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Thursday, March 8, 2012

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NBC, YouTube pair up for synchronized streaming at London 2012

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 10:51 AM PST

If the news that the Olympics is but 141 days away fills you with excitement, then you'll be overjoyed to know that NBC has abandoned Silverlight for YouTube, which is the network's official on-demand partner for the games. All events will be streamed live on Google's backbone (presumably via NBC.com), with replays of web-exclusive events, all the TV broadcasts and "behind the scenes" footage all available at your whim. Good luck finding the 3,000 plus hours necessary to watch it all, unless this is the reason you've been looking for to quit your job over the summer.
Show full PR text
The Summer Olympics is one of the most highly anticipated sporting events in the world. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, 11,000 athletes from 205 countries will gather to compete for glory in more than 300 events.

We are going to make Olympic history. With YouTube as our official video-on-demand partner, NBCOlympics.com will be the exclusive online destination for all in-venue video. We plan to deliver the most extensive 2012 Olympics content to viewers, including---for the first time ever---ALL events streamed live. That's right, you'll be able to watch up to 3,000 hours of live streaming covering all 302 Gold Medals and every event inbetween.

We'll also include replays of Web-exclusive events, all television broadcasts, interviews with the athletes and exclusive daily segments about London 2012. Live streams will be available across our mobile platforms, providing an extraordinary 360-degree coverage of The Games.

The London 2012 Olympics are already proving to be the 17 most exciting days on the 2012 summer calendar. There's the heated rivalry between Team USA's and Team Jamaica's sprint to the finish. Also, Michael Phelps returns to the pool to compete for an Olympic record-breaking 18 gold medals. This is your chance to make history with us. Include your brand message with our exclusive coverage of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games.

C Spire restarts LTE rollout, aims for September launch in Mississippi

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 10:29 AM PST

After missing its year-end 2011 target date, C Spire is once again set to get its LTE network up and running -- this time with a more realistic fall launch. The regional carrier announced plans for that initial rollout today, aiming to blanket 20 markets in Mississippi this September. Bear in mind, this particular flavor of 4G is more akin to the brisk, though not blistering performance achieved by HSPA+, given average downlink speeds should range between 4Mbps to 12Mbps and uplink at 1Mbps to 5Mbps. Considering this may be the first taste of non-3G for some denizens of the Magnolia State, it's not a bad start. For the sake of our southern brethren, we just hope the carrier can actually fulfill on its grandiose, next-gen promises this time 'round. Check out the official presser after the break.
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Fast Gets Faster: C Spire Wireless To Launch 4G LTE In 20 Markets

Nation's Only Personalized Network Will Be First to Deliver High-Speed Wireless Data Speeds Up to 10 Times Faster in Most Mississippi Markets This Fall
4G LTE

C Spire Wireless 4G LTE Fact Sheet

Ridgeland, Miss. (March 8, 2012) – C Spire Wireless, the only U.S. provider that offers a suite of personalized wireless services, released details today on its plans to introduce 4G LTE (Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution) high-speed mobile broadband services this fall.

The company plans to invest $60 million to begin the roll out 4G LTE mobile broadband services in September in 20 Mississippi markets covering 2,700 square miles, a population of 1.2 million and more than 360 cell sites. The new service will provide 4 out of every 10 consumers and businesses in Mississippi with wireless data speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, allowing C Spire to be the first provider to make these services widely available in the state.

"Wireless networks are all about coverage, quality and speed, and the C Spire Wireless personalized network cannot be beat," said Hu Meena, president and CEO for C Spire Wireless. "We will continue to lead the way with our aggressive 4G LTE network upgrades so that our customers have the wireless services that allow them to do what they want to do when they need to do it in more places that matter to them." Today's announcement only involves the first phase of our 4G LTE deployment. More phases and more coverage will soon follow."

Initial Deployment Phase Planned for 20 Mississippi Markets Representing 1.2 Million Population

Meena said the company plans to begin the roll out of its 4G LTE mobile broadband services in September in the following markets, most of which will be the first time consumers have access to the high-speed technology:

Jackson metropolitan area
Mississippi Gulf Coast
In South Mississippi: the cities of Brookhaven, Columbia, Natchez, Petal, Hattiesburg, McComb and Lucedale;
In North Mississippi: the cities of Oxford, Tupelo, Corinth, New Albany, Pontotoc, Booneville, Starkville, Columbus and West Point;
In the Mississippi Delta, the cities of Yazoo City, Cleveland, Greenville, Greenwood and Clarksdale
In East Mississippi: the city of Meridian and parts of Lauderdale County


Mississippi business and government leaders praised C Spire for its technology investment in Mississippi. "Private sector investments like these by C Spire Wireless will help in our continued efforts to attract high-technology industries and jobs to the Magnolia state," said Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. "Expanding wireless broadband access through the latest and fastest technologies is critical to our state's economic development, education, small business and health care sectors."

Tony Jeff, president and CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, said the deployment of 4G LTE services in the state will help both consumers and small businesses. "A more robust mobile broadband experience drives economic growth, stimulates jobs and equips Mississippi consumers and businesses with the latest and fastest technologies to meet their growing wireless voice and data communications needs," Jeff said. "C Spire Wireless has significantly ramped up its wireless investments to enable an experience that offers Mississippi consumers and businesses better speed, better reliability and better availability of high-speed data communications."

C Spire is the first provider to make the next generation of high-speed mobile broadband data services widely available to Mississippians. "We're moving aggressively to offer 4G LTE services to customers who want to experience the freedom and benefits this dramatic increase in data speeds provides," Meena said. "Also, we'll be the first provider to make the next generation of high-speed mobile broadband data services widely available in many parts of our service area. For consumers, this paves the way for a future of tightly integrated voice and data services."

Lightning-Fast Upload and Download Speeds Will Be Available Over Company's 4G LTE Network

Customers can expect to experience average data speeds from 4 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) when downloading content and speeds from 1 to 5 Mbps when uploading content on the company's 4G LTE network, according to David Smith, vice president of Network Engineering for C Spire Wireless.

"Our network teams and technicians are working hard to prepare for the rollout of our 4G LTE network later this year," Smith said. "We've been aggressively deploying fiber optic cable, installing enhanced backhaul connections and microwave rings and adding network capacity to hundreds of cell sites in anticipation of the launch."

For more information about C Spire's 4G LTE plans, go to www.cspire.com/4G.

CeBIT 2012 wrap-up

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PST

For better or worse, our week in the frigid German city of Hannover has come to a close, bringing with it the end of this locale's days-long tourist season. All of the local highlights were in the region's Messe, and were focused around CeBIT, which draws visitors from every corner of the globe. There's no question that IT remains the focus of this giant European trade show, but buried amongst the servers, point-of-sale terminals and countless cloud-based solutions were a handful of gems. Ultrabooks stole the show from a CE perspective, with Intel's touchscreen-equipped solution making its hands-on debut, but we also came across a multitude of tablets, and even a pink Samsung Galaxy Note. We also spent some time wandering a virtual living room with a pair of head-tracking VR glasses, played a classic arcade game using only our mind (and our eyes), and got a front-seat demo of Audi's new gesture-based entertainment system, which lets you navigate your car while focusing on the road. We've gathered all of these demos and more for an inside look at everything CeBIT, which you'll find just past the break. Now, it's time for one more currywurst before we make our way back home.
CeBIT 2012 wrap-up

HANDS-ONS
Samsung confirms pink Galaxy Note coming soon, we go hands-on (video)
Fujitsu Lifebook Ultrabook hands-on (video)
Acer launches Ultrabook-like Aspire V5 series, we go hands-on (video)
Acer Aspire V3 notebook hands-on (video)
Audi A3 with MMI Touch gesture-based entertainment system hands-on (video)
MSI outs new GT60 / GT70 gaming laptops, we go hands-on (video)
Zeiss Cinemizer OLED with head-tracking hands-on (video)
Gigabyte U2442 Ultrabook hands-on (video)
Intel Ivy Bridge touchscreen Ultrabook reference design hands-on (video)
Fujitsu Lifebook UH572 with Ivy Bridge hands-on (video)
Archos Arnova 7-inch Child Pad hands-on (video)
Yitoa M9704 9.7-inch ICS tablet has a keyboard that doubles as a case, we go hands-on (video)
Viota ICS tablet has 9.7-inch IPS display and costs $120 wholesale, we go hands-on (video)
Tobii EyeAsteroids 3D lets you destroy virtual space stones with a gaze, we go eyes-on (video)
Call of Duty case mod has spinning gatling gun, energy drink fridge (hands-on)

NEWS
Roccat unveils Savu hybrid gaming mouse ready for CeBIT Fujitsu teases new premium Lifebook Ultrabook at CeBIT, promises more details tomorrow
We're live from CeBIT 2012 in Hannover, Germany!
Tobii's IS-2 eye tracker is cheaper, 75 percent smaller than its predecessor
Gigabyte unveils U2442 ultrabooks and P2542G gaming laptop at CeBIT
ROCCAT Power-Grid app, Phobo gaming keyboard shift PC controls to your phone

HP acknowledges complaints about the HP Envy 15's color calibration, will release a tuning utility in the 'coming weeks'

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 09:44 AM PST

If you remember, we had some mixed feelings about the HP Envy 15's IPS display when we took the laptop for a spin earlier this year. On the one hand, it offers wide viewing angles, deep contrast and rich saturation. (Not to mention, when are we ever going to complain about 1080p resolution on a 15-incher?) Still, as many disgruntled forum posters have pointed out, the color calibration seems off against other displays, with reds skewing orange and purples veering into bluish territory. At the time, we reached out to HP for comment and were told to sit tight while the company investigated the issue. Well, today we got an answer, and while the outfit is stopping short of admitting any sort of defect, it is willing to concede the color tuning is different, to say the least. Better yet, it's promising a fix for those incapable of un-seeing it. In a statement, HP's PR team said:
HP understands that some customers have expressed concern regarding the appearance of the color red in the ENVY 15 full High Definition (HD) panel, and we wanted to reassure our customers that this panel is functioning properly.

HP ENVY Series notebooks use optional premium LED-backlit display panels that have a higher color gamut (range of viewable colors), brightness and viewing angles than many display panels. This means that some colors may appear differently than they do on other displays.
A company rep added that over the "coming weeks" HP will release a tuning utility that will allow users to adjust the color settings, making those reds redder, et cetera. It's still unclear how extensive these options will be (after all, HP is still steering the most discerning customers toward its DreamColor offerings), but something's most likely better than nothing, right?

Verizon will support Mobile Hotspot on the new iPad, AT&T still working on it

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 09:21 AM PST

It's no secret that the new iPad will offer the ability to share a data connection with other devices through a mobile hotspot, but the feature doesn't do any good if your wireless network doesn't offer it. Representatives from Verizon and AT&T sent tweets this morning that raised more questions than they answered, leaving us concerned that both companies had decided not to allow the hotspot capability at all. After reaching out to the carriers, however, we're able to shed some light on the subject: Verizon killed the rumor, telling us it has "every intention of supporting Mobile Hotspot on the new iPad," while AT&T stated that it is "working with Apple to enable this feature in the future, but we currently do not offer it."

In other words, Verizon has everything settled and ready to go when the first iPad shipments arrive next week, while AT&T and Apple are supposedly still at the negotiation table. Are the two companies trying to hash out some kind of revenue sharing deal as we sit idly by, yearning for the coveted option to magically appear? Whatever the reason, AT&T's answer isn't a full-out no -- but it's not a yes, either.

Update: In regards to pricing, Verizon also stated: "All of our tablet data plans include Mobile Hotspot so customers do not have to pay an additional fee for the service on tablets."

HTC One X gets rooted before retail debut

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 08:59 AM PST

You didn't think the modders that form the very underpinnings of Android's base would let a little unicorn like the One X slide by unscathed, did ya? That polycarbonate überphone hasn't even made it out of the official launch gate and yet, thanks to MoDaCo, it's already been rooted. Sidestepping the usual dense how-to's typically associated with achieving root on non-Nexus devices, our eager beaver hacker's compiled Superboot: a one-step, no fuss boot image that automates the process for you sans the need for adb commands. The hack is said to work with retail versions of the handset and should play friendly with Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems, though it will require S-OFF or an unlocked bootloader courtesy of HTCdev. So if you were tantalized by the possibilities of this quad-core phone, but not quite convinced you could handle another skinned UX, this might help to ease your quandary.

Call of Duty case mod has spinning gatling gun, energy drink fridge (hands-on)

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 08:38 AM PST

We've had our fill of Ultrabooks and tablets at CeBIT, so now it's finally time to move on to the crazy stuff. This over-the-top case mod was awaiting unsuspecting attendees at the far back end of the China pavilion, of all places, and only caught our eye (or ear, rather) thanks to its squeaky gatling gun. It seems that this case first made an appearance at the Taipei Game Show last month, and has now landed on German shores, making a miraculous pass through EU customs to settle here, hidden amongst a hodgepodge of accessories on the outskirts of Hannover. This Thermaltake Level 10 GT chassis was modded by Brian Carter, and is highlighted by a six-barrel rotating gatling gun. There's a bazooka up top where the handle would be, a .50 caliber cartridge on the side and a combination energy drink / hand sanitizer compartment just below. Yes, hand sanitizer. The rotating (and rather noisy) gatling gun makes our hands-on video a must-watch if you're looking to get the full mod experience, so jump past the break and check it out.
Call of Duty case mod hands-on

Apple ups the resolution on iTunes U and iBooks 2 for new iPad

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 08:16 AM PST

Apple certainly had a lot of bases to cover at yesterday's new iPad unveiling, so some minor details were bound to slip through the cracks. While app suites like iLife and iWork got to bask in the Yerba Buena spotlight touting enhanced resolutions for that Retina Display, the company's decidedly less high-profile education software was also treated a face-lift -- just without the fanfare. According to a report on CNET, prospective owners of Cupertino's latest tablet will get to download an upgraded version of iBooks 2 and iTunes U that take advantage of the new 2048 x 1536 9.7-inch screen. Aside from the visual tweaks, only iBooks 2 has been imbued with extra features, adding a touch-to-highlight function and a refined page search that unites both print and ebook layouts. You'll be able to check out the 264ppi panache for yourself when those slates ship out next week.

Angry Birds Space gameplay gets revealed -- briefly (video)

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:55 AM PST

We've already gleaned that the extra-terrestrial edition of Angry Birds will involve some sort of gameplay departure from the add-on style of previous versions, but gameplay-wise there's been less information. Fortunately, makers Rovio has now leaked out a very brief taster in its lastest video. You'll have to skip to the three-minute marker, but you'll get a glimpse at some anti-gravity avians, bubbles, explosions and atmosphere re-entries. Take a look for yourself after the break.

[Thanks Ville]

Verizon-bound LG Lucid reveals itself in leaked press shots

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:37 AM PST

Verizon-bound LG Lucid reveals itself in leaked press shots

Aside from the Optimus Vu, last week's MWC didn't reveal all that many LTE-capable handsets from LG. Fortunately, the Life's Good crowd still have plans for Verizon -- and this is one of them. According to Pocketnow, this is the LG Lucid and it wants to nestle itself squarely in the middle ground of Verizon's smartphone catalogue. Alongside those 4G chops, the phone purportedly wields a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 800×480 resolution NOVA display and an 8-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video capture. It also appears to run an LG-laced version of Gingerbread -- presumably something the company will attempt to elbow aside with vague promises of ICS when it all goes official.

iPad pre-orders get shipping reference, March 16 arrival date

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:16 AM PST

We'd barely put down our liveblog quill and Apple's already cranking out new iPads to those that have pre-ordered. We've had several readers offer up information on their orders, including some UPS tracking numbers. These currently put the Retina Display tablet on Chinese shores, ready for delivery next week. All of our tipsters' iPads are still scheduled to arrive on March 16th -- the official launch date.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sony Xperia S review

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PST

Has spring 2012 brought a rebirth to the Xperia range, or just a rebranding? On the face of it, that's an easy one. The Sony Xperia S (codenamed "Nozomi") is the first handset we've reviewed in the post-Ericsson era and you only have to glance at its spec sheet to see that more has changed than just the logo. The 4.3-inch LCD display outguns older Xperias with a bright and contrasty 1280 x 720 resolution. This feature alone helps the device to sit more snugly on the Sony family sofa, where it can share popcorn with the tablets, PCs and TVs that Kaz & Co. want to merge into a seamless media-munching ecosystem. The Xperia S' camera pushes in that same direction, shooting 12-megapixel stills and 1080p video and then streaming its creations to other displays over HDMI and DLNA. Rounding it off, you get quirky features like NFC and a distinctive, Bravia-like physical design. But not everything here is so fresh and spring-like: other aspects of the device are still tinged with winter, as you'll discover if you read on.
Sony Xperia S review

Hardware


Like any good tour, this one begins at the bar -- the distinctive, LED-lit plastic bar that appears to segment the Xperia S into two parts. Having seen the phone handed around a room of bloggers before we picked up our review sample, it was one of the first things people noticed, and it was either championed or chided depending on each person's taste. Bearing in mind that Engadget has a thing for Tron furniture and fur coats, we actually kinda like it. The three Android navigation buttons are etched into the bar and look nice when it lights up.


So yes, we enjoy it, but there are equally as many reasons not to. For a start, it makes the device feel longer than it needs to be, and considering it's already a lot thicker than previous Xperias (e.g., the Xperia Arc, pictured below), that's a big sacrifice. What's more, it doesn't do Philips Ambilight-style tricks like the Xperia U, and it doesn't necessarily have the same technical justification as the aluminum unibody Xperia P.


A more serious problem with the Xperia S' hardware isn't the way it looks, but the way it's built. There are seams everywhere, where plastic meets plastic around the translucent bar, around the port covers, around the scratch resistant screen and around the rear cover. (Note: the video review says "Gorilla Glass", but scratch resistant is right.) These gaps attract dust, make the device feel unfairly cheap considering the high quality materials, and occasionally cause the port covers to pop open if they catch on your finger or pocket. Considering that the 1,750mAh battery isn't removable and the 16 to 32GB of onboard storage isn't expandable via microSD, the rear cover seems unnecessary -- we would rather have had a Micro SIM drawer, better flaps over the ports and a Lumia 800-style unibody instead. Sony's designers may be based in Lund, Sweden, but with the Xperia S they haven't been Nordic enough.


There's an issue with the navigation buttons too. The touch-sensitive spots for Back, Home and Options are nowhere near their corresponding icons in the translucent bar, and they're unmarked, save for three barely visible silver dots. Not knowing where precisely to aim your finger initially results in a lot of mis-hits, and the buttons themselves aren't particularly responsive, but you do get used to them after three or four days. Virtual buttons might be preferable, but there's no way they could come with the promised upgrade to Android 4.0 -- that would make the design of the lower part of the phone completely redundant. Speaking of ICS, we initially heard it might be here already, but now the word is Q2.


Display

Just when the Xperia S' build quality makes us feel low, the wonderful display picks us up again. Every single time. It may be plain old TFT LCD rather than AMOLED, but at least there's no PenTile pixel arrangement here and the 342ppi pixel density renders everything with perfect stability and smoothness. We'd much rather watch a movie on the Xperia S than on the AMOLED-equipped PlayStation Vita, for example. Although the Vita has a bigger screen and better stereo speakers, the Xperia S delivers sharper, more colorful images -- plus the sound from its speaker is louder and more engaging.


The display's strength is also readily apparent when you compare it side-by-side with an older, LCD-packing Xperia like the Arc. You won't see it on a photo unless you look closely enough to notice the matrix of pixels on the Arc, but load up the Kindle app and things become more obvious: text looks blocky at 854 x 480 resolution but immaculate at 1280 x 720. The Arc also has worse viewing angles.


The screen performs admirably outdoors and proves just what LCD is capable when it's implemented properly. While some other LCD displays can be quickly obscured by excessive reflections outdoors, the Xperia S' panel retains its contrast much better. There's a consistent yellow tinge to all white areas, especially compared to the more neutral Retina Display on the iPhone 4, but the Mobile BRAVIA Engine seems to make up for that when watching movies and stills. Overall, it's clear that Sony has invested a lot of time and money in getting this new panel just right.

Calling and reception

As you'd hope, there's little to report here. We used the phone solidly for a week and found that it flicked sensibly between bands, gave us consistent reception, and handled data averagely well at regular HSPA speeds on the UK Vodafone network. The speaker worked fine both ways, as did the bundled headset -- although as ever we only used it once to test it, before switching to some proper headphones (in this instance, an amazing pair of IE 80s lent to us by Sennheiser.) The Xperia S has a smart notification LED that glows different colors to indicate different events, such as blue for a missed call and orange for charging. This is something missing from many rival phones, and anyone who depends on their smartphone for productivity will appreciate it.

Camera

The 12-megapixel shooter on the Xperia S is a world away from last year's Xperias. You get fuller controls, including Exposure Value, ISO, Focus Mode, Metering Mode and White Balance (manual or presets). Even better, you can position up to four controls of your choosing on the main viewfinder screen, which provides quicker access to the settings you adjust most frequently.
Sony Xperia S sample shots

You also get much faster operation, with the ability to hold the dedicated camera button down while the phone is still in standby mode and snap off a shot within 1.4 seconds, by our measure. This way of shooting doesn't produce great results, because it gives you no time to frame or focus accurately, but it does prove what the camera module is capable, and it may come in a handy on the odd occasion. During regular operation, taking shots as normal within the camera app, the Xperia S was extremely responsive.

As for the pictures themselves, they testify to good automatic exposure, white balance and flash control, and they're sumptuous on the phone's display: sharp, bright, colorful and contrasty. The combination of the hi-res sensor and HD display also helps low-light shots, because the camera is able to pump up gain while hiding noise among the abundance of pixels -- i.e., the noise is there, and it's pretty bad, but you have to zoom in further to see it.


The Xperia S' camera is a treat if you primarily view photos on the phone itself. However, if you occasionally want to blow up a picture to frame it, or if you want display your pictures on a bigger screen over the HDMI output or DLNA, then there's an important caveat.

Previous Xperias, such as the Neo, suffered from excessive image compression, and that's still unfortunately an issue with the Xperia S. There's no option to change the JPEG settings to create bigger, prettier files comparable to what you'd get on the Galaxy S II or iPhone 4. The default compression has improved considerably since the Neo, with 12-megapixel stills averaging a file size of 3MB, but that's still not enough.









The Xperia S creates JPEG files that are around 25 percent bigger than those from an iPhone 4, even though they contain 240 percent more pixels. So you can zoom in further on an Xperia S image, but what will you find when you get there? Either Sony is callously wasting the power of Xperia S' higher resolution Exmor R sensor, or they're deliberately maxing out on compression in order to disguise the fact that the sensor is noisy. Either way, the resultant image quality is designed for superficial viewing only, and we'd still rather shoot on an aged iPhone 4 (let alone a 4S).


It was a similar story with 1080p video, which was compressed to around 100MB per minute. The Nokia Lumia 800 also shoots between 80MB and 100MB per minute, but with 720p resolution. Despite the over-zealous compression, however, we were generally pleased with Xperia S' clips: autofocus was slow but dependable, there weren't too many sudden switches in exposure or white balance and audio levels were consistent.

Performance and battery life

The Xperia S arrived too soon to be endowed with any of the new chips revealed at MWC. Instead, it contains one of the better processors from last year: the dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260. We've already spent a lot of time with this processor, on phones like the HTC Sensation XE, and it's certainly powerful enough to handle the functions the Xperia S is designed for. There are no lags or stutters to note, browsing is fluid, and there's no nasty mismatch between the battery and processor either. We scraped just under two full days with light use, involving a maximum of two hours spent out of standby each day and careful connection settings. Even heavy usage patterns, such as leaving WiFi on (as in the 15-hour day below) and watching movie trailers (an addiction with a screen like this), left the Xperia S with plenty of reserves when we hit the sack. A standard battery test with looped video yielded over five hours, which is around the same as the Sensation XE despite the Xperia's higher resolution screen.


Here's how the processor stacks up against the Xperia Arc S and -- for a bit of fun -- the Galaxy Note, whose Exynos processor was another great SoC from last year. The Xperia S holds its own, especially when it comes to graphics and browsing benchmarks.

Xperia S Xperia Arc S Galaxy Note
Quadrant 2,033 1,158 3,998
Linpack (single-thread) 53.67 34.54 64.3
Linpack (multi-thread) 83.70 38.88 95.66
NenaMark2 (fps) 37.1 13.6 32.8
Neocore 59.7 59.4 51.77
SunSpider 9.1 (ms, lower numbers are better) 2,653 3,369 2,902

Software

If you've never heard of Android 2.3.7, then here's everything you need to know: it's old. The Xperia skin that sits lightly on top of the OS is very familiar too, as are the various pre-loaded apps and social networking integration efforts, such as TimeScape, which we've covered in previous reviews. Some of these additions are good, like the music app which has a good equalizer system. Others are bad, like the repeated McAffee antivirus notifications that are too difficult to exterminate.

Aside from the bloatware, however, Sony has come up with some genuinely exciting stuff. The Xperia S integrates well with the Xperia SmartWatch, for example, sending notifications straight to your wrist over Bluetooth. We only had a chance to play with a prototype SmartWatch, but we had fun with it and no one can deny that Sony is sticking its neck out to do something different.


Sony has found useful employment for NFC, bundling the Xperia S with two NFC SmartTags that you can use to automatically change your phone settings to suit different locations. You simply hold the tag against the handset to initialize it, and then choose various actions that will be triggered the next time the tag comes into contact. These settings aren't flexible enough to make this very useful yet -- there's no airplane mode, you can't disable data without disabling calls, and you can't stack instructions on top of each other to achieve more sophisticated automation. Perhaps these things will come in a software update, but for now Sony gets points more for the idea than the practicality.

Notice a theme developing here? Yup, that'd be the need for patience, as Sony gradually (perhaps too gradually) makes good on the promise of its new ideas. That applies to NFC, but it applies even more to another key area of the Xperia S' software: it's ability to hook up with Sony's gaming, video and music platforms. It's supposed to be great, but the reality hasn't quite caught up.


Take a movie rental as an example. There's a placeholder app for the PlayStation Store on the Xperia S, but it doesn't work. Instead, you can use the pre-loaded Video Unlimited app, which offers exactly the same video content as the PS Store, for the same prices, using the same login and credit card details, but which is totally separate. A purchase you made on the PS Store on another Sony device -- such as the PS Vita -- won't be remembered in Video Unlimited, and vice versa.

Now, this might all be solved in a week's time, when the PS Store placeholder app informs us it will 'wake up' and start doing stuff. If that happens, our complaint will become a spring shower in a tea cup. On the other hand, it's also possible that the two storefronts will operate in parallel for some time. We asked Sony about this, and got the following reply:

"While the Sony Entertainment Network storefront is fully integrated among the various Sony devices compatible with the Video Unlimited service and the PlayStation Network Video Store, our device domain model currently restricts playback of rented or purchased content. While we are exploring a less restrictive model, at this time, users who download content to Xperia (or PS Vita) can only play that content back on that device."

Confusing? Just a little. You also have to bear in mind that Sony rarely gets things done in a hurry. The PlayStation Suite is a case in point. This is yet another storefront that will offer independently-produced titles for the Xperia S and other PlayStation-certified devices, but developers are still testing out the SDK. There's no clear timeline for when their creations might start to appear in the Suite, or when the Suite might appear on the Xperia range. If you imagine that Kaz Hirai only has to click his fingers for things to get done, the Xperia S will likely prove you wrong.

Wrap-up


Could the Xperia S be your first Sony-branded phone? It you're all about media consumption, and if you're prepared to wait while Sony makes its cloud-based platforms more coherent, then the Xperia S is a great device. The display and the speaker are absorbing and addictive. The battery life is excellent, the processor is a good fit and the absence of expandable storage shouldn't weigh too heavily if you get the 32GB option.

On the other hand, if you make more varied demands of your smartphone -- like excellent build quality, pocket-friendly slimness or photos you can enlarge -- then things get more complicated. US pricing has yet to be announced, but the 32GB version of the Xperia S is going for upwards of £430 ($680) SIM-free in the UK, or £370 pay-as-you-go on the Three network. Similar money could fetch you a legendary all-rounder like the Galaxy S II, or stretch to a 16GB Galaxy Nexus with an HD screen and better build quality, or -- very soon -- an HTC One S, which promises a cutting-edge Qualcomm S4 processor and a better camera. When sized up against a long rubric of criteria, rather than just its entertainment credentials, there's little to make the Xperia S a compelling purchase.

Microsoft: there's a limit to Tango's love (for 256MB devices, anyway)

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 06:41 AM PST

Microsoft's going after the low-end market with devices like the Lumia 610 and its brethren. The handset's biggest limitation is that it only packs 256MB RAM and Redmond spent last week imploring developers to slim down their apps or face ghettoization. Now the company's revealing what else will be missing from Tango's cheapie iteration: Video podcasts, Bing local scout, fast app switching, automatic photo uploading, HD video playback (with certain codecs) and background agents will all be disabled. On the upside, this efficiency drive should ensure Windows Phone apps remain as lithe and responsive as its interface is, developers interested in learning more can head down to our source link for a dash of nitty and a spoonful of gritty.

Update: To clarify, the fast app switching situation is a little more nuanced: apps which uses upwards of 90MB will be "tombstoned" on deactivation, but those occupying less memory should fast resume just fine.

Lytro camera review

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PST

Don't let that cute design fool you. Lytro, the world's first commercial light field camera, is the culmination of nearly twenty years of research -- a project that once occupied an entire wall facade, and has since been miniaturized into something that fits in the palm of your hand. An impressive feat, sure, but not as arresting as the end result: the ability to refocus pictures, even after you've taken them.

To achieve such magical endeavors the Lytro camera uses heaps of custom software (armed with a custom .lfp file format) coupled with some serious silicon to measure not just color or the intensity of light, but its direction, too. The latter is achieved with an eleven "megaray" sensor, which is bolted to an f/2.0 8x optical zoom lens, all encased within that sleek body. Seeking to save us from unfocused mishaps, the technological tour de force also unlocks some considerable creative potential. So, is the $399 shooter going to revolutionize photography as we know it? Or does the Lytro's first foray into consumer electronics fall prey to the shortcomings of 1.0 product? By now you should know the drill: rendezvous with us past the break to find out.

Hardware


It feels as if Lytro's engineers were incapable of closing the chapter on their masterpiece until they stripped it of everything but the essentials.

Despite the inherent complexity stuffed within, the Lytro camera's exterior couldn't be more simple. That's high-praise: it isn't often that we encounter a product quite this refined, so minimalist in its sensibility. It feels as if Lytro's engineers were incapable of closing the chapter on their masterpiece until they had stripped it of everything but the essentials. This seems that much more impressive, too, when you remember this is the work of a startup -- one unveiling its first piece of hardware, at that. Other CE makers just got put on notice.
Lytro unboxing



But let's delve deeper into the intricacies of what makes this thing tick. The design is a jarring blend of metal and rubber, and the overall effect is nothing short of striking. For starters, we have an anodized aluminum barrel, which houses the f/2.0 8x optical zoom lens. That, in turn, is fused to a rubberized cube where the sensor, various electrics and touchscreen all reside. It's worth noting that the rubber portion is where you'll spend all your time, as that's where all of the spartan controls live. Things like a shutter button and capacitive-touch zoom slider up top, followed by a power button and a micro-USB door directly opposite on its bottom.


Completing the tour, let's turn our attention to the 1.46-inch touchscreen adorning the back side. Despite its premium glass construction and responsive performance, Lytro doesn't quite make up for the poor quality of the display itself. Some of that disappointment stems from its unimpressive 128 x 128 resolution, sure, but more worrisome is its tendency to wash out as soon as you turn it ever-so slightly off-angle.


That's a problem because pulling off those cool depth-of-field shots means more often than not you'll be contorting the hardware at odd angles. We also took issue with its performance in bright light -- get used to creating shade with your hand cupped to the unit as you try to frame shots out in the wild.

Having a poor display on a piece of photographic kit would normally be a bummer, if not a deal-breaker. Ultimately, though, it'll hit you that the camera workflow you've been practicing for your entire life doesn't necessarily apply here. Soon enough, you'll stop worrying about focus, and realize Lytro liberates you to dwell on composition and exposure, the latter of which you can tweak by tapping the screen. Okay, not everyone will be comfortable adopting the "shoot first ask questions later" mantra, but that's how we generally used it outdoors -- a habit made sweeter with the help of some fast shutter releases. Naturally, your mileage will vary depending on your technique (human skills still do count for something here), but as we'll explain, we were more than happy with the results, so long as we had adequate lighting at the ready.

User interface


Lytro's thrown caution to the wind and started anew, adopting the same simplistic approach on the interior as on its exterior.

If we're honest, the current user state of camera interfaces is pretty abysmal. Years upon years of crud, including leftovers from directional-driven UX, does not a happy Engadget reviewer make. Thankfully, Lytro's thrown caution to the wind and started anew, adopting the same simplistic approach on the interior as on its exterior. For starters, taking photos is as simple as waking the unit (either by pressing its power or shutter button) and pressing the shutter to take a picture. To zoom, slide your finger along the capacitive zoom bar up top. Swiping up on the touchscreen reveals that dock you see above, with three tappable icons, which enable "creative mode" (more on that in a bit) and show remaining storage and respective battery capacities. That gesture also reveals a Settings icon (the cog in the upper right corner), which is where you'll find the About, Delete All and Factory Reset menus.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's talk a little bit more about creative mode, the only alternative shooting setting this camera offers. Tuned for finer control, in this mode the camera is less worried about maximizing a shot's future refocus potential -- essentially a fancy way of saying it'll now let you take much closer macro shots with a shallower and flatter depth of field, which means less of that Lytro-refocusing magic applies later. Getting started, you'll know it's active thanks to an onscreen blue border. Creative mode gives you access to the full range of the camera's optical zoom (8x versus "Every day" mode's 3.5x) in addition to enabling tap-to-focus (instead of the default mode's more restrictive tap for exposure).

Once you've actually taken a shot, viewing your creations is as simple as swiping to the left. From there you can continuously swipe left back in time, or right to return to the viewfinder. Thankfully, if you've perused through a lot of photos, you don't have to endlessly swipe to get back into capture mode -- one press of the shutter button and you're ready to start capturing again. Sliding across the zoom bar while viewing those creations reveals a 3 x 3 grid view, similar to how most digital cameras manage photos these days. And if you swipe upward while viewing a single photo, the same dock appears as before, except this time you've got a delete button occupying the leftmost spot where creative mode lived.

Image quality, performance and battery life


Ultimately, it's of no consequence how beautiful the hardware or onboard software is if a camera fails at its one purpose: taking pictures. With Lytro things are a little complicated in this department, insofar as the camera excels in certain situations, while putting on a mediocre performance in others. Before we walk you through the results, it's worth setting the expectation that you won't be getting any poster-sized prints here. Shots from the Lytro camera have 1080 x 1080 resolution -- good enough, the company says, for 5 x 7 prints.
Lytro samples
Lytro low-light samples



Well-lit snaps with two or more layers of focus, like the ones above, are really where Lytro comes into its own. With proper lighting, colors are vibrant and generally accurate across the range, and Lytro had no problem conquering more tricky shots with highlights and shadows. Unfortunately, we can't say the same about well-lit, but focally flat long distance or landscape shots, where pictures consistently lacked sharpness and detail. If you're into depth-of-field shots, the Lytro's a worthy companion; just be cognizant you won't be sending your current shooter to the graveyard.


Unfortunately, things don't get better when it comes to low-light performance. Yes, in theory, that wide f/2.0 aperture lets a lot of light in, but prepare yourself for copious amounts of noise. High-contrast shots taken during a beach-side hike passed, but more often than not you'll have to sift through quite a few iffy shots with copious noise before finding an acceptable one.


On the upside, though, shutter performance and zooming are both much better. Booting is near instantaneous and first captures, with their reassuring click, are ready to go less than a second later. Shots thereafter continue at a rapid clip -- speedy enough, certainly, for us to catch waves breaking or a cat mid-yawn. Of course, this isn't rapid-fire shooting on the order of a DSLR, but the quick reflexes of Lytro's camera is still worlds better than most smartphones and, we'd hazard, most point-and-shoots as well. Image quality when zoomed at full bore (in creative mode, naturally) is relatively good, and, as an added bonus, all that lens movement happens with the unit's barrel, meaning there's no lens protrusion here.


As for battery life we don't have any complaints either. You should get at least a day trip's worth of photos from the on-board lithium-ion battery. We're talking anywhere from 200-300 shots per charge, which considering the onboard processing we found perfectly within the range of acceptable. Charging is a strict micro-USB only affair, although for those travellng sans computer, we're told there will be a $19 "fast charger" arriving in the coming months.

Software


You might have missed the passing reference in our intro, but the Lytro camera doesn't output your run-of-the-mill JPEG. Instead all that directional light information is stuffed into a custom format the company calls a "Light field picture file," or .lfp for short. Ergo, to do anything with a picture that originated from a Lytro camera, you'll naturally need the company's accompanying homegrown desktop application. The good news is the installer's preloaded on the camera -- just plug it in and follow the prompts to make your way through the installer package. But we hope you also caught that installer package nuance, as here comes the bad news. For now, Lytro's desktop software is Mac only (requiring 10.6.6 or above), although the company says a Windows version will follow at some point this year.
Lytro Desktop Software


Upon firing up the desktop software for the first time, you'll realize you have to complete a one-time backup of the camera's calibration data before proceeding. After conquering that, .lfp files start copying to the disk (with previously starred images given first bidding), while the suite simultaneously begins processing each RAW-like .lfp into something the desktop suite can digest. You'll know when the processing is complete, as one by one, grayscale thumbnails give way to color replacements, which means they're ready for some TLC, courtesy of the suite's rudimentary editing chops.


When it comes to editing all you can really do with the software is refocus to your heart's content (by clicking different spots in the picture), actuate image rotations and bring up an additional info on a capture with more in depth data (like shutter, ISO, focal length and aperture values). That might not sound like a lot, and it isn't, but Lytro promises it'll quickly iterate with new features over time. And because those .lfp files are untouched, new functionality like the previous tech demos the company has shown (like shifting perspective and making images all-in-focus) will come to photos you've taken today in a future release.


The final piece of the software puzzle relates to sharing. Upon logging into a lytro.com account, one can upload captures to their own gallery on the company's website. Pictures uploaded can be publicly visible or private and additionally the desktop software supports direct uploads to a connected Facebook account. Choosing the latter creates an inline "living" Flash-powered embed on the social network, which friends can then interact with by refocusing inline on Facebook to their hearts content. Additionally there's support for Twitter and HTML embeds, although you'll have to navigate over to the intended picture in the Lytro gallery portal and click share buttons to complete those tasks from your browser.


Finally, those looking to get their sharing-on old school, can export JPEGs from a secret option in the desktop software, which only rears its head when you right-click on a thumbnail. Sneaky.

Wrap-up


While there's so much right with Lytro's debut shooter, it will, even at its best, be no more than another accessory living in your camera bag. Although we're smitten by its delectably simple UI and gorgeous hardware (its washed-out screen not withstanding), its inability to shine in limited shooting conditions means you'll never be able to just make the Lytro your sole photographic companion.

That's saddening -- it's obvious Lytro's onto something huge, and we're impatiently awaiting the day when cameras of all sizes make use of the technology on display here. Whether the company will realize our dream by building out a full line of Lightray-equipped cameras remains to be seen, but with a such a solid technical and groundbreaking foundation there really is only one way but up.

The end game is long and these are the earliest of days. For the photography aficionados in the audience, $399 is chump change compared to the kinds of glass in your collection, making Lytro a no-brainer and worthy companion of space in your camera bag. For the rest of us, though, patience is a virtue.

Start8 download resurrects the start button on Windows 8, niche satiated

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 05:42 AM PST

Some people just can't say goodbye.

NVIDIA joins Linux Foundation, doesn't mention driver development

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 05:21 AM PST

It's a big day for open source fans now that NVIDIA, the last member of the "big three" chip makers with AMD and Intel, has signed on with the Linux foundation. The company has previously kept the system at arms length, with users relying on reverse-engineering to get things working nicely with Linus' baby. It's joining Fluenco, Lineo and Mocana, three companies who also became signatories to the foundation at the same time. Whilst there's no commitment to provide drivers for its chipsets, at least there's a glimmer of hope that the company will contribute -- especially given the growing popularity of its mobile platforms.
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Fluendo, Lineo Solutions, Mocana and NVIDIA Join The Linux Foundation
By Linux_Foundation - March 7, 2012 - 8:00am

New members collaborate on Linux in the areas of mobile, embedded, security and multimedia

SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2012 – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced that four companies are joining the organization: Fluendo, Lineo Solutions, Mocana and NVIDIA. While

Linux continues to see strong gains in the enterprise market (Read: Linux Adoption Trends 2012: A Survey of Enterprise End Users), its accelerated growth in other areas such as mobile and embedded development, security and multimedia is undeniable. Companies see the benefits of Linux and the collaborative development model as key advantages in the future of computing and are adopting the operating system for a variety of applications.

More details on today's new Linux Foundation members:

Fluendo is a leading multimedia software development company and GStreamer expert. The company specializes in software development and consulting services to enable multimedia on a variety of devices and operating systems. Fluendo employs several of the central developers of GStreamer, an open source framework, and provides a wide range of products under and above GStreamer, such as legal playback plugins, a DVD Player and a media center.

"By joining The Linux Foundation we can build upon our community collaboration on the technical, promotional and legal fronts," said Muriel Paumier-Moscardini, CEO of Fluendo. "Linux is an integral part of multimedia systems and we are committed to contributing to its advancement in this area. We are convinced that this partnership is a great opportunity to contribute with the Linux ecosystem from a technical, legal and commercial perspective."

Lineo Solutions is based in Japan and has more than 19 years of experience in Linux and embedded systems development. The company helps its customers speed time to market with professional services, tools and training in this area. "Linux is leading the way forward in the mobile and embedded software space," said Akira Kobayashi, President, Lineo Solutions.

"The Linux Foundation understands this and has moved to prioritize a variety of mobile and embedded Linux initiatives in which we are looking forward to participating."

Mocana is a device-agnostic security platform that protects mobile devices, apps and the information and services that run across them. Devices from more than 180 companies leverage the Mocana device security platform, including enterprise and consumer electronics from Cisco, Honeywell, Dell, General Electric, General Dynamics, Avaya and Harris, among others. The World Economic Forum in Geneva recently selected Mocana as one of its 25 "Technology Pioneers for 2012."

"As the Internet evolves into the Internet of Things, security needs to evolve, too. Technologies and best practices developed over the past 20 years for networks of PCs need to be totally rethought when most of the nodes on the network are now non-PC devices, like phones, tablets, medical implants, smart grid meters, industrial automation and consumer electronics. As one of the most robust & security-friendly operating systems, Linux provides us a dependable platform for delivering the confidence consumers and enterprise users need," said Kurt Stammberger, CISSP, VP Market Development Mocana. "By joining The Linux Foundation, we have immediate access to the technical collaboration and resources we need to help secure the Internet of Things."

NVIDIA invented the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) in 1999. These multi-core processors enable PC gamers to enjoy fully immersive worlds and professionals to design everything from the latest cars to digital film characters. Their parallel processing capabilities provide researchers and scientists with the ability to efficiently run high-performance applications, and they are deployed in supercomputing sites around the world. More recently, NVIDIA has moved into the fast-growing mobile computing market, where its processors power phones and tablets, as well as auto infotainment systems.

"NVIDIA is strongly committed to enabling world-class experiences and innovation with our GPU and mobile products. Membership in The Linux Foundation will accelerate our collaboration with the organizations and individuals instrumental in shaping the future of Linux, enabling a great experience for users and developers of Linux," said Scott Pritchett, VP of Linux Platform Software at NVIDIA.

"The ongoing support from companies and organizations across industries and geographies demonstrates not only Linux's ubiquity but also its ability to quickly adapt for a variety of technical and market opportunities," said Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer services at The Linux Foundation. "Fluendo, Lineo Solutions, Mocana and NVIDIA each represent important areas of the Linux ecosystem and their contributions will immediately help advance the operating system."

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2000, the organization sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source development community. The Linux Foundation provides a neutral forum for collaboration and education by hosting Linux conferences, including LinuxCon, and generating original Linux research and content that advances the understanding of the Linux platform. Its web properties, including Linux.com, reach approximately two million people per month. The organization also provides extensive Linux training opportunities that feature the Linux kernel community's leading experts as instructors. Follow The Linux Foundation on Twitter.

National Parks Street View-style trails goes live, avoids the Google cars (video)

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 05:02 AM PST

National Parks Street View-style tour goes live, avoids the Google cars

After tooling up a team of hikers with an impressive camera tripod and unleashing them on the likes of the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park, Nature Valley has published its fully rotational Trail Views online. You'll be able to effortlessly follow several routes across the great American countryside and for those too lazy to even click the forward arrow, there's an autoplay mode. Three different locations -- with multiple trails -- are online now and you can check out how the granola-grinding company captured it all right after the break.

Facebook loses friends in Germany over privacy breaches

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 04:34 AM PST

Facebook 'Friend Finder' breaches privacy laws, says German judgeBefore you've even sipped your morning brew, a regional German court has delivered yet another stern judgement affecting a multinational organization. This time it's Facebook back in the dock over the Friend Finder feature, which uploads a user's contact list to Zuckerberg's bunker without proper warning. Another offense involves the ownership of data -- any original photo or music track uploaded to Facebook supposedly belongs to the company and can be used however it likes, which has now been deemed to breach data protection laws. Someone ought to add this to the Harvard Student Handbook.

Tobii EyeAsteroids 3D lets you destroy virtual space stones with a gaze, we go eyes-on (video)

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 04:01 AM PST

We've touched and tapped our way through a variety of gadgets at CeBIT, but it's the devices that operate without traditional user interfaces that have really grabbed our focus. Tobii was on-hand to demonstrate its eye-tracking technology earlier this year at CES, but the company is peddling its wares here in Hannover as well, and we decided to drop by for a second look. This time, it's all about gaming, with EyeAsteroids drawing quite a bit of attention on the show floor. The demo pairs Tobii with a SeeFront glasses-free 3D panel for a fairly engaging extraterrestrial shootout. We weren't really sold on the glasses-free 3D, unfortunately, which provides the same unconvincing three-dimensional image from any angle, but Tobii was spot-on, letting us hone in on those infamous space rocks to save our planet from destruction without even raising a finger.

Like SeeFront's display, you're able to make visual selections from any angle (within reason) just as easily as you can from directly in front of the panel. There's a seconds-long calibration process each time you start the game, so Tobii can locate your eyes and pair your pupil orientation with a target on the screen. After that, it's open season -- you simply focus on an asteroid to destroy it, and you can add your name to the leader board and navigate menus as well, just as we saw with the Windows 8 demo back at CES. Is this the future of gaming? That remains to be seen, and while the eye-tracking seemed to work just as described, old school gamers will likely prefer tilting a joystick and (violently) tapping on arcade buttons. We still had a lot of fun playing without using our hands, though, as you'll see in our glare-filled demo just past the break.
Tobii EyeAsteroids 3D hands-on

Qantas trials in-flight WiFi between Australia and US

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 03:48 AM PST

While plenty of US domestic flights have their WiFi provisions sorted, international connectivity remains pretty rare. Attempting to bring another time-killing option alongside all those middling in-flight Marvel movies, Qantas has started testing wireless internet on its 14-hour flights between Los Angeles and Australia. The trial will run for eight weeks across six of Qantas' A380 super-jumbos. Access during the trial will be free, however it'll be limited to first and business class passengers, with data allowance currently capped at a weedy 100MB for laptops and 32MB for mobile devices. Well, at least you're not walled inside an online store.

iOS 5.1 gets tethered jailbreak for non-A5 iPads, iPhones and iPods

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 02:49 AM PST

We've got good news for anyone intrigued by the new (largely incremental) features of Apple's latest mobile OS update. MuscleNerd, famed iOS meddler, has confirmed that iOS 5.1 can be jailbroken to the original iPad, iPhone 4 and 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touch devices. Unfortunately, it's still a tethered jailbreak which means you'll need to "just boot" the device using redsn0w whenever it powers down. However, we're sure those iOS hackers are already working on that minor niggle. Get the full instructions and those ever-important warnings over at Think iOS, which also links to the required iOS 5.1 files.

[Thanks all]

Justice Department preparing Apple iBooks antitrust lawsuit

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 01:50 AM PST

The Justice Department is reportedly preparing to go after Apple, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan and HarperCollins following its investigation into alleged e-book price-rigging. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut of each sale, rather than the wholesale model that gives publishers more flexibility to reduce prices or even sell e-books at a loss. Some publishers are now trying to agree on a new policy in an effort to stave off the kind of federal suit that nobody wants to wear.

SoftKinetic brings DepthSense range sensor to GDC, hopes to put it in your next TV

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 01:02 AM PST

SoftKinetic DepthSense

Microsoft's Kinect may have put depth sensors in the eye of the common consumer, but they aren't the only outfit in the game -- Belgian startup SoftKinetic has their own twist on the distance sensing setup. The literally named "DepthSense" range sensor uses infrared time-of-flight technology, which according to representatives, allows it to not only accurately calculate depth-sensitivity in dark, cramped spaces, but more importantly offers a shallower operating distance than its competition. We dropped by SoftKinetic's GDC booth to see exactly how cramped we could get.

It turns out the sensor can accurately read individual fingers between four to fourteen feet (1.5 - 4.5 meters), we had no trouble using it to pinch our way through a few levels of a mouse-emulated session of Angry Birds. The developer hardware we saw on the show floor was admittedly on the bulky side, but if all goes to plan, SoftKinetic says we'll see OEMs stuff the tech into laptops and ARM-powered TVs in the near future. In the meantime, though, gesture-crazy consumers can look forward to a slimmer version of this rig in stores sometime this holiday season. Hit the break for a quick demo of the friendly sensor in action.

SoftKinetic DepthSense hands-on


Dante Cesa contributed to this post.

T-Mobile Prism from Huawei lands at FCC

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 12:01 AM PST

Thanks to leaked inventory documents, we've already known that Huawei's Prism would grace its way onto T-Mobile's shores. Now that its certification papers have been put through the wringers at the FCC, we can plainly see that the handset will be marketed as the T-Mobile Prism. While little is known about the device -- dubbed internally as the U8651T (or Astro) -- we're able to glean that it supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE, along with UMTS/HSPA connectivity on the 1900MHz, 1700MHz and 850MHz bands. We also discovered AGPS, 802.11b/g/n (WiFi) and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR thrown in for good measure, along with microSD support and a 1,400mAh battery -- that last tidbit safely excludes this handset from being a rebadge of one of Huawei's high-end offerings.

Motorola's MOTOACTV gets software update March 9th, brings 40 new fitness activities into the fold

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 11:02 PM PST

Late last year, Motorola announced its MOTOACTV device for fitness fanatics. Since then, the wrist-mounted gadget got a firmware update for better battery life, and on March 9th it's getting another fresh dose of code that brings even more functionality. The update adds 40 new custom activities including yoga, handball, skiing and dancing, so you can track all your fitness endeavors individually. The new code also allows users to activate the display with a flick of the wrist (instead of pressing the power button) and configure WiFi connections right on the device. Not a moment too soon, Moto, summer's closing in and this should help us get that beach (as opposed to blogger) body we've always wanted.

HP eyes 2015 release for 3D integrated photonic chips

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 10:23 PM PST

It's unavoidable -- mention HP and images of the TouchPad come floating to the surface. What most geek folk don't realize, however, is that the company recently famous for open sourcing webOS has been hard at work behind-the-scenes prepping for the next stage in computing: integrated photonics. The project, codenamed Corona, aims to create stackable 3D chips that communicate using inbuilt, microscopic lasers made from gallium. This new breed of CPUs is on track to combine "256 general purpose cores organized in 64 four-core clusters" created using a 16nm process for a performance boost of up to six times faster than traditional circuitry. Why do this? Well, the nature of optical communication would not only speed up the rate at which the various cores could relay data (a theoretical 20 terabytes per second), but would also drastically lower power requirements from a current 160 watts to 6.4 watts. Sounds like the future, indeed, but as with all things forward-facing, many of the necessary components are still being developed, so take that 2015 target date with a heady amount of sodium chloride.

PBS traces the history of animated GIFs: deal with it (video)

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 08:53 PM PST

PBS's Off Book has a new short doc available online called Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium which, as you may have guessed, traces the history and evolution of the animated GIF over the course of a very informative six and a half minutes. The makers don't settle the dispute over pronunciation (and, really, who could), but they do mine its origins as relic of internet eras past to a post-modern staple of web 2.0 culture. We could tell you more, but that would just ruin the fun. Head on after the break to watch the episode in full.

ComScore: US subscriber count reaches 100 million, Android and iOS use continues to climb

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 07:42 PM PST

Oh, ComScore. Every month you come out with a new market share report for smartphones, and every month it seems to offer the same theme: Android and iOS go up, RIM and Microsoft go down. The latest report, which details the three-month period ending in January, shows an increase in Google's mobile OS of 2.3 percent while Apple jumped 1.4; conversely, RIM dropped 2 percent while Microsoft (which likely encompasses WinMo and Windows Phone) went down a percentage point. Individual OEM market share is even more lackluster: LG and Motorola dipped ever so slightly, while Apple jumped up a couple percentage points. Possibly the most noteworthy item in the report, however, is the fact that the total number of US smartphone subscribers has finally exceeded 100 million. That count appears to be growing at an incredible pace, too, so it may not be terribly long before the coveted 200 million milestone is within reach.

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comScore Reports January 2012 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

More Than 100 Million U.S. Mobile Subscribers Now Use Smartphones

RESTON, VA, March 6, 2012 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending January 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.4 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the smartphone market, accounting for 48.6 percent of smartphone subscribers.

OEM Market Share

For the three-month average period ending in January, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.7 percent share and Motorola with 13.2 percent share. Apple continued to capture share in the OEM market with 12.8 percent of total mobile subscribers (up 2.0 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.6 percent.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

The number of U.S. smartphone subscribers surpassed the 100-million mark in January, up 13 percent since October to 101.3 million subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 48.6 percent market share (up 2.3 percentage points) followed by Apple with 29.5 percent market share (up 1.4 percentage points). RIM ranked third with 15.2 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.4 percent) and Symbian (1.5 percent).

Mobile Content Usage

In January, 74.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 2.8 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 48.6 percent of subscribers (up 4.8 percentage points), while browsers were used by 48.5 percent (up 4.5 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.4 percentage points to 35.7 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 31.8 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 24.5 percent listened to music on their phones (up 3.3 percentage points).

SetCPU gets an ICS-like overhaul, makes overclocking easier to do

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:38 PM PST

Rooting has gotten a bit easier in Android land as of late, what with certain OEM's getting officially on board with unlock tools. For those who can claim O.G. residence in this underbelly of Rubin's mobile kingdom, however, a premium app known as SetCPU should ring a familiar bell. That Google Play application, useful for overclocking processors, has recently gotten a face lift, aligning its design more closely with Ice Cream Sandwich's visual flair while nixing the previously complicated interface and its dense jargon-y fluff in the process. Included in this version 2.3.0 update is a new frequency slider, governor menu for adjusting processor scaling, added support for multi-core devices and a slew of bug fixes. Sadly, phones sporting Eclair and below have been dropped, but chin up, you can always head to HTC Dev to pursue that Dream.

Skype for Mac gets mild refresh, adds auto updates and improved UI in group calls

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:01 PM PST

We know you've had your fair share of troubles adjusting to the fifth iteration of Skype for Mac. Now, Microsoft is issuing yet another quick refresh to go along with the support for HD calls and Lion. This time, though, the desktop app is adding automatic updates -- which should come in handy for those who aren't fans of manual labor -- as well as the promise of an improved UI in group calls, the ability to delete convos and disable audio gain control. Additionally, you'll now be able to use full-screen mode if you're running Apple's King of the Jungle OS. Skype version 5.6 is up for grabs now at no cost, and you can upgrade via the source link below or directly from the application on your machine.

Microsoft Research's shoulder mounted system makes anything a multitouch display

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 05:16 PM PST

Remember the nifty new 3D transparent display, augmented reality mirror, and remote sharing technology that Microsoft revealed just over a week ago? Turns out that Redmond's research arm wasn't done doling out the gadget goodies, as it's now showing off a new Wearable Multitouch Projector that turns any surface into a gesture-sensitive display. Using Kinect-style motion and depth sensing cameras in concert with a pico projector and a PC, you can tap, swipe and pinch-to-zoom to your heart's content on the nearest flat surface. It's currently a rather clunky, cabled contraption, but the touch input does appear to work pretty well, and the researchers who built it think that the tech can be miniaturized to a more user-friendly size in the future. See for yourself in the video after the break.

Nokia Lumia 610 pours out its insides to the FCC, gets accepted

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 04:47 PM PST

The Nokia Lumia 610 hasn't officially found a home in the US, but that doesn't stop it from paying the good 'ol FCC a visit either way. The entry-level Windows Phone sure put on quite the show, too, providing a full set of internal and external pics and a user manual. The device we saw offers 3G connectivity by way of 850 / 1900 radios to allow for AT&T compatibility, which means at the very least you'll be able to import one and get some proper use out of it, even if you don't see the Lumia 610 on a US carrier anytime soon. Take a look below to behold the full visual spread.
Nokia Lumia 610 at the FCC

HTC Dream gets unlocked bootloader, makes someone's come true

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 04:19 PM PST

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Neither. It's HTC's increasingly creaky-looking Dream and it's just got its bootloader unlocked. Others may remember it fondly as the T-Mobile G1 and the very first Android phone to arrive on the market. For that alone, it deserves some respect and the right to join its successors in the unlocked bootloader pantheon. Retrospective tinkerers from the future can head over to HTC's developer site for all the tools.

Sphero + keyboard + iPad = cacophonous synthy fun (video)

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 03:52 PM PST

If you're not familiar with Shapesynth, it's a pretty sweet little synthesizer app for iOS that lets you draw waveforms and works with Akai's SynthStation. Its creator, Erik, is also toying with some new code that'll let you use other iOS accessories to control various variables. For example, the Sphero. Sadly, we don't have a ton of details on how it works -- the developer is merely taunting us for the moment. But we can see that by lifting and tilting the interactive ball he is able to manipulate frequency and other parameters. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.

Vevo app brings ad-supported music videos streaming to the Xbox 360

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 03:26 PM PST

The video services Microsoft announced would be coming to Xbox 360 continue to trickle out and the latest is from Vevo. What it brings free of charge (with the exception of the req'd Xbox Live Gold subscription, of course) is a library of music videos that's big enough (45,000 deep) for you to remember when the M in MTV stood for something. An additional bonus is that many of the videos are actually in high definition, unlike the ones broadcast on MTV and Fuse's high definition channels, and when we talked to the company ahead of the launch we were told the audio and video have been reencoded specifically for TV viewing.

There's the requisite Kinect integration for voice and gesture control, and users can create a queue of videos and skip through them without pausing the action, and of course share what they're playing with other users on Xbox 360 and services like Facebook. Best of all, it's not a pay-per-view setup like iTunes or the standard Xbox music videos. There are a few quirks however, like needing to create a Vevo account to get access and the number of clicks it takes to add videos to a playlist. Still, whether you want to autoplay all of your favorite artist's videos or pick one at a time it all works pretty well -- the only problem now is finding something worth listening to. Check the Xbox 360 app marketplace to download it or give the video demo (embedded after the break) a peek.

SK Telecom Smart Learning robots add twist to interactive learning, we go hands-on (video)

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 03:03 PM PST

They aren't quite up to Johnny Number Five's level of fame and stature, but SK Telecom's new "Smart Learning" robots have something it (he?) never could have dreamed of: the power of a smartphone. The mechanical critters are designed to be next-gen educational tools for our posterity, and only function thanks to a Bluetooth-connected Android handset which serves as both the brains of the operation and the interactive display. We saw the robots in action last week at Mobile World Congress in a few different scenarios: a board game, a reading comprehension tool and other clever learning activities. This is just scraping the surface, because an SDK is in the works that will allow developers to find plenty of ways to take advantage of the tech. The robots are still prototypes for now, but we should expect to see them arrive in Korea within the next six months. Check out a video of the little guys in action after the break.


Mat Smith contributed to this hands-on.

Google plans unified gaming hub for Play, cross-platform titles a possibility

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 02:43 PM PST

In other non-spotlight stealing tech news, Google's set to chop off some of its gaming arms in favor of a sole download hub as early as next year. Plans for this streamlined service were announced by Punit Soni, group product manager for Google+, at this year's Game Developer's Conference. According to VentureBeat, the company's virtual storefronts, which encompass the likes of Chrome, Android and Google+, will all be tied into a single Google Play-hosted destination that should ease game development, potentially making titles accessible cross-platform. In addition to the creation of this one-stop shop, features such as Native Client, Hangouts and a simplified payment system will also reportedly be integrated into the unnamed site. No immediate changes are on deck for this service overhaul, so it'll be a bit before we can see how this "One Google" vision pans out.

iPad 4G plans and pricing revealed (update)

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 02:22 PM PST

Wondering how much you'll have to cough up each month, and just how much data it would net you if you opted for a 4G model if Apple's new iPad? Well, the image above should tell you all you need to know. AT&T will have three options, starting at $15 for 250MB, $30 for 3GB and going up to $50 for 5GB. Verizon simply skips out on the bargain bin plan, assuming you'll be wanting more if you dropped the extra dough on an LTE-enabled iPad. Big Red kicks things off with a $30 2GB option before jumping to $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB. Now, that may sound like a lot of money but, remember, there's no contract to sign here.

Update: AT&T has reached out to us to identify an inaccuracy presented in Apple's graphic. The $30 price tier comes with a 3GB data plan, rather than 2GB as originally stated in the article. Apple has yet to update the information on its website.

Apple's March 7th event roundup: the new iPad, Apple TV refresh and everything else

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PST

Weren't able to keep up with all the news from the unveiling of Apple's new iPad today? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Whether you're looking for more info about its Retina Display and LTE-connectivity, the refreshed Apple TV or related bits, we've listed links to our coverage of everything "new and noteworthy" after the break. Happy perusing! Oh, and be sure to check back to our the archive of our liveblog and pre- and post-event broadcasts for a few extra doses of "amazing."


iPad


Apps and iOS


Apple TV


Everything else

Apple ups over-the-air download limit to 50MB for iOS

Posted: 07 Mar 2012 01:29 PM PST

This tid-bit didn't warrant a lot of attention during Apple's presentation today, but it's definitely worth noting: the limit on downloads from the App Store is now 50MB over-the-air, instead of a paltry 20MB. Now, anything larger than that and you'll still need to hop on a WiFi network, but you probably don't want to chew through your data plan that quick any way. So, enjoy downloading Jaws Revenge without the aid of 802.11.
at 12:15 PM

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