting plates then arranged the electron image into rows of lines. In fact, Farnsworth's first successful TV transmission in 1927 was just one flat line, sort of the C-SPAN of its day.

Smash cut to November 1936, North London. The BBC began transmitting the world's first "high-definition" service on one channel to an audience of hundreds. These daily, two-hour broadcasts were only high-def when compared to previous mechanical transmission systems, which delivered as few as 30 lines of resolution. Those early BBC broadcasts displayed as many as 405 lines. And that's how it was before the digital era. Your grandma's RCA cathode ray tube analog TV displayed images in lines, not pixels. As we will see, modern high-definition raised the bar on resolution. In any case, the British commandeered all the equipment for national defense when the Nazis launched WWII and started bombing London. Talk about a buzz kill.

The French and even the Russians moved the needle on high-definition TV. France rolled out an analog system in 1949 that delivered 819 lines, which technically would be high-def by today's standards, but it broadcast only in black-and-white. About a decade later, the Soviet Union announced it developed something it called the Transformator, a high-def analog TV system capable of 1,125 lines of resolution. The Russians never deployed it, however.

NHK in 1979 unveiled the world's first consumer digital HDTV

Our HDTV globetrotting continues to Japan, where state broadcaster NHK in 1979 unveiled the world's first consumer digital HDTV, known as the Hi-Vision or MUSE system after its Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding compression technology. It still was a bandwidth hog, requiring about twice the signal processing of the analog television system used in North America at the time. And the display aspect ratio -- the ratio of the width of the screen to its height -- was 5:3, not the eye-friendly 16:9 standard found in TVs today. Yet MUSE had four times the resolution of analog. The future came into focus. High-definition television was upon us.


Mind your p's & i's
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As in any era of technology transition, there was chaos in HDTV's formative years with countries and companies adhering to different systems. By 1996, some semblance of domestic order came when the Federal Communications Commission approved HDTV and digital TV broadcasting standards, which the Advanced Television Systems Committee embraced. As of June 2009, all so-called full-power analog TV broadcasts ended in the United States with the switch to digital transmitting, capable of supporting more channels and programming with greater audio and video fidelity. The rest of the world uses a slightly different set of rules, so we'll concentrate on the ATSC standards here.

As indicated, the powers that be nailed the aspect ratio at 16:9, wider than TV screens of yore but not as expansive as the Panavision / Cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.39:1 found in big movie theaters.

The standards get a little trickier when it comes to resolution, which is measured in pixels, the tiny dots that create digital images or, more accurately, the smallest element of an image that can be individually processed in a video display system. To be sure, the Imaging Science Foundation will tell you that resolution isn't the most important aspect of picture quality. The top three, in order, are contrast ratio, color saturation and color accuracy. Resolution is fourth on the list. But the ATSC at least defines the standard for high-def resolution. Manufacturers can use whatever scale they like to measure, say, the contrast ratio of their displays. Without a standard, specs for contrast ratios, color saturation and accuracy are more or less meaningless.

Generally, the more pixels you can cram on a surface, the sharper the image. The ATSC set the highest HDTV resolution at 1,920 x 1,080 -- that is 1,920 pixels on each of 1,080 horizontal lines for a total of 2,073,600 pixels per screen. Standard definition is about 704 x 480 for a total of 337,920 pixels per screen. So HDTVs can offer more than six times the resolution of analog TVs. They can. But not always.

You'll see flat-panel HDTVs marked with a resolution value followed by the letter "i" or "p." The ATSC set the floor for high-def resolution at 720p. Most of the high-end HDTVs on retail shelves will have a resolution value of 1080p. Some lingering models may have 1080i. The numbers indicate the set's native resolution -- the resolution at which the set is designed to display images and the absolute limit on the amount of detail it can produce.

The "i" stands for interlaced; the "p" stands for progressive scan. Interlaced displays draw every other picture line and then loop back and draw the remaining lines -- 1, 3, 5, 7 ... then lines 2, 4, 6, 8, and so on. And they do this in blazing fast frame rates. An HDTV with a frame rate of 120Hz (hertz) or 120 cycles per second will redraw every odd-numbered line 60 times a second and then redraw every even-numbered line 60 times a second. Video purists note that this alternating aspect of interlacing can cause a flickering effect. But most of us won't notice. That is, unless we're watching the same show on a progressive scan HDTV side-by-side with the interlaced HDTV. Progressive scan HDTVs draw all the horizontal lines in order. An HDTV at 120Hz can draw every horizontal line 120 times a second, making for a smoother motion picture.

In the world of HD broadcasting, 1080p is better than 1080i, but it's also more elusive because it takes more bandwidth. Broadcasters would have to drop channels to transmit in 1080p, so few do it.

"For the most part," says Dave Pedigo, senior director of technology at the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, "satellite and cable providers are delivering 1080i or 720p." Regardless of what the specs say on your HDTV, notes Pedigo, if your provider is transmitting 720p, your resolution will be limited to 720p. Take the 80-inch giant Aquos LC-80LE632U from Sharp, which will run you about five grand. The thing is half as long as our 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee -- coincidentally also worth about five grand. On Page 74 of the Aquos operation manual under the Troubleshooting section, it notes one of the reasons for poor picture quality of HD programs: "The cable / satellite broadcast may not support a signal resolution of 1080p."

Likewise for your peripherals. If your DVD player is 720p, your 1080p HDTV will revert to 720p. No matter the resolution of the source material -- DVD, game console, broadcast, etc. -- a fixed-pixel display will always convert or scale it to fit its native resolution. In a perfect world, the source resolution would match to your TV's native resolution to avoid any picture anomalies that can occur from up or down scaling. But even low-end high-def is amazingly crisp, so you probably won't notice the difference.

For every frame of an image, the HDTV inserts an approximation of the next logical image based on the preceding image. The fabrication is called an interpolated image.

That said, Pedigo recommends 1080p HDTVs. Most Blu-ray discs are formatted in 1080p. And if you want to watch HD broadcasts in 3D, you'll need 1080p, among other things. More on that in a few. Almost as elusive as 1080p broadcasts are those upper-end frame rates. Again, take the 80-inch Aquos from Sharp. It boasts a robust 120Hz frame rate. But most cable and satellite providers send images 60 frames per second. Your 120Hz HDTV will have to repeat frames to achieve the 120Hz speed. And that may not add much in the way of picture quality, as it's only adding an image that wasn't there to begin with.

When it's receiving a signal at 60Hz, a 120Hz HDTV is refreshing pixels through a process known as motion estimation, motion compensation or MEMC. For every frame of an image, the HDTV inserts an approximation of the next logical image based on the preceding image. The fabrication is called an interpolated image.

For HDTVs with 240Hz refresh rates, three interpolated images are inserted between each true frame. Awesome, you might think, especially if you're watching fast-moving broadcasts such as sports. Mind you, you won't be able to distinguish these interpolated images from the real ones. They're whizzing by too fast. But you'll "feel" the speed. Which is why Yung Trang, president of Techbargains, offers this word of caution. "If you watch a movie in 240Hz, it can look like it was filmed on a camcorder," he says. "And some folks get motion sickness. I've gotten motion sickness." Fortunately, this is a feature that you can toggle on or off.


Back in black
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Big, flat-screen HDTVs come in two primary species: plasma and liquid crystal display. Sure, you can still buy rear or digital light projection HDTVs. They cost far less than plasmas and LCDs. But they're bulky -- they require space for a projector in the back, after all. So they don't fit the modern concept of sleek. It'd be like having your buddies over to listen to your collection of Yes on that Pioneer CT-F2121 stereo cassette tape deck -- a little dated. Moreover, rear-light projection HDTVs have poor picture qualities in comparison to plasmas and they're awful to watch in bright rooms.

Plasmas and LCDs are price competitive. You can pick up a 65-inch internet- and 3D-ready, 1080p LCD or plasma HDTV for about $2,500. But overall plasma HDTVs tend to perform a little better -- unless you're living in high-altitudes.

Plasma display panels contain an array of hundreds of thousands of small, luminous cells sandwiched between two panes of glass. The cells hold neon, xenon and other inert gases and just a touch of mercury. Don't freak out. Fluorescent lights have mercury. Indeed, the cells in plasma TVs are like neon lamps -- they glow when electrified through electrodes.

When charged, mercury is vaporized and gas in the cells form a plasma. Electrons strike mercury particles in the plasma. This momentarily increases the energy level of the mercury molecule, which sheds the energy as ultraviolet (UV) photons. Lower energy photons are mostly in the infrared range. But about 40 percent are in the visible light range, so the input energy is shed, mostly as heat or infrared, but also as visible light. Depending on the phosphors used, different colors of visible light are emitted. Varying the voltage to the cells allows different colors.

When charged, mercury is vaporized and gas in the cells form a plasma.

Plasma displays use the same phosphors as the old cathode ray tube TVs, which accounts for plasma's extremely accurate color reproduction -- better blacks, better whites and better contrasts than LCD displays. But plasma's use of gas also factors into its challenges at altitudes generally 6,500 feet above sea level. Manufacturers compress gases inside plasma cells calibrated at or around sea level. Thinner air at higher elevations causes pressure imbalances in the cells. Plasma TVs have to work harder to compensate. This has been known to trigger an audible buzz from the cooling systems used to regulate temperatures of plasma displays.

You also may hear that plasma HDTVs have a tendency to "burn" images onto the screen. That was true years ago, not today. Screen burn-in occurs when an image is left too long on a screen. Newer plasmas are far less susceptible to this. Yes, it can still be a problem. But after a few days most burnt-in images fade.


LCD
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Liquid crystal displays use light modulating properties of liquid crystals, which don't emit light directly. LCD televisions produce a black and colored image by selectively filtering a white light. The light source comes from a series of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) at the back of the screen. Some LCD TVs have a row of lamps on an edge; others that offer better contrast have rows of backlights across the back of the screen. (See our Primed on LCD fundamentals for more information about that breed of display.)

LCD HDTVs are lighter -- they use plastic screens; plasmas use glass. Weight is a factor if you're considering wall-mounting. LCD HDTVs also are more energy efficient than their plasma counterparts. LCD power-use trends from 2003 to 2010 show a sharp reduction in active and standby modes, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Active mode power density dropped from 0.35 W/in² in 2003 to 0.13 W/in² in 2010, a 63 percent decrease; for standby mode, power consumption swooned from a high of 6.1 m W/in² in 2004 to 0.77 m W/in² in 2010, an 87 percent decline. Plasma TV power-use rates also saw similar declines. However, plasmas still use two to three times as much power as LCD TVs.

But because of the backlighting, LCD displays can't -- yet -- achieve the rich black and deep contrasts of plasmas. For LCDs, at least for today, there's always going to be some light leakage from between pixels. As LCD technologies such as polarizing filters and dynamic backlights improve, the image-quality gap between LCDs and plasmas is narrowing.


Fast-forward
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Internet-ready HDTVs sound like the next logical technological evolution. Indeed, manufacturers have a slew of net-connected televisions on the market, as well as a wide array of apps and add-ons. So-called smart TVs come with video-streaming services such as Hulu Plus, Netflix and YouTube; video-on-demand, including Vudu and CinemaNow; web radio services; and all kinds of special apps for sports, entertainment, photos and even full web browsers. Samsung has a remote control with a QWERTY keyboard on the back to help navigate the UI. Logitech and others sell web TV keyboards. But with so many different apps and no single, simple user interface, the smart TV space is a bit chaotic at the moment. If you want to access internet content through your HDTV, you might want to consider a Blu-ray player, game console or a set-top box.

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) HDTVs are another potential promising tech-step forward. OLED TVs are brighter, more energy efficient, thinner and offer better refresh rates and color contrasts than LCDs or plasma. But their screen size currently is limited -- LG unveiled a 31-inch prototype earlier in 2011 and has indicated it will have a 55-inch OLED HDTV out in 2012. Like all new high-end, high-tech, first-generation models, these will be very expensive. LG's 15-inch OLED TV, available in Korea and Europe, costs about $2,500.

Meantime, you'd think with frame rates so fast you need to watch Adam Sandler movies with a barf bag -- advisable under any circumstance, really -- screen sizes as big as Smart Cars and resolutions so fine you can count nose hairs that HDTVs are reaching a performance plateau. Think again.

Yes, human vision has its physical limits. The sun's temperature determines the colors or wavelengths emitted, while gravitational strength determines the composition of Earth's atmosphere, which determines the amount of wavelengths let through. Of the 70 octaves of radiation in the universe, human eyesight is able to detect only one in the 360 nanometer to 720 nanometer range.

But that's not stopping HDTV advancements. Yung Trang of Techbargains notes that even today's TVs enhance and sharpen images. "They make the greens of golfing broadcasts slightly greener," he says. "The picture enhancements are shockingly sharp -- better than real life."

He and others say we have not reached the peak. While the sweet-spot of HDTV screens is in the 40-inch to 60-something-inch sweet spot, higher resolutions will allow HDTVs to grow even larger while delivering super-sharp images.

So-called Quad HDTV promises to have a resolution of 2160p capable of displaying 2160 horizontal lines using progressive scanning and 3340 vertical lines for a total pixel count of 8,294,400, or four times the total pixel count of 1080p -- hence the "quad." Trang predicts these sets will hit the market in two to five years and retail for upwards of $10,000 at first. Dave Pedigo of the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association envisions another scenario -- quad def will allow you to watch 3D HDTV without the glasses.


Not ready for prime time
 Return to top


The hype machinery has been working overtime for 3D HDTV. Box office 3D hits such as Avatar, combined with advances in home electronics technology, have put 3D HDTVs within reasonable price reach and into living rooms. Panasonic bet heavily on 3DTV, but soft demand will contribute to an annual net loss of $5.5 billion dollars. Meanwhile, Sony, another big booster of 3DTV, in early November said it is going to restructure its TV divisions in hopes of turning around its struggling TV business. Before we discuss why the 3D hype is misaligned with current reality, let's take a look at what 3D is.

We perceive depth when our brain takes images from our left and right eyes and merges the images into one. When we watch video on a flat screen, the right and left eyes see the image shot from a single camera, allowing us only to perceive the image in two dimensions -- horizontal and vertical, but no depth. 3D TV requires an image to be shot and displayed from two slightly different angles. All 3D technologies use this principal of stereoscopic vision, where each eye sees a slightly different image, which the brain interprets as the perception of depth.

3D TV requires an image to be shot and displayed from two slightly different angles.

Most all 3D HDTVs require you to wear a pair of special glasses to achieve the 3D effect. The two main types of 3D glasses are active and passive. Older anaglyph passive glasses have two different color lenses (red and blue) to filter the images on the television display screen. Many of us recall the primitive cardboard kind that, well, never really worked. In the passive glasses world, the 3D TV displays two images at the same time, one with reddish tint and other bluish slightly offset from each other. With anaglyph glasses, the blue lens absorbs all the blue light allowing you to see the reds and -- you know where this is headed -- the red lens only allows you to see the blue-tinted images. Each eye only sees one image. But the passive glasses essentially trick the brain into interpreting that there is one image. By combining the two images into one, the brain produces the 3D effect. Modern passive glasses use polarized lenses, but the concept is still the same. Instead of using two sets of images with different colors, the polarization technique alters the waves of light the viewer sees.

Active glasses require a power source, typically a small battery. Active glasses alternately open and close the view of each lens to show each eye a different image at any time. This means that the 3D glasses need to be synchronized with the 3D television display, done through infra-red technology between the headset and TV. Unlike passive glasses, active 3D glasses don't alter the display of colors, so they offer far better picture quality.

The forthcoming super high-end 3D HDTVs will do away with the need for glasses. These TVs use filters or lenses -- a parallax barrier -- atop the display screens to direct separate images to the left and right eyes. You need to sit in front of the TV and at a certain distance to get this 3D effect, which isn't fun if you're the one having to sit off to the side. To be fair, all televisions are best view from the front.

So to recap, 3D technology isn't quite there. Wearing glasses -- even sleek active glasses -- is a drag, especially for long movies. And the glasses-free 3D HDTV remains a work in progress. But that's not the only thing putting 3D HDTV in a holding pattern. Dearth of content is a major factor, according to a Retrevo Pulse report conducted in October. The report is part of Retrevo's ongoing study of people and electronics. While high prices used to be the consumer turn-off, some 40 percent say there's not enough programming to watch. "Content will continue to be an issue until there are enough blockbuster shows in 3D like the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards, and more movies like Avatar to make everyone want to go out and buy a 3DTV set," the report states.

What may be even more disconcerting for manufacturers: "More than half (55 percent) of HDTV buyers say they're not interested in 3D even if the price difference is small."

The report adds that the "wildcard" in the 3D HDTV market will be video games. Pedigo concurs. "As more games come out in 3D, especially the first-person shooting games, you could see an uptick in 3D," he says, adding that 3D technology is relatively inexpensive to plumb into TVs. "It will become standard," he says. "Not an option."


Wrap-up
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You can buy a 47-inch HDTV for less than $650, a price drop of about 20 percent from the previous year, note analysts. You'll pay more for the bigger screen, internet-ready models with higher-end specs. But at least you'll be well-armed with information not to be snowed by fast-talking sales reps. You'll want that HDTV with 1080p, but you'll know that cable and satellite feeds won't deliver all the resolution richness that the technology allows. You'll want 1080p native resolution because your Blu-ray discs and games use that setting. Another parting bit of buying wisdom: you'll almost never see a live broadcast in a retail setting, largely due to copyright issues. The feed will be from a disc or hard drive. Now you can shop for that high-definition television with eyes wide open and with clear vision.


[Image Credits: Farnsworth Archives, ATSC, DTV Express, KTH, K.I.D., HK Physics World and Tattoo Temple]

Sony, Panasonic, Samsung team up for 3D supergroup

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 09:36 AM PST

Normally when the giants of the entertainment industry team up, it's to record "We Are The World"-- but not this time. Sony, Panasonic, X6D and Samsung are forming a supergroup that makes the Traveling Wilburys seem small-time. They're forming the "Full HD 3D Glasses initiative," a project to standardize 3D glasses. Currently, we have wholly incompatible active-shutter models based on different technologies, which the consortium wants to replace with a unified standard that will let you use the same pair of spectacles on any display or at any theater that uses the Xpand 3D standard. The doors open on the joint testing center later this month, which will check and approve products to the program, gaining the logo you see before you as a badge of honor.
Show full PR text
Licensing Program for 'Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative' Kicks into High Gear

09 November 2011, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, Sony Corporation and X6D Limited (XPAND 3D) today announced that the licensing program of "Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative", an industry-wide initiative to standardize 3D active shutter glasses for consumers, has recently begun.

Infrared (IR) and Bluetooth® enabled radio frequency (RF) system 3D active glasses technologies are licensed within the licensing program. All information including licensing fees and process requirements to become a licensee, are available on the Initiative's official website and the application can be submitted on the same web as follows;

Full HD 3D Glasses Technology License Licensor　
website: www.fullhd3Dglasses.com

In early August, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and XPAND 3D announced their intent to collaborate on the standardization of RF and IR system protocols between consumer 3D active shutter glasses and 3D displays such as televisions, personal computer monitors and projectors, as well as 3D theaters utilizing XPAND 3D active shutter glasses. Twelve companies, of which are Changhong Electric Co., Ltd.; FUNAI Electric Co., Ltd.; Hisense Electric Co., Ltd.; Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Seiko Epson Corporation; Sharp Corporation; SIM2 Multimedia S.p.A.; TCL Corporation; Toshiba Corporation and ViewSonic Corporation have expressed their support for the activities of the Initiative.

With the successful launch of the Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative licensing program, a test center has been slated to open later this month, which will verify the compliance of any products manufactured under the new Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative license program-within the Initiative's specifications.
Notes to editors

About Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative
The Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative-formed in 2011 by Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sony Corporation and X6D Limited (XPAND 3D)-will set a new technology standard for consumer 3D active shutter glasses, aiming to provide consumers with a more convenient and high-quality 3D viewing experience. By developing and licensing a standardized 3D active shutter technology, the Initiative aims to achieve interoperability among any 3D active shutter products that are developed and manufactured using the Initiative's technology and that bear a distinct logo designated by the Initiative. For more information, please visit http://www.fullhd3dglasses.com/.

Sharp's splashproof Aquos SH-01D arrives at the FCC's door, won't shut up about its 12.1 MP camera

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 09:17 AM PST

Japan has typically had exclusive access to Sharp's skinny and big-screened smartphone series, but that could soon change. Details of the Aquos SH-01D have now appeared in the FCC's bulging mail box, a phone packing a dual-core 1GHz processor and a glasses-free 3D 4.5-inch screen. Add in water resistance and a whopping 12.1 megapixel camera, and you can see why it's piqued our interest. The phone is already booked to make an appearance in Japanese NTT DoCoMo stores later this month in blue, white and black options. Of course, despite Sharp's application for an FCC nod of approval, the company may have no intentions of selling it on US soil. We'll keep our phone-hungry fingers crossed that it gets okayed for overseas travel.

Poll: Have you noticed battery improvements after updating to iOS 5.0.1?

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 08:56 AM PST

Yesterday, Apple pushed out iOS 5.0.1, just about four weeks after releasing iOS 5 to the masses. Among the reported fixes: battery life improvements, following a confirmed bug in the initial release. We're hearing reports that battery life remains an issue for some iPhone 4S owners, however, and that it's been reduced even further for others. We want to hear about your experience, though, so let us know what's up in the poll below, and jump past the break to join other iPhone owners in the comments.

Has battery performance improved with iOS 5.0.1?

Engadget Podcast 264 - 11.11.2011

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 08:36 AM PST

Fire up the Gutenberg sector of your brain, because it's reading time, everyone! What do you think the inventor of the printing press would think if he got his hands on a Nook Simple Touch? We get the impression he might be a Kobo man, actually. Is Johannes a RAZR kind of guy, or more Lumia 800? While we won't answer these questions outright in the 264th edition of the Engadget Podcast, we will provide sufficient background material to help you come to that decision yourself.

Host: Brian Heater
Guests: Darren Murph, Dana Wollman
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Crazy

01:35 - Motorola Droid RAZR review
08:00 - Behind the glass: a detailed tour inside the Motorola Droid RAZR
15:55 - Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet gets real, we go hands-on (video)
17:40 - Barnes & Noble makes $199 Nook Color, $99 Nook Simple Touch official
21:30 - Nook Simple Touch upgrade hands-on (video)
26:45 - Barnes & Noble launches in-store Nook stations
35:10 - The Engadget Interview: Kobo's Michael Serbinis
42:06 - Rakuten signs agreement to purchase Kobo
50:47 - Consumer Reports finds iPhone 4S to have worthwhile antennas, says newer iPhone 4 is still problematic
51:15 - T-Mobile Springboard review







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Editorial: the problem with bad product names and what we can learn from it

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 08:00 AM PST

Product names generally fall into one of four different categories: good, safe, meaningless and bad. There may be better categories to group them in, but we'll use these for the purpose of this editorial. In the first category I'd put something like Kindle, arguably one of the best new product names of the last ten years. iPhone and iPad, and their subsequent suffixed versions, are in the safe category. They're perfectly fine names for a cellphone and a tablet, but they're not as original or distinct as iMac or iPod were, which I'd consider good (iPod nano, shuffle and touch, on the other hand, are all safe names).

In the meaningless category are things like the MSI GT683DXR or ASUS XU6280, one of which I just made up. Some meaningless names can also be good in their simplicity -- like the Nokia N9 or Nikon D3S -- but they are still basically nothing more than differentiators. This is an acceptable option.



The names aren't just bad -- they're noise.

In the bad category are the majority of smartphones released in the past few years. Rezound. Rhyme. Vivid. Epic. Sensation. Thrill. Skyrocket. Conquer. Triumph. Enlighten. Infuse. Prevail. Arrive. Can you name the company behind each phone? And those are just a few examples from this year. The names aren't just bad -- they're noise. Some names might fall into a fifth, slightly murkier okay category, but there are certainly more phones (and, increasingly, tablets) in the bad category than any other, and I'd argue that's a sign of a larger problem.

A product's name is part of its identity. If you tell someone you have an iPhone 4, most people will know what it is, and they'll know it's made by Apple. That's largely due to the phone's success, of course, and Apple's effective marketing, but the name is not an insignificant factor. Apple has made five different phones now, and each successive one has helped to build up the iPhone brand. If each phone had used a different name -- or if Apple had made far more than five different phones by this point-- I'd suspect that people would have a less clear idea of what an Apple smartphone is.

I don't think Apple will keep up its current numbering scheme for much longer -- it starts to get a bit ridiculous at iPhone 6 or 7 -- but I doubt it will get rid of 'iPhone" until it's truly ready to start over with something new.

But iPhone is a safe name. Kindle is a great one -- like Macintosh or ThinkPad. It's not going anywhere anytime soon, but it also poses some challenges. If Amazon only made one device, it could keep calling each new version "the Kindle" forever and be fine. But now it's making a bunch. Its current lineup includes the Kindle, the Kindle Touch, the Kindle Keyboard, the Kindle DX and the Kindle Fire (not counting 3G variations). Some of those are on their way out and others will certainly be added, each running the risk of diminishing the Kindle brand (and, consequently, Amazon's).

The Kindle Fire, I think, is an example of doing it right. It sounds good, or at least good enough, and people can basically grasp what it is and what it isn't. They know that it's a Kindle -- and hence, for reading books -- but the name is sufficiently different from something like Kindle Touch so as not be confused for another e-reader. I think that also makes it a "good" name in its own right. As opposed to Apple's various iPods, "Fire" doesn't simply describe a feature or characteristic as iPod nano, iPod shuffle and iPod touch do. It's a Kindle that does more than books, which is something that's easy for Amazon to market, and a significant advantage over other Android tablets (a term, incidentally, you won't see Amazon using very much).


If full-featured tablets wind up being Amazon's focus, a future Kindle Fire may well eventually become "the Kindle," and its basic e-readers could take on a suffix instead. Or, if the Kindle Fire becomes a huge success, Amazon could simply call a future tablet "the Fire," and its e-book reader could remain "the Kindle." It has options that are built on a solid foundation.

There might be a Kindle Fire 2, a Kindle Fire DX or a Kindle Flame before that happens, but the further Amazon dilutes the Kindle name without creating something new, the closer it comes to confusing consumers and hurting its brand. It's far from a hard and fast rule, but if you're starting to run out of decent product names to use at any given time, you might just have too many products.

Compare that to something like the Motorola Xoom. "Xoom" isn't a particularly good name to start with, and you can't really call the product a success, but Motorola's now not only back with a Xoom 2, but a Xoom 2 Media Edition and a Xoom Family Edition (but not a Xoom 2 Family Edition). You still have to explain what a Xoom is to most people, and you now also have to explain what the difference is between the three models. In contrast, Motorola and Verizon had a winner with Droid, but even it has seen things like the HTC Droid Incredible muddy the waters, and many of Motorola's non-Droid phones have names that are largely interchangeable with each other and with other companies' phones. And if Droid is now wholly a Verizon name, what does it mean to be a Droid phone?

Again, this is far from scientific, but my suspicion is that the companies who are regularly in the good and safe categories tend to have a better handle on their products in general than those that find themselves in the meaningless and bad categories more often than not. There are few companies that thrive on nothing but good product names, but I think the smart ones are able to realize when they're pushing things -- so they settle into the safe category, and occasionally put out a new product with a good, or even great name to restart the cycle.



...a good product naming strategy isn't all that far removed from a good product strategy.

Yes, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. Some companies like Leica or BMW have iconic names in their own right, and their "meaningless" names have been around long enough to develop their own legacy (or at least some semblance of a standard formula). Those exceptions also tend to make great products. Nokia was once in this camp as well, but it eventually faltered and has now decided to effectively start over with Windows Phone -- and Lumia is a pretty good start. There are also, of course, plenty of lousy products with good names. The name itself is only part of the equation.

On the whole, however, a good product naming strategy isn't all that far removed from a good product strategy. You have to know when to take a risk with something new and when to play it safe. You can't just keep throwing things against a wall and hope that one sticks, or keep echoing the same chorus of hyperbole that drowns out everything and resonates with no one.

Motorola Droid RAZR hits Verizon stores, iFixit labs

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 07:43 AM PST

It's become a rite of passage for any major smartphone -- a few hours under the knife (read: dozuki saw!), for the good 'ol iFixit teardown. Today's victim is the Motorola Droid RAZR, which happened to hit Verizon stores around the time it arrived at the iFixit labs -- so, yes, you can go pick one up today and do this yourself at home, at your own risk and $299 expense, of course. The teardown revealed that most of the key components are on one side of the motherboard, where you'll find the Toshiba THGBM4G7D2GBAIE 16GB EMMC flash memory module, Samsung K3PE7E700M-XGC1 4GB LPDDR2 RAM, Qualcomm MDM6600 dual-mode baseband/RF transceiver, Motorola T6VP0XBG-0001 LTE processor and other goodies like the combo Bluetooth/WiFi/GPS receiver. Wondering what else Motorola was able to pack neatly below that 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display? Hit up the source link for the full iFixit teardown.

Republic Wireless is only kinda, sorta unlimited, may ask you to take your business elsewhere (updated)

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 07:27 AM PST

Republic Wireless
Republic Wireless certainly garnered itself a lot of attention with the promise of unlimited everything for only $19 a month and no contract. The company keeps the price so low by using what it calls "hybrid calling" -- a fancy way of saying it relies almost entirely on WiFi and VoIP, only falling back on Sprint frequencies when you wander away from an 802.11 connection. The service may be billed as all-you-can-eat, the reality is a little more complex. While you're free to plow through as much data and as many minutes as you want over WiFi, there are "fair usage" limitations on your cellular footprint. Specifically, if you cross a threshold of 550 minutes, 150 text messages or 300MB of data you may be asked to take your business elsewhere -- not exactly "unlimited" now is it.

Update: Republic Wireless issued a clarification on its Facebook page, explaining that you can in fact go over the 550 minute "example" above.

"People of the republic, we'd just like to clarify that 550 minutes, 150 texts, and 300 MB of data over 3G is just an example, not a limit. The more you offload to Wi-Fi, the more you can use. It's truly unlimited. We do have fair use guidelines and we encourage you to use Wi-Fi whenever possible."

MyFord Touch 2013 update hands-on

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 07:02 AM PST

MyFord Touch 2013 update hands-on
In short doses we've been reasonably impressed with MyFord Touch, the Blue Oval's attempt at bringing the car dashboard into the 21st century. For someone used to touchscreens and virtual controls it's intuitive enough -- but many others have been having issues. Less tech-savvy drivers have been left confused, while a series of technical glitches haven't exactly helped matters. Good thing there's an update coming, but you won't have to wait until the 2013 model year to read our impressions. They're right here after the break.
MyFord 2013 update hands-on

The biggest and most noticeable improvement comes right on the first page of information. It's been cleaned up and simplified, giving you a quick view at the four main categories of information: Phone, Navigation, Entertainment and climate. Pair your celly and it'll show up in the upper-left. The upper-right tells you about the next turn that's coming up, should you have programmed in a destination. The lower-left displays your current playing radio station or streaming music, while down on the lower-right are toggles for temperature controls.

But these are just snippets of what's available should you dive into any of these screens. Inside the look and feel isn't drastically different than before, but everything looks cleaner and is more finger-friendly. Buttons are larger, graphics are sharper and Ford has added an interesting visual tweak to help identify those that can toggle between a few options. There's now a little pretend LED that shifts about on these toggles, a cue to the user that something happens should you keep on tapping. And you should.


Most importantly, though, everything is all a bit snappier. Ford says interactions are twice as fast and, while we didn't have a stopwatch handy, touchscreen taps or toggles on the steering wheel-mounted controls seem more responsive. What won't be so fast is the upgrade process. This update will ship on 2013 model year cars, which won't be on dealer lots quite some time.

Thankfully all is not lost if you have an earlier MyFord Touch car: the company will still support you with an upgrade at a dealer or a USB stick mailed directly to you. Apply the upgrade yourself and it'll take a whopping 45 minutes to apply, a time that still beats an hour of stale coffee and stained magazines in your local dealer's waiting room.

Ford isn't saying for how much longer it'll be supporting these original cars -- presumably the free updates won't be around forever -- but it is nice to know that, for once, bleeding-edge early adopters aren't being left out in the cold.

Sprint pushes SIM lock to iPhone 4S customers, offers to undo it for good boys and girls

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 06:43 AM PST

Sprint iPhone 4S Lock
We all knew this day would come. It's hardly a tragedy, but some globe-trotting types out there might be a little annoyed. Starting today Sprint is pushing a SIM lock to all iPhone 4Ss on its network. As you may remember, the first batch of Apple handsets sold on bee-hued carrier were unlocked, but the company was perfectly clear that would be changing. A Sprint spokesperson told us this doesn't constitute a change in policy, "think of it as getting the device in compliance." Subscribers in "good standing" for at least 90 days can always call customer service and request the device be unlocked (again). Check out the full explanation of the locking/unlocking policy after the break.
Show full PR text
Sprint's policy is to have the iPhone 4S SIM locked to our network domestically and internationally. Beginning on November 11, the International SIM will be locked for devices provisioned on the Sprint network. Customers in good standing for at least 90 days can request to have their SIM unlocked for international use by calling Customer Care at 888-211-4727.

Customers can sign up for one of our international rate plans and use this phone in most countries all over the world. When traveling internationally, there is a setting that must be turned on within the device to connect to GSM. International voice and data charges are on a pay-as-you-go basis and vary based on the country where the customer is using their phone; a list of rates is available at www.sprint.com/international.

Sprint offers two international voice plans that customers can subscribe to for discounted voice rates:

· The Canada Roaming add-on is $2.99 per month and all calls placed from Canada are only 20 cents per minute. Without this add-on, calls from Canada are 59 cents per minute.

· The Sprint Worldwide Voice add-on is $4.99 per month and offers discounted rates in countries around the world. For example, calls from Italy are $1.69 per minute with this add-on or $1.99 per minute without the add-on; calls from Peru are $2.29 per minute with the add-on or $2.49 per minute without it.

Sprint does supply notifications of data roaming charges to help protect customers from high costs. Notifications are sent to the customer's preferred method, either text or email, and are sent once the device exceeds approximately $50, $250, $500 and $1,000. To protect the customer from additional charges, the device's international data roaming capability will be suspended after the customer exceeds approximately $500 of international data charges in a billing cycle.

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket review

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 06:00 AM PST

Who knew AT&T's version of the Samsung Galaxy S II had a younger, larger brother on the way? Just a hair over a month after the carrier launched its flagship Android device, it's already set for another go-round. This one, the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, offers a larger display and "true" 4G connectivity -- yes, it's a pioneer blazing a new trail to Ma Bell's wild and untamed frontier, right alongside the HTC Vivid. It's time to answer the burning questions: what kinds of speeds are possible on AT&T's LTE network? Is the series' legendary battery life up to snuff on the next-gen network? Join us below to find out.

Samsung Skyrocket gallery


Hardware


By being a member of the Galaxy S II family, you've already come to know what to expect in the Skyrocket's hardware. The usual suspects are present: 1GB of RAM, an eight megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and 1080p video capture, a two megapixel front-facing camera and a WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display with a tried-and-true RGB matrix. Yet each device that bears Sammy's Galaxy S II logo still adds a few unique characteristics to give it a personality of its own, and the Skyrocket's definitely no exception.

The Skyrocket is known as the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE in other parts of the globe for its obvious inclusion of next-generation network connectivity, a feature that certainly helps the phone stand out from the rest of the pack. It, like the HTC Vivid, has the heavy burden of ushering in a new era of smartphones on Ma Bell's lineup -- not unlike the LG CU500, the pioneer for HSDPA (3G) on Cingular a distant five years ago.


The Skyrocket brings back recent memories of T-Mobile's design sensibility. On the front it offers a 4.5-inch WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display and brandishes the same rounded corners and four capacitive touch nav buttons on the bottom. Underneath the glass, it follows T-Mo's lead by switching from the stellar 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos CPU to a 1.5GHz Qualcomm APQ8060 (a Snapdragon S3) -- likely due to the lack of LTE support on Sammy's homegrown SoC. It also has virtually the same dimensions, measuring in at 5.11 x 2.71 x 0.37 inches (129.8 x 68.8 x 9.49mm), making it thicker than the T-Mobile iteration by 0.1mm. With the international model measuring 8.49mm and the Epic 4G Touch 10mm, this puts the Skyrocket near the beefy end of the GS2 spectrum. Oh, and did we mention beef? At 4.6 ounces (130g), the Skyrocket is actually lighter than the 4.77-ounce (135g) T-Mobile model and stays even with Sprint's Epic 4G Touch.

Level of comfort is more noticeable than fractions of a millimeter, and we felt right at home with the Skyrocket.

But even with its extra heft, we didn't seem to mind. Sure, coming out with the thinnest phone is all the rage these days, and we enjoy a wafer-sized device as much as the next person. However, level of comfort is more noticeable than fractions of a millimeter, and we felt right at home with the Skyrocket, with only one major exception: its battery cover is as smooth as a baby's cheek, making it incredibly slippery in our hands. We appreciate the textured back found on the other phones in the series because they add just enough friction to keep the device from getting dropped. On the bright side, at least Samsung and AT&T refrained from giving the Skyrocket a glossy finish, which would've made the handset a surefire fingerprint magnet. It actually reminded us of the battery cover found on the T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G.


As to be expected, the Skyrocket's Super AMOLED Plus display is always worthy a mention. Our minds still haven't been changed about the gorgeous non-PenTile screen, though we're looking at the horizon with hesitancy as new handsets featuring 720p HD resolution are making their debut this holiday season. The RAZR's qHD PenTile display pales in comparison to the Super AMOLED Plus found on every Galaxy S II, but the 1280 x 800 resolution on the Galaxy Note would defeat either device soundly in a bar fight. And it's only getting better: the HTC Rezound, for instance, sports a full HD display on a 4.3-inch screen, resulting in 341ppi -- which, if you recall, is higher than the iPhone's Retina Display. Regardless of how beautiful the Skyrocket's screen is, keep in mind that it's now two steps behind the top-of-the-line -- a fact that display connoisseurs likely won't overlook, especially when they're forking out $250 for a brand new handset that they'll commit to for two years. How's it going to compare with the state-of-the-art devices that come out at CES 2013, just a little over a year from now?

Camera


Since the imagery has stayed identical within the Galaxy S II's family, the Skyrocket's camera retains the same eight megapixel sensor and innovative UI. This means the sensor had a few struggles in the narrow dynamic range, causing washed-out images in direct sunlight and murky ones in low-light conditions. In-between, however, only the 12MP Nokia N8 camera rivals this series' imagery.
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket camera samples


Fortunately, you have a plethora of settings you can tweak to make the best of those extremes, such as white balance, ISO, metering, focus mode, exposure and contrast, among plenty others. And even better, you can customize your preferences, giving you the chance to put the ones you use most into a handy sidebar on the left side of the screen.


The Skyrocket also has the same stellar 1080p video capture performance we've grown used to loving in the series, with quality that matches its counterparts. But just like on the T-Mobile version, the camera would occasionally take an extra second or two to find its focus in the middle of a video. This happens mainly when changing scenery, as we noticed that the focus generally locked when filming a location for a lengthy amount of time.

Software


What shows up on the screen is part of the experience that has become so familiar to us as we've progressed through each Galaxy S II review. The dissimilarities between this and the rest of the group are few and far between. The Skyrocket comes with Android 2.3.5 preinstalled (versus 2.3.4 on the non-AT&T iteration) dressed up with TouchWiz 4.0 on top. These days, seeing an Android version start with a two may feel like a disappointment, but AT&T has come out on record declaring that it will for sure be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich -- we just have no idea of when that will happen. For now, however, the user experience was identical to that of its predecessor. As before, we loved the opportunity to shove whatever apps we wanted into special folders in the App Menu, eliminating a huge amount of clutter from our valuable screen real estate.

There were only a few minor course corrections in the lineup of pre-installed apps. Mog Streaming Radio is one such newcomer -- likely to accentuate the device's fast downloading and streaming capabilities. Alas, these types of programs may prove to be too much for your tiered data plan to handle, so you'll definitely want to be careful and keep a close eye on your monthly internet use.

Keeping Mog company in the land of bloatware is the usual suite of AT&T apps (including FamilyMap, Navigator, LiveTV, MyAT&T, Featured Apps and Yellow Pages), as well as Qik Lite, NFS Shift, Amazon Kindle, Quickoffice. Samsung throws in Social Hub, Media Hub, AllShare, AP Mobile, CIty ID, Kies Air and News & Weather. A handful of the apps are uninstallable, but be prepared to tuck the majority of them away into special folders.

We grew disappointed that one tiny, yet important, feature was left out: an LTE on / off switch.

We grew disappointed that one tiny, yet important, feature was left out of the UI: an LTE on / off switch. The HTC Vivid's missing it as well. Bumping up our connectivity to the next G is great, but it happens at the expense of battery life, so it'd make perfect sense to have a way to automatically shut that option off... right? Much to our chagrin, no built-in switch could be found on the Skyrocket. Granted, there's a way to access the phone's test mode and turn it off manually when necessary (by dialing *#*#4636#*#* -- use at your own discretion), but as we saw on similarly switch-deficient devices like the HTC Thunderbolt, it's not a guaranteed fix and is more of a hassle than it's oftentimes worth. Additionally, a few third-party switches exist for Verizon's LTE devices, but none appear to be available for the Skyrocket yet. Regardless of the alternate solutions, customers deserve the ability to choose whether or not they want to take advantage of AT&T's true 4G service, without having to memorize special codes or wait for special apps to do it.

Much like its predecessor, the Skyrocket comes with NFC -- Near-field Communication -- built into the battery, but the firmware mysteriously omits the spectacular feature. Okay, that's not entirely true: we found a lonely NFC service app laying dormant in the application management tool, taking up virtually no storage space. We're positive there's a method to the madness here, and its purpose will likely be made known unto us at a later date; perhaps AT&T's mobile payment plans will see daylight soon.


Performance and battery life


As this is Samsung and AT&T's first daring adventure into the world of LTE, it'd be a dirty shame if we didn't touch upon the device's performance in that realm. Of course, the difficult part was actually finding a market to test it in. And we don't say this to be facetious -- truth is, with the next-gen network only working in nine cities as of this writing, none of our editors live within close range of AT&T's true 4G service. That'll change in due time, of course, but in the meantime we sent one of our mobile editors to Boston to put the Skyrocket -- as well as the HTC Vivid and Jetstream -- to the test.

The results were rather mixed. At its best, the Skyrocket delivered top speeds of 21Mbps, which sounds ridunkulously fast -- until it gets compared to the 32Mbps downloads the Vivid pulled down at the same place and time. At its worst, it couldn't pick up an LTE signal, resorting back to HSPA+ even though the Vivid and Jetstream easily managed to find three bars of true 4G reception. It took multiple hard resets before the device finally succumbed to our wiles and revived its connection to LTE (As a disclaimer, AT&T had some difficulty provisioning the SIM cards in our review units properly, so we'll try to give it the benefit of the doubt until we can do some additional tests). We'll admit that it's difficult to know if this a consequence of the included hardware or simply first-day network hiccups, since we wasted no time in checking out the brand-new service the moment it was commercially available. That said, the Vivid still seemed to manage consistently faster speeds.

Update: We just received a screenshot from Justin, a reader in Dallas that bought a Skyrocket this week. His results were much better than ours, as he's been pulling down max speeds of 55Mbps.

Another wild card in the Skyrocket's performance is the 1.5GHz Qualcomm APQ8060 (Snapdragon S3) CPU and accompanying Adreno 220 GPU, the same SoC setup as we saw on T-Mo's flavor. How does it hold up against the almighty Exynos processor found in so many of the other members of the Galaxy S II family? Pretty well, actually. While we've had a strong admiration for the processing prowess of Samsung's homegrown silicon, the Skyrocket's chip isn't anywhere close to a slouch either. In fact, unless you're paying close attention, you probably won't even notice a difference at all. The Qualcomm-powered device handled itself well throughout our menial myriad of tasks and didn't skip a beat.

The Skyrocket booted up in 25 seconds and was incredibly responsive from that time forward. Not once did the phone crash during our graphics-intensive activities, nor did it hiccup at any point in our multitasking. Animations were smooth as butter, as was the touch responsiveness. Let's check out a few other benchmark results for a closer look:

Benchmark Galaxy S II Skyrocket AT&T Galaxy S II T-Mobile Galaxy S II HTC Vivid
Quadrant (higher is better) 3,334 3,372 2,576 2,129
Linpack (MFLOPS) 50.6 55.0 42.0 44.5
Linpack (MFLOPS) 77.4 81.0 70.0 50.9
Nenamark (fps) 59.8 59.8 59.8 47.3
Nenamark2 (fps) 54.1 N/A 53.8 26.6
Neocore (fps) 57.7 59.8 57.0 58.0
Sunspider (ms - lower is better) 3,115 3,369 2,407 4,095

While the Vivid proffers faster network speeds, Sammy's LTE gem took the cake in all of the benchmarks by a hefty margin in every category but one. We know, we know: benchmarks aren't a real-life scenario and can be adversely affected by the fact that one offers a qHD display versus the other's WVGA. But we still have a hard time believing that two phones using an APQ8060 CPU -- and are separated by a mere 0.3GHz -- would result in Quadrant scores that are 1,200 points apart.

Being the pioneer on AT&T's 4G Oregon Trail means we're also now able to learn exactly how the carrier responded to potential battery life concerns. After all, CEO Ralph de la Vega decreed last month that all of his company's LTE phones would utilize a tech called "circuit switch fallback" to conserve power and keep the devices thinner. Did it work?


Whether or not we have Ralph's new tech to thank, it seems to make a difference on the Skyrocket. Its 1,850mAh juicepack may play a huge role in keeping the phone powered on for a healthy period of time, but regardless, we tested the battery on both LTE and HSPA+ and came away happy in each instance. When trying out LTE, most of our time was spent running speedtests and syncing social networks and email. We began this pattern of use around 10:30am and still had 60 percent remaining five hours later -- and actually retained a charge into the next day. Naturally, heavier usage will drain the battery much faster, but we're confident that using the Skyrocket moderately in an LTE area will get you through your full workday and may even keep you going until bedtime. We weren't able to run through our standard tests during our brief time in Boston, so we can't give a truly scientific answer, but it definitely holds a longer charge than any Verizon 4G phone we've reviewed (as a sidenote, the Skyrocket held its power longer than the Vivid, so mileage may still vary from phone to phone).

And that's not all. Conducting our full battery rundown test in an HSPA+ area, we managed to eek out nine and a half hours of life before the Skyrocket gave out. Moderate usage -- continuously checking emails, doing our share of social networking, downloading apps and taking pictures -- landed us an entire day and even remained charged overnight. Indeed, we determined that LTE still has a detrimental effect on AT&T's smartphones, but we were just as impressed with this device's battery life in both scenarios.


With the addition of the Skyrocket to the Android lineup, AT&T has graciously given potential buyers a dilemma: you can choose between the 4.3-inch Galaxy S II without LTE, or a larger, 4.5-inch one that offers that higher connectivity. The size difference isn't that significant, and neither is the variety in processing power. What's a person to do? One factor to consider when choosing between the two is the tradeoff you get on battery efficiency. As we mentioned earlier, even though the Skyrocket's backwards compatible to 21Mbps HSPA+, the device doesn't have a homegrown LTE on / off switch -- so if you're in a true 4G coverage zone, it's going to suffer from a lower lifetime than you would get on the HSPA+ only version. It comes down to whether your need for longer battery outweighs your cravings for blazing-fast downloads.

Its ability to find your locale won't have an influence on your decision, however, because the GPS is just as good on the Skyrocket (if not better) as it was on the rest of the series. We were incredibly impressed by the speed at which the Skyrocket's GPS locked in our location. While most devices do the job perfectly well, this one had our spot pegged in three seconds -- less time than it took to load the maps -- and was accurate within eight meters with no outside assistance at all.

Call quality? No problem. As with the other members of the family, we heard the other line clearly with no static and the speakerphone is definitely on the loud side -- for both making calls and playing back media such as movies or music. As always, network quality varies from place to place and may have an effect on dropping calls, but we didn't lose a conversation once in our abode, which consistently hovers around three to four bars of signal.

Wrap-up

When we reviewed the HTC Vivid, we almost gave the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket a mini-review of sorts: we compared the two LTE pioneers side by side, and while the Vivid has its fair share of strong points, we prefer the latter. It's thinner, lighter, trumps its rival in benchmarks, offers TouchWiz UI instead of Sense and wins hands-down in battery life. Of course, we've come to expect this kind of turnout with Sammy's flagship series, and we're glad to see it continue into the realm of true 4G.

If you've been trying to decide on which Samsung Galaxy S II to plunk down your hard-earned cash on, the Skyrocket certainly complicates the choice you have to make -- especially if you're sticking with AT&T as your carrier. After all, you're looking at two incredibly similar devices that come with high recommendations. Ultimately, it comes down to two factors: display size and network speed. If you like the larger screen and wouldn't mind taking advantage of some LTE goodness when it comes to your town, you likely won't go wrong by taking this Skyrocket for a flight.


Joseph Volpe and Myriam Joire contributed to this review.

Apple's US online store begins selling unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S: $649 and up

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 05:35 AM PST

You can't expect to see one for "one to two weeks," but those hellbent on holding out for an unlocked iPhone 4S here in the US of A can finally snag one without jetting off to Australia (among other places). Nearly five months to the day after Apple started selling the iPhone 4 in unlocked fashion in the States, the iPhone 4S is joining the club, with a 16GB model going for $649, a 32GB model for $749 and a 64GB variant for $849. Just so you're aware, the unlocked phone enables you to use any micro-SIM from any GSM carrier worldwide, but it won't play nice with CDMA carriers "such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint." And yes, both the black and white versions are up for order. Hit the source link to part ways with your chosen amount of cash.

[Thanks, Hicham]

Engadget Distro Issue 12 -- Now with more exclusive content!

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 05:15 AM PST

You asked and we answered. Engadget Distro Issue 12 is here, and it's full of original content. We've got not one, not two, but three never-before-published features for you this week. Michael Gorman takes you on a tour of NASA's next-gen spacecraft, Brad Molen goes behind the scenes at AT&T to reveal what it takes to make a smartphone, and analyst Ross Rubin makes his Distro debut to pose the question: What's next for the nano? This week we'll also bring you our Nokia Lumia 800 and Motorola Droid RAZR reviews and follow HotHardware's Dave Altavilla in his ascent to geekdom. And last, but certainly not least, Box Brown gives you a healthy helping of iPad 3 rumors in the Distro comic. So, pick up that iPad or hit the PDF link below and get ready for a nice long read.

Distro Issue 12 PDF
Distro on the iTunes App Store
Like Distro on Facebook
Follow Distro on Twitter

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

FCC Fridays: November 11, 2011

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 04:55 AM PST

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones

Fujitsu FJI12
LG C800G
Research in Motion REC70UW
Research in Motion RED70UW
Research in Motion RDZ20CW
Samsung Galaxy S II LTE SC-03D (NTT DoCoMo, Dark Gray)
Samsung Galaxy S II LTE SC-04D (NTT DoCoMo, Titan Silver)
Samsung Galaxy W (GT-I8150T)
Samsung Galaxy XCover (GT-S5690)
Samsung GT-S5369
Sharp 102SH
Sharp SH-02D (NTT DoCoMo)
Sharp SH-03D (NTT DoCoMo)
ZTE GR221S
ZTE N762

Tablets and peripherals

Acer Iconia Tab A200
Barnes & Noble Nook Color
Huawei E303s-3 USB stick
Motorola LapDock 500
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus (T-Mobile)
ZTE Light (V9C)

Adobe releases final Flash Player version for Android, BlackBerry PlayBook, promises future updates

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 04:25 AM PST


When Adobe announced the death of Flash Player on mobile devices earlier this week, it did so while promising to issue a final version for Android devices and the BlackBerry PlayBook. Now, that promise has come to fruition, with the release of version 11.1. Like pretty much every Adobe update, this latest refresh promises to patch up a host of security flaws -- 12 "critical" ones, to be exact. More intriguing, however, are Adobe's plans for future security support. In a blog post published Wednesday, company exec Danny Winokur confirmed that Adobe will "continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations." This sentiment was echoed in a Twitter post yesterday from Brad Arkin, senior director of product security and privacy: "Adobe will continue to ship security updates for Flash Player mobile after the final feature release." But neither Winokur nor Arkin have specified how long this patch distribution will continue, and the company has yet to offer any sort of timeline for future tablet and smartphone updates. For more information on the latest release, check out the source link below, or hit up the coverage link to grab the Android version for yourself.

Verzo launches Kinzo Android smartphone, on sale today for $459

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 04:00 AM PST


Remember the Kinzo, that mysterious Android smartphone from Verzo we teased you with this past summer? Well it looks like the Americano Czech company just launched its stylish, custom-skinned, FroYo-powered (?) device. Originally slated for a late-September release, the 12.3mm-thick handset -- designed by Novague -- goes on sale today on Verzo's website for $459 (€420) contract-free. This buys you a 4.3-inch WVGA glass-capacitive TFT display, a 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor, 512MB of RAM, a five megapixel AF camera (with LED flash), a VGA front-facing camera, tri-band UMTS support (AT&T-compatible), quad-band GSM support, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR plus the usual array of sensors. Power comes from a 1590mAh battery, and a microSD slot provides storage (an 8GB card is included). No word yet on essential features such as a compass, HSPA, or support for the Android Market.

The manufacturer plans to differentiate itself with free shipping, refined packaging and a full set of bundled accessories, including a leather case, quality headphones, a car charger and a car holder. While details about the Verzo GUI remain vague (tweaks appear to be primarily cosmetic), each Kinzo will include offline navigation software by Sygic. An app called TellME will provide "the basic means of communication between the users and the Verzo brand". The company wants to establish a strong relationship with its customers by letting the community of owners suggest and vote on improvements to its product. Winning features will be incorporated into the next software update. Curious about this elegant mid-range Android smartphone? Check out the picture gallery below, and hit the break for the full specs, a promo video, and the obligatory PR.
Verzo Kinzo Android smartphone

Display:
Touch Screen Capacitive Multi-Touch Screen
Size 4.3-inch
Resolution 800x480 pixels
Screen Type TFT
Features:
OS Android 2.2 (Froyo)
Communication Standard GSM / WCDMA
2G Bands GSM:850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G Bands WCDMA:850/1900/2100MHz
Processor IFX XMM 6160 + Texas Instruments OMAP 3630 @ 1GHz
Memory RAM:512MB
ROM:512MB
Camera Front 0,3 megapixel (FF), Rear 5 megapixel (AF) with LED
GPS GPS module built-in
Sensors Light sensor, Accelerometer sensor, Proximity sensor
Audio Format AMR / AAC / AAC+ / MP3 / WAV / PCM
Video Format MPEG4 / 3GPP / H.263 / H.264
Image Format JPEG, PNG, BMP, WBMP, GIF
Battery:
Capacity Rechargeable SONY 1590 mAh battery
Talk Time 9 Hours (GSM)
Standby Time Up to 360 Hours (GSM)
Connectivity:
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
3G WCDMA
Bluetooth Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Connectors:
USB Micro-USB
Earphone 3.5mm stereo audio jack
Card Slot 1x MicroSD/SDHC card slot (Supports up to 32GB)
Accessories:
User manual
Battery
Charger, 5V / 1.5A
USB cable
Earphones
Car charger
Dimensions & Weight:
Dimensions 131.62 x 72.36 x 12.30 mm (5.18 x 2.84 x 0.48 inches)
Weight 155g (0.34 pounds)

Show full PR text
Let's stand up against the big ones. Together.

Convinced that the world needs a change from time to time and that the smaller ones who tend to be perceived as weak and irrelevant sometimes need to stand up against the big, the VERZO is coming to the market with its first smartphone called Kinzo. Since the very beginning we wanted to create a phone that would be open to its owners at least as much as the Google Android OS is open to its community. Based on this open source software we wanted to build a phone that would not be the slimmest, the best in performance or the most expensive, but to create a phone that would go its own way and never leave it.

This way is based on differentiation from the great and seemingly untouchable brands by original design and most of all by active communication with clients. We do not want to develop and sell VERZO in the common way: Here you have the new generation of a phone, it's the best, the most amazing, buy it and for the love of god, leave us alone! We too have our vision which is represented by the Kinzo model, but we also respect and value the opinions of our customers more than anything else.

That is the reason why we are starting the sale of our first model of a smartphone, whose parameters might make the big brands smile for now, but only until you understand our message: The Kinzo is coming to the market with a carefully selected mix of hardware, software, accessories and price, all of which gives you enough space to affect its future development. Together with the community we shall fill the Kinzo and all later VERZO models with widgets, applications and other tweaks to get VERZO to a place on the market where there will be no disdain. Come and build a new brand of smartphones with us.

VERZO and Kinzo in questions and answers

What was supposed to be mentioned in our standpoints, philosophy and world view can be found in the introduction and in our first press release. There is no use in wasting words and using empty phrases, so let us give our first product – the Kinzo smartphone – space to speak for itself. All the technical, practical and other important information can therefore be found in the next paragraphs in the form of questions and answers. So let's get started:

Question 1: Who is behind VERZO?

On the top of the pyramid is an American company called VERZO TECHNOLOGY LLC. This is the founding company for VERZO Technology s.r.o. – a company based in Prague, Czech Republic. If therefore we say that the VERZO project is a Czech-American one, it is probably the best name for it. The VERZO Technology s.r.o company supervised the development of the design of the phone and the VERZO GUI, and is currently managing the production process and forming the distribution strategy. The VERZO project involved top designers, developers, graphic designers and managers, who have utilised their long experience in their respective fields and brought dynamics and courage to the project.

Only the design of the Kinzo was done outside the VERZO – in the Novague design studio. The aim of the VERZO TECHNOLOGY, LLC is to enter the smartphone market, develop and broaden the product base and become publicly traded company on the American stock exchange.

Question 2: What are the parameters of VERZO Kinzo?

This question can be answered simply: Optimal. Kinzo is not a smartphone that would like to look down on others, boast about how many cores its processor has, how many megapixels the cameras have, how the display is the brightest with the best resolution and so on. The hardware was chosen so it does not limit its users in any aspect, but also not to promise things that cannot be delivered. We wanted to avoid the situation when you would be in need of a processor with better performance, when you would be limited by the size or resolution of the display, or when you would be missing some core feature. At the same time, we did not want to create a smartphone that would be too complicated to use, its battery life too short, but would be full of cores and cameras, and you would not get any accessories except for a charger and a display cleaning cloth worth a few cents.

VERZO Kinzo Specifications:

• OS: Google Android 2.2.
• Processor: 1GHz
• Size: 131,6x72,3x12,3mm (height|width|depth)
• Weight: 155g (with battery)
• Display size: 4.3"
• Display type: TFT, Capacitive Multi-touch screen
• Display resolution: 800x480 pixels
• Camera: 5Mpix (back), VGA (front)
• Battery: SONY Li-Ion 1530 mAh
• Internal memory: 512 MB + 8GB Micro SDHC memory card included (Kinzo supports memory cards up to 32 GB)
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• GPS

Question 3: Who is our VERZO Kinzo's competition?

First of all – we are not going to compete with an iPhone. For one, Apple with its current iPhone has quite a head start in development and funding. Also, Apple is mainly trying to appeal to people who put style, design and prestige first. And finally, it is not an android-based device. We think that we should compete with smartphones, which have something in common, therefore VERZO belongs more to the company of smartphones like: Sony Ericsson Xperia ARC, HTC Desire HD, Motorola Milestone, LG Optimus 2X, Nexus One, HTC Desire S, etc. In comparison with these, VERZO Kinzo can offer mostly matching parameters for the same or a slightly lower price, with an extremely rich offering of accessories, free of charge.

Our goal at this time is not to enter the battle for more cores, brightest display or the best camera. We understand that the users are looking for a technologically advanced device, however, we refuse to accept that the quality of a good smartphone should be based only on the number of pixels or the quantity of cores in the processor. In other words – single core processor of 1GHz can many times do a better service than its n-core colleague. Our journey leads through step-by-step advances in parameters, the development of the community and additional widgets.

Question 4: What is included in the price of VERZO Kinzo?

We would like to say that we wanted to make the opening of a new package with the new smartphone into a grand occasion. Global brands have very strict shareholders, who affect the look of the packages not only for smartphones, but for electronics overall. VERZO does not want to give you a cheap carton box with mostly nothing in it. In our luxury package you will find more than just the phone – we also provide many original accessories!

The accessories include a luxurious genuine leather case made in the EU (we always want to have at least one item from the EU or the US in the pack), the smallest USB charger you have ever seen, a luxurious car charger from polished steel, quality headphones, an 8GB Micro SD card and a car holder for your Kinzo. With every new Kinzo you will also be given an offline Navigation app from Sygic with the maps of the whole EU or USA (based on your location). And this is still not all. Every new Kinzo comes with a stylish car holder.

Question 5: What is the price of VERZO Kinzo?

VERZO Kinzo is coming to the European market with the price of 420 EUR and for the customers in the USA the price is set to 459 USD. The price includes the Kinzo phone and the rich accessories as mentioned in the previous answer.

Question 6: How are the purchase and the shipping going to be processed?

The sales start on the 11th of November 2011 via the official VERZO online store accessible at www.verzo.com. In the next weeks we are planning to expand the sales to chosen local retailers and mobile providers. The list of our partners will be constantly updated and available at www.verzo.com. VERZO is shipping the Kinzo worldwide for free. You will not pay a single dollar or euro more.

Question 7: How will the customer service be carried out?

If you experience any difficulties with the Kinzo (which can happen even though we have strict quality control), we will try to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. First you will be directed to our tech-support online, who will attempt to identify the problem. If the technician is not be able to resolve the problem, he will ensure that the device is picked up and sent off to a service and later returned to the customer. You will not have to trouble yourself and look for a place to have your phone serviced. VERZO wants to be in touch with its customers directly and have the possibility to react and help as quickly as possible.

Question 8: What is it exactly this „VERZO community"?

In the VERZO community is where one can meet all the other owners of VERZO devices, who decide to actively participate on the future of the brand. VERZO community starts with the TellME application, which is activated with the registration of a user and the Kinzo smartphone on the official website www.verzo.com, from where it can be downloaded to the phone itself. This application provides the basic means of communication between the users and the VERZO brand.

The users are given the possibility to suggest variety of improvements and mainly applications and widgets, which will be voted for by the rest of the community. The users thus decide which application and widget will be realized. The winning idea or suggestion will be later on available for download for the rest of the users in the following update. The VERZO brand is decided to take a good care of the community and further improve it with the existing and upcoming applications and suggestions.

Question 9: What is it the 'VERZO GUI'?

VERZO GUI represents our way of thinking about the world of smartphones and most of all our idea about the perfect look of a Google Android OS. VERZO GUI starts with the model Kinzo in its basic layout – with a modified main screen and the status icons, with its own weather widget, contacts visualization, background and some other features. The development of the VERZO GUI will continue in the future, while taking into account the desires of the users. We could have changed the whole system ourselves while hoping that the users will get used to it, but we have decided to show the directions and ask our users about their ideas. What do they like and dislike? What do they find useful and what rather useless? That is the idea behind the VERZO GUI.

Other related questions

1. Why does the Kinzo have a 4.3" screen?

We believe that the modern multimedia phone needs to have a big screen to be able to fully utilize its potential. That is why we have chosen the 4.3" screen. The size of the screen directly influences the size of the phone itself.

2. How long will the battery last when using Kinzo?

It is similar or even better than other comparable smartphones on the market. Kinzo has a 1530 mAh battery, which ensures that the Kinzo will be up and running for over a day while used under regular conditions. If used intensively for phone calls, e- mails and web browsing, the Kinzo will have to be charged on a daily basis, however, it will always be up and running at least from dusk till dawn.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Mystery BlackBerry smartphone pops up at FCC, teases us with REA71UW model number

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 03:41 AM PST

REA71UW. Mean anything to you? Us either. What we do know, however, is that this is indeed a RIM-made BlackBerry smartphone, and so far as we can tell, it'll ship with BlackBerry 7 OS onboard. It's also clear that this guy's rocking the requisite bands for use on AT&T's 3G network (850 / 1900), but outside of that, most everything else remains a mystery. Hit the source link to dig into the associated SAR reports, and keep it locked for more as it turns up.

Toys R Us' Nabi Android tablet lets junior play while mommy drinks

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 03:35 AM PST

True, mommy may not have to drink, but as long as Toys R Us' Nabi tablet is in the house, that cabinet door will always be open. Designed to distract kids aged six years and up, this tot-sized Android slate boasts a seven-inch, 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen display, 4GB of onboard storage, and a 533MHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU. These certainly aren't the most scintillating specs we've ever come across (even by kiddo tablet standards), but keep in mind that we're talking about six-year-olds, here. They don't know anything. Plus, they'll probably be distracted by the Nabi's customized UI, tailored for so-called "kiddified" browsing, reading and TV watching. If you ever get a hankering to get in on the action yourself, you can always send the beast to time out and play with the tablet yourself, thanks to a built-in "Mommy Mode" that provides a more mature Android experience. No word yet on whether Toys R Us plans to introduce a "Daddy Mode" (or, for that matter, a "Postman Mode"), but that's probably a conversation for another day. Hands-off parents can pre-order the Nabi for $200, at the source link below.

Logitech's new CEO sees the failures of the Revue clearly in hindsight and doesn't plan a sequel

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 03:05 AM PST

After the Logitech Revue lost the CEO who spearheaded its progression into the marketplace and saw its price drop from $299 to $99, it's probably not that surprising to hear the new company leader isn't entirely enthusiastic about it. Guerrino De Luca told investors during the company's earnings call back on October 29th that Logitech would not be building a successor to the Revue and it would be "on the bench" waiting for an opportunity to build peripherals to present itself. During an Analyst and Investor Day on the 9th, he was even more frank, crediting the launch of the Revue and the company's issues in the EMEA region as costing it over $100 million in operating profit. While still calling Google TV a "great concept", and believing that success of it or a descendant is "inevitable", he admitted that a massive marketing push for a $300 box with "unfinished" software "cost the company dearly."

Clearly, he's working on getting the company back to basics working on high end accessories and remotes -- there's also a note about . Whether or not Google TV -- or any other connected TV platform -- hits it big, expect to see Logitech hawking popcorn in the stands rather than on the field with an IR blaster connected box no one asked for, and running a bunch of creepy ads. Check out both transcripts on Seeking Alpha for more gems -- we'll wait to hear how other Google TV partners react going forward.

But you can't get the Romania out of Nokia

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 02:40 AM PST

Local news outlets are reporting that Nokia is in trouble with the Romanian government over unpaid debts amounting to $10 million. The outstanding sum supposedly relates to customs bills racked up by trucks removing Nokia's equipment from its abandoned Cluj factory. A Nokia spokesperson just confirmed to us that the company is experiencing some kind of problem in that country, but is "engaging with the local authority to ensure it will be resolved satisfactorily."

StormDriver social web app gets alpha release, booming launch video

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 02:11 AM PST

You're not really reading this. Okay, you are reading this, but the problem -- we're told -- is that you're reading it like a little Pac-Man trapped in a blind maze, in which all the other Pac-People surfing this page are hidden from view. Don't you want to smash those walls down? Don't you want to immerse yourself in that sweaty throng of humanity? Oh, you do? Then you need StormDriver, a social web app which has just started alpha testing. Similar to the RockMelt browser that came out last year, it's an overlay that allows geeks on the same page to interact with each other, rate content and follow real-time feeds that point them towards hot sites and discussions. The video and press release after the break make it all sound very enticing, but remember the ancient phrase: never pull down a fence until you know why someone put it up.

Update: if you want early access to the system, leave your email address at the source link.

Show full PR text
StormDriver Alpha Release:

StormDriver (stormdriver.com) is a new web application that is entering the alpha testing stage on 11 November 2011. It provides a single interactive overlay for the whole Web without the need to install anything. StormDriver allows you to instantly see who else is on the same website as you, where people came from and where they are going. StormDriver also analyzes the users' browsing habits and content tastes and leverages this information to provide an innovative content recommendation system (patent is now pending).

The interaction in StormDriver happens around content, and not in a walled garden of a social network. Users can exchange information and express their opinions independently from the original website architecture. Thanks to real time feeds, StormDriver users can see what is happening on the Web this very second – which sites are popular and where discussions happen. They can see the ebbs and flows of Web traffic.

Users can also relate pages to one another, effectively building a community-curated, alternative web of meaningful relations between content. These relations grow in strength with each user that travels through them and rates them, providing a new way of finding relevant information.

About Us

StormDriver is a start-up with an international development team based in Norway, Poland and Argentina. The system has been in development for two years and is now entering the closed alpha testing stage. If you want to help us improve StormDriver, leave your email at this teaser site: http:/thereisnoturningback.com. Alpha testers will be invited in small, controlled groups. Please contact us to arrange exclusive press access.

Bert and Ernie TomTom voices tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street (video)

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 01:48 AM PST

While some may seriously doubt their driving credentials, Bert and Ernie are the latest additions to TomTom's voice navigation library. The two muppets join the slightly more sinister likes of Darth Vader and Jeremy Clarkson, who've already offered up their distinctive vocal talents to the in-car navi. Grab your rubber duckie and see how the recording session went down after the break.

Nokia Suite sheds its beta skin, officially sends Ovi Suite to pasture

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 01:01 AM PST

Nokia Suite triumphantly dropped its beta training wheels yesterday, with the release of version 3.2.100. The upgrade, which replaces version 3.2.98, brings a "refreshed look and feel" to the Windows app, along with a new "Support view" interface, where users can easily find information about their devices and storage capacities. You'll also find a streamlined sync log, which keeps meticulous notes on all the changes that undergo during a given sync sesh. What you won't find, of course, is the word "Ovi." You can download it now, at the source link below.

Nokia Champagne handset spotted on Windows Phone app, dancing the Tango?

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 12:04 AM PST

Has a Windows Phone app just popped the cork on a new Nokia handset? It very well may have, based on the above image. Extracted from the "I'm a WP7" app and first identified by the folks over at WP Central, this screenshot purports to reveal a Nokia device codenamed "Champagne" -- a rather delectable moniker that, until now, wasn't even on our radar. At this point, little else is known about this mystery phone, though according to WP Central, it's running Windows Phone 7.10.8711 -- suggesting, perhaps, the presence of Tango, the Mango successor for low-end devices. Could this be a mythical, LTE-equipped Lumia 900 / Ace handset for Verizon Wireless? Could we see it at this year's CES? Only time will tell, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

Sony announces UMD Passport program in Japan, offers Vita PSN discounts to UMD owners

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 11:16 PM PST

When Sony mentioned that the Vita wouldn't support the PSP's existing UMD library, we had to wonder what would become of the little discs. Sony hinted that something was on the way for physical media aficionados at TGS, but wasn't ready to go into detail yet. Today, however, SCEJ announced the UMD Passport program -- a service that will let Japanese PSP owners register UMD games through a PSP app to secure discounts for repurchasing titles on the new console. The discounted games average between ¥500-1,000 (about $6 and $13, respectively) a pop, but can go for as high as ¥2,400. The UMD registration app hits the Japanese PlayStation store on December 6th, and Sony hopes to make the system compatible with roughly 200 titles. Hit the source links below for Sony's official press release and an initial list of Passport compatible games, in Japanese, of course.

Samsung signs up PowerVR SGX MP GPUs for future devices, keeps its options open

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 10:11 PM PST

Even though it's already listed on the dance card for ARM's upcoming MALI-T658 mobile GPU, Samsung is also licensing tech from Imagination Technologies. The new agreement will allow it to include Imagination's PowerVR SGX multiprocessor GPU (a.k.a Series 5XT a form of which already resides in the A5 chip used by Apple's iPad 2 and iPhone 4S as well as the PlayStation Vita) in its upcoming devices, but doesn't specify how many cores or what configuration may be used. MobileTechWorld also speculates this could be in preparation for SoCs built to run Windows 8, but until we actually get a peek inside whatever devices are up Samsung's sleeve it's impossible to know for sure.

Sony's CEO is ready to launch a four-screen platform 'that can compete with Steve Jobs'

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 09:05 PM PST

After announcing that it would completely revamp its struggling TV business after yet another quarter of financial setbacks, what's next for Sony? CEO Howard Stringer tells the Wall Street Journal that R&D is focusing on a "different kind of TV set." He didn't specify whether he was talking about the company's efforts with Google TV or any other technology, however he did note the "really well organized" beauty of the iPhone and said that after a five year quest to build a platform that would compete with Steve Jobs, it's finally ready to launch. This all hinges on Sony's ability to pull its four screens (phones, tablets, PCs, TVs) together with network services like Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited (and hopefully make those Qriocity-birthed offerings famous for something other than being a footnote in its hacking scandal). Sony has finally begun to acknowledge its weaknesses in software and providing a uniform user experience, we'll probably find out more about how it plans to turn that around at CES 2012 in January.

Siri's UK voice answers questions about his journey to the iPhone 4S

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 08:21 PM PST

The first rule of being Siri is do not talk about being Siri -- but Jon Briggs, the voice of the iPhone helper's British version, has, fittingly, has bucked that trend. Apple's preference for mystery surrounding the matter hasn't silenced the one-time tech journalist turned voice over actor who discovered that he was the voice of the 4S's assistant upon hearing his "flat and even" readings played back on a commercial for the handset. Briggs told The Telegraph that he recorded the basis for the British Siri five or six years ago, speaking some 5,000 sentences over the course of three weeks for "a decent sum."

Xbox.com upgrade is live with new Beacons and easy opt-out Auto Renewal

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 07:30 PM PST

The newly refreshed Xbox.com is now live for one and all, offering its new Social area and beacons that were detailed previously. Of course, if you're averse to commitment (or just like buying your Xbox Live subscription in the form of cards only when they're on sale) the biggest new addition may be what your friends at Joystiq noticed: a newly streamlined process to disable your subscription's yearly auto-renewal. It's a small tweak, but if it means not feeling the sucker punch of a surprise $59 charge on your credit card then that may be enough for some. Now, about that fall dashboard update...

CRP Racing debuts Energica electric streetbike prototype at EICMA 2011

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 06:48 PM PST

You might not need an electric streetbike in the near future, but it's still cool to know that the prototype is complete. CRP Racing has just introduced the Energica at the EICMA motorcyle show in Italy. The Energica slides an all-electric powertrain with 100kW of power into a classic Italian-style two wheeler the is capable of speeds up to 220 km/h, 16kgm of torque, and 150km of range on a single charge, features OZ forged aluminum braking discs and a power train efficiency around 95 percent. The niftiness is only compounded by front double caliper radial mounts, a single rear fixed caliper, digital multifunction LCD dashboard and LED headlights. Pricing begins with a deposit of €1,500 ($2042 US) and doesn't include VAT. Of course, the Energica is still in the development phase, so final pricing and specifications might change. Still, if an electric streetbike isn't at least as cool as a penguin in a freezer, then something's wrong with your freezer.




PRESS RELEASE

At Eicma CRP Racing presents Energica, the first electric streetbike prototype.
After the success that eCRP, the 2010 and 2011 Vice World Champion racebike, gained on track, CRP Racing has decided to take to the street with the electric superbike prototype and present it at Eicma for the first time.

Milan November 8 2011. CRP Racing comes to Eicma with the first electric streetbike prototype: Energica.

This is a project of international importance, in which CRP, in addition to studying in detail the characteristics of this new electric streetbike, has used the experience gained race after race on the track.

The key word is Evolution. CRP's challenge is to deliver green technology with its innovation, not only on the track, but also on the street. CRP's know-how is the result of 40 years of experience working alongside some of the best international motorsport teams.

Energica is CRP Racing's first concept of an electric streetbike
The CRP streetbike is an Italian style two wheeler, with a strong racing personality characterised by its racing DNA and state of the art green technology.
With Energica the electric bike is no longer just an example of alternative sustainable mobility, but has become a true model of high technology and design on two wheels, capable of giving you the same unique sensations as the traditional models.
The Energica project is underway thanks to the experience that CRP has gained race after race at the FIM e-Power and TTXGP electric motorcycle championships.
After having travelled for two years throughout Europe and America, taking the eCRP, one of the best electric racing vehicles, to the track, the CRP staff have perfected every single detail in order to design a unique electric streetbike specimen, which today is a viable alternative to the next-generation endothermic motorbikes.

Energica is in the development phase, but some technical data is already available, as it is already possible to order the streetbike via the website www.energicasuperbike.com.

CRP Group:
The CRP Group is composed of six companies: CRP Engineering, CRP Meccanica, CRP Racing, CRP Technology, CRP Service and CRP USA.
Each company represents an example of excellence in their respective fields. From the experience of more than 40 years in the world of F1 working with top international teams, the CRP Group has great know-how in particular sectors, from additive manufacturing, to high performing CNC machining and development of two-wheel racing vehicles in both combustion engines and electric power, with the attention of service that is focused on the customer.
www.crp.eu - www.windform.eu

CRP Group Press Office:
Francesca Cuoghi - pressoffice@crp.eu - Ph.: 059 821135

NVIDIA reports Q3 earnings: $1.07 billion in revenue, $178.3 million in net income

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:42 PM PST

Just yesterday, ASUS announced the first-ever quad-core tablet, packing NVIDIA's Tegra 3 SoC, and now the chipmaker is making an announcement of its own. It may be a slightly less exciting reveal, but NVIDIA's just taken the wraps off of its Q3 earnings, and it appears things are looking up -- revenue is up 4.9 percent over last quarter to $1.07 billion from $1.02 billion and up 26.3 percent from last year. The company also reported an increase in net income, raking in $178.3 million for Q3 2011, up from $151.6 million last quarter and $84.9 million last year. The company's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, unsurprisingly attributed the growth to the mobile market as well as the outfit's GPU business, and continued to boast of future good times, riding the quad-core wave. For more details, check the full PR after the break.
Show full PR text
NVIDIA Reports Financial Results for Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2012

SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/10/2011 -- NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)

-Revenue increased 4.9 percent to $1.07 billion from $1.02 billion in the previous quarter.
-GAAP net income was $178.3 million, or $0.29 per diluted share; non-GAAP net income was $217.0 million, or $0.35 per diluted share.
-GAAP gross margin increased to 52.2 percent; non-GAAP gross margin increased to 52.5 percent from the second quarter's 51.9 percent. Both are records for the fifth consecutive quarter.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported revenue of $1.07 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 ended Oct. 30, 2011, up 4.9 percent from the prior quarter, and up 26.3 percent from $843.9 million in the same period a year earlier.

On a GAAP basis, the company recorded net income of $178.3 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2012. That compares with net income of $151.6 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, in the prior quarter and $84.9 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the same period a year earlier.

On a non-GAAP basis -- which excludes stock-based compensation, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, other acquisition related costs, and the tax impact associated with these items -- net income was $217.0 million, or $0.35 per diluted share. That compares with net income of $193.5 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, in the prior quarter, and net income of $117.4 million, $0.20 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

GAAP gross margin was 52.2 percent, a fifth consecutive record, compared with 51.7 percent in the previous quarter and 46.5 percent in the same period a year earlier. Non-GAAP gross margin, at 52.5 percent, was also a record, and compares with 51.9 percent in the prior quarter and 46.8 percent in the same period a year earlier.

"NVIDIA's strategy is coming into its own, as the world becomes increasingly visual and mobile," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive of NVIDIA. "Our GPU business accelerated in the third quarter, driven by strong demand from gamers and the professional market. And our mobile business benefited from new devices coming onto the market. With Tegra 3 phone wins well ahead of Tegra 2's pace, we're expecting strong growth in the year ahead."

Outlook

Our outlook for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 is as follows:

-Revenue is expected to be relatively flat, plus or minus two percent, from the third quarter.

-GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be flat to up 0.5 percentage points from the respective GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins in the third quarter.

-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $372 million; non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $330 million.

-Our GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates are both expected to be between 14 to 16 percent, excluding any discrete tax events that may occur in the quarter.

We estimate depreciation and amortization for the fourth quarter to be approximately $53 million to $57 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $30 to $40 million.

Diluted shares for the fourth quarter are expected to be approximately 618 million.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2012 and Recent Highlights:

-NVIDIA launched Tegra 3, the world's first quad-core processor for super phones and tablets, bringing PC-class performance levels to tablets and phones. Simultaneously, Asus announced that its Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the first device based on Tegra 3, will be available worldwide in December.

-In addition, NVIDIA and its partners added three more Tegra®-based superphones to the eight already available -- LG Optimus EX, LG Optimus BQ and Motorola Electrify. They also added 13 new tablets, bringing the total to 23. New models include the Asus Slider, Sony Tablet S, Sony Tablet P, Toshiba Scorpio 7", Acer Iconia A100, Sharp Galapagos E-Reader, Dell Streak 10, Lenovo ThinkPad, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9.

-NVIDIA Tesla processors were chosen by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which will deploy 18,000 of them in its new machine, "Titan," expected to be the world's fastest supercomputer, with the potential to deliver speeds of over 20 petaflops.

Honda's Small Sports EV concept proves electric can be svelte, comes to Tokyo Motor Show next month

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 03:44 PM PST

Honda fans, hope you're down for some last-minute tickets to Japan, as the automaker plans to release not one, but seven (!) stunning concepts at the upcoming Tokyo Motor show. Ranging from plug-in hybrids to electric motorcycles, we're most stoked about the Small Sports EV -- a dashing two-seat roadster that reminds us stylistically of BMW's i8. Details are light, but Honda promises that it'll be fun to drive, yet also achieve "excellent environmental performance." Alongside it is the plug-in hybrid AC-X, which looks like an LED-ridden redux of the lease-only FCX. And finally, there's the Micro Commuter concept, which despite looking the least production-ready of the three, gets kudos for having a dedicated spot to load the accompanying Motor Compo EV motorcycle. Not much else to report on all seven this far out, but that doesn't mean you can't ogle at photos of these three and their motorcycle brethren at the links below.
Show full PR text
Honda Announces Overview of Display for the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011
--Seven Next-Generation Electromotive Concept Models on Display--

November 10, 2011 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced its lineup of production and concept-model automobiles, motorcycles, power products, and other highlights for its display at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011, which will take place at Tokyo Big Sight from Saturday, December 3 through Sunday, December 11, 2011.

At this motor show, with the booth concept of "What makes people feel good?" Honda will propose an exciting and thrilling mobility life of the future that it envisions as a company providing personal mobility to people all around the world. The display will include a lineup of the next-generation electromotive concept models including two-, three- and four-wheeled commuter vehicles designed for easy and fun mobility in future cities, mid-to-long distance commuters designed to enrich life and enhance the freedom and fun of mobility, and sporty models that pursue the joy of driving/riding.

Furthermore, at the automobile section, N Concept, a new mini-vehicle series that emphasizes the creation of ample space, will be showcased, including introduction of the first production model in the series, N BOX. At the motorcycle section, a variety of models will be on display, including planned production models such as NC700S, INTEGRA and NC700X, which will be equipped with Honda's newly-developed global 700cc motorcycle engine. Also on display will be the planned production model of the CRF250L which offers both an ease of use in everyday life and the fun of off-road riding. Covering the largest floor area of any single brand at the show, the Honda booth will showcase a diverse lineup of products unique to Honda.

As a part of "SMART MOBILITY CITY 2011", a themed project the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) will hold at the motor show venue, Honda will showcase the FCX Clarity advanced fuel cell electric vehicle, EV-neo electric scooter, EV-MONPAL electric cart, as well as the Honda Smart Home System which features several Honda-developed energy production technologies, including a gas engine cogeneration unit and a solar powered system to reduce household and mobility CO2 emissions. The progress Honda has been making in testing program of these technologies also will be showcased.

Since the establishment of the company, Honda's goal has been to make people happy through its technologies and through the creation of products that are useful in people's daily lives. Driven by these dreams and passion, Honda has been committed to the research and development of mobility which focuses on people. With a passion to create and deliver mobility filled with fun and good feelings for people, Honda's challenge as a manufacturer of mobility products will continue into the future.

Electromotive concept models
Automobiles
- AC-X
A next-generation plug-in hybrid vehicle which offers a more comfortable and enjoyable time in the vehicle during all driving situations, from urban to long-distance driving. With the choices of an "engine drive mode" for more aggressive driving or an "automatic drive mode" for more relaxed driving, the vehicle broadens the joy of mobility.
- MICRO COMMUTER CONCEPT
A micro-sized, futuristic, electric city commuter which will become a highly accessible form of mobility for more people. This vehicle will offer the joy of a new type of communications between people and mobility and an exterior that the owner can enjoy customizing more casually. The collaboration of Honda's motorcycle and automobile R&D centers made it possible to load the MOTOR COMPO two-wheel EV commuter in this vehicle.
- SMALL SPORTS EV CONCEPT (tentative name)
A next-generation EV sports model which maximizes the fun of driving while achieving excellent environmental performance.

Motorcycles
- MOTOR COMPO
A compact EV commuter which offers the casual and convenient mobility of a two-wheeler, but also strives to be useful even when it is not being ridden. This model can be loaded in the MICRO COMMUTER CONCEPT, with the battery that drives this commuter detachable and designed to be used as a power source in everyday life.
- E-CANOPY
A quiet and comfortable next-generation commuter developed by installing an EV system on Honda's unique three-wheeled scooter. In addition to personal use, this vehicle can be utilized for business use such as a delivery service by adopting a rear trunk which can be built-in.
- RC-E
An EV version of a super sports bike that pursues the joy of riding. A powerful and smooth ride unique to an EV model is achieved with the 250cc-class compact body.

Power products
- TOWNWALKER
Urban mobility which pursues simplicity and nimbleness that enables anyone to enjoy mobility in urban areas more casually. It can easily be loaded on a car by folding away the steering and seat.

Lapdock 500 goes through the FCC, its pre-launch gutting ritual shown off to the public

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 02:16 PM PST

If you've loved the idea of using a lapdock but you've held off because the existing models are either too Atrix-y (proprietary) or just plain ugly (lapdock 100, we're looking at you), there's a good chance you've been closely following the developments on the lapdock 500. The Webtop-enabled device just waltzed through the FCC complete with imagery, and not just in crude drawings: we're talking outside and inside shots here. Originally shown off at Motorola's Droid RAZR reveal, the latest addition to the laptop dock family comes with the most features of them all -- it's laden with a sizable 14-inch display, ethernet and VGA sockets, SD card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, front-facing camera and 6-row keyboard. Sounds great, but how's the Webtop on it? Guess we're going to find out sooner rather than later. Browse the gallery below to get your visual fix.
LapDock 500 in the FCC

Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 01:33 PM PST

SandForce-equipped SSDs are seemingly all the rage nowadays, but lest we forget that others, like Marvell, have some peppy controllers of their own. Step up Corsair, who's just announced its new Marvell-equipped line of SATA 3 Performance Pro Series 6Gb/s SSDs. These 2.5-inch storage slabs can achieve 515 MB/s read and 440 MB/s sequential write speeds, and sports a TRIM-like "built-in advanced background garbage collection," which company deems helpful for RAID setups. Notably, desktop users will be pleased to know that the drives will mount into 3.5-inch slots via an included adapter. If you're interested, $280 will snag you a 128GB version, while $530 doubles the capacity to 256GB. You'll find more details in the press release past the break.
Show full PR text
New Marvell-based Performance Pro Series™ offers consistently high performance across multiple platforms and configurations

FREMONT, California - November 10th, 2011 - Corsair®, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced the Performance Pro Series SSDs.

The Performance Pro Series, designed with the Marvell SATA 6 Gb/s SSD controller, delivers an impressive ATTO Max performance of up to 515MB/s Sequential Read and 440 MB/s Sequential Write, and can sustain very similar performance when reading and writing compressed and non-compressible data, such as audio, images, and video files. Additionally, the Performance Pro Series has built-in advanced background garbage collection to allow for consistently strong performance even with operating systems that do not support the TRIM command. This integral performance optimization makes Performance Pro SSDs an ideal solution for RAID configurations, which typically do not support TRIM.

Performance Pro solid-state drives provide fast SATA III connectivity that pushes the limits of the new SATA III 6Gb/s interface. They are also backward compatible with SATA 2 3GB/s, and include a 3.5" adapter for easy installation in both laptop and desktop PCs.

"We are pleased to provide a fast SATA 3 SSD that's designed specifically for real-world performance," said Thi La, Vice President of Memory Products at Corsair. "High-performance PC users work heavily with media files, and unlike some other SSDs, the Performance Pro can save, load and move music, photos and movies without significantly reduced performance. It offers consistent, reliable speed regardless of whether you're running Windows, OS X or Linux, and whether you're using a single drive or a RAID configuration."

The new Performance Pro Series SSDs are backed by a three-year warranty and are available in 128GB and 256GB configurations from authorized distributors and retailers worldwide. Note that stated capacities are unformatted and actual capacities will vary depending on the formatting and operating system used. For more information on Performance Pro solid-state drives, please visit: http://www.corsair.com/ssd/performance-pro-series-ssd.html

Researchers begin work on Babbage Analytical Engine, hope to compute like it's 1837

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 12:54 PM PST

A fully-functional Babbage Difference Engine? That's been done and duplicated. But the even more ambitious Babbage Analytical Engine? That's another story completely. Devised by mathematician Charles Babbage in the 1830s, the Analytical Engine can be considered to be the first programmable computer -- or at least the first notion of one -- but Babbage's plans for it were never finished, and the device itself (which would fill a room) was never built. That didn't stop computing pioneer Ada Lovelace from designing a programming language for it, though. Now a team of researchers from the Plan 28 group in the UK have begun work on a massive undertaking to finally bring Babbage's invention to life -- a project that's expected to take upwards of ten years and cost millions of dollars. In addition to a story on the project by John Markoff, the New York Times also has a helpful overview of the machine itself at the source link below.

The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM!

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 12:30 PM PST

Last week's show went so well that we're doing it again. We've got Brian and Dana in studio in NYC and Darren beaming in via Skype. As for Tim? He's coming back next week. Or so he says. Chat along after the break.

Update: And we're done! Look for the recording tomorrow!

IOGEAR's Wireless 3D Digital Kit streams the third-dimension in 1080p, ships soon for $380

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 12:12 PM PST

It's like the company's CES-launched GW3DKIT, but with a dash of "HD," a spit shine and a realistic shipping date. IOGEAR's GW3DHDKIT has just been revealed to 3D-lovin' content watchers the world over, with the Wireless 3D Digital Kit consisting of a transmitter and receiver with connections that enable it to stream standard, HD or 3D resolution content from one or two HDMI-enabled devices. We're told that it doesn't require a line-of-sight placement to deliver uncompressed 1080p, and 3D / 5.1 material can also be slung from up to 100 feet away. To add a second room, one HDTV can connect directly to the transmitter's loop-through (local) port, while a second HDTV simultaneously receives content via the wireless receiver; there's even an Infrared (IR) pass-through that allows user control over source devices that are hidden away in a different location. It'll ship before the year's end for a total of $379.95, but we'd probably wait for a couple of reviews before tossing in an order -- we've seen wireless HD let us down before, and that's a lot of change to throw on something that's still unproven.
Show full PR text
IOGEAR Advances Video Streaming with Wireless 3D Digital Kit

The latest A/V streaming kit wirelessly transmits 1080p HD / 3D video content and 5.1 digital audio up to 100 feet, through standard walls

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IOGEAR, a leader in convergence through connectivity products, announces the Wireless 3D Digital Kit (GW3DHDKIT), which reduces cable clutter and provides flexible and reliable 1080p HD and 3D content for up to two rooms. Relying on the robust 5GHz wireless spectrum, the Wireless 3D Digital Kit does not require a line-of-sight placement, and delivers uncompressed full 1080p, 3D content and 5.1 digital audio up to 100 feet.

The IOGEAR Wireless 3D Digital Kit consists of a transmitter and receiver with connections that allow it to stream standard, HD or 3D resolution content from one or two HDMI(R) enabled devices. Included with the kit are an IR blast cable, a remote control, and two power adapters. To add a second room, one HDTV can connect directly to the transmitter's loop-through (local) port, while a second HDTV simultaneously receives content via the wireless receiver. For the "Floating HDTV" set-up connect two HD or 3D media sources to the wireless transmitter while a wall-mounted TV receives content from the connected wireless receiver.

By supporting devices such as 3D Blu-ray and DVD players, DVR/set-top boxes and game consoles, the Wireless 3D Digital Kit allows users to keep their components neatly out-of-sight and keep the focus on their celebrated HD / 3D TV. Perfect as a DIY retrofit solution, the built-in Infrared (IR) pass-though allows user control over source devices that are hidden away in a different location. Additionally, the GW3DHDKIT is HDCP 2.0 Compliant and requires no software or driver installation.

"Our Wireless 3D Digital Kit advances the technology of streaming content and fits perfectly for those who already have a 3D display or are planning to get one," said Bill Nguyen, Senior Marketing Manager for IOGEAR. "The GW3DHDKIT offers an easy, affordable way to stream both HD and 3D entertainment discretely with multiple retrofit and installation options."

The Wireless 3D Digital Kit is housed in a sleek black casing with rounded edges, giving it a modern but understated appearance. The unobtrusive transmitter, receiver, IR blast cable and remote control underscore just how powerful the Wireless 3D Digital Kit is. The innovation required to stream high-bandwidth 3D and 1080p content up to 100 feet through standard walls is a testament to IOGEAR engineering.

For its initial launch, the Wireless 3D Digital Kit will be available online at Costco.com. A nationwide roll-out that includes shopIOGEAR.com, brick and mortar stores and online resellers will happen before the end of the year. MSRP of the Wireless 3D Digital Kit is $379.95.
at 12:32 PM

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